Hash Brown Casserole
Inspired by the famous Cracker Barrel Restaurants' “Hashbrown Casserole,” this is an easy dish for a hearty breakfast or brunch that can be made ahead of time.
Originally called "hashed browned potatoes" the term derived from the French word "hacher" meaning "to chop." Its origins are in European potato preparations brought over by immigrants, but its modern form became popular in America particularly during the Great Depression because it was an inexpensive and delicious way to prepare potatoes. Eventually, they became known as simply, "Hash Browns," and almost exclusively as a breakfast dish.
Made famous at the Cracker Barrel restaurant decades ago, their "Hashbrown Casserole" was a way for the chain to deliver breakfast potatoes that wouldn't slow down the cooking line because it could be made ahead of time. It also added to the home-style tenor of the chain's themed menu, something like your grandmother would make for breakfast before you hitting the road to drive home after a holiday visit.
Cracker Barrel’s Hashbrown Casserole
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store opened its first restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1969 with Shell Gas pumps located on site, a strategy they continued throughout the 1970s when they grew to approximately 30 locations before going public in 1981. The original site closed in 1984. It remained vacant until 2011 when the building was donated to the county, who moved it to the Wilson County Fairgrounds and the Fiddler’s Grove Historical Village.
The site now, in a nod to the original Cracker Barrel, is home to the Los Compadres Tequila Barrel & Mexican Grill. Cracker Barrel today is a major publicly traded company with over 650 restaurants in 45 states and their Hashbrown Casserole is still a mainstay of their breakfast offerings.
This is an amalgamation of several copycat recipes on the Internet that I've made several times when entertaining guests for brunch. It can be assembled the day before and the recipe is goof-proof. Just store it in the fridge in a large Ziploc bag, and then bring it out of the fridge and put it in your casserole dish about an hour before putting into the oven.
Hash Brown Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 30-oz bag hash brown cut potatoes, thawed (like, Ore-Ida Shredded)
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 2 10.75 oz cans condensed cream of chicken soup (like, Campbell's)
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (like, Sargento)
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam Butter-Flavored)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- Treat an 11" x 14" Pyrex casserole baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients well. Spread evenly in the baking dish.
- Bake 60-75 minutes until browned and bubbly.
Notes
- The easiest way to thaw the potatoes before using in the recipe is to simply put the unopened bag in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.
- If you're making the casserole ahead of time, make the recipe using the frozen potatoes, then store everything in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator overnight. Bring the bag out of the fridge and place the contents in a casserole dish an hour before cooking.
- If you're cooking in altitudes above 5,000 feet, pre-heat the oven to 365°F and increase cooking time to 75-85 minutes.
