Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole is the perfect copycat breakfast classic with shredded hash browns, cheddar cheese, sour cream and condensed soup.
Potatoes are the king of starch around here and if you love this recipe you should try our Ultimate Loaded Mashed Potatoes or Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes. They’re both the perfect starchy comfort food your whole family will love. Plus the bacon in the loaded mashed potatoes is just heavenly!
CRACKER BARREL HASH BROWN CASSEROLE
If you’re craving a new main dish for dinner or looking for something fun to serve up for brunch, this yummy copycat recipe from Cracker Barrel is the perfect comfort food recipe to try. It’s got a fairly short cook time and the prep is incredibly easy. We love serving it alongside Perfect Simple Roast Chicken or Classic Beef Meatloaf.
If you are looking for a dish that is the perfect blend of breakfast and dinner, you should try making hash brown casserole from this recipe we found at Cracker Barrel, which is one of our favorite late night hang out restaurants I used to love in college (it’s a secret travel guilty pleasure now).
It’s rich and savory and it doesn’t take the whole day to prep and bake. In fact I can usually prep the entire recipe in less than five minutes and I just put the pan in the oven before it even finished preheating! This dish couldn’t be any easier!
This cheesy hash brown casserole is hearty enough to serve up in a breakfast for dinner scenario, or you can serve it in smaller portions for breakfast or brunch. You can also save if for later if you’re looking for a breakfast that’s filling and that you don’t have to make from scratch every morning. I love serving it with chicken tenders!
What to serve with Hash Brown Casserole:
- Super Crispy Chicken Tenders – This is the ultimate chicken tender recipe!
- Oven Fried Chicken (Super Crispy!) – Forget deep frying, you will never want chicken another way after this recipe!
- Chili’s Chicken Crispers (Copycat) – the perfect breading copycat to Chili’s famous Crispers!
HOW TO MAKE CRACKER BARREL HASH BROWN CASSEROLE
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 11 x 14 inch casserole or baking dish with cooking spray.
- In large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together.
- Spread evenly in prepared pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown.
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VARIATIONS ON CRACKER BARREL HASH BROWN CASSEROLE
- Cheese: If you’re looking for some new taste variations, switching up the cheese you use is a good way to alter the taste without having to change the recipe too much. Try using parmesan, pecorino or colby cheese.
- Spices: Dust a bit of black pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika or an Italian spice blend over the top of your casserole. You can add any mixture that you want depending on the flavor palette you prefer.
- Toppings: As unusual as it sounds, you can add cornflakes to the top of the casserole to give it a delicious crunch without having to do extra work, and cornflakes don’t interfere with the overall flavor of the dish.
- Vegetarian: If you want to make this dish vegetarian-friendly, all you have to do is switch out the cream of chicken soup for cream of mushroom soup. The rest of the recipe is already meat-free and cream of mushroom soup cooks similarly to the chicken variety.
- Onions: You can use a large yellow onion, but if you are craving a different or stronger onion taste, you can try using a scallion or chopped green onions. Even though scallions are a small onion, don’t be fooled: they pack quite a punch.
WHO CAN WE THANK FOR HASH BROWNS?
There are a lot of similar dishes around the world, but the first time the term “hashed browns” showed up was in New York City around 1888. They showed up in a cookbook written by Maria Parloa, the founder of multiple cooking schools and a respected food writer.
The name was originally “hashed browns,” but it was shortened over time to “hash browns.” The word “hashed” comes from “hacher,” which means “chopped” in French. “Hash browns” was first coined by H.L. Mencken, and American satirist and journalist, in 1945.
KEEPING CRACKER BARREL HASH BROWN CASSEROLE FOR LEFTOVERS
- Serve: You should not leave the casserole out for longer than about 2 hours at room temperature.
- Store: You can keep your leftovers in the fridge for about 4 days as long as you keep them covered in the fridge.
- Freeze: If you want to keep your casserole around for longer, it will stay good for about 3 months in the freezer. The hash browns won’t reheat well beyond that point, so you’re better off making a new batch.
Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole
Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole is packed with cheddar cheese, sour cream and, of course, hash browns.Prep Time 5 minutesCook Time 45 minutesTotal Time 50 minutesServings 12Calories 285 kcalIngredients
- 32 ounces shredded hash browns , thawed
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 10.75 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1/2 yellow onion , chopped
- 2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix hash browns, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onions, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl until well combined.
Spread evenly in a 9x13 baking dish.
Cook for 45 minutes until top is melted and browned.
Nutrition FactsCracker Barrel Hash Brown CasseroleAmount Per ServingCalories 285 Calories from Fat 198% Daily Value*Fat 22g34%Saturated Fat 13g81%Cholesterol 61mg20%Sodium 427mg19%Potassium 299mg9%Carbohydrates 15g5%Fiber 1g4%Sugar 2g2%Protein 7g14%Vitamin A 671IU13%Vitamin C 7mg8%Calcium 191mg19%Iron 1mg6%* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Can you use the diced or cubed hash browns ?
It won’t be a copycat but it’ll still be delicious! Enjoy!
This looks YUMMY! Could you make this in the crockpot?
You could! I would do low for 4 hours and check it at that point.
This sounds wonderful. But I am wondering if you could use “fresh” potatoes that you grate? Thank you.
Sure, just shred them and rinse in cold water to release some of the starch. I’d let them sit in a large bowl of cold water in the fridge for at least an hour and then rinse. Before using, just drain and squeeze as much of the water from them as possible. That’ll help with allowing them to crisp up. Good luck!
I made this today in spite of only having 1/4 of an onion. I added onion powder, and the casserole is too oniony tasting. I would recommend only adding 1 tsp salt since cheese tastes salty. Otherwise, it is very good!
Also, the top did not brown after 45 minutes of baking, so I upped the oven temp to 500 degrees and baked for an additional 10 minutes to get a crusty top.
Thanks for the feedback, Cindy.