Sunny’s Casserole–a loaded mashed potato casserole with bacon, cheese, french fried onions and cream cheese. Made with the help of your Instant Pot or slow cooker.

Sunny’s Casserole
If you’re looking for the tastiest potato side dish look no further! These potatoes are super addicting and a crowd pleaser, for sure. I’m surprised to say it but the key to this recipe’s flavor is the onion pulp…a little goes a long way for flavor. If you want to skip the baking step at the end you can certainly do that. Enjoy! (This recipe is adapted from Sunny’s Easy Loaded Baked Potato Casserole on Food Network.)
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Russet potatoes–or yukon gold
- Butter
- Cream cheese
- Greek yogurt–or sour cream
- Onion–yellow or white
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Pepper jack cheese
- Bacon–or bacon crumbles
- French fried onions
- Sharp cheddar cheese
Steps
Pour 1½ cups water into bottom of Instant Pot. Add potatoes into a steamer basket. Drop the basket into the Instant Pot. Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 8 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid. Remove the steamer basket, set aside. Discard the water.

Add potatoes into instant pot liner and mash. Stir in the butter, cream cheese, yogurt, onion pulp, salt, pepper, half of the bacon and pepper jack.

Spread the mixture in a 9×9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the french fried onions, half the of bacon and cheddar on top.

Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- Serve as a side dish to ham, steak, bbq chicken, etc.
- Grated onion pulp refers to the juicy, mushy mixture you get when you finely grate a raw onion using a box grater or microplane. It includes both the liquid and the finely shredded flesh, creating a strong, flavorful paste.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with greek yogurt are Instant Pot Starbucks Egg Bites and Skinny Casserole.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.


Sunny’s Casserole
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A loaded mashed potato casserole with bacon, cheese, french fried onions and cream cheese. Made with the help of your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp grated onion pulp
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 4 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled (divided)
- 1/2 cup french fried onions
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Pour 1½ cups water into bottom of Instant Pot. Add potatoes into a steamer basket. Drop the basket into the Instant Pot. Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 8 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid. Remove the steamer basket, set aside. Discard the water.
- Add potatoes into instant pot liner and mash. Stir in the butter, cream cheese, yogurt, onion pulp, salt, pepper, half of the bacon and pepper jack.
- Spread the mixture in a 9×9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the french fried onions, half the of bacon and cheddar on top.
- Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Pour 1½ cups water into bottom of slow cooker. Add in the potatoes. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours, or until potatoes are tender. Discard the water.
- Mash the potatoes. Stir in the butter, cream cheese, yogurt, onion pulp, salt, pepper, half of the bacon and pepper jack. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
- Sprinkle the french fried onions, half the of bacon and cheddar on top and let the cheese melt.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Side
- Method: Instant Pot and Oven

More mashed potato dishes…
Pennsylvania Dutch Potatoes
Mashed potatoes crossed with stuffing make a perfect side dish to turkey, ham or chicken.
Rumbledthumps
A tasty potato and cabbage side dish that you can make in the Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Bob Clark Casserole
A cozy Instant Pot casserole with layers of seasoned tangy BBQ ground beef, green beans, buttery mashed potatoes and melted cheddar.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.




I would like to see a video of how to make the onion 🧅 as I have never heard of this. How about homemade French fried onions so I can figure out how to make gluten free?