Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole

[ajrsmom]

Here is just one version of Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole:

Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole

1 (2 pound) bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 pound sour cream
8 ounces Cheddar or Colby cheese, shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
Cornflakes, crushed
4 tablespoons margarine, melted

In a 13 x 9-inch baking pan, make single layers of the following: Potatoes, onions, 6 tablespoons melted margarine, sour cream, Cheddar cheese and soup. Sprinkle top with cornflakes. Drizzle 4 tablespoons margarine over top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until bubbly and piping hot.

I have seen recipe for using cornflakes and recipes that dont use cornflakes. Which one is better?

[barbszy]

My recipe is very different from this one. I modified it from the "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes" book. I make it in my roaster oven although you could just use a heavy skillet for the whole thing.

"Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole in the Nesco"

1 1/2 bags (32 oz each) hash-brown potatoes (the chunks, not the shreds)
1 lb Colby cheese, shredded
2 cups milk
1/2 cup dry minced onion
1 cup beef stock or broth (I used reconstituted soup base)
4 TBL butter
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

In a heavy pot on top of stove, combine all ingredients EXCEPT POTATOES.
Cook on low heat until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.
Put frozen potatoes in cookwell.
Pour cheese sauce over potatoes and stir to coat. Line sides of pan with
lasagna noodles so cheese and potatoes won't burn.
(At this point I refrigerated the whole casserole overnight).
To bake from refrigerated: Bake in Nesco at 200 to 250 for 2 hours. Turn
it up to 350 to 375 and turn on the fan. Bake about 11/2 hours. Stir
occasionally. At this point it should be cooked through and you can turn it
back down to the "keep warm for buffet serving" level.
This fed about 15 people as a side dish.

[cat lover]

I love every version of this casserole. I think I could start a small book on the different versions! LOL

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I guess I'll have to try both!

[ajrsmom]

After doing a lot of reading and comparison "shopping", Here is the recipe that I am going to try:


1 can of cream of chicken soup
8 oz. of sour cream
2C. Colby cheese, grated
1/2C. melted butter
1 small onion, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2lb. bag frozen shredded hashbrowns--THAWED--Important!!

Spray a 13 x 9 dish with non-stick spray

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except potatoes + save a little cheese to sprinkle on top

Gently fold in potatoes into mixture and pour into prepared pan.

Sprinkle with leftover cheese.

Bake at 350* for one hour. If you want a crispier top, stick it under the broiler at the end of baking.


This will freeze well. Thaw first to speed baking. If you baked it frozen, increase baking time.


I can't give credit to anyone specific, I combined several recipes and a lot of tips to get this recipe.

I'll let you know how it turns out! :)

Tami

[cat lover]

Sounds good! I've yet to run across a copy cat of CB hash brown casserole recipe that I didn't like! I have to only make it when I know someone can eat it too; I can't leave it sit very long! LOL

[ajrsmom]

I forgot to add 8 oz of sour cream the first time so I went back to edit it. :)

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Is this for the first recipe posted Tami? I saved that one in my folder on my computer.

[ajrsmom]

Is this for the first recipe posted Tami? I saved that one in my folder on my computer.


Sorry, I was getting late last night when I posted this.

The 8 oz. of sour cream is for the second recipe. I went in and added into the recipe but wanted to let everyone know that I did it in case they copied it without the S.C.

:)

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Tami, thanks. I didn't know whether or not to bring out the recipe I saved and fix it. I've one the very same thing.

[cat lover]

Ummmm, I've never put sour cream in it; does it just give it a creamier substance?

[ajrsmom]

From what I've read, the sour cream gives the dish the needed extra moisture to keep the dish from drying out.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

This is one of the first dishes I plan on trying when I am off my low-carb diet. I have had it at CB when we went out with DHs cousin and it is out of this world!

[cat lover]

From what I've read, the sour cream gives the dish the needed extra moisture to keep the dish from drying out.


Just never thought about that; let us know if it changes the flavor too much!

