Cracker Barrel Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole (Copycat Recipe)
This cheesy hash brown casserole is my copycat of the one served at Cracker Barrel, made with frozen shredded hash browns, sharp cheddar, butter, onion, and cream of chicken soup that bake into a creamy, golden casserole that disappears fast.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, butter, cream of chicken soup, chopped onion, grated cheddar cheese, pepper, salt
- Why You'll Love It: This cheesy hash brown casserole is similar to that hash brown casserole you get at that famous home-style chain restaurant. Cheesy, creamy, and delicious!
Everything gets stirred together in one bowl and spread into a 9×13 dish, so there’s no thawing, peeling, or grating potatoes before it goes in the oven. It’s one of the easiest sides on our Thanksgiving table, right up there with green bean casserole.
Just Like Cracker Barrel’s Hash Brown Casserole
What makes the Cracker Barrel hash brown casserole so good is how simple it is: shredded potatoes, cheddar, onion, and a creamy sauce, with no sour cream at all. Frozen shredded hash browns make it easy to recreate at home, since they’re already cooked and shredded and turn tender in the oven while the cheese and soup melt into a creamy sauce all around them.
We serve this at holiday dinners, family reunions, and any Sunday that needs a side everybody will eat, and it’s just as good at breakfast next to cheesy scrambled eggs as it is at supper next to baked ham.
If you love this one, I have a couple of other versions you might like too. My sour cream hash brown casserole has a little extra tang, and my cheesy potatoes with frozen hash browns are another one my family asks for.
Ingredients for Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole
- Frozen shredded hash browns: Use the shredded kind rather than diced or cubed, since the shreds give you that classic Cracker Barrel texture. They can go in frozen or lightly thawed.
- Cream of chicken soup: This is what makes the casserole creamy. Canned works great, or you can use my homemade cream of chicken soup, and cream of mushroom works in a pinch.
- Cheddar cheese: Shred your own from a block if you can, because bagged cheese has a coating that keeps it from melting as smoothly.
- Butter: Melted butter coats every shred of potato and helps the top turn golden in the oven.
- Onion: Dice it small so it softens as it bakes and adds flavor without any crunch.
You’ll find the full amounts in the recipe card below.
Helpful Tips Before You Start
- Use a big bowl. Two pounds of hash browns take up a lot of room, and you’ll want plenty of space to stir everything evenly.
- Mix the wet ingredients first. Stirring the soup, butter, onion, and seasonings together before the potatoes go in keeps the sauce from clumping.
- Bake until it’s bubbly. Look for bubbling edges and a hot center, and keep in mind that hash browns straight from the freezer may need a little extra time, so check the middle with a spoon before you pull it out.
- Grease the dish. A light coat of butter or cooking spray keeps the edges from sticking, and those crispy edges are everybody’s favorite part, just like the corners of a pan of Mama’s creamy macaroni and cheese.
- Leave it uncovered so the cheese on top can brown. If you want even more crunch, try one of the toppings below.
How to Make Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole
1. Mix the Sauce
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add the diced onion, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, salt, and pepper to a large mixing bowl.
Stir with a large spoon until everything is well combined.
2. Add the Cheese
Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.
3. Add the Hash Browns
Add the hash browns, which can go in still frozen or lightly thawed.
Stir until every shred is coated in the cheesy sauce.
4. Bake
Spread the potato mixture into a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.
Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, until it’s hot and bubbly, and serve it warm next to something hearty like chicken fried steak.
Easy Variations and Toppings
- Add-ins: Stir in chopped red bell pepper, crumbled bacon, sliced green onions, or diced leftover ham. If you still have ham to use up after that, I have more recipes for leftover ham too.
- Crunchy topping: Sprinkle crushed potato chips, Ritz crackers, panko, or corn flakes over the top before baking, which turns it into what a lot of folks call funeral potatoes.
- Soup swap: Cream of mushroom or cream of celery both work in place of cream of chicken.
- Leftover makeover: My deluxe cheesy hash brown casserole turns Thanksgiving leftovers into a whole new dish.
- Garnish: A little chopped fresh parsley or green onion right before serving adds some color.
What to Serve With Hash Brown Casserole
This casserole works at breakfast, brunch, or supper, so here are a few of the ways we like to serve it.
- For holidays: crock pot turkey breast or baked ham, with fresh green beans on the side
- For supper: cubed steak and milk gravy with fried okra, butter beans, and a skillet of cornbread
- For breakfast: a ham, egg, and cheese casserole or biscuits and sausage gravy
- Something green: quick fried turnip greens balance out all that cheese
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
Making it ahead
You can assemble the casserole up to a day ahead, cover it, and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake, adding a few extra minutes since it starts out cold. It also works to bake it ahead, refrigerate it, and rewarm it in the oven.
Freezing
Cover the unbaked casserole tightly with foil and freeze it for up to 30 days. When you’re ready for it, let it thaw in the fridge for 24 hours and then bake as directed.
