Do you remember when KFC started doing bowl meals? I don’t know if they still make them, I just remember a few (?) years back seeing advertisements for a bowl full of mashed potatoes, fried chicken pieces, and some cheese. Despite being an incredibly beige looking bowl of food, I liked the concept. I’ve wanted to throw my own colorful twist on those bowls for years. Well, today I finally did it with these Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls. Yay!
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Toppings, toppings, and MORE toppings!
I decided to make my Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls vegetarian, with a mixture of fire roasted corn and black beans as the main topper. I added the requisite cheddar cheese (because cheeeeeese) and then jazzed it up with a few SUPER thin slices of jalapeño, green onion for freshness, and a light drizzle of BBQ sauce. Yes, BBQ sauce. Trust me.
And yes, chicken would still be awesome with this if you don’t want to do vegetarian (try our Honey Chipotle Chicken). I’d go with diced grilled chicken pieces to keep with that smoky theme.
Use Your Favorite Mashed Potatoes
I’m going to leave it to you to prepare your mashed potato base using your favorite recipe, but the more flavorful they are the better your bowl will be. I made some quick Instant Pot mashed potatoes because it’s my favorite and easiest way to make them, and I used vegetable broth this time instead of chicken broth to keep the bowl vegetarian. You can find my recipe for Instant Pot mashed Potatoes in this Apple Spice Pork Chop Meal Prep blog post. That said, my classic mashed potatoes recipe will always hold a special place in my heart. Two other delicious options are my dairy-free Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes or my Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes.
Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
- 6 cups prepared mashed potatoes ($2.17)
- 2 cups frozen corn kernels* ($1.49)
- 1 15oz. can can black beans ($0.79)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder** ($0.10)
- 4 oz. cheddar, shredded ($1.00)
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce ($0.68)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.22)
- 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced (optional) ($0.33)
Instructions
- Allow the corn kernels to thaw, or heat them through if you plan to eat the bowls immediately. Rinse and drain the black beans, then add them to a bowl along with the chili powder and stir until the beans are coated.
- To build the bowls, place about 1.5 cups mashed potatoes in each bowl, then top with about 1/2 cup corn kernels, 1/3 cup black beans, about 1/4 cup shredded cheddar, 2 Tbsp BBQ sauce, and a sprinkle of sliced green onions and jalapeño.
- Serve the bowls immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat. To reheat, simply microwave until the mashed potatoes are hot and the cheese is melted.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls – Step by Step Photos
I’m going to assume you have 6 cups of your favorite mashed potatoes made already. Take 2 cups frozen corn kernels out of the freezer to thaw (or heat them through if you plan to eat your Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls right away). Rinse and drain one 15oz. can of black beans, add 1/2 tsp chili powder to the beans and stir to coat.
Prep the rest of your toppings. Shred about 4 oz. cheddar cheese, thinly slice one jalapeño, and slice two green onions.
I ate one of my bowls for lunch today, and prepped these other three for meals later this week. To build each bowl, start with 1.5 cups of mashed potatoes.
Add about 1/4 of the shredded cheese to each bowl.
Add about 1/2 cup of the corn kernels and about 1/3 cup of the black beans to each of the bowls.
Finally, drizzle a couple tablespoons of BBQ sauce over each bowl and top with some sliced green onion and sliced jalapeño (optional). Either refrigerate, or dig in! If you want your cheese more melty, just microwave for a minute or so.
Yessss. There’s nothing beige about this bowl.
In a pinch, this works really well with plain white rice instead of the mashed potatoes. Topped mine with some pickled red onions and Honey Chipotle BBQ sauce. Easy, flavorful, inexpensive, and stores in the fridge nicely.
I wanted mashed potatoes for supper and this hit the spot. Halved the recipe for the 2 of us, rehydrated a couple of ounces of soy curls, roasted them with the corn, and 1/2 cup black beans (all that we had) with a little oil and chili podwer until they were all warmed through. Topped with ranch dressing, didn’t have bbq sauce. Yum
This was so perfect! I also was thinking about those KFC mashed potato bowls, and am thankful you had a vegetarian option because I am vegetarian now! Instead of BBQ sauce, I used vegan ranch, but I will try the BBQ tomorrow when I make another bowl! Thank you for an inexpensive and amazingly satisfying meal!
I was inspired by one of the comments below that said they made the slow cooker BBQ chicken for this recipe. I did it too, and I’ve got to say it was INCREDIBLE. I made my 8 month old his own mashed potato bowl and he LOVED it.
That is such a good idea!
Just made this – so easy & so good!! Love that almost everything is a pantry staple or shelf-stable
This was a great meatless meal! I used what I had and it all came together quickly. Family ate theirs with salsa but I preferred bbq sauce. Thanks for this recipe!
This is one of my favourite recipes! Works pretty good with daiya cheese for the veg people too :)
I’ve subscribed to you for a long time, and you keep coming up with the most ingenious, accessible ideas! Greetings from Aotearoa New Zealand and I celebrate the ongoing growth and success of Budget Bytes!!
