Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole (No Canned Soup)
Since the day I shared this recipe back in 2018, it became one of my most popular recipes. People enjoy this easy and yet homemade recipe that features thawed frozen shredded hashbrowns, homemade creamy cheese sauce, onion, herbs, and of course, some more cheese.
Featured Comment
“I have made hadhbrown casserole for years with COC soup. Thisi is the best recipe for this casserole and the best way to prepare as the recipe states.” ~Barbara ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Years of working at the Cracker Barrel and enjoying all the delicious comforting food drove me to create my own recipes and make it at home. Hashbrown Casserole is definitely one of those dishes. When you have a recipe that beats the restaurant’s, you don’t have a need to go out and get it. You are all set to make it right at home!
Scalloped potatoes and hashbrown casserole are the two potato sides that I make for a big family dinner. Don’t let the fact that this casserole is prepared with no canned soup make you think that it’s harder to cook. It is just as easy and only takes about 10 extra minutes of preparation time. (Okay, I also frequent my loaded cheesy potato casserole as well.)
Key Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Frozen Shredded Hash Brown Potatoes – hash brown potatoes usually come frozen so make sure to thaw the potatoes first. Best way to do that is to thaw them overnight or for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Cheese – I like to use sharp cheddar cheese because it adds a lot more flavor to the casserole.
Gluten Free*: This casserole is very easily made gluten free. Just substitute all purpose flour for gluten free all purpose flour. Note that sometimes it takes just a little more gluten free flour to make it the same thickness as regular. (Depending on the brand.) In most cases, 1/2-1 extra tablespoon will do the trick.
How To Make Hashbrown Casserole: Step By Step and Tips
- Important pre-cooking step: hash brown potatoes usually come frozen so make sure to thaw the potatoes first. You can always set yourself an alarm the day before you plan to cook the casserole to remind you to pull the potatoes from the freezer.
- When making the casserole, start with cheese sauce because nothing needs to be done with thawed potatoes. Sauté onions in butter until soft and transparent (don’t you just love the smell of onions searing in butter?!)
- Successful smooth cheese sauce: coat sauteed onions in flour evenly. Pour the liquids in slowly AS you continuously but slowly stir! The mixture will start to thicken as you are slowly stirring. (Feel free to use a whisk if that is more comfortable for you.)
- Keep the temperature below medium! Never have the heat too high when making any kind of creamy cheese sauce. Medium to start and the lower to medium low after adding liquids.
- Add cheese one handful at a time: slowly stir as you add the cheese one handful at a time. This will help the cheese melt and incorporate into the sauce evenly.
- Take off heat as soon as cheese is melted.
- Be gentle mixing hashbrowns and cheese sauce. Don’t overmix but make sure it’s mixed evenly.
- Transfer the mixture into the casserole dish, top off with more cheese, and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
- If you’re noticing that the top is getting browned too fast, you can loosely place a sheet of aluminum foil on top of the baking dish. This will deflect direct heat from the cheese topping.
How To Make Ahead, Store, and Reheat the Casserole
Make Ahead: You can assemble the casserole without baking it and keep it in the refrigerator overnight. Before refrigerating, cover the dish tightly with a lid or plastic wrap. When you are ready to bake it, unwrap and let the dish sit out for about 30 minutes to warm up. You will need to add about 5 to 7 minutes to the baking time.
Storing: Leftover hashbrown casserole can be stored for 3-5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You can either leave it in the baking dish or move it to a different storage container.
Reheating: You can reheat the entire casserole in the oven or reheat individual servings in the microwave. To reheat in the oven, let the dish warm up for 30 minutes on the counter first. Then, bake at 350°F. To keep the top from getting too brown, you can cover the dish with foil.
How To Freeze Hashbrown Casserole?
PRO TIP: If you plan to freeze this casserole, you can prepare it and bake it in an aluminum baking pan. Note that the bake time will be slightly less, about 5 minutes less.
- Prepare the casserole and bake it in an aluminum baking dish, per the recipe. Make sure to cool the cooked potato casserole to room temperature before freezing!
- Cover the whole pan with plastic or another freezer-friendly air-tight wrap and then, wrap it in a some aluminum foil. Double cover will make sure it is completely air-tight.
- Label the pan and freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Make sure to thaw it slowly, in the refrigerator, for up to 24 hours.
Variations and Additions To Try
Add a Crunchy Topping: for a texture similar to “Funeral Potatoes,” mix 2 cups of crushed cornflakes or Ritz crackers with 3 tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle over the top before baking.
