Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole

Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole

Type of dish: Whole meal -- no sides needed
Type of taste: Hearty and warm

Last Wednesday my mom and I tried a recipe for a delicious-looking potato chicken casserole, which you can find here. It took about two hours total to make, although not all of that time was busy work. The end result was fairly delicious, but the potatoes had not been cooked long enough, so that detracted from the taste. I would definitely cook this again, but I would cut the potatoes smaller and cook it a little longer. This dish is not a fast dish, but it is pretty easy.



Assessment:

Recipe: Easy to follow
The recipe was pretty easy to follow, although I did have to ask about a few things. I don't know if this is chalked up to my little experience as a cook, but I did not completely understand the recipe. It was not difficult to follow, it was just the tiniest bit unclear.

Difficulty: Easy
I basically cooked some bacon, then chopped up a bunch of stuff and stuck it in a pan. It was very simple and easy, but it did require a bit of multitasking (or the help of an awesome mother) to start from scratch. Next time I will cook the bacon beforehand and I will use the cubed hash browns to save me time from cutting all the potatoes.

Time: < 2 hours
The shortest amount of time it will take to cook this dish (for example, if you already have everything prepared and in the dish) will be about an hour and a half. That is just cooking time. If you start from the very beginning (raw bacon and all) at 4:30 like I did, your family will not eat until 7:00. All the chopping and preparing and cooking of the bacon takes up a good half hour to an hour. It is not 2+ hours of work, however. An hour and a half of the cook time is when the dish is in the oven.

Taste: Delicious... if you cook the potatoes thoroughly
I made the mistake of not cooking the potatoes quite as much as they should have been cooked. They weren't crunchy, but they were definitely not soft. It did not detract very much from the flavor, but it sure messed up the consistency. The casserole is mostly potatoes, so the taste is a bit blander than some recipes, but the bacon and cheese add enough spice and pizazz to keep it interesting and flavorful.


Overall: 7 out of 10
The dish was easy and delicious, but it took a long time to cook and it was a bit "eh" for that much work. My family enjoyed it, but they didn't show much interest in eating it again. I will probably make it again someday, simply because I loved the slightly plain taste, but I will be tweaking it.


Next week I will be cooking Broccoli Spaghetti, if the universe does not plot against me.