The 2-Ingredient Mix That Makes Mississippi Mud Potatoes So Rich And Creamy
Mississippi mud potatoes may not have the most alluring name, but the dish itself promises creamy, dreamy, and (most importantly) cheesy results. It's a baked, potato-based dish that features starchy spuds, bacon, lots of cheese, plus a mixture of mayonnaise and sour cream, which gives the dish its signature silky texture. Incidentally, you can also make a chocolate cake with those last two ingredients. A few things happen when you combine these two fridge-staples. Of course, you get a rich texture to whatever you add mayo and sour cream to, including these potatoes. The oil and eggs (or egg yolks) in mayonnaise mixed with the cream in sour cream make a velvety emulsion, which wraps around potatoes beautifully.
You'll also get an unmatched flavor. The mayonnaise gives you some sweetness and just a little acidity, and the sour cream adds tanginess so, despite the richness of a dish like Mississippi mud potatoes, the mixture is actually quite balanced. Mayo paired with sour cream is a pretty common culinary combination; people use it in chicken and tuna salads, coleslaw, salad dressings, sauces (I like to mix the two for fish taco sauce), and dips like spinach artichoke and classic ranch. As for the curious name of the dish, the origin story isn't clear, but it's safe to assume that it began in the Magnolia State, perhaps on the muddy banks of the Mighty Mississippi River.
Mississippi mud potatoes are easy to make
Arguably, one of the best potato recipes, Mississippi mud potatoes is a type of casserole, but rather than rely on things like just sour cream, milk, or condensed soup like in other casseroles, it includes mayonnaise as well. To make them, you combine diced, peeled potatoes with mayo, sour cream, shredded cheese, green onion, crumbled cooked bacon, and some seasonings, and place the mixture into a baking pan. The dish bakes until the potatoes are cooked, and the top is browned. It's basically everything you'd put on a loaded baked potato, just in casserole form. With that said, Mississippi mud potatoes is a fantastic side dish for steaks, grilled chicken, fish, prime rib, or lamb chops.
The specific combination of mayonnaise and sour cream is what most recipes for the dish call for because it will result in that super-creamy texture Mississippi mud potatoes are known for. But, if you need to substitute ingredients or maybe just want to lighten up the dish some, you have options. You can use thick Greek yogurt in place of either the mayo or the sour cream. (Here's a word of caution, though: The Greek yogurt you buy in the store might not be Greek at all.) Mixing cream cheese with yogurt will also give you a nice, rich sauce that's perfect for mixing into this dish, plus you won't lose the tang that would otherwise come from sour cream. You can also blitz protein-rich cottage cheese with some milk and use this in place of the sour cream.