Add Protein: stir in 1 cup of diced ham, chopped or shredded rotisserie chicken, cooked crumbled bacon, or shredded leftover turkey.
Change the Cheese: while sharp cheddar is classic, feel free to use Monterey Jack, pepper Jack, Colby, or a Mexican cheese blend.
Make it Spicy: add finely diced jalapeños or a 4-ounce can of green chiles for a spicy kick.
Herbs: add some extra flavor with chopped chives, scallions, and/or parsley.
Can I make this in the Crock Pot?
Yes. Prepare the casserole as instructed in the recipe up to the step of spreading it in the baking dish. Spread the cheesy potato mixture in the Crock Pot, cover with the lid, and cook for 2-3 hours on HIGH or for 4-4.5 hours on LOW. Spread the grated cheese on top of the casserole during the last 30 minutes of cook time.
Can I use cubed potatoes instead of shredded?
While this recipe is designed for shredded hashbrowns, you can use cubed hash brown potatoes. Make sure to thaw them first as well. I actually have a similar dish called a cheesy potato casserole.
Why is it important to thaw the frozen hashbrowns?
Thawing the hashbrowns is essential to prevent a watery or soggy casserole. The excess moisture from frozen potatoes can make the sauce thin and prevent the potatoes from cooking evenly.
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Hashbrown Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 oz frozen shredded hash brown potatoes thawed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour*
- 2 cups whole milk (can use reduced fat if needed)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup sour cream
- 8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced parsley (can use dried parsley if needed)
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 casserole baking dish.
- Preheat medium pot over medium heat on stove-top.
- Add oil, heat it through, and add diced onions. Sauté onions until they start to brown.
- Smash and mince garlic and add it to the onions. Stir and sauté until fragrant, just a few seconds.
- Sprinkle flour over the onions and stir well. Stir for a few seconds and start slowly pouring in chicken stock, while stirring. Pour in milk after that while stirring as well.
- Lower the heat to medium-low. Let the mixture heat through and start to thicken. Make sure to stir often.
- Stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper. (You may need to use a whisk to help incorporate the sour cream.) Let the mixture cook for about a minute.
- Stir in cheese one handful at a time. Stir in as it melts and taste to make sure you have enough seasoning. Once cheese is melted, stir in parsley and take the pot off heat.
- Mix hash brown potatoes and cheese sauce in a large bowl and spread the mixture in the prepared casserole dish. Make sure it's all spread evenly throughout.
- Spread some more cheese on top and bake for 30-35 minutes, until casserole browned and bubbles around the edges. If you would like to brown the top a little more, turn on the broiler for a few seconds.
Video
Notes
- Gluten Free*: This casserole is very easily made gluten free, just substitute all purpose flour for gluten free all purpose flour.
- Storing: Store any leftover hashbrown casserole in the refrigerator covered air-tight for 3-5 days.
Nutrition
Some More Comforting Side Dishes
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on December 20, 2018.
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Categories:
Breakfast Recipes, Brunch Recipes, Christmas Dinner Recipes, Easter Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, Potatoes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
We made this with cream cheese instead of sour cream and added cooked breakfast sausage with cheese on top. It is very delicious!
That sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for sharing your tasty twist! 😊
First of all, this recipe was awesome as is. With this recipe there are so many ways to customize it.
When I made it again, I started with frying some bacon and adding it just before the cheese. In addition to onion and garlic, I added diced green peppers and a diced jalapeno (with seeds – I like it spicy). While sautéing, I halved the olive oil and made up the difference with bacon grease. For the cheese, I used a combo of smoked gruyere and habanero jack. For a topping I mixed panko breadcrumbs with melted butter and spread it on top. For me, this came out amazing.
I’ll definitely be trying some other combinations of cheese and ingredients. Thank you for such a great recipe (without using canned soup).
Wow, that sounds incredible! 😍 I love how you took the base recipe and made it your own! Thank you for sharing your version! 🙂
These potatoes were amazing!!!
Thanks, Sean! So glad you liked them!
Question, can you make with the country “cubed” potatoes? Would I bake to crisp up?
Hey Connie! I actually have a recipe that is very similar to this one but using cubed potatoes. Take a look and see if this recipe fits you best: https://gesundheitsreport2.org/loaded-cheesy-potato-casserole/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I’ve made and enjoyed this recipe several times now. I am making it for a friend who is gluten intolerant and I was wondering if I could use cornstarch in place of flour for thickening? Thank you!
