Cracker Barrel Cheesy Potatoes with a crispy topping mixed with a creamy filling - YUM! This delicious copycat recipe is the BEST cheesy potato casserole ever! It's so easy to make and a real crowd pleaser. Perfect as a side for dinner and yummy for breakfast or brunch!
Another delicious southern side dish is this collard greens recipe - it's amazing, super savory and easy to make, SO GOOD!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
I even remember the first time I went to Cracker Barrel - it was when I lived in Virginia and I thought I died and went to food-coma heaven!
Chicken fried steak and cheesy hash brown potatoes and I think about 45 minutes later I rolled out of the restaurant.
It's been a favorite ever since!
If you love a great cheesy casserole then this easy recipe can be made in the comfort of your own home. It will be a family favorite! This is the perfect dinner side dish (or meal, if you're like me and really like potatoes!) and it's super easy to make with freezer and pantry staples.
What's not to love?!!!
🗒️ Ingredients
For the exact measurements, for the Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole recipe please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- shredded frozen hash browns - I love this easy shortcut of using frozen vegetables. Though you could certainly use cooked shredded or diced potatoes.
- cheese - use store bought shredded cheddar cheese or Colby cheese, what can be easier?!!
- cream of chicken soup and sour cream - low fat or the full flavor version, both will work and give this casserole great flavor. Just about any cream soup will work. Substitute with cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup.
- melted butter - just a tablespoon.
- salt and pepper - to add flavor.
- optional garnish - green onions
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. For the complete directions just scroll down to the bottom. You're going to love how simple this recipe is to make!
- Put the thawed hash brown to a large mixing bowl, pour in diced onions.
- Add in sour cream.
- Next goes the cream of chicken soup.
- Add the cheddar cheese.
- Pour in the butter.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Mix, mix, mix everything really well!
- Prepare the baking dish, spraying it with non-stick spray.
- Pour all of the ingredients into the pan - place into the preheated oven and bake until hot and bubbly and the top of the casserole is golden brown.
🙋♀️ FAQ's
This recipe uses less butter than most that you'll see, but it doesn't loose any of the flavor! In my opinion the excess butter just makes it greasy.
Yes, you can! And it doesn't make it less flavorful. This cheesy potato casserole recipe has the best flavoring with half the fat!
Yes, you'll want to thaw the potatoes first before making the Cracker Barrel cheesy hash brown casserole.
Absolutely! If you'd like to take the time to peel the potatoes and grate them, that works too. Just be sure to squeeze the excess water from them.
Yes! This casserole freezes well. Mix all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight, freezer-safe container - I use a ziplock bag. You can store it up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then bake as directed.
👍 Tips
If you want to prep the Cracker Barrel Cheesy Potatoes Casserole the day before, remove the hash browns from the freezer and mix all of the ingredients together and refrigerate overnight. The potatoes will thaw and the next day pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and bake as directed.
Don't press the ingredients into the pan, it may cause it to stick to the pan. Just gently fill the casserole dish.
This cheesy potato casserole recipe is simple to reheat as well. Simple tuck the dish (uncovered) into the preheated oven and bake until heated through - 25-30 minutes.
Variations
There are several variations for the Cracker Barrel Cheesy Potato Casserole - here are some easy substitutes to consider for your menu.
- Add one pound cooked breakfast sausage to the mixture for an easy complete meal. An extra cup of shredded cheese will bring everything together.
- Next time top it with crushed potato chips, corn flakes or Panko bread crumbs mixed with a touch of parmesan cheese will create a super crispy topping. You'll need about 1 ½ cups of chips or bread crumbs mixed with about ½ of cheese.
- Got Ritz Crackers - these are perfect for a buttery topping also!
- Dare I say bacon? It does make everything better! Cook one pound of bacon until crispy, drain will. Crumble it and combine with the mixture, saving about ¼ cup to sprinkle on the top. What's not to love?!!!
Storage
Allow leftovers to cool completely to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This delicious dish also freezes well up to three months.
Serving suggestions
The easy answer is lots of things! Oh... you're looking for ideas, I gotcha! If you're serving a fancy meal like Prime Rib, the Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole is a great side and much easier to make than twice baked potatoes.
Serve it with these fried chicken tenders - what a great combination!
It's super yummy for casual meals too - slow cooker pork chops, meatballs or steaks on the grill - YUM!!
Related recipes
I've said more times than not - potatoes were BIG when we were growing up and are still some of my favorite recipes. They can be epic, like smashed potatoes or colcannon potatoes - literally a meal by themselves. Or your everyday side dish - I mean nothing beats a baked potato, right?
There's a TON of recipes all centered around potatoes on the blog - just type the word "potato" in search and you'll find them all!
This recipe for Copycat Cracker Barrel Fried Apples is another family favorite on blog. I hope you give it a try soon!
Recipe
Cracker Barrel Cheesy Potatoes
Ingredients
- 30 oz. frozen hash brown potatoes thawed
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 10.75 oz. condensed cream of chicken soup fat free is delicious!
- 1 cup sour cream low fat works here1
- 1 cup yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- optional garnish - green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray 9x13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray or coat with butter.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Mix gently and pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven - no need to cover or top with foil. Bake until bubbly and brown, about 35 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!!!
