Buffalo Chicken Baked Potato Casserole

So Pintrest is awesome.  I've snagged tons of cute ideas off there this year and ended up with some great gifts and decor around the house, and in light of my success I decided to start trying some recipes.  It seems like we eat the same 4 meals over and over.  So I browsed Pintrest for hours and pinned the ones that looked worthy of my time and our picky eating habits.  My first attempt was "The World's Best Pork chops".  Sounds good enough.  WRONG.  A better name for these would have been "Are You Sure That Was a Pork chop?"  Total Pinstrosity.  Attempt number two, however, was a total success. Enter Buffalo Chicken Baked Potato Casserole.

This is seriously the most delicious casserole ever.  And who even likes casseroles?  The original pin came from Cook Lisa Cook but I down-sized it a little to make it more manageable for my small family. Either way, it is easy to half or double for however many your serving.

You will need: 

• 1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 6 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 TBS. freshly ground pepper
• 1 TBS. paprika 
• 2 TBS. garlic powder
• 6 TBS. hot sauce  ( I use Franks Buffalo Sauce)
• 1 bag Fiesta Blend Cheese or shredded cheese of your choice.
• 1 c. crumbled bacon
• 1 c diced green onion

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Cube your potatoes and chicken.  Make the pieces similar in size.

In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder & hot sauce.

Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. 

Scoop your coated potatoes in your pan, leaving behind as much of the marinade as possible. 

Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until crispy & brown on the outside.

 

While your potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the leftover marinade and stir to coat. Put in the fridge.

Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees.  

 Add your marinated chicken to the cooked potatoes.

  Top your entire casserole with the shredded cheese, bacon, and green onions.

Stick the casserole back in the oven and bake for 15- 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly.  Serve with ranch or blue cheese.

** If hot sauce isn't your thing or you want to serve to younger kids, other chefs have used their favorite BBQ sauce as the marinade.