Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole

This recipe takes a little while to cook but it is really good and simple. I thought with all the hot sauce that this recipe calls for that it would be super spicy but it is not, it just adds a little heat.

For the original recipe go here http://cooklisacook.blogspot.com/2012/03/loaded-potato-buffalo-chicken-casserole.html .

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 8-10 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes  (I left the skin on.)

      Sauce: (I made 1 batch of this sauce for the chicken and 1 for the potatoes because I did not have very much left for the chicken once I tossed the potatoes in it. So I actually used double of all the ingredients below.)

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt 
• 1 tbs. freshly ground pepper 
• 1 tbs. paprika 
• 2 tbs. garlic powder
• 6 tbs. hot sauce 

     Topping:

• 2 cup Fiesta Blend Cheese or a mix of Cheddar & Monterey Jack
• 1 cup crumbled bacon 
• 1 cup diced green onion

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 500F.  
2. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder & hot sauce.  Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat.  
3. Carefully scoop the potatoes into a cooking spray coated 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. (This is when I made a new batch of sauce to coat my chicken.) 
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.  Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious. (I cooked mine for 20 minutes and it was done perfectly.)  
8. Serve with extra hot sauce and/or ranch dressing.