Cheesy Ranch Potato Bake

AWESOME! I made this for the first time for a pot luck at work. I made a few changes based on previous suggestions that were submitted. I used seasoned salt instead of regular salt. I used only 2TBS of lite melted butter (6 is way too much). Melted butter works better because it's easier to mix the seasonings in with the potatoes. I baked the potatoes for an hour the night before. The next day at work, I put the potatos in a crock pot, added the cheese, Ranch dressing, garlic and bacon pieces and cooked on low for 3 hours to melt the chesse. By lunch time it was all ready and it turned out perfect! I had A LOT of people ask for the recipe. It was the first dish to be completely eaten! And the best part was it was so easy to make!! The hardest part was cutting all the potatoes. I will denfinately be making this many more times!

I'm begging anyone that is about to make this recipe to please please please exclude the 6 tbsp of butter!!! I just spooned over 2/3 cup of grease out of the pan. This could be a wonderful comfort dish with a great melding of flavours but the butter is totally unnecessary! I gave it 4 stars cuz I will make it again, just no butter.

Delicious and easy--you will not be disappointed! After reading several reviews with tweaking suggestions, here is what I did to produce the delectable result: I cubed red potatoes, leaving the skin on. I cut the butter amount by 1/3, and sautéed 1/2 cup chopped onion in it until softened. I then added the seasonings, and poured the mixture over the potatoes in the casserole dish, tossing to coat. After baking, I added 1/4 real bacon bits, along with the cheese and dressing, to the potatoes. The dish accompanied charcoal grilled hamburgers--a VERY tasty meal! I will definitely make this potato dish again and again.

WOW! This are great! My husband goes crazy for them every time I make them. I cut the recipe down to 4 servings & used: 1 1/4 lb potatoes, 1/2 t chili powder, 1/4 t salt, 1/8 t pepper. 1/3 C cheese, 1/3 C Ranch & no butter I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray. Very delicious. I make this with BBQ pork. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

Looking for another potato bake, I decided to give this one a go. For extra taste, I added sauteed leeks and bacon at the point of adding the cheese and ranch dressing. Although this dish was very tasty, I found that the butter made the dish extremely greasy. I felt that spraying the baking dish lightly with oil would have been adequate, and that the butter was really quite unnecessary. I made the dish a second time, completely omitting the butter, it was definitely less greasy, hence a much healthier potato bake. The chilli powder gives this dish a bit of oomph and was a great addition. I will definitely make my version of this dish again. Thank you for the recipe.

I've made this dish numerous times now and like to tweak it a bit here and there. I usually cut the chili powder and butter in half, use mild cheddar instead of Monterey Jack and add some season-all, celery salt, garlic and paprika. Also good to add: sliced leek, chives or green onions. Lastly, we prefer Ken's Ranch over Hidden Valley.

Husband and I loved this dish, my picky 10 year old didn't, but I'm not sure if he actually tried it or just looked at and decided (which he does quite often). I did change one thing, instead of using butter, I mixed the potatoes and seasonings in a ziplok bag with olive oil - I wanted to make it a little healthier.

I am rating this at 4 stars as I made it EXACTLY as written. Liked this, but sure didn't love the sheer amount of greasiness that comes with using 6 tbsps of butter, hence the 4 star rating. Since my initial foray into this recipe, I have since reduced the butter to 1.5 tbsps of butter and I cannot detect any loss of flavor. HELPFUL HINTS: Use Simply Potatoes with onions for ease in preparation and homemade Ranch dressing and Pepperjack cheese to increase flavor. Thank you Jennybrianne for a different way to prepare a side dish staple!

The family loved these! I made just a couple modifications. I used 2 bags of frozen cubed hash browns and just let the bags thaw on the counter for an hour or so before mixing with the seasonings. Added 1/4 c green onions, chopped and 3 T of real bacon bits. Also, used 3T butter and a few drizzles of olive oil. Then because the of using the hash browns just let it bake 30-35 minutes before adding the ranch and cheese. Everyone went back for seconds!

I cut this recipe in half. I used organic red potatoes and instead of bottled ranch dressing, I used my own homemade out of scratch dry ranch dressing mix mixed with a third cup each of lowfat mayonnaise, reduced fat sour cream and fat free plain yogurt. We thought this was good but we all agreed that it would have been better had the potatoes been mashed with the butter and ranch dressing, then spread into a baking dish with the cheese on top. I think it could use a little more spice, too. Maybe some chopped chives?

