Recipe: Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

Two of my favorite people welcomed their first child almost a month ago, so many of our friends have taken turns bringing over dinner to the new parents to help ease them into craziness of what I can only imagine parenthood to be.

It was my turn on Tuesday, so I cruised their Pinterest accounts a few weeks before to plan and found this gem: Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole



I'm pleased to say it was a hit. The feedback was, and I quote, "It was freaking wonderful, even good for breakfast."

Now, this is obviously not vegetarian approved, but I'm regularly surrounded by carnivores, so I made this one in hopes it could become a staple go to recipe. Winner, winner - literally a chicken dinner!

A few things to note:

• At its highest temp, my oven didn't get to 500 degrees - so the potatoes cooked between 400 and 450 and still turned out just fine.
• This took almost an hour and a half to prep and bake, so it's not a quick evening dinner. Plan ahead.
• The grocery bill for all ingredients (sans salt, pepper, EVOO, paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce -- had all those on hand) was just over $20.

The recipe linked above made a full baking dish and a small side baking dish worth of food, so Johnnie Bud gets to try it as well tonight when he returns from business as usual in Charlotte. (He's pretty excited to come home to bacon... it's not often that happens in our house!)

If you have the ability to serve it hot, this will make a great fall tailgate dish that's sure to please. Enjoy!