Loaded Potato and Buffalo Chicken Casserole

This is one recipe that I didn't change a bit! I'm happy to say I, for once in my life, followed a recipe as is!  I made it a bit smaller, but did exactly as laid out on the blog Cook Lisa Cook.

It was time consuming in that it took a bit of cooking time, but it didn't require a lot of work or prep on my part.  What you must know, however, is that it was SPICY.  I mean you toss the potatoes AND the chicken in a hot sauce mixture, so what was I expecting, right?  I topped mine with sour cream. The husband used a little blue cheese. I served it with celery sticks and corn bread.  My spice-loving husband ate two heaping bowls. I ate one and am now planning on a handful of tums for dessert :) It was very tasty though and composed of ingredients I pretty much had on hand.

Loaded Potato and Buffalo Chicken Casserole
(The original website has step-by-step directions here.. if you're the visual type)

Mine looked exactly like the picture above, so I'm sure yours will too!

Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 8-10 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I peeled, the original author didn't... you decided)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 6 Tbsp hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)

Topping:
- 2 c. Shredded cheese (I used the non-seasoned Mexican mix. Cheddar or colby would be fine)
- 1 c. crumbled bacon (I used bacon bits. The ones that are actually real bacon, not those hard crunchy things)
- 1 c diced green onion

1. Preheat oven to 500F (This is NOT a typo, 500F is correct, so beware when you open the oven for that initial eye-brow-blasting gust of hot air).

2. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce. Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. 

3. Carefully scoop the potatoes into a greased 9x13 baking dish, leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mix as possible. 

4. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy & browned on the outside. 

5.  While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the leftover olive oil/hot sauce mix and stir to coat. 

6. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400F. Top the cooked potatoes with the raw marinated chicken. 

7. In a bowl mix together the cheese, bacon & green onion and top the raw chicken with the cheese mix. 

8. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious.

Serve with ranch, sour cream, or blue cheese (or all three if that's your thing).