A creamy, cheesy potato spinach casserole with a Southwestern flavor twist! This simple potato casserole is a flexible dish that works well for dinner, potlucks or breakfast!
This recipe was born out of a need to use up a huge amount of home grown potatoes. My Veggie Potato Bake (from 2022’s garden haul!) is super popular here, so I know we all love a pan of cheesy potatoes… but I thought there was room in the world for a Southwestern Tex Mex version, so here we are!
The potatoes and fresh spinach are cooked with onions and pepper in a seasoned sour cream sauce with diced green chiles (the kind you get from cans, ideally, for the tang value) with lots of crispy cheese on top. There’s plenty of scope to add other ingredients if you wish.
For practical reasons I have always made this dish for dinner, and it works great as a side dish, but I feel like it could be its truest self at the breakfast table with some eggs and beans and salsa. If you are more of a morning person than I am, you should totally try this!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- You can use any type of potatoes here. Some will just cook faster than others, some will be softer, some will stay firmer. I tried this mostly with my homegrowns but also with supermarket baking potatoes. It all works, even if it’s not exactly the same every time.
- Diced green chiles are a common ingredient in North America but a specialist retailer / Amazon purchase elsewhere (sorry!) They are roasted, diced and canned in water (which becomes thick, saucy and tangy). It’s not something you can easily replicate if you don’t have them, but if you’re not able to source any, just feel free to use a couple of fresh chopped green chilis instead. It is a different flavor but still good! You would add them to the pan at the same time as the garlic.
- Another alternative to diced green chiles would be salsa, for fresh tangy flavor, instead. Again this won’t be the same, but it will lend strong Southwestern flavor in a different way which is what we’re ultimately going for.
- I like to serve this with some chopped cilantro (fresh coriander) if I have it to hand. You can throw some into the casserole too if you like the flavor (alongside the spinach).
- I find a cheddar / mozzarella mix works best for this dish but feel free to use a Mexican blend or anything else you like. I also prefer to use the pre-shredded stuff here, because it is drier. When I grate cheddar off the block to make this I find the result more oily, especially the leftovers. It’s not a deal breaker, just something to bear in mind.
- If you want to add heat to this casserole, use the spicy canned green chiles and consider adding some fresh red chiles too.
More uses for canned green chiles
Did you have to open a larger can and only use half? Did you have to order in a whole batch? Let me help you use up the rest…
Southwestern Potato & Spinach Casserole
A creamy, cheesy potato spinach casserole with a Southwestern flavor twist! This simple potato casserole is a flexible dish that works well for dinner, potlucks or breakfast!
Ingredients
- 1 medium white or brown onion
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1.75 lbs (800 g) potatoes, see notes
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 cup sour cream
- 7 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 oz canned diced green chiles, mild or spicy – whichever you prefer
- 2-3 cups shredded cheese, cheddar or a mix
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 430F / 220C / 200C fan.
- Get the onions and peppers cooking before doing anything else.Scatter the onions and peppers into a casserole dish with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Mix through, ensuring all of the onions and peppers have a very light coating of oil. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the onions and peppers are soft and browning on the edges.1 medium white or brown onion, 1 large red bell pepper
- While the onions and peppers are cooking, you can peel, chop and boil your potatoes in well salted water until they are tender but not so soft they are falling apart. (they will probably need 10-15 minutes, depending on how big the pieces are and what type of potatoes you're using).1.75 lbs potatoes
- Once the onions and peppers are ready*, remove them from the oven and immediately mix the garlic through the pan so it can toast a little with the residual heat. *It's OK if they're ready before the potatoes are finished boiling. Once you add the garlic, just leave the pan to one side to wait for the potatoes.4 cloves garlic
- Bump the oven temperature down to 400F / 200C / 180C fan – this is the temperature we will bake the casserole.
- Whisk together the sour cream and dried spices in a bowl, and set aside.2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 cup sour cream, 2 tsp dried oregano
- Once they're finished cooking, drain the potatoes and add them to the pan along with the sour cream mixture and diced green chiles. Add salt and pepper to taste – I would recommend being generous. Stir it all through.2 oz canned diced green chiles
- Add the spinach, one handful of the cheese, and mix that through.7 oz fresh spinach, 2-3 cups shredded cheese
- Cover with the remaining cheese and bake (uncovered) for 20-25 minutes.2-3 cups shredded cheese
- The casserole is ready when the cheese is crisp and it's bubbling. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Potato amounts: Anywhere between 1.5 lbs and 2 lbs should work fine here but if you go on the higher end consider adding a couple extra spoonfuls of sour cream to keep it moist enough. The weight I give is after peeling.
Calories: 363kcal, Carbohydrates: 32g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 60mg, Sodium: 327mg, Potassium: 944mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 4606IU, Vitamin C: 75mg, Calcium: 385mg, Iron: 3mg
Absolutely delicious, the potato and spinach bake. So tasty! Thank you. Jean
Absolutely delicious. I will taking this to bbq’s as a side dish in the future. Love it!