Don’t use cornstarch just substitute all-purpose flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour. Note that sometimes it takes just a little more gluten-free flour to make it the same thickness as regular. (Depending on the brand.) In most cases, 1/2-1 extra tablespoon will do the trick. I hope this helps!
I followed the recipe but used shredded sweet potatoes, made up one cup herb ox sodium free chicken bouillon, only used 8 oz of Daisy sour cream, and a half a brick of Philly cream cheese, didn’t have any cheddar cheese in the house but I had a 14 oz bag of four cheese Mexican blend three quarters of the bag mixed in with the potato mixture the last quarter of the bag used to top off the casserole also used 3 oz of Smithfield bacon bits to top off the casserole.
It sounds like you made some creative and delicious adjustments to the recipe!
Can you make ahead and freeze?
Hi Heather, yes you can make this ahead and freeze it. If you scroll up in the post I have freezing instructions. I hope this helps! 🙂
I really loved this recipe and it is now my favorite recipe thank you
I have made hadhbrown casserole for years with COC soup. Thisi is the best recipe for this casserole and the best way to prepare as the recipe states.
I am so glad you like it, Barbara!
Delicious! I made this as a side to smoked ribs I made for my son. The only change I made was to add bacon crumbles. This goes in my rotation 😁
Everything is better with bacon! So glad you liked it, Rob!
I am in the UK so we don’t have frozen hash browns so I grated the potatoes, washed them and squeezed the water out. After an hour at 200c they were still not 100% cooked. The taste was ok but I like soft potatoes. How is yours cooked in only 35 mins?
Hello Lisa! Yes, of course the potatoes were not done because you started with raw potatoes. Frozen hashbrown are cooked!
What you can do to fix that, is par-cook whole, unpeeled potatoes (boil them) but not until they are fully cooked or they will fall apart as you try to grate them. Cook them until they are about 3?4 done. Cool them completely, peel them, and then grate them. I recommend using golden potatoes.
Par boil your fresh grated potatoes. Hashbrowns in your freezer section have been slightly blanded or cooked before being frozen. Try it agian doing that then come back and tell us how good it was.
Can this be made ahead of time so I would just need to put in the oven to bake? Was thinking about trying for the holidays & most of my recipes are make ahead so not much to do the day of.
Hey Charlotte! So sorry for the late response! You can definitely make this head of time. There are instruction in the post on how to do that.
You can prepare it completely and then cover it air-tight and refrigerate. Bake it the next day at 350 and just add about 5-7 minutes since the casserole with start cold. (Make sure to discard any covering you used.)
Not sure what I did wrong, but it came out super liquidy. Maybe the 2nd cup of milk should’ve been skipped.
Hi Shelly,
I am sorry it didn’t turn out! I have made these dozens of times and never have had a problem. The cheese sauce should’ve been thick before baking it. Did you maybe forget to add one of the ingredients? Without the flour, it would be soupy.
Mine came out soupy as well.
I added sausage, followed the recipe as stated and it was perfect. I also mixed in chives and my hubby loved it.
That sounds so good! I am so glad you liked the recipe, Tina!
I browned some breakfast sausage and mixed it in. I think w/o the breakfast sausage, it would have been pretty average. Sorry, but this recipe isn’t a keeper for me.
I liked your recipe especially because it didn’t use canned soup like all the others! I used butter instead of oil (personal preference). My family e joked too.
Glad you liked it, Laura!
Can this be frozen
Hello, can you make this recipe in a crock pot and if so how long on high?
Hi Sammy! I’m so sorry for the missed question. You can make this in a crock pot. Just spread the mixture into the crock pot and I would cook in on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4 – 4 1/2 hours. Spread the cheese on top during the last 30 minutes.
Love this! We’ve made it multiple times and it’s always a crowd pleaser. I add ground breakfast sausage sometimes or bacon and it’s absolutely delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.
Yum! So glad you liked it, Lindsay!
Added green and red bell peppers and mushrooms for some veggies, it was delicious for Christmas brunch! Did end up in the oven for 15 min longer but that was me not completely thawing the hashbrowns. Love it didn’t use eggs!
Can I make and freeze a week before I need to bake?
I cooked this for the first time for dinner with friends. Everyone loved it and went back for seconds and thirds. It is an easy recipe I plan on using again and again! Thank you so much!!