Leftovers
Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months, and they reheat well in the microwave or in a 350°F oven. Leftovers are also really good tucked into breakfast burritos the next morning.
Hash Brown Casserole FAQs
Do I need to thaw the hash browns first?
No, you can stir them in frozen or lightly thawed. Fully frozen hash browns may just need a few extra minutes in the oven.
Can I use diced or cubed hash browns?
You can, but the texture will be chunkier, since shredded hash browns are what give this casserole its creamy, Cracker Barrel-style texture.
Can I make it without canned soup?
Yes. Use my homemade cream of chicken soup in place of the can.
Is this a breakfast casserole or a side dish?
It’s both. Serve it at breakfast with eggs and biscuits or at supper alongside your main dish.
How do I keep it from getting greasy?
Stick to the amount of butter in the recipe and use block cheddar that you shred yourself, because pre-shredded cheese can leave the top a little oily.
Is this hash brown casserole made without sour cream?
Yes. This copycat uses cream of chicken soup instead of sour cream, so it’s a good pick if you’re out of sour cream or just don’t care for it. If you’d like the tangier version, try my hash brown casserole with sour cream.
Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 lbs frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 can cream of chicken soup or one recipe of homemade cream soup
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine soup, onion, melted butter, and seasonings, stir well. Add in shredded cheese and frozen hash browns.2 lbs frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, 1/2 cup butter, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon salt
- Spread into a lightly greased 9×13 casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
Pinky sent me to your blog and I’m glad she did, I will be back. This is one of my favorite recipes, I make it with the chunky hashbrowns, I’ll have to try it with the shredded, yummy!
OMG! I have got to try this! We make hashbrowns in the skillet with the cheese and onions but I’ve never heard of adding the soup. It sounds soooo good!!!
Off to make my grocery list!
Hugs!
This is my husbands fave-o-rite thing to eat and I haven’t made it in a month of Sunday’s! (read: a VERY long time) Sometimes I’ll use a can of cream of celery and add some browned ground beef for an all in one meal…and maybe some bell peppers cooked with the onion. Man.. I’m adding this stuff to my grocery list!
Oh did I not mention I come from Oregon and have only lived here less then 2 months now? LOL
PINKY!! YOU LIVE WHERE you LIVE AND YOU HAVE NEVER HAD HASH BROWN CASSEROLE???!!!!????
Ooooh boy. Tennessee owes you for this horrendous oversight!
omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg!
~takes a deep breath~
Alright, I’m alright now. Pinky, sweetie you just let me know what I have to do to get a bite of this in your mouth ASAP.
Holly – ~grins~ I’m just glad y’all still venture to read my blog! I do get silly sometimes but we need to break up the monotony…
~In a drone tone~ Crack the egg…..put the egg in a bowl….
hehe!!
You’ll never have a PBS style tutorial here, that’s “fer dern sure!”
Yummy! Hash Brown Casserole is the best. I have tried a few different recipe’s myself. I loved the part where you threw in so good ol’ southern, “jes in case someone up ‘n dies on ya”. You are too cute!!
Fast forward to 2020…I was wondering if I. Old use dehydrated hash browns, reconstituted for this recipe? I think I can, but maybe this will help someone else during this time of items being short at the grocery and not wanting to go out very much to purchase items. I snagged a big box of the dry potatoes at Costco in case I couldn’t get fresh or frozen. Saves room in my freezer too. Thanks! Really appreciate your uplifting and positive blog, especially now.
I am from England and I’m wondering what hash brown is, is it just grated potato? it looks like that from the picture
Thanks
Eileen
Yes Eileen, Here in the US we will fry them or use them in recipes etc. but basically Hash browns are shredded potatoes.
Thank you , I am looking forward to trying this recipe.
Trish, I have used reconstituted dehydrated hash brown potatoes in hash brown casseroles several times without any problems.
I do’t do Costco, but cook from the basic ingredients – just 6 medium russet potatoes, which equals 2 pounds frozen. I have tons of wholepotatoes to use up..
I shredded six raw whole potatoes and soaked them in water to remove starch. I squeezed them as much as possible.
Learning that commercial hash browns are drier than homemade, I was just a little scanty on the liquid for my homemade cream of celery soup. For example, I figured 7/8 cup liquid was equiv to one cup commercial.
Confident cooks look at a recipe, decide what is basic and fly from there.
It turnd out just fine.
Those have become my favorite kitchen staple in all of this! Yes, they work beautifully. Just rehydrate them first and go ahead as planned. 🙂 Thank you so much for your encouragement!
So funny, my son just had this at school today and i had never heard of it. Thanks for the recipe I might try it tomorrow if i can get hubby to go to the dang store!
Yummy as always!!!! Took me 1 hour from frozen hash browns….family agreed it was with the wait. Thanks Christy!