What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow. ― A.A. Milne

Hello my lovely friends, I hope this recipe post finds you well! Since last weekend was Easter, which is a holiday which always has the most incredible food at my house, I figured what better way to just start this recipe collection than with my Hashbrown Casserole recipe. This recipe is perfect for ANY occasion and is pretty simple to make, just takes a little tender love and care but well worth it (as you will see in my after picture). Be it a potluck or a brunch, you will not go wrong with this Hashbrown Casserole

Now here are your ingredients:

• 1 8×8 glass pan, I use glass since it cooks more evenly in my opinion, you may also use bigger, I think my pan was a 9×11 or something crazy like that
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 10 3/4 oz each
• 1 container of sour cream, 16 oz
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 package frozen hashbrowns, 32 oz
• 1 bag mozzarella cheese, 8 oz, you may also substitute this for queso quesadilla cheese (found at Kroger, Kroger brand) or swiss, but mozz makes the crust thicker
• 1 back mild cheddar cheese, 8 oz
• green onions, 1 cup, optional
• 2 oz of jarred pimentos, optional

Now just to warn you, this recipe is very cheesy. I don’t have a problem with it, however, you can always cut back to less in the recipe, but leave the amount in recipe on top in order to attain the perfect crust.

Preheat your oven to 375°.

In a big bowl combine the soup, 3/4 of the sour cream, pepper, green onions, and pimentos and stir until it is mixed well and consistent. Once you’ve achieved that, add the hashbrowns to the bowl. Stir this thoroughly as well.

Next comes the cheese. Add the entire bag of cheddar and half the bag of mozzarella. You’re going to want to stir until the cheese is well dispersed among the potatoes.

Now spread the potato and cheese onto a oiled or cooking spray sprayed pan. Don’t use to much, just enough for it not to stick too terribly!

With the remainder of the sour cream, once the potatoes are spread evenly on the pan, spread the sour cream on top. If you’re not a fan of sour cream, just add more soup to the top if you have it available, but I always hate opening an extra can just to throw it out. Time to add that extra mozzarella. Sprinkle it on top until it forms a little bit of a layer between the potato mixture and the top.

You’re ready to put this in the oven!

This part is VERY important. You’re going to want to cook this without foil over it to start with. Once you start to smell it cooking, or if you’re like me and hover over every dish ensuring it’s potential perfection, when you start seeing the crust form. This means when the cheese on the top starts browning. If you’re not ready for that to happen, and I can almost guarantee you wont be when it happens, do yourself a favor and cover it with foil. Once at least an hour has gone by and you feel your dish is finished cooking, turn on your broiler.

The broiler is one of the most amazing cooking devices ever, seriously! Especially if you love cheese on baked dishes, consider this your new best friend! Set your broiler on high and with the foil off your casserole, watch the dish go from a unfinished dish to a golden brown, to even a dark brown bubbled crust of cheesy goodness. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, let these unfiltered pictures do the talking!

And the promised after picture, which after this picture was taken, the last bit of the Hashbrown Casserole was demolished by yours truly!

 

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes

Cooking time: 1-1.3 hours (depending on your oven)

Total time: 1.5 hours

 

Cheers!

Taylor, The Food Lover Gone Southern