Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

Hash browns are easily the ultimate breakfast food, but how could they become something more? With this unique casserole recipe, you will be able to enjoy has browns in a totally new way, and with a lot more cheese!

Don’t forget to learn how to make the Perfect Sunny Side Up Eggs to serve with your casserole! Or for a breakfast that will really fill you up try this Taco Omelette Using Leftover Taco Meat with your hash brown Casserole!

Cheesy Hash brown Casserole

Hash browns have this reputation for being little more than a diner breakfast option. However, when prepared properly, some crispy, salty, and rich hash browns easily beat out literally every other breakfast option.

For something a little bit more unique, why try turning some tasty hash browns into a casserole?

This cheesy hash brown casserole works great both as a breakfast side dish and as its own meal when served in a larger portion.

Cheesy, bacony, and super delicious, these are hash browns like you have never seen them before.

Should You Make Your Own Shredded Hash Browns

The difference between store-bought frozen hash browns and homemade hash browns is night and day. However, when using hash brown as a base for a casserole rather than something you are going to serve as its own breakfast dish, you might want to weigh up the time and effort versus the flavor benefits.

One of the nice things about this cheesy hash brown casserole is that it requires almost no active kitchen time. Almost all of the cooking time takes place while the casserole is in the oven, allowing you to go off and do something else.

Choosing to make your own hash browns is not a complicated process but it will add a considerable amount of time to the preparation of your casserole. If you have ever tried to grate potatoes before, you will know that it is not a fun experience and is not necessarily worth it for casseroles.

What you could instead do is use a cheater’s version of homemade hash browns. Use store-bought frozen shredded hash browns but make your own seasoning blend to spice them up and give them that homemade taste!

What To Do If You Can’t Find Half and Half Cream?

If you live outside of North America you might be wondering what half and half cream is and if you can’t find it what can you use instead?

Found in almost every American grocery store, half-and-half cream is a blend of equal parts whole milk and cream. While it is becoming more well-known around the rest of the world it is probably much easier and cheaper to make it yourself, especially since this recipe calls for very little.

Simply mix 1/6 cup of whole milk with 1/6 cup of cream and you have your half-and-half ready to use in your casserole!

If you don’t have whole milk in your fridge, you can get away with using semi-skimmed, you will just want to add slightly more cream to ensure the same richness.

Why Not Try Individual / Personal Size Cheesy Hash Brown Casseroles

Rather than using a large, family-size casserole dish you could use small, personal-size, casserole dishes so that everyone gets their own mini casserole.

While one large casserole dish is convenient, it causes the age-old mealtime dispute over who gets the best parts and who has to compromise by taking the middle piece of the casserole.

With mini dishes, everyone gets to enjoy their cheesy hash brown casserole getting both the crispy exterior and the melty, gooey Interior. You can also serve the casseroles in their dishes, meaning no washing up plates, and who doesn’t love eating out of cute mini casserole dishes?

Another benefit of using smaller casserole dishes is that they will cook much more quickly. Rather than taking a full hour your mini hash brown casseroles will be fully cooked in almost half of the time!

Alternatives To Crispy Bacon

Bacon is the ultimate breakfast meat and so is the obvious choice when making a breakfast casserole. However, there is no reason why you can’t try out other meats, or even veggie options when making your cheesy hash brown casserole.

• Turkey Bacon

Turkey bacon works great as an alternative if you can’t eat pork or simply just want a healthier option than regular bacon.

While turkey bacon is still a processed form of meat, it has a lower fat content and contains fewer calories than pork bacon. So if you still want the crispy texture and salty flavor of bacon you really can’t go wrong with turkey bacon.

• Crumbled Breakfast Sausage

Crumbled breakfast sausage can either be used in place of bacon or alongside bacon to add a rustic country feel to your hash brown casserole.

Sausage has a much softer texture than bacon and so will not provide that salty crunch when you bite into each forkful which is something to consider if you like textural variety when it comes to your food.

However, if you fall into the opposite category and prefer homogeneous dishes, then you have to try this recipe using crumbled breakfast sausage.

• Caramelized Peppers, Mushrooms, and Onions (Vegetarian option)

For a vegetarian-friendly option, you could try making this hash brown casserole using caramelized vegetables in place of bacon.

Most vegetables will work in your casserole; however, things like peppers, mushrooms, and onions tend to work best.

In place of cooking diced bacon dice your chosen vegetables and allow them to cook slowly in either butter or oil to caramelize.

This process will take a lot longer than it does to cook bacon, and so one option is to prepare your veggies the night before so that they are ready to be added to your casserole mixture straight away when everything is ready to come together.

Looking for more delicious Breakfast Casserole recipes? Try these out:

• Sausage Breakfast Bake Casserole

• Leftover Cinnamon Rolls French Toast Casserole

• Overnight Sausage & Croissant Breakfast Casserole

Happy Cooking!

Love,

Karlynn

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