Mississippi Mud Potatoes Will Become Your New Go-To Side Dish

The term “Mississippi mud” isn’t typically associated with potatoes — most of us are probably more familiar with the chocolate-y dessert instead. However, a side dish called Mississippi mud potatoes calls for chopped spuds, bacon, cheese, and more goodness.

No, there isn’t any chocolate, but this dish has our full attention.

The recipe comes from the blog Mama Plus One, and according to the author, this is a family recipe she discovered that is a big hit with anyone who tries it.

The recipe card provided an explanation for the side dish’s name: “They’re named for the famous river because they’re LONG on taste and MIGHTY good!” And we’ll certainly take her word for it!

To make these potatoes as a delicious side option, you’ll need diced potatoes, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, cooked bacon and green onions.

Combine everything and bake until the potatoes are soft and the cheese is melty and browned to perfection:

While it could be a side dish, Mama Plus One also recommends adding hamburger meat or chicken to turn this into an entree.

Another version of this recipe from The Cookin’ Chicks proves that this dish is pretty easy to customize.

Instead of adding scallions, this take on Mississippi mud potatoes adds in garlic and onions to create something equally delicious:

If mashed potatoes are more your thing, you can make those Mississippi mud-style, too.

This recipe for mashed potato casserole from Dinner At The Zoo calls for the potatoes to be mashed instead of diced and swaps mayonnaise for sour cream.

It still gets topped with plenty of cheese, bacon and chives (which could be easily substituted for green onions) — so it packs in all of the same flavor as the Mississippi-style recipes above:

Who needs chocolate?! Mississippi mud never tasted so good!

Yet another Southern-style recipe for potatoes, cheese and bacon comes from Spicy Southern Kitchen with a new way to use up leftover mashed potatoes.

Fried mashed potato balls combine leftover mashed potatoes and crumbled bacon, jalapeno pepper, seasonings and cheddar cheese. The yummy mixture is then shaped into balls and popped in the fridge to firm up for a while, before being fried on the stove in a Dutch oven.

The blogger behind Spicy Southern Kitchen uses panko breadcrumbs to give the potato balls a crunchy exterior, but you can use any type of breading — or even crushed up corn flakes.

If you’re in the mood for yet more cheesy-potato-y goodness, look no further than this tater tot breakfast casserole from Gonna Want Seconds.

With eggs, tater tots, green onions, breakfast sausage and bacon, this dish is perfect for a hungry crowd.

Or try a crock pot tater tot egg bake from Julie’s Eats and Treats, which bakes up on its own overnight in your crock pot.

In this egg bake, tater tots replace the traditional bread, and they’re combined with cheese, eggs, milk, onions and Canadian bacon for a hearty, savory breakfast bake.

Which one of these cheesy potato-based recipes will you try first?