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I used to LOVE the Hash Brown Casserole at Cracker Barrel. That's before I started asking questions about how they make their food (did you know almost all of their vegetable side dishes are made with sugar?).
Then if you look at the copycat recipes online, most of them call for a can of condensed soup - no thank you MSG and other unwanted additives! There has to be a better way, and thankfully there is, which I've detailed for you below.
It's hard to go wrong when it comes to potatoes and cheese and other wholesome ingredients. This is a tasty dish that you can enjoy with breakfast, lunch or dinner! You will love this Classic Hash Brown Casserole too!
If you have leftover potatoes, try these Air Fryer Hash Browns.
Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole (like Cracker Barrel’s!)
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter (+ extra for greasing the pan)
- ⅓ cup onion (diced)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 4 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- pepper (to taste)
- 2 cups cheddar cheese (mild, freshly grated)
- 1 pound frozen hash browns (be sure to buy a brand with only 1 ingredient - potatoes, no need to defrost)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a square baking dish with butter (8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch) and set aside.
- In a large sauté pan over medium heat melt the butter. Cook the diced onion until it softens but does not brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Throw in the minced garlic and cook while stirring for 1 more minute.
- Turn the heat down to medium low and whisk in the flour. Continuously stir until the flour darkens but is not burnt, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the milk, salt, and pepper until it slightly thickens, about 1 minute.
- Turn the heat off and, using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the grated cheese until it melts. Fold in the hash browns until evenly coated.
- Transfer to the baking dish being careful to push the thick mixture down on top into one even layer.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes uncovered, and then turn the heat up to broil for 3 to 4 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. Keep a close eye under the broiler so it doesn't burn! Serve warm and enjoy.
Katie says
Great recipe! I reduced the amount of butter as some other people suggested and it was delicious!
rachel says
Does anyone know if I can sub out the butter for oil to make it diary free?
Jennifer says
Why don't you use margarine instead of butter. I plan on making two versions of this one with dairy and one vegan.
Heather says
Jennfier, this is a real food website. Margarine is not a real food. You don't want to ever ever use margarine. Very bad for you.
Rene @thedomesticlady says
Just use olive or coconut oil.
Sam says
Colby cheese and leaving the onions raw will make it taste even more like cracker barrel.
Heather says
Any suggestions on how to make frozen potatoes? We moved to Denmark and I can't find the frozen ones.
Michelle says
I just shred potatoes and use them in place of frozen potatoes. It still turns out great!
Cece says
What was the problem when Lisa used fresh potatoes (more than "it didn't turn out well")? I'm new to the site and loving the recipes so far, but I think it would be nice, in an instance like this, where we could read about some alternatives that didn't turn out so well. (Especially since I'm sure many other readers, like myself, would prefer to use fresh potatoes!)
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Cece. Lisa has tried it more than once and the results are just not good. There is too much moisture and the texture has been off. The frozen potatoes she uses are just one ingredient and organic. In this case, she has not found fresh to be best. :) ~Amy
Katie says
Could this be made ahead and stored in the fridge until ready to bake? Also, I've made this recipe before and it is delicious. It turned out creamy and was just as good as leftovers the next day!
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hello Katie. She buys Cascadian Farms organic frozen hash browns. ~Amy
Katie says
What brand does Lisa use for the frozen hash browns? All of them I looked at the store had 10 ingredients or more!!
Shelley says
I tried this on Father's Day for my husband and added in crumbled cooked bacon. It was absolutely amazing! Pretty easy to make and follow and it came out perfect! This will be made again and again! Our 1 year old loved this as well!
Robin Foxworth says
I have made a similar dish but instead of hash browns used spagetti squash was yummy!
momof5 says
lisa, would this recipe work with fresh potatoes? i have a ton from my garden that i'd love to use. thanks!
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi there. Lisa did not have good results when she used fresh potatoes. ~Amy
Dana Kelly says
Hi Lisa, any suggestions on a gluten free substitute to replace the whole wheat flour?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Dana. Look for a whole grain gluten free blend. ~Amy
Kim says
This was really good! I think it was a bit too runny - next time I will cut back on the milk a bit. Cooked 2/3 of the way the night before, then in the morning let it come to room temp for about an hour and cooked another 20 minutes. Great for Mothers' Day brunch!
Taylor says
This was delicious!! I cut the butter upon the advice of previous reviewers. I cut it to 4 tablespoons but next time I will use 3 or even 2 1/2 as it still was a little heavy on the butter. That is just my personal taste though.
My 5 and 7 year old ate it right up and my husband said it was awesome.
I love love love that it is a potato casserole without cream of whatever soup.
thank you Lisa!
Erika says
Lisa,
Thanks for posting this recipe in addition your many others. Your blog is a great source of motivation and inspiration for my family and our efforts to eat real food! I am normally not that impressed with potato casseroles, but this was awesome, and so simple - an instant favorite that is immediately going into my rotation!
As with some others, I cut the butter by 1/2, salt by 1/3 and flour by 1/4. I use regular whole wheat flour, and I believe you use white whole wheat flour, which I think is a little different in consistency.