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This was delicious and so much better then several cans of soup like most other recipes. Will add some spices to it next time but a keeper. Went well as a side dish with fried seafood.
Thanks, Mary! I am glad you liked it better. 🙂
HELP! I just broke my only 9×13 and everything is ready to go in the oven! what can I use instead?
Hi Catherine,
I am so sorry I don’t get notifications of new comments immediately, so I have to log in to see them. The next time you need a response right away send me a message on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/willcookforsmiles and I will respond much faster and be able to help. I hope you were able to figure out how to make this still if not let me know and I will help you out.
Has anyone prepped this the night before and baked the next morning? If so, is an hour sufficient?
Absolutely. You can prepare the casserole completely up to the baking step and refrigerate overnight. Make sure to cover the prepared casserole dish with plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge. Take the dish out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking and let it sit on the counter to warm up. Discard the plastic wrap and bake at 350° but add extra 5 minutes or so since the casserole will start out cold. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
My family loved this recipe! I added green pepper and hamburger to make it a full meal. It was like shepherds pie! I also used sour cream and onion dip instead of sour cream because that’s all I had it tasted great!
I have leftover ham from Easter, can I add that and if I can should I change any of the other ingredients?
Sorry, Amy, I am just now seeing your comment. Yes, you can add ham and no you wouldn’t chance anything else.
Can I use julien hash browns for this recipe
Do you mean shredded? If so yes this recipe is best with shredded if you mean diced then it won’t be as incorporated and but it will still taste good. Hope that helps.
Hi i was wondering if the recipe can be baked in a roaster and for how long?
Hi Lynsey,
I have never used a roaster for this recipe so I am not sure how long to cook it in one.
I haven’t tried this yet. I am thinking of trying a second batch using cauliflower instead of shredded potatoes. My husband will get the hashbrowns casserole and I’ll get a cauliflower casserole. Wish me good luck!
Sounds good! Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Do you think it would be ok to substitute cream cheese instead of sour cream?
How much salt do you use? I tend to either under salt or over salt so I’d like to have it just right this time. Thanks!
Hi Linda,
It’s very difficult to give the amount of salt because everyone’s taste different with salt I would add about 1/2 a tsp and taste if it’s not enough for you add a little more and keep tasting until it’s just right.
Can you make this ahead and freeze to cook later?
Absolutely. You can prepare the casserole completely up to the baking step and refrigerate overnight. Make sure to cover the prepared casserole dish with plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge. Take the dish out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking and let it sit on the counter to warm up. Discard the plastic wrap and bake at 350° but add extra 5 minutes or so since the casserole will start out cold. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I precooked them for 10 min then shredded. Worked great
So glad you liked it, Vivian!
Excellent recipe! Thanks!! I did use my own shredded potatoes I precooked them for 10 min then shredded. Worked great! I love that you don’t have to use condensed soup in this recipe
Hi Becky,
I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
Any chance you have tried it with reduced fat milk and cheese? Or sauteed the onions in chicken broth with 1/2 the oil? Just wondering if anyone has tried lightening it up at all?
Hi Michelle,
Hashbrown casserole is an indulgent side dish because of the potatoes so the small substitutions will not reduce the fact that they are potatoes and carbs. 😉 That said you could use reduced-fat milk or even fat-free but as far as cheese reduced-fat cheese often does not come out well or comes out with a grainy texture. If you have a nonstick pan you can reduce the oil without needed to add chicken broth. I hope you still try it even with having to use full-fat cheese, it is a delicious indulgent every once in awhile. 🙂
Hi, I think you could substitute greek yogurt for the sour cream and save a ton of fat. Lyubas recipes are always delicious.
Thank you, Christine! I am so glad you like my recipes 🙂
Can you freeze this?
My family really enjoyed this last night as a special side dish to Chicken Cordon Bleu! Easy to prepare, and we’re sure leftovers will reheat well. Just delicious!! Thank you for sharing, this recipe is being moved to my “Favorites” board!
So glad your family enjoyed it, Laura! Thanks for stopping by!
What’s the best way to thaw the potatoes? Let them sit in the fridge?
Hi Heather,
Yes I would let them sit in the fridge overnight to thaw. I hope you like them!