Try using Gold Potatoes instead of russett. Since submitting this recipe a few years ago, I've switched to using Gold and I love it even more. I've also decreased the amount of butter to 3 tbsp. I've added in crumbled bacon a few times. I'm glad so many of you have liked it.

This dish was awesome, and I will definitely make it again. Other than the tedious chore of peeling and cutting potatoes, prep was easy and the cooking times were accurate. Definitely a keeper!

Soooooo good!!!Used a little less butter and didn't measure the ranch, used just enough to coat the potato.

We doubled the cheese (love it) and reduced the butter a little bit. I also reduced the chili powder...not a huge fan of it. Turned out really well. Thanks for the post.

This is a home-run! I made this for a large group of teenagers and they loved it! I used a 5 lb bag of russets, peeled and cubed them. Put them all in a large bowl and tossed with olive oil and the dry ingredients. I then baked as directed. I used no butter and used seasoned salt instead of regular. After the hour was up, I mixed in a bag of shredded mixed cheddar cheese and a bottle of light ranch. I then put it all in a crock pot on warm because I was transporting it to a dinner. It was the hit of the dinner and a perfect take and go dish for a pot luck dinner. Next time I will try with a spicy ranch as someone suggested. I bet that is amazing. Thanks for a great recipe! This is a keeper!

I already reviewed this once, I just wanted to add a suggestion -- instead of using plain Ranch dressing, try one of the flavored varieties now available. I used "Spicy" last time I made this, and it was delicious!

Made this dish instead of my old potato casserole standby for a dinner with the neighbors. Everyone loved it! I followed other reviewers' suggestion to cut the butter by 1/2. I also sauteed 1/2 an onion and a tsp of minced garlic in the butter, mixed in the spices (I used Montreal steak seasoning in lieu of the salt and pepper) and then poured it over the potatoes in the buttered dish. Came out perfectly. Thanks for an awesome recipe!

Mmmm, this was good. I omitted the butter completely and used onion salt instead of normal salt. I also sprinkled some chopped green onion over the top of the potatoes to add some colour.

Awesome! Here are my revisions: Use red potatoes, they hold together better. Melt the butter, pour on top, toss the potatoes. Evenly sprinkle the chili powder, salt and pepper and toss again. Everything is now evenly coated. At the end, after the cheese and dressing are mixed in, cover the top with either French fried onions or plain corn flakes. Yum! Yum!

Great recipe...with my own sensational twist. Tried several times as is, delicious. Then had a bright idea (happens once in a blue moon). My fav dressing is Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion. So I substituted that for the Ranch. All I can say is that once you've had it this way, you'll never go back! Other than that wouldn't change a thing except as others have noted to consider reducing the amount of butter to just enough to coat the potatoes, @ 3 maybe 4 Tbsp. A small prep tip that might come in handy is to put the seasonings in a bowl, then add the potatoes and mix thoroughly to coat, followed by folding in the melted butter. This helps cover the surface of all the potatoes evenly. Then scoop the potatoes into your baking dish and finish preparing per directions.

My boyfriend and I brought this to a little bbq with some friends of ours and I'm pretty sure this was the favorite dish of all! The girls and I were already picking at it while the guys made the burgers. There were only 6 of us, and there was nothing left to take home! I threw in some bacon bits and topped it off with a little sprinkling of cheese. Thank you for this wonderfully simple recipe Jenny! UPDATE: I made this a second time for my boyfriend and his family, definitely sub the salt with seasoning salt or leave it all out, turned out really salty the second time I made it.

No dressing so subbed 2 tbl dry ranch mix, omitted salt and pepper and added 1 tbl cajun seasoning instead. After cubing potatoes ( 8 red potatoes) I put them in a tupperware bowl with 2 tbl (NOT 6) butter, microwaved till butter melted, put in seasonings and stirred to evenly coat. Sprayed 9x13 with pam, baked potatoes for 45 minutes, they were fork tender, added shredded cheddar (what I had on hand) and put back in oven for 5 minutes. I like the chili powder in this recipe :) Thanks!

