Crack Potatoes are an easy, creamy potato recipe with ranch dressing and plenty of cheesy goodness! This recipe turns frozen hash browns into an addictively delicious side dish that tastes just like Cracker Barrel Potato Casserole.
Reasons You’ll Love These Crack Potatoes
Easy Crack Potatoes – This recipe starts with a bag of frozen hashbrowns so you don’t have to worry about washing and peeling a ton of potatoes.
Creamy, cheesy comfort food – We use lots of cream cheese, sour cream and cheddar here, just like the Cracker Barrel Potato Casserole.
Everything’s better with bacon – These crack potatoes are no exception!
Zesty ranch flavor – A packet of ranch mix with sour cream seasons the potatoes while adding even more creaminess to the dish.
Baked in one pan – After mixing everything together in a bowl, you just pour everything into a pan at once and bake. So easy, cheesy and tasty!
It’s hard to overstate just how amazing these Crack Potatoes taste. We already love hashbrowns around here. Topping them with scandalous amounts of cheese and bacon in a hearty casserole makes them even more irresistible!
While I didn’t make up the crazy name, I definitely recommend making a big batch of these delicious potatoes to serve alongside almost anything!
Crack Potato Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients you will need to make this easy recipe for crack potatoes. Important notes and substitutions for certain ingredients are discussed. The full printable recipe, with amounts and specific details, can be found at the bottom of the page.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Hash Browns – Frozen shredded hash browns work perfectly in this recipe. You can use other styles of hash browns, but the cooking time may be longer.
- Cream Cheese – You want to use brick style cream cheese, not the type that comes in a tub. It’s also important to make sure it’s fully softened, as it makes it much easier to combine with the other ingredients.
- Cheddar Cheese – Feel free to use other cheeses, or a mix of cheeses.
- Bacon – While bacon is delicious in this, it can be left out if desired.
How To Make Crack Potatoes
Let’s discuss the steps you’ll take to make the best crack potatoes recipe. If you want to skip my discussion, tips, information and answers to frequently asked questions, just scroll to the bottom of this post for the printable recipe.
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Prepare a 9X13 inch baking dish by spraying the bottom and sides with non-stick spray. Using a very large bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and dry ranch dressing mix.
- Stir in 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese and about half of the chopped bacon.
- Add in the hashbrown potatoes and stir to mix well.
- Place mixture into prepared baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove baking dish from the oven and sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese and the remaining bacon. Return dish to the oven and continue baking, uncovered, for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove and serve.
Recipe Tips and Advice
Make Ahead Option: These crack potatoes can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months, until ready to bake.
Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Crack potatoes reheat well in the oven or microwave.
Make It Even Creamier: You can add a can of cream of chicken soup, or a can of cheese soup, to make this dish even creamier!
What To Serve With Crack Potatoes
These delicious hash brown potatoes are great with so many dishes. Here are some of our favorite items to serve them with.
- Pork Tenderloin
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- Homemade Shake and Bake Chicken
- Air Fryer Meatloaf
- Spiral Ham
More Potato Recipes To Try
Crack Potatoes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese* (softened)
- 16 ounces sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 ounces ranch dressing powdered mix (two 1 oz packages)
- 3 cups cheddar cheese (grated and divided)
- 1 pound bacon (cooked, chopped and divided)
- 30 ounces shredded hash brown potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Prepare a 9X13 inch baking dish by spraying the bottom and sides with non-stick spray.
- Using a very large bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and dry ranch dressing mix.
- Stir in 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese and about half of the chopped bacon. Add in the hashbrown potatoes and stir to mix well.
- Place mixture into prepared baking dish, cover with foill and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove baking dish from the oven and sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese and the remaining bacon. Return dish to the oven and continue baking, uncovered, for an additional 10 minutes. Remove and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Took 2 hours to get to temp but delicious
Super recipe. I needed a different potato side dish to go with my world famous ribs and this was the perfect side. The fam loved them. Thanks for the recipe.
I put it in the oven and baked it for 40 min… Took it out n it was still cold n uncooked…. 🥴what am i doing wrong
Do you have an oven thermometer? If you don’t they are very inexpensive and can be so helpful. Most ovens are not spot on, and can be surprisingly off by up to 50 degrees, which can really impact bake times. Also make sure not to open the oven too often, as that will drop the temperature every time. Not all hash browns are going to be the same size, frozen to the same degree, ect, so those are variables that can impact cook time. Just bake a bit longer and they should be good!
Do the hash browns have to be totally thawed and drained?