French Fry Casserole

Do you have one of those favorite childhood dinners that your mom always made? You thought it was so special at the time and always looked forward to it. But now as an adult you realize it's actually quite simple and you can have it whenever you want! I have a few of those recipes, one of which is French Fry Casserole. Now this recipe has many names:

French Fry Casserole

Potato Casserole

Funeral Potatoes

Ollie North Potatoes

My mom called them "Ollie North Potatoes" as a joke because you can use shredded potatoes. Oliver North was in the Marines and involved in a scandal in the 1980s where all the evidence was "accidentally" shredded. My mom has a funny sense of humor.

Whatever you call this casserole by it is very simple to make, filling, and just everything comfort food should be: hot, unhealthy, and good! 

Yummy finished product.

I call it "French Fry Casserole" because I like making it with crinkle cut french fries, but you can mix it up a bit if you'd like. Here's what you need:

Ingredients

1 can cream soup (I used chicken, cheese is also good)

About 1/2 can milk

8oz container or 1 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded cheese, I used plain cheddar

Frozen french fries, hash browns, tater tots, whatever

Ham chunks if desired (side dish; no. main dish; yes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cooking time 30 minutes

Cream together your soup, milk, and sour cream. 

Add about 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, saving some to sprinkle on top. Stir in your french fries or equivalent. There is no exact measurement on this; the more you add the dryer they will be, the less you add you'll have all this gooeyness involved. I used a 32oz bag of crinkle cut fries and put all but a tiny handful in, and I really could have used all of it with how much sauce was in the pan. 

Add in chunks of ham, however much you want. I try to think if this is going to be my main dish or not. If it is I add more ham for the protein and to make it more filling. If you're going to make this a side dish, less ham in smaller pieces would taste good. 

Once it's how you want it, dump the gooey messy mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. I did not spray the pan first, there's no need. If you're making it really dry though, I might just in case. Now sprinkle that extra cheese on top, we all know you want to! Cheese makes everything better! 

Now bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. You're really just cooking the fries here so once things start to brown a tiny bit and the cheese is bubbling you're good to go. 

This stuff is really good. I can't believe how long it's been since I've had it before this day. Probably over 15 years. And that's just sad. My husband liked it, too. He wants to know what it would taste like with chunks of bacon instead of ham. I'm thinking a ranchy sauce, too. Ranch Bacon Potato Casserole. Long name, but it has a nice ring to it.