I really wanted to like these, but alas did not. I don't think the ranch dressing did anythng for it.

great potatoes, I did not use the whole bottle of dressing, maybe a cup full was enough. I have prepared these the night before and left in the fridge ready to bake the next day, very time friendly recipe

changed the recipe a bit just to add in more flavor and to use what I had on hand. Came out AMAZING and will be doing again. First I added 1 tsp. onion powder as well as 1 tsp garlic powder, used 1 tsp creole seasoning along with the chili powder. Baked for 1 hr. Instead of adding a whole bottle of ranch dressing I used fat free sour cream and mixed in a ranch packet along with the cheese. It came out PERFECT and flavorful creaminess! with adding in about 1 tsp onion powder as well as 1 tsp garlic powder.

These potatoes were great! I scaled the recipe down to 4 servings (just hubby and me). Sliced the potatoes instead of diced with skins left on, added 1/2 sliced red onion and reduced amount of butter. Only cooked covered for 45 minutes (1 hour at 400 degrees seemed too long). Added extra cheese and topped with bacon bits. Delicious!

Per other reviews PLEASE omit the butter and salt, the cheese has enough grease without the butter and the Ranch has enough salt. I made a breakfast casserole out of the left over potatos in the same dish. Gently smash down the potatos in the dish. In bowl mix 6 eggs, 3 Tbsp of sourcream (or add milk), precooked bacon, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and some tarragon. Put in fridge overnight and it is ready to bake in morning 375 oven for 45 minutes.

These potatoes were very good. I made the recipe as written and we enjoyed these very much. Thanks for posting the recipe.

This was fabulous. I tossed in some cubed ham halfway through cook time to make it an easy weeknight dinner.

OMG YUM! I'm tellin' you. This was great! Even my husband, who only likes mashed potatoes asked me to make this again. Make sure you cut the potato pieces small. And I used a little more chili powder, added some garlic powder, and only used about 3 tbs of butter (that i also cut into small cubes and spread evenly over the potatoes. Then i mixed the cheese and ranch together and just put on top of the potatoes, and put back in the oven on broil to give the cheese a little golden color.

Good basic recipe; after reading other reviews I went the melted butter route and used less of it. Also used seasoning salt instead of regular salt. Happy with the results! Thank you!

I got TONS of compliments the two times that I've made this dish. Didn't have chili powder, so I improvised with seasoned salt, pepper, paprika, cajun seasoning, and garlic powder. Then I roasted the potatoes on a baking sheet to crisp them a bit. Next, mixed in the ranch, cheese, chopped green onions, and bacon (used salad topper for time saving). SO good! Didn't even use the butter the second time and it was just as tasty

Easy and delish!

Very Good! I read the reviews and did add more Ranch dressing, used seasoned salt and a bit more chili powder and it turned out great! I also used the frozen potatoes which cut prep time and baking time down considerably. I made this for my in-laws and husband for a birthday dinner and everyone loved it!

I made this in the slow-cooker for a work luncheon and there was nothing leftover. Everyone asked me for the recipe. I'd say it was a success.

The kids really enjoyed this one.

I cut this down for me and my two year old. Did add the onions and bacon bits as suggested in someone else's remarks. This was a WONDERFUL dish. Will definitely be making it again. Adding it to my family favorites. My two year old gobbled it down. And he usually won't eat any potatoes except mashed or french fries. Thanks for the great recipe. :)

I completely forgot to add the butter, but my family still enjoyed these potatoes with bacon bits added with the cheese.

Too much butter as written. I used olive oil instead and mixed the oil, spices, and potatoes in a bowl prior to putting in the baking pan. Added a few more spices and the potatoes were awesome!

We didn't care for this recipe at all. If you like pouring ranch dressing over a baked potato, then this is the recipe for you - otherwise skip it.

I mostly followed the recipe & took a few tips from the reviews. I reduced by half for our family size & used a 2 lb. bag of baby red potatoes because that was what I had on hand. I combined the dry seasonings in a small bowl, put the cubed potatoes in a ziploc & poured 2 tbsp. of melted butter on potatoes then added the seasoning mix. Much easier to make sure everything is coated that way. I also did follow the suggestion & substitute seasoned salt for regular. This recipe was very simple to make & flavorful. Thanks for sharing it!