Thanks again for putting yourself out there and sharing your life. I look forward to reading your posts daily and love trying your recipes! You are really making an impact!
Stephanie says
This was DELICIOUS! I made a few substitutions to make it even more healthy. I used almond milk instead of cows milk, only used 1 cup of cheese, and used a little olive oil instead of 6tbspn of butter. It was still so good!
I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars because I didn't follow the original recipe, as it seemed a little too indulgent. But, another homerun recipe for 100daysofrealfood!
Elisabeth Paisley says
I plan to make this recipe using homemade hash brown potatoes. Can't wait to try it!! :)
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/make-your-own-frozen-hashbrowns
amy says
I used colby-jack cheese and it was wonderful. Thank you for the recipe!
Christy says
Has anyone tried this with regular potatoes shredded in a food processor?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hello. Lisa has tried with fresh potatoes but has not had good luck with that. ~Amy
Hollie says
Do you know of a brand of potatoes that only has potatoes in it? I can't seem to find one. Thanks!
Kristy says
Cascadian farms in the frozen section is just potatoes.
Shandra says
I can't wait to try this. I wonder if it would be any good with an organic brand of corn flakes if such a thing exists. I have had this at my MIL's but with the soup and corn flakes. Won't make it for that reason. Now I can experiment with this as a starting point.
Jacqui Zimmerman says
I successfully made this recipe with the following modifications. My family LOVED it!
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (not pre-shredded)
1 pound frozen shredded potatoes**
Michele says
Thank you so much for this recipe! Was great for Christmas morning and for leftover meals with the dinner ham. Also have used it for homemade mac and cheese by just omitting the garlic and onion. Love it!
Holly says
Loved it! Had butter pooling in the bottom of the dish though and will use less next time. Still delish!
Andrea says
I made this last night for a gathering that was supposed to happen today. I doubled the recipe and was going to cook it this morning. Now the meeting has been cancelled due to weather. Can I freeze this? Should I cook it first before freezing? I would hate to waste all this food!
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Andrea. I think I would cook it before freezing though it would likely work either way. ~Amy
Chelsea says
I refridgerated mine for a few days (before Christmas) and it turned out fine! I just had to bake it for a few minutes longer. If it was frozen and you didn't thaw it first, you may want to cover it in foil for the first part of baking until it thaws.
Dawn says
I made this for Christmas and it was delicious!!!!
Lori says
I also made this for Christmas morning and everyone loved it. I agree that 6 tbsp of butter was too much for my taste, but that's an easy change for next time. I made it ahead the night before, baked it most of the way and then finished it off in the morning - worked out fine.
Jill says
I made this for our Christmas brunch to rave reviews! Everyone wanted the recipe.
Lynn C. says
I made this Christmas morning and my family loved it! I rarely rate recipes, but this was just so good I had to leave a remark. We love hashbrown casserole, but I refused to buy any canned creamed soups. Thank you so much for bringing this treat back to my kitchen!
Anna says
I made this Christmas morning for my family, and it was awesome! The only change I made was adding panko bread crumbs before broiling. Thank you for this receipe!
Brandy says
I realized after the fact that a Pyrex shouldn't go under a broiler, as I recall .... So didn't try to broil it, wanted to not start Christmas morning that way ;) but still looks and smells delicious!
Cassandra says
This was good, but 6 tablespoons of butter made it greasy (to my family). I will cut in half next time.
Heather P says
Hi Jane, I just saw a previous comment that said it could be made ahead. I was going to ask the same thing :)
jane maihan says
do you know if this can be made a day ahead? i want to make today for tomorrow morning. if you get this will you please let me know - thank you so much -
jane
Nikki says
I'm not sure if this has been asked already... SO many comments! but could I skip the frozen and just use real potatoes that I shred myself? Thanks in advance (:
Natasha says
Can you use shredded potatoes instead?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Natasha. Lisa mentioned that she did not have great luck using fresh potatoes. You are welcome to try. One reader suggested wringing the shreds out in cheese cloth first to get rid of extra moisture. ~Amy
Jane says
Turned out fantastic and whole family loved it. I used only 2 Tb of butter instead of 6 which seemed like a lot to me.
Sally says
For fresh grated potatoes, shred/grate potatoes using the food processor. Next simply spin in a salad spinner to remove excess water (you will be surprised how much liquid is removed this way!). Next, proceed with recipe. A few more steps than opening the bag of frozen hash browns but worth it! Enjoy!
Elizabeth says
Do you offer nutritional info such as calories per serving, fat content etc?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Elizabeth. We do not provide nutrition information on our recipes. We want people focusing on eating real foods/more whole foods and less on numbers. Here are some posts which help explain our philosophy: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/, https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/23/portion-size-matters/, and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/10-reasons-to-cut-out-processed-food/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/04/29/mini-pledge-week-8-stop-eating-when-you-feel-full/. There are many tools available online which can help calculate nutrition details for recipes. ~Amy
Stephanie says
I love this recipe! Made it for a birthday brunch and it was a huge hit....will be making for Christmas morning as well:). Thanks for sharing such great recipes!!!