[ajrsmom]

:D I finally made this tonight for dinner. It turned out really good.
(Recipe from above post)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
8 oz. of sour cream
2C. Colby cheese, grated
1/2C. melted butter
1 small onion, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2lb. bag frozen shredded hashbrowns--THAWED--Important!!

Spray a 13 x 9 dish with non-stick spray

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except potatoes + save a little cheese to sprinkle on top

Gently fold in potatoes into mixture and pour into prepared pan.

Sprinkle with leftover cheese.

Bake at 350* for one hour. If you want a crispier top, stick it under the broiler at the end of baking.


This will freeze well. Thaw first to speed baking. If you baked it frozen, increase baking time.


Things I would change next time:

Definitely use a glass dish next time and spray really well with cooking spray OR grease with butter

Cut the sour cream amt. to 6oz.

Finely chop onions instead of mincing them

Make sure the potatoes are completely thawed--I even microwaved mine for a minute to completely thaw.


It was really, really close to what you get at CB! :)


I made 1 1/2 batches of this so I froze the 1/2 batch for next time.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Thanks for the Info Tami! I definately will be trying this in the future.

[cat lover]

:D I made 1 1/2 batches of this so I froze the 1/2 batch for next time.


Oh that casserole would be calling my name from the freezer!! LOL

[ajrsmom]

When we had our French Toast last Friday, I didnt make the HB to go along with it. We are having the French Toast again next week so I will cook this batch of HBC to go with it. :)

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Tami, how is your restarant night going?

[ajrsmom]

It went great for last weekend. I was planning on my version of chicken and dumplings ( using noodles ;)) for tonight but we grabbed something to eat a little while ago before we went grocery shopping, so I dont think that I will be making a big meal tonight. I think that they will manage with a sandwich or something.

I will just move this meal into next week's rotation.


The good thing is that doing this has prompted my son into coming up with new ideas for our next meal. :)


Thanks for asking!!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Tami, I think you hit on a terrific idea. It is especially great when the children get involved. Plus, the main thing is you are building memories.

[ajrsmom]

Thanks DeBora, we are having a fun time with this. :)

We watched 30 minute meals today and Rachel was making Pizzagna-- a mix of your favorite toppings and lasagna.

At the end of the show, my DH and son were both asking for it for dinner, lol!!

She was saying that one of the most popular pizzas in NY right now is Ziti pizza. Not my ideal pizza but I think my son would it eat.

It's like CiCi's mac n cheese pizza :p

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Let me know how that turns out. I cannot remember which episode that one was. She usually has some terrific ideas for quick and delicious meal ideas though.

[ajrsmom]

It turned out yummy! I used small shells for the pasta. I added onions, gr. peppers, garlic and a little hamburger.


Here is the episode:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_tm/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9997_44205,00.html

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Thanks Tami. I must have missed that episode because I don't remember any of what she made. Sounds like something my DH might like. He's so picky. He loves her Fake Bakes Ziti.

[barbszy]

That looks delicious!

[cat lover]

It's like CiCi's mac n cheese pizza :p


Did you or do you know if anyone ever came up with the recipe for this? I've never even seen it,but would sure like to try it!:confused:

[ajrsmom]

Did you or do you know if anyone ever came up with the recipe for this? I've never even seen it,but would sure like to try it!:confused:

It looks like pizza dough w/ a little white sauce and then mac in cheese made out of really thick squiggly noodles ( I think that Barilla makes this kind of noodle) and yellow cheese sauce. Layered....dough, white sauce then topped with mac and cheese and bakes.

I think that I found a pic of it the last time I looked for it. I will give a look for one now.

[cat lover]

Thanks, I'd love to have the pic! I think I'm going to give this one a try, so I'll copy it and put it in my "to fix" file; thanks again!

[ajrsmom]

It looks like pizza dough w/ a little white sauce and then mac in cheese made out of really thick squiggly noodles ( I think that Barilla makes this kind of noodle) and yellow cheese sauce. Layered....dough, white sauce then topped with mac and cheese and bakes.

I think that I found a pic of it the last time I looked for it. I will give a look for one now.

I just looked at their website and all over Google but I cant find a pick of it. I swear that when I mentioned it before, they had a pic on their website. :confused: My description is pretty good to me but probably doesnt help you much. :rolleyes:

[cat lover]

Your description works just fine, thanks again!!!