I made this for a potluck, and it was tasty. I reduced the butter like other reviewers suggested, and I'm glad I did! I didn't peel the potatoes either, and it turned out just fine. The chili powder and ranch dressing give this a nice flavor, but I think next time I'll add some onion and bacon to give it more of a baked potato kind of taste. This recipe is a great base to work from. The leftovers were delicious too! I heated the potatoes up, added crumbled bacon and scrambled eggs and it made a really tasty, filling morning meal.

OMG! This is not a dieter's recipe but definitely sinful indulgence! Added bacon too to make it even more naughty (but oh so good, as bacon makes just about everything yummier!). A little goes a long way in this recipe. Family loved it.

as written, this is a 3.5. I've since worked on this and now think I have it. Add about a quarter cup of finely minced onion, 1/4 finely minced celery, and 2 cloves of minced garlic to the initial potatoes. Salt, pepper, and maybe garlic salt & paprika. Cover the potatoes in olive oil to lightly coat and "season" with a bit of melted butter. The butter shouldn't add anything more than a bit of flavor, not grease. Store the cooked potatoes overnight in light ranch dressing (about 7 oz. or less) and some of the cheddar cheese. Finish the following day with lots of cheese and bacon bits.

This is an easy potato dish, full of starch creating a great comfort food. I admit, though, that it's a bit heavy for my liking, but for those people who love the heavy foods, such as biscuits and gravy or mashed taters and country fried steak, this would probably be a winner. The kids love this stuff and half the time prefer eating it to the entrees I prepare. Does that mean I should work on my entrees??!

This was good. I wasnt sure about the warm dressing, kinda through me off a bit but sill wasnt bad, I think I may make this again sometime

I made this for a Christmas party and everyone enjoyed it. I will definitely be making this on the regular. I made a slight adjustment by using taco seasoning instead of chili powder since that is all we had on hand. Also, used less butter as others have suggested.

These were great for our barbeque with ribs! I also topped these with cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Delicious!!

GREAT!!! My husband and I just loved them. I added some bacon and wow what flavor.

I have now cooked this recipe about 14 times since finding it since it is now in demand wherever I seem to go. I took the advice of the other posters and cut back on the butter; also added bacon bits both mixed in and thrown on top. Everyone has pretty much had the same response to this dish: it is like a baked potato ONLY BETTER!

Delish. I used 1 tsp chili powder, because I use the chili powder I get at the Indian grocery store, and it was still HOT. I also added in 1/2 of a chopped onion mixed in with the potatoes. Per previous reviews, I halved the butter and used lite Ranch. This is a keeper.

These potatoes were awesome but mine were still kind of crunchy when I took them out of the oven. Next time I will leave them in for an extra 15-20 minutes.

Fantastic recipe! I added onions and it almost turned out like scalloped potatoes with a bit of a kick! Excellent re-heated the next day.

This was really good and relatively easy to make. The chili powder gives it a very interesting flavor, but the dish does seem to be lacking in something. I'll try this again and add some bell peppers and a little minced garlic.

This was a little disappointing and didn't have as much zip as I was hoping it would.

Waaaay too much prep time. If I were to make this again, I'd just boil chunks. It'd be faster & maybe better, too. If you boil, add a little vinegar to the water. It will help with keeping them white & slightly firm. Time 2: Tried these again - to use up frozen shredded potatoes for hashbrowns. 'Can't say my review changed. 'Just not that good. Not bad, but not worth making either. 'Did use up my hashbrowns though, but they weren't a hit with those either.

3 out of 4 children liked this, and one parent (me), all in all it was a good solid side dish. However, none of us could taste the chili powder in the dish at all, don't think it did anything to the over all flavor of the dish. So in my opinion, it either needs to be omitted or increased, if increased omit the salt. The overall taste was for us, the cheese and ranch dressing. Would make again.

Beauty of this one is, no precision required. Sprinkle and pour - whatever you think would be good. We add the bacon bits and the french fried onions. It's delicious.

I made this recipe while on vacation and didn't want to have to bring along a big heavy bag of potatoes so I planned on buying the small precut ones at the store. They didn't have them and all I could find were the tatertots so I tried it with them. So good! I crumbled them up and baked the entire thing like the directions say. It added an extra crunch and were a big hit with my family. The tater tots also made this a very fast and easy meal to prepare. Great for a big group of people.