This recipe was begging to be combined with your slow cooker bbq chicken recipe.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-bbq-chicken
So that’s exactly what I did. Added the beans, (regular) corn, and chili powder towards the end of the chicken’s cooking time and that eliminated the need to warm them up separately. The chicken cooks in bbq sauce but definitely add a squirt of fresh sauce to the finished bowls along with the toppings.
I never tried the fast food version but I know for a fact this is better. :)
Yeessss! 🙌
Eating and typing this.. What a good idea for a fast easy and delicious meal. Thanks again Budget bytes!!
Hits the spot!
This was sooo good! Instead of chili powder I used garlic powder and no bbq sauce. I also added slices of avocado. My picky eater loved it!
This is stupid good for how simple it is. Kudos Beth! Even if you aren’t a spicy person, DO NOT skip the jalapeno! It completely elevates the dish with a fresh balance to the other heavy ingredients. I did chop mine in case a whole slice proved too much.
I used the slow cooker mashed potatoes recipe with cream cheese. I had canned corn so I roasted it in a cast iron to get it a little charred. Yum.
Love. I roasted my corn with spices, shallots, green pepper. Tge dish was amazing, ty.
I make ground turkey with it and cook a couple of slices of jalapeno with the ground turkey. It’s so good!!!! My entire family loves it. This is the second time I’ve made it and can’t wait for dinner tonight!!! Perfect for the rainy weather in Miami. Thanks SO much for this wonderful recipe that’s brought big smiles to our faces and bellies.
Absolutely perfect for meal prep. I cooked this meal several times during sumer to take with me to work. It’s filling, super tasty and really fast to make.
Hi Beth, I just made this for lunch and it was so delicious! Thank you for your recipes.
So my plan for tonight was your BBQ beef stuffed potatoes. I made the beef a few weeks ago and took it out the freezer this morn.
But today was stinking hard and I needed some comfort food. I was even craving fast food (which NEVER happens!). I ended up doing this and using that beef (with BBQ sauce) instead of the beans. So we had BBQ beef mashed potato bowls. All else was the same except for the ranch seasoning I threw in the mashed potatoes. :l
Needless to say, my soul was comforted (and my wallet was saved!!). :)
Absolutely delicious! One of my kids favorite meals :)
I made this tonight. Delicious!
I used my usual mashed potato recipe mashed with roasted garlic. Everything else was the same as above. Great call on the BBQ sauce too. This is in our regular dinner rotation.
OK, my boyfriend made this and even though we made a bunch of substitutions (Beth’s recipes are forgiving!) IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE!!! We used cheese curds and melted them into the potatoes, added veggie sausage and portobello mushrooms (cause that’s what we had), skipped the beans (because we forgot to soak them the night before…lol). I couldn’t wait til lunch the next day for my leftovers. They were gone by 10am :P
Yummy confort food. I’m sad it’s gone!
Wasn’t sure about this going in, but looked through my canned beans and found great value mixed chili beans on hand. Mixture of kidney beans, pinto beans and black beans in a chili sauce and only 48 cents a can. Turned out delicious, but unfortunately Mr. Picky loved it too, so we have only 1 lunch serving left. I plan to be making this more frequently from now on.
Delicious! I am not familiar with the KFC version (I don’t think the UK ever had this) but I really liked the idea of these for a cheap, filling lunch. I used less cheese cause I wasn’t sure how I feel about cheese in this and it turned out nice. I think in future though I might leave out the green onion as the random onion flavour every few mouthfuls didn’t work for me. Made for four full lunches but we wont’ speak about the smashed lunchbox at the bottom of my works fridge this morning. I’m sure plastic was not part of your original recipe!!!
Sounds like a weird combination but it’s SO GOOD. Seriously amazing flavor combo. I’m vegan and this is super easy to veganize also with some Daiya cheese. Has totally become a staple recipe in my house. Thanks!!
I substituted black beans for kidney beans, as they’d run out of black beans in the store I went to; it turned out very okay, I made it with red onion mashed potatoes; a bit too much BBQ sauce and corn for my taste (I will cut both in half next time), but overall 👍.
We love this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times- and it’s always a hit. It’s super easy to make, and so comforting. Thank you!!
We just didn’t like this very much.
Yesssss…BBQ sauce for the win! I have seen those bowls, and they put gravy on them, which I really don’t like. I do remember thinking, “I wonder if I could sub the gravy for BBQ sauce” so it’s good to know I’m not off base with my thought process! I don’t ever eat there, because, eh, but I am definitely going to make these!! Check out Patton Oswald’s “KFC Bowls” comedy skit, hilarious.
This was really good! I didn’t use a jalapeño but instead steamed an orange pepper. Now that I have made it once I will do my pepper first and then add the beans and corn to the pan to heat that up so I don’t have so many different dishes to wash. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for another simple recipe that’s good!
The Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls are delicious. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any corn, but had to make some adjustments. I used one chicken breast, chopped it up into pieces and added canned black beans to the skillet. It was good, along with some shredded cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce. I’ll have to make the recipe again next time. Thanks, Beth!!! :-)
Oh my…this is so good! I haven’t had a recipe from the vegan/vegetarian menu that I haven’t like yet!!! This is a keeper!!!
These were amazing. I added some bacon bits and avocado too.
I did this for my lunch at work and it was so perfect! I used black beans and chickpeas left over from another recipe that were mixed with chili powder, cumin, oregano, and paprika and it made this even better. I’m definitely planning on ‘sneaking’ more vegetables into this dish in the future.
Worked out quite nicely! Beans became ground beef in my recipe, and bbq became Worcestershire, in deference to what I had lying around. The result is quite palatable. Ten points for me.
What’s a good substitute for the American chili powder?
You could season the black beans with just about anything you like. :) Maybe some cumin and just a pinch of cayenne?
Hi Beth, can I make this ahead and freeze it? Or freeze parts then thaw and put together? Thanks, love your recipes!
I think this would freeze great. Some people do find mashed potatoes to be sort of grainy after freezing/thawing, but that’s never been an issue for me. I think it just depends on how sensitive you are to texture changes. :)
Beth, I can see myself doing this for my meal preps. I go out of state three days a week and my drive is long. How do you think this would hold up to freezing? I freeze ahead of time so food stays cold (with ice packs to help!) on my drive. Thanks!
I think it would freeze fine, although some people find potatoes to be a bit grainy after freezing and thawing. I’ve never noticed graininess, but I guess some people are just more sensitive to it.
KFC does still make that bowl – its my go-to hangover cure, but now I definitely want to try this version!
Our vegetarian daughter is visiting for the Christmas holidays. We gave this a try, and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the jalapenos I had stored in the fridge had been used by someone without my knowledge. I’m sure that would have made this even better! BTW, I added some garlic to the mashed potatoes. Great stuff!
This is making me hungry! Such a yummy looking meal. My Mom always knows how to make a good meal on a great budget. Between cutting coupons, stocking up when somethings on sale, and buying Organic and local, we’ve made ‘budget bytes’ literally a thing in our family.
love how you lay out the cost of the meal <3
Michaila
seventytimeseven.com
I’m not a fan of BBQ sauce – any substitute suggestions?
Honestly, it’s really good without any sauce at all. The cheese and potatoes are enough to make it awesome. :)
This is totally going on my meal plan for next week! I’ve recently realized how well mashed potatoes freeze, and have taken to making huge batches and freezing portions so that we always have some on hand. Usually they just become a side for meat dishes, but I’m definitely giving this a try – potatoes are 10lbs for $3 right now, so I’ll be restocking my freezer this weekend!
Have you tried this with mashed cauliflower?
I haven’t, but I bet it would be great!
That’s my idea of bowl food! Comfort food at its best. I don’t think I’ve ever had the KFC version of this, but I’ve made it. I added some peas or green beans for more color and variety.
Hi Beth, I love your recipes and use them all the time, but I keep getting tripped up with the cheese amounts. I’m used to metric and I never know if you mean 4oz of cheese by weight or by volume. Can you explain?
For cheese it’s always weight. A good rule of thumb is that solid ingredients use weight ounces and liquid ingredients use fluid (volume) ounces. I hope that helps! :)
I made this tonight but didn’t have bbq sauce and subbed in enchilada sauce. I also added some avocado since I had one that needed eating. Oh my lord this is delicious!
Yummy!! Can’t wait to make this recipe for dinner very soon!!! :-)
Looking forward to making this, Can’t wait to try it. Thanks.
My last job we sold this same bowl with fried chicken tenders and chicken gravy instead of bbq sauce. They went all the time. I have still seen the bowls at KFC around me as of a month ago.
I may try it with sweet potatoes.
I have a daughter who has suddenly gone vegetarian and now I’m looking for ideas for her .
I’ve been phasing meat out of my diet steadily over the last year or so and it’s been months since I bought any. Beth’s blog has been invaluable. There are a lot of very tasty, easy to make recipes that anyone can enjoy, not just vegetarians. Her smoked potato chickpea stew posted just recently for example, was just plain good, vegetarian or no.
Did you use a sweet or a spicy BBQ sauce?
The one I used is sweet.
Brilliant!
I don’t have a Trader Joe’s close enough to me. :( Can anyone recommend another store brand that has roasted corn?
I think I’ve seen a Whole Foods brand version as well. If you can’t find it, the bowls will still be really tasty. :)
This sounds great! I often serve foods over baked potatoes which would keep this vegan for my son (minus the cheese of course). I love BBQ sauce too.
I don’t even really enjoy mashed potatoes (I know, I’m weird), but this makes me want them!