Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole is an easy comfort food side dish made with shredded hash browns, cheddar, sour cream and a homemade cheese sauce. Because it bakes in one dish in about an hour, this copycat recipe suits holiday breakfast spreads, potlucks, Thanksgiving or a big family dinner.
Cooking the flour in the butter for a full two minutes is the step that decides the sauce, since raw flour tastes chalky. Wait for it to sizzle all over and turn light golden, because that is when it can thicken the half-and-half properly.
This version skips canned cream of chicken soup entirely and builds a scratch cheese sauce from butter, flour and broth instead. The sour cream goes in off the heat, so it stays smooth rather than splitting into a grainy mess.
Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole
Course: Side DishCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
minutes50
minutes360
kcalOnion softens in butter before flour, half-and-half and chicken broth build a thick sauce enriched with sour cream and cheddar. Thawed shredded potatoes get folded in, spread into a 9-by-13 dish and baked until the cheesy top is crisp.
Ingredients
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 small onion, finely diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup half-and-half
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded mild cheddar
1 bag (30 ounces) frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
Directions
- Prepare the dish:Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
- Soften the onion:Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic powder, onion, ½ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper, then cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.
- Cook the flour:Add the flour and cook, whisking, until it sizzles all over and turns light golden, about 2 minutes.
- Make the sauce:Whisk in the half-and-half and chicken broth, return to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 1 minute.
- Finish off the heat:Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream and 1½ cups of the cheddar. Add the thawed hash browns and toss until coated, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bake:Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish and top with the remaining ½ cup cheddar. Bake until browned and bubbling at the edges, about 45 minutes.
- Crisp the top: Raise the oven to 475°F and bake another 5 minutes, until the top is crisp and browned all over.
FAQs
Why do the hash browns need to be thawed first?
Frozen shreds release a surprising amount of water as they heat, and that liquid thins the cheese sauce into soup. Thawing lets you drain that water off before anything gets mixed, so the sauce stays thick in the dish. Frozen shreds also chill the hot sauce on contact, which adds about twenty minutes to the bake time.
Why does the oven go up to 475 degrees at the end?
Forty-five minutes at 350 cooks the inside through, but it never gets the surface hot enough to crisp. The blast at 475 browns the top layer of cheddar fast, which gives the contrast the dish is known for. Watch it closely during those five minutes, since cheese goes from browned to burnt in well under a minute.
Should you grate your own cheddar instead of using bagged shredded cheese?
Bagged cheese is dusted with potato starch or cellulose to stop clumping, and that coating makes sauces grainy. Grating a block takes two minutes and melts into a noticeably smoother sauce, so it is worth the effort. Bagged cheese is fine for the half cup scattered over the top, because that layer is only being browned.
Can you assemble this casserole the night before?
Mix everything and refrigerate it covered overnight, then pull the dish out thirty minutes before it goes in. Add ten to fifteen minutes to the bake, since a cold casserole takes longer to heat all the way through. Hold the topping cheese back until baking day, so it browns rather than drying out in the refrigerator.
What can you use instead of half-and-half?
Equal parts whole milk and heavy cream gives you the same fat content, which is all the sauce needs. Whole milk on its own works, though the sauce comes out slightly thinner and less rounded in flavor. Evaporated milk is the best pantry swap, because it is concentrated and resists curdling under high heat.