It was easy and most delicious hash brown casserole recipe ever! Thank you! 😊🙏🏻
Plus we added mushrooms and ham!! 😋😋
Thank you! So glad you liked it! 🙂
I want to make this however I am confused on cheese amounts. As the ingredients say 8 oz cheese then bottom of ingredients say 1 cup of cheese for topping. Then in directions there are 3 times you add cheese. One is in the sauce. Then more to stir in with hash browns. Then more for top. Would be nice if directions detailed how much cheese to add for each of the 3 times. Also if I look at the beautiful picture It would appear as though there was a whole 8 oz block just on the top. Looks so good. But without more specific directions I have to stick to my soup based hash browns :0(
Hi Michelle!
I’m sorry the instructions aren’t coming off clear, I will add the amount in instructions as well. There are two times that you add the cheese, one in the cheese sauce and one on top. You would mix the whole 8 oz block into the cheese sauce. For the topping, you are welcome to use more than one cup of shredded cheese, if you want it cheesier. It won’t hurt at all! I really hope you will enjoy it!
I used fresh potaties to make my own hashbrowns. It came out delicious not watery or soupy at all. I used 6 small potaties to make 30 oz. I washed them poked holes on both sides put on a plate for 10 minutes let cool peel and shred. I didnt have frozen hashbrowns on hand so I had to improvise. I hope this helps. Thanks for this delicious recipe👍😃
I bet that was good! I am glad you liked it!
Oh my. I made a double batch of this for Christmas brunch tomorrow morning and decided to bake a small dish of it tonight to try it out. It is so very good! I would say it’s even better than the hash brown casserole at Cracker Barrel. I can’t wait to share it with family tomorrow and will definitely be saving this recipe for the future!
I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
Can I double the recipe?
Hi, Donna! You can absolutely double it!
Can you use the southern style diced hash browns? I accidentally got the wrong ones.
It will work in a way but you will have different results its going to be more like cheesy potatoes then a hasbrown casserole. I think it will still be tasty, just not the same as with hashbrowns.
Added diced ham to make a main dish
Yum! 🙂
Any recommendations for making this gluten-free?
Perhaps using all-purpose gluten-free flour or arrowroot?
Wondering if anyone has tried this.
Hey, Karla! Sorry for my late response my email was putting some of my questions into the spam folder. I have used gluten free flour when making this you may need to add an extra tablespoon of GF flour then regular so mix the cheesy mixture first and see if it needs it.
One more thought. I love making dishes with chicken. When chicken breasts go on sale for $1.99 a pound, I get several packs and throw them in the crockpot with chicken broth and leave them for 6 hours. When they’re falling apart, I break them up and throw them in a ziplock bag and freeze them. Whenever I’m making chicken salad or any recipe that calls for a rotisserie chicken, I grab my bag of chicken and I’m good to go. I cooked 5 pounds of chicken yesterday. I think I’m set for a couple of weeks.
Dianne, great ideas!!! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
I screwed up one time and had NO sour cream, but I did have some of the onion dip that has a sour cream base, not the cheap Frito-Lay stuff. I figured why not? It worked!! I always make it that way now.
Yum! That sounds great!
Can you add shredded chicken to this??
Mary, I think that would be tasty.
Can you make this recipe the night before and reheat the next day ?
Hi, Ariel, It would be better to prep it and bake it when your ready to eat it rather then baking it then heating it back up as it would take almost as long to reheat it. Hope this helps!
Love this recipe! Wondering if you think I can assemble ahead of time then bake later?
Thank you so much, Mel! You can absolutely prepare the casserole completely up to the baking step and refrigerate overnight. Make sure to cover the prepared casserole dish with saran wrap before putting it in the fridge. (Discard saran wrap before baking.)
Can I use fresh potatoes?
Hi Sherie!
Hash brown potatoes that come in a bag are actually already cooked and then shredded. If you use fresh, potatoes will give out way too much liquid and you might end up with soup 🙂
If you want to make your own, you can cook potatoes fist by boiling them and cooling (Just don’t over-cook of potatoes will crumble). When cooled, you can use a large cheese grater to grate cooked potatoes.
I hope this helps!
Very good. I did brown the hash browns before adding the cheese sauce.
Oh that’s nice! Extra layer of flavor from the browning 🙂
Thank you, Jacquelyn!
I added ground beef yummy
Looking for the potato casserole recipe. I could not find it.
Hi Linda!
I will send you an email.
Love this potato casserole. You made a good recipe outstanding, the whole family wondered why I haven’t been making this at Christmas all along. Just found the recipe, but you can count on me using this one several times a year.
Thank you!
Thank you, Nancy! I am so happy you and your family enjoyed it! 🙂