Not only am I giving this recipe five stars because it tastes good, but now we can say it is award winning! I made this for a 'bake-off' competition at my work and am happy to say it won first place in the side dish category! I prepared this dish with the skins on the potatoes and added about a package and a half of cheese. I cooked it in the oven that morning and warmed it in the crockpot on low for three hours until lunch. My pot not only burned everything on the edges but also contained potatoes swimming in a brown and oily mess (I guess from the cheese and butter sitting on low for too long). HOWEVER, by the end of lunch time the entire pot was *empty*, and I had compliments on the dish for two weeks afterwards! I made the potatoes a second time for my family at home, and they came out simply fabulous. This recipe is a must-try!

I omitted the butter as many other reviews suggested and found it too dry. I put in about 4 Tbsp butter while mixing in the ranch and the cheese to get the texture I wanted. I then put it in a crock pot on warm so that I could take it to the in-laws for dinner, and I dont know if the crock pot contributed to the dryness, but by the time we ate it, it wasnt creamy anymore. Also, the warm ranch dressing flavor was slightly odd. Still tasty, but I will go back to cheese hashbrown casserole for next time.

Very yummy! This was a hit at our ANTI-Superbowl party. I'd add a little more chili powder though...needs a little more "heat". Thank you for a great recipe, JennyBrianne.

Absolutely amazing!!! Super easy, super good....couldn't stop eating it! The flavor is perfect, and the potatoes cook just right...I would make this every day if I didn't worry about my weight! Definitely a keeper!

Took this to a potluck dinner last night and everyone loved it! I added a little more Ranch and baked it uncovered for a little crunch.

Excellent - I made it with no butter (just no-stick spray on the pan), and it was plenty rich enough. The kids proclaimed them the best potatoes they've ever had.

Left out the butter & didn't miss it; with the kick from the chili powder and creaminess from the ranch dressing, this is my new favorite side dish!

It was amazing. Smelled really good in the oven. I used yukon gold potato. I added some jalapeno havarti for spice.

Made just as written except used regular white potatoes. Great side dish.

This is a great comfort food dish!

The only thing I can think of to make this better would be bacon . . . which I believe I will add the next time I make it.

I agree with others - this does not need all the butter. I used 4 tbsp and next time will use even less. The chili is a nice touch! Pretty good recipe!

Absolutely delicious! I made a few modifications -- added 1/3 lb. cooked and crumbled bacon with the dressing. I also used 8oz of low fat sour cream, about 1/3- 1/2 cup skim milk (enough to make it the right consistency), and a package of ranch dressing mix (3 tbls)in place of the bottled dressing. Served it with smoked ribs and my guests went wild!!!

This was really good! I peeled the potatoes and cut the butter in half. Also added bacon like other people suggested. Next time I may do all of the butter because it was a tad dry. Very yummy and will definitely made again!

These were pretty good, but seemed to lack seasoning. I took the advice of others and cut the butter down to 3 Tbsp, but that was even too much and was still floating around the edges. Next time I'm going to kick up the seasoning to make these spicy and add some green chilies and jalapenos.

This was way too rich and greasy. Even my husband that typically loves this kind of recipe didn't eat it.

I used a little more than 4 pounds of potatoes, only used 5 tablespoons of butter and a little more cheese. It was good. Might make again.

My BF is not a big potato fan and when he walked in and smelled these cooking he had to know what it was! These were awesome! Will make these a regular in our house! Thanks for a great recipe!

WOWSERS! I plan on making this often! As per other reviews I used half the amount of butter, which I melted & then mixed with the chili powder/salt/pepper before tossing with the taters to give better coverage. Also, 1/4" cubes seemed really small so mine were more like 1/2 - 1" sized & cooked perfectly in the time suggested. I also subbed extra sharp cheddar cheese. And it turned out YUM YUM YUMMY!

Easy & delicious! I used fat free ranch dressing and only added about a tablespoon (or maybe even less) of butter, following the many suggestions to cut back. I also used cheddar cheese, since that's what I had on hand. This one is a definite keeper!

This came out very well and my guest was upset there were no seconds!

