I was visiting my Dad a couple months ago and we decided to go to the local diner for breakfast one morning. They served the most delicious breakfast dish – hash brown potatoes covered in hollandaise sauce and sprinkled with bacon! Oh my – was it delicious!!! The portion was huge and the sauce was practically dripping off the edge of the plate. (My mouth is watering just thinking about it.) 🙂

Immediately, I began thinking about making this for a holiday breakfast and that became the inspiration for Over-Loaded Potatoes which I made for Christmas breakfast. We didn’t even get the table cleaned off before the kids were asking if I could make it for the next holiday as well.

The fun part of this dish is that every one can make their own custom combination. Kind of like a salad bar (except way less healthy!) with the base consisting of Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Sweet Potatoes. Then, I made all kinds of toppings to build the Over-loaded potatoes.

In keeping with the Diner’s original dish, I made a batch of hollandaise sauce. This was the trickiest part because it had to be done last minute, right before serving in order to keep it the best consistency. We cooked bacon and sausage, shredded some sharp cheddar cheese, and sauteed some mushrooms, peppers, and onions. For fresh fixings, we chopped red peppers, green onions, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro. This was so pretty for Christmas with the red and green colors.

I put everything out buffet style so that each person could customize their potatoes. My mom, who currently follows a vegan diet, found it to be delicious as well, sticking with vegetable toppings. Personally, I think the hollandaise and bacon make the dish, but I do love the additional crunch of the fresh veges on top. Any way you top it, it’s delicious!! I’m sure there are other toppings that would be delicious as well – maybe some fresh steamed broccoli or chopped ham? YUM!