Who DOESN’T love a hearty side dish recipe to pair with burgers, chicken, or a nice ham?! Today I wanted to share with you this deliciously easy Baked Loaded Mashed Potatoes side dish recipe that I got courtesy of my friends at Sugardale! This month I had the pleasure of going to visit Fresh Mark, which is the parent company of Sugardale. They have been in the pork business for nearly 100 years and sell things such as ham, hot dogs, and bacon ! Their company is family owned and operated and they take obvious pride in producing quality products for their customers. Today I’ll walk you through this awesome recipe, as well as what learned about how bacon is made!
Are you wondering — how is bacon made?
I’m excited to be partnering with OhioPork.org to share this yummy recipe and blog post for you. All opinions are my own.
I headed up to Massillon, Ohio a few weeks ago, which is near my hometown, and I got to spend the day chatting with their knowledgeable and fun staff, learning about how bacon is made, and all the fun things that Fresh Mark does in the community! We even got to try out new recipe creations in their test kitchen (yes, it’s as cool as it sounds!).
They walked us through their factory and showed us how bacon is made from the start to finish…and let me just tell you, it puts a whole new perspective not just on how BACON is made, but how much work goes into each and every product that we pick up at the store. Everything you buy has a story and a process and it’s so cool to see how much hard work and care goes into bringing you good food!! Fresh Mark showed us how they make Sugardale bacon when we went and it’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget!!
Pork bellies start by arriving fresh into their warehouse. Fun fact: this facility alone produces enough bacon to feed 650 million people breakfast each year!! Once the pork bellies are arrived in, they are treated with a special brine in different sugars and spices to give the bacon it’s signature Sugardale flavor!!
Once brined, the pork bellies are hung and go into a MASSIVE smoke house to be smoked. 
The pork bellies are then smoked with natural hickory hardwood chips until the internal temperature is brought up to 120 degrees F then the bellies are sent to chillers to bring the temperature down quickly. Something I never realized about bacon is that it comes to us already smoked, even though it’s raw. 
After the smoked pork bellies are brought down to the temperature where it needs to be, they get “compressed” and are sent in to be sliced up and packaged. This is the part we see at the end as consumers as the final packaged products of delicious and fresh bacon!!
The whole tour was really neat and I definitely would say that if you ever have an opportunity to explore how bacon is made or how ANYTHING is made for that matter…you should take the chance. It’s very cool to see.
Baked Loaded Mashed Potatoes
So maybe you want to know how to make this delicious side dish recipe now?! Because everything is better with bacon in it!!
First, you start by peeling and boiling your potatoes and mashing them up. *Consider cooking your potatoes in an instant pot if you want to save time!* Once your potatoes are cooked, you get to mix in all the things that make them “loaded”.
I cook my Sugardale bacon in the oven, then gently chop it into little pieces to top my mashed potatoes off with. Fold all the ingredients in, then top with cheese, bacon, and chives and bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven until the cheese is fully melted and browned.
It comes out of oven bubbly and gooey and amazing and completely full of flavor!! Just dish some out with your favorite protein and you will have one very happy family!
Be sure to grab the full recipe below and pin this for later!!
Baked Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 5 lbs potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon diced garlic
- 1 stick butter
- 1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese cubed
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 cups cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup milk
- salt and pepper
- 1 package Sugardale Bacon chopped
- scallions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel and cute potatoes. Place into a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.
- While potatoes are cooking, cook bacon in the oven for 15 minutes or until crisp. Remove from oven and chop into small pieces.
- Once potatoes are cooked, drain water and then mash with a potato masher. Add in butter, cream cheese, sour cream, garlic, and 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Mix well and add in milk if needed to get desired consistency. Add salt and pepper as desired.
- In a greased baking dish, dump in your potato mixture, then top with 1 cup of cheddar cheese, bacon, and chopped scallions. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until cheese is melted and beginning to brown. Serve warm!
Thanks again to Sugardale for hosting our visit and be sure to visit their site for more delicious bacon recipes!!
Here’s another yummy recipe using bacon!!