Loved it!! Little less butter and I sprinkled Hidden Valley dressing mix lightly on top before adding cheese! IT was AMAZING!! Thank you!

very good, next time i will try adding bacon and green onions like others have suggested!

These were delicious! I served them with BBQ brisket and mixed veggies! Definatley use seasoning salt to give more flavor!

Let me just start this off by saying this...AMAZING!!! Hands down the best potato dish I have ever had. I made a few changes to accommodate what I had on hand. I used yukon gold potatoes. I sprinkled them with chili powder and season salt. Next, after the potatoes were done cooking for an hour I added homemade ranch dressing. I only had about 1/2 a cup of dressing so I added milk to that to make it go further. I then only had monterey jack cheese so I added that to the potatoes. Talk about amazing!!! This was a hit with my husband and my 5 year old son! Definitely will be keeping this in my arsenal of favorite recipes.

This was great! I added seasoned salt and cut butter in half as suggested, and also added 1/2 a cup of diced raw onions into potato mixture at the beginning. These were great even before adding the ranch and cheese- they'll be my new go-to potato recipe!

Very Tasty! I loved the combination of ranch, cheese and spices! I will probably cut back on the butter next time, but really enjoyed it as written.

Probably not the most healthy side dish I could make, but my kids will eat it so I will cut waaay back on the butter and use a good homemade dressing. It was delicious. I topped with Panko breadcrumbs just to get it a little crunch (because my son like it.). Excellent recipe. I will probably add in some of the Oscar Meyer bacon pieces next time and shred in a little onion (because my son likes the taste, but not the texture.)

The only thing I changed was the amount of butter and I used homemade ranch. These were very good and I did not find them greasy at all!

I love this recipe. **Add some Chicken, and your fav veggies (i added onions, broccoli, peas, and mushrooms) and OMG YUMMY!!!

i made a few changes, but im sure no matter how you make this it will turn out awesome!...i pre-boiled the potatoes. added salt, pepper, garlic powder, diced onions. baked for about 15 mins. added ranch, cheese and crumbled bacon. topped with panko bread crumbs and baked for another 5 or so minutes. SOOOO good! i cant wait to make this again! i will probably use fresh garlic instead of powder next time though.

These were great! I cut the butter back to 2 tablespoons and worked out great. My family loved them! If you are not a fan of chili powder, substitute a light sprinkling of paprika instead.

This recipe was delicious. The only change I made was using cheddar cheese instead of the monterey jack because thats what I had on hand. I will be making this again!

This was flavorful, but did find it to be a bit greasy. I think next time I'd omit the butter and opt for cooking spray instead. I will also use a bit more potatoes, maybe mine were too small, but there was a lot more 'stuff' than potato here. I think with the above named alterations, tho, that this would deserve 4 stars.

This was a tasty potato dish and a nice change from regular au gratin potatoes. I halved the recipe and used 1/2 packet of ranch seasoning mixed with 1/2 cup buttermilk. Yum!

Made this for my church small group dinner tonight and it was a hit! It was the first dish empty and I had several people ask for the recipe. I decided to omit the butter after reading the other reviews and instead tossed the potatoes in extra virgin olive oil along with the spices. Also subbed season salt for the regular salt. This dish is delicious!

This is a good recipe. I have made it twice now and I like it the second time better. I put more cream cheese (whipped for a more smooth creamy texture), sour cream and butter. I didn't bake it the second time. I thought going exactly by the recipe and putting it in the oven dried it out. Don't put it in the oven and it comes out so much better.

VERY VERY GOOD!!! Everybody loved it..... I put a whole stick of butter though and added a little more cheese...... just cause I know my family....LOL

YUM! Just finished eating dinner and these potatoes are a 5 star winner! I cut the recipe in half and had more than plenty for my family of 5. I wasn't sure how the chili powder would taste with the dressing, but it was a nice combination! I did use light ranch dressing and cheddar cheese because that was what I had on hand. Tasted like a loaded baked potato...next time may have to add some crumbled bacon! Thanks for a great recipe!

Had some potatoes to use so i thought i would try these. My oven does cook hot so i set timer for 45. Did check them at 30 mins and they were mush. So think i will make mashed potatoes with them if itry again i will not cover