Cheese and potatoes: my two favorite food groups. This delicious recipe is a great addition to any plate and always pleases the whole family.
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
Table of Contents
🗝️ Key takeaways
- Warm, cheesy potatoes with flavorful bacon bits and seasonings is perfect comfort food for any meal
- Great side dish for potluck dinners and holiday meals
- Freezes well
Often called funeral potatoes due to their popularity at after-event luncheons, one bite of hashbrown casserole will send you straight to food heaven!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- Frozen vs Fresh: Sometimes they sell shredded, fresh hash browns near the heat-and-serve foods in the grocery store. You can use those instead of frozen if you find them.
- Or, really fresh: If you're feeling extra adventurous, grate fresh potatoes. Large, brown potatoes (like Russets) work great.
- More (different) cheese, please: Colby Jack has the perfect mild flavor, but there are lots of cheese types that will work. If you want more of a sharp flavor, you can use some or all sharp cheddar cheese. Or, experiment with a mozzarella and smoked gouda combo! Yum!
- To dice, or not to dice: We love the flavor and texture of chopped onion. However, if you have a picky eater, cut the onion into tiny pieces to disguise them along with the potatoes. Super top-secret mom tip!
- Vegetarian Soup: Instead of cream of chicken, you can use cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup. However, know that it will flavor the cheesy casserole a bit differently.
- Aromatics: If you prefer garlic, feel free to swap the onion powder and minced onion with garlic powder and minced garlic.
- Topping: I've had cheesy hashbrowns before with a crunchy topping. Crumble corn flakes, potato chips, french fried onions, panko bread crumbs, or Ritz crackers into a bit of melted butter and add it to the potatoes before baking.
- Hashbrown breakfast casserole: Add some browned sausage to the mixture before baking. Serve underneath an over-easy egg!
- Make it a meal: Some families like to turn the perfect side dish into a full meal by adding some cooked ground beef or diced ham before baking.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- In a large bowl, blend together the melted butter, onion, bacon, cream of chicken soup, and sour cream.
- Mix the spices and add to bowl.
- Stir in some cheese and the potatoes.
- Add mixture to a casserole dish, top with more cheese, and bake.
🍴 Equipment
- 13x9-inch casserole dish
- large
mixing bowl - measuring cups and spoons
- cheese grater
🥫 Storage
This cheesy hashbrown casserole recipe can be stored almost as easily as it comes together. Here are some ways you can keep leftovers:
Refrigerate hashbrown casserole: place extras into an airtight container. Store leftovers for a few days, and warm individual servings in the microwave until hot.
Freeze leftover hashbrown casserole: spoon the cheesy hashbrowns into freezer-safe containers and store for up to three months. You can heat the casserole directly in the microwave, or let it thaw in the fridge, first.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Instead of cooking spray, use butter to grease your baking dish—it adds a nice richness and a bit of crispness to the outer crust.
- To help the potatoes thaw more quickly, I put my bag of hash browns in the fridge the night before. In the morning, dump the bag into a large
mixing bowl and break the semi-thawed hashbrowns into pieces. - A Danish dough hook is the best way to mix all the ingredients up quickly. However, you can also do it by hand with a large fork or spatula.
- Use a box grater to shred a block of cheese. It melts better and has a smoother texture than pre-shredded. After all, in a recipe where cheese is one of the main ingredients, you want it to taste as good as possible!
- Don't bake frozen hashbrowns—thaw them first. Otherwise, they'll release moisture and your cheesy potato casserole will be more like cheesy potato mush.
👩🍳 FAQs
This easy cheesy hashbrown casserole recipe hasn't yet been tested in advance. However, I have done similar recipes and they work just fine. This is how I would do it:
Combine all the ingredients and cover your dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Store in the fridge for one or two days. Before baking, let the dish sit at room temperature for a bit. Cold glass+warm oven=bad news!
Are party potatoes pretty much the best cheesy dish you've ever eaten? If yes, then probably. Hashbrown casserole goes by a few names, including funeral potatoes, cheesy shredded potatoes, and some even call it Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole, after the restaurant made the dish even more famous than it already was!
📚 Related recipes
- Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes and Ham is an easy, satisfying meal idea that comes together in minutes—and, it doesn't skimp on cheese!
- Another famous potato recipe, Creamy Potatoes au Gratin is cooked in a cheesy sauce until hot and tender and topped with crisp bread crumbs. It's a family favorite no doubt!
- Old-Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese Casserole is always gone first at potlucks and holiday dinners alike. What's not to love about noodles and ooey, gooey cheese?!
🍽️ Serve with...
Tendy, juicy Cracker Barrel Hamburger Steak in onion gravy is so good!
Maple Roasted Carrots add a sweet and savory flavor plus vibrant color to the meal.
Keep dessert easy with Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies.
Here are over 41 more great ideas for easy side dishes for hashbrown casserole!
📞 The last word
Y'all, this recipe is a good one to keep in the deep freeze for emergencies. You don't need to add much of anything to the table (even just scrambled eggs!) to make it a full meal.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole
Print Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- ½ cup salted butter, melted
- 1 cup onions, diced
- ½ cup bacon bits, or cooked, crumbled bacon
- 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 16 oz sour cream, 2 cups
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon minced onion
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 3 cups Colby Jack, shredded from a block - divided use
- 30 ounces frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 9 x 13 bake dish. Set aside.
- I butter the dish instead of oil or baking spray so it gives this extra layer to the crust. But you could use baking spray or oil if you prefer.
- In a mixing bowl, mix the melted butter, diced onions, and bacon bits with a whisk.
- Add the cream of chicken, sour cream, salt, onion powder, minced onion, and ground pepper. Mix well.
- Add 1 ½ cup of shredded cheese. Mix all ingredients until they are well combined.
- Add the thawed shredded hash brown and mix well until all the potatoes are coated in the mixture. The mixture will be very similar to the one of a twice-baked potato.
- Pour the mixture into the 9x13 baking dish.
- Spread evenly and sprinkle the remaining cheese, approximately 1 ½ cup (If you don’t want too cheesy just add 1 cup)
- Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted and golden to your liking on top.
- Let it rest for a few minutes. You could top with fresh parsley or cilantro if you would like.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
- Instead of cooking spray, use butter to grease your baking dish—it adds a nice richness and a bit of crispness to the outer crust.
- To help the potatoes thaw more quickly, I put my bag of hash browns in the fridge the night before. In the morning, dump the bag into a large mixing bowl and break the semi-thawed hash browns into pieces.
- A Danish dough hook is the best way to mix all the ingredients up quickly. However, you can also do it by hand with a large fork or spatula.
- Use a box grater to shred a block of cheese. It melts better and has a smoother texture than pre-shredded. After all, in a recipe where cheese is one of the main ingredients, you want it to taste as good as possible!
- Don't bake frozen hash browns—thaw them first. Otherwise, they'll release moisture and your cheesy potato casserole will be more like cheesy potato mush.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published September 6, 2022. Last updated December 23, 2023 for editorial improvements.
Jen says
My husband cannot eat pork products, what is a good substitution for bacon?
Marye says
turkey bacon will work. 🙂