I rate recipes I use off of the recipe without tweaks. l did double this recipe but it should not matter all recipes should work as perfect doubled as not. HORRIBLE! BLAND FLOURY AND JUST HORRIBLE! Should have used my other cheesy potato recipe but I didn't have half and half so I thought Id try this. Here is how I fixed this: I try and only use fresh ingredients whenever possible and I used red potatoes and fresh broccoli. After following the recipe to a T I tasted the sauce and it was absolutely disgusting and bland. Tasted like someone just learned to cook and tried to make a gravy without any bouillon or flavoring. I added garlic salt and black pepper and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper...also quickly sauteed an onion and mushrooms and threw that in as well. I didn't have anymore of the swiss cheese and well this recipe needed all the cheese and salt I could conjure up so I wound up also useing a mixture of colby, monterey jack, and cheddar cheeses and used 4 cups! Then on top of that I threw in a few cubes of mac and cheese packets I had in the cabinet for emergencies such as this!! Oh gosh this was such a terribly bland recipe I cannot understand how it has gotten so many good reviews. I truly wish people would review a recipe based on the recipe itself and not by all the additives and tweaks they made! I seriously warn whoever is going to try this to BEWARE! You HAVE TO TWEAK IT SOOOOOOO much! I finally have it tasting somewhat decent...passable but bad choice!

This is serious stick-to-your-ribs comfort food. I made it for our synagogue’s turn at the local shelter and got lots of requests for seconds on this dish in particular. A tripled recipe fills a steam table pan 19.5x11.5x3.5. For one pan I used For the base: 12 tablespoons butter ½ cup flour 3 teaspoons salt 3 cups milk For the cheese sauce: 24 ounces cream cheese (blend in before the shredded cheese) 2 two-pound bags of Costco's shredded “Mexican Blend” cheese For the filling: 1 five-pound bag of Costco’s frozen broccoli florets, 3 32-ounce bags of store brand frozen “hash brown” diced potatoes. Topping (see below): One more two-pound bag of shredded cheese Multiply up the spices as you wish. (I used paprika, dried chives, onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper.) As per other comments, the potatoes don’t go very far so put down only a thin layer below the broccoli and the remainder on top. Bake for 1 hour, and then put that third 2 lb bag of shredded cheese on top of the pan and bake for another ten minutes to give some heft to the thin top potato layer. I made it the night before and reheated before serving, but allow plenty of time to reheat as it’s VERY dense. I used a Dutch oven to make the cheese sauce and combine it with the potatoes, and the tripled recipe just fit. This is a great “guy” recipe as there are relatively few ingredients and blending the cheeses and potatoes helps us guys understand why Moms are so strong.

My son loved this one! We used french fried onions instead of bread crumbs on top, and it was very good that way. We'll definitely make this again! It was so good!

I thought this recipe was very easy and all the ingredients I love. It was good. However, it was bland and did not have much flavor at all. It needed something - maybe a different cheese or some tabasco......not sure what, but this was a good starter recipe.

Loved it! I used fresh broccoli (steamed just a bit) and added a bit more cheese. Will absolutely make again!

It sounds like I am the only one who used Monterey Jack cheese instead of Swiss or Cheddar. I really should have added more spices to it, like garlic and onion at the very least. I wanted it to stay a vegetarian meal so left all the meat options out. I did however slice up my russets into gratin style and layered them individually. This took a bit more time but what's an extra 2 minutes. Then, because I couldn't "pour" half of the potato mix in (as suggested) I ladled the cheese mixture on. Added steamed fresh broccoli, then the last layer of potatoes with the bread crumbs. Because the potatoes were thicker than the recipe called for it was not fully cooked in 35 minutes. I decided to pour some vegetable stock in the dish to speed up the cooking time and keep the potatoes from drying out. Added 15 more minutes in the oven. Each serving will need to be doctored up with some s&p and maybe some garlic powder. I don't mind trying it again but will need to make some variations.

I adore this recipe, just as it is. Another reviewer mentioned that they didn't think it made enough food for all of their guests. I don't think it's intended to be a main course, just a side dish. You can certainly double it (or more) to make a larger, main-dish meal. For my boyfriend and I, this recipe makes enough for both of us with a lot of leftovers. I often don't measure out hashbrowns or broccoli since they generally come in different sized bags than what is used in the recipe, so it varies some each time. It's always delicious, though, and very easy to make.

This turned out really yummy!

GOT RAVE REVIEWS FROM TEH FAMILY. BETTER THE 2ND DAY. MAY HAVE TO ADD A LITTLE MORE SEASONING BASED ON PREFERENCE BUT OVERALL PRETTY DARN GOOD.

kind of bland... try cheddar cheese sauce?