[ajrsmom]

Just wanted to let everyone know that we ate the frozen hashbrown casserole tonight and it was better than the first one ( which was very good!).

I partially thawed (it was probably 3/4 of the way thawed) and stuck it into a preheated 350* oven for about 55 minutes.

It came out slightly crispy around the edges and really creamy.

YUMMY!! :)


I have decided not to use the changes that I recommened from the first dish from last week. I will make just like I did, only in double or triple batches and then freeze for future use.

If you don't mind it not being a little crispy ( that's my favorite part though ;)), you could easily make this in a crockpot. Of course you would have to play around with the cooking time but once you figured it out, it would be easy to make.

[cat lover]

Oh but you know, with this heat it would be well worth giving up the crispies just to have CB hash brown casserole right now! LOL

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Tami, I am surprised that something with potato in it would freeze so well. Good to know.

[ajrsmom]

Wanted to let you know what I did last night with the hashbrown recipe.......

I went to get things ready last night and realized that I didn't have any sour cream. Since I was in the middle of making it already, I decided to use another 1/2 can of cream of chicken soup + just a little more melted butter. I also used a little more cheese (I used Cheddar cheese this time).

I didn't say anything to my Dh about the changes because I wanted to see if he would notice it. He didn't say anything last night BUT he was sick so I didn't think that he would mention it. Today when he came home (he ate it for lunch last night too) he said that this HB casserole was the best that I've ever made! I confessed to him what I did and he said for me not to change a thing. :D :D


Just thought that I would pass along my changes!!

Has anyone tried this recipe? If so, did you like it??

[cat lover]

Sounds good, but I stick with the original copycat recipe. I do thaw out the hash brown potatoes; I think you mentioned that one time. We love it, but DH can't eat it often because of the fat in the colby cheese. And using fat free cheese in this recipe DOES NOT work! LOL

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I made this tonight. Although it turned out okay, it didn't taste like the Cracker Barrell version. Then, I realized that I forgot the chicken soup. It did taste good though. I will just have to try it again.

[ajrsmom]

I made this tonight. Although it turned out okay, it didn't taste like the Cracker Barrell version. Then, I realized that I forgot the chicken soup. It did taste good though. I will just have to try it again.

Sorry that it did not turn out the same. Have you tried it again?

I have made this version several times (in fact we are having the CB Frech toast and hashbrown casserole tonight) and it tastes just like the CB version.

[cat lover]

Okay, now that this has been brought to my attention again (LOL) I think I need to plan this one night this week! I just love it!!!!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Well, it didn't turn out bad because the recipe was bad, but rather because the cook was bad. lol I almost made it last week. I think this would be good to make this next week when hubby is here.

[noctowl]

I make this casserole just about every other week. It lends itself really well to add ins. We like crumbled bacon or chopped ham in it or chopped broccoli. Tonight I am going to try it with some asparagus in it. My ex mother-in-law says she has even cooked pork chops on top of it and the turned out yummy.

Joy

[cat lover]

noctowl, you have some good ideas, but I usually just make it along with a big breakfast, scrambled egg whites, vegetarian sausage, and cornbread or biscuits and close my eyes and think I'm in cracker barrel tilll.....I have to do the dishes.....LOL

[barbszy]

Funny this has come up again. A few days ago a friend's daughter asked me when we're having our "Big Breakfast" (invite a crowd of 30 or more, have DH make pancakes & bacon, I make hashbrown casserole and coffee, guests bring donuts & juice)--because she loves my potatoes. Guess we will have to plan a "Big Breakfast" soon :)

[Lizzie-boo]

I think everyone has some sort of version of this recipe. I know I've made (and loved) it a couple of different ways over the years.

My current favorite version is made in a 9-inch square baking dish in the microwave (alas, no crunchy edges, but it really cooks up fast, and the smaller size works for my substantially smaller family).

Liz

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Which recipe does everyone use that everyone seems to like as a favorite? I am planning on going to the store tomorrow to get ingredients for groceries for the next few days.