Hash Brown Casserole

December 12, 2007 at 12:26 pm · Filed under baking, breakfast, Cooking, Cooking Light, Food, Recipes, side dish

It’s that time of the year where on the weekends we tend to stay home for breakfast instead of skipping over to our favorite diner. Breakfast is actually my favorite meal to cook. Years ago I decided that I was going to perfect as many breakfast recipes as I could and build a large collection of them. I have a ton of breakfast cookbooks and cookware specifically for breakfast. You want scones, waffles, popovers, ebelskivers (Danish filled pancakes) for breakfast? No problem, I have all the necessary cookware to make them. But why focus on breakfast? It’s my hope one day to own a bed-and-breakfast in Cape May, NJ and offer the best breakfast down there (besides The Mad Batter…).

But getting back to the food… I am always up to trying a new breakfast recipe and saw this recipe for Hash Brown Casserole in the September 2007 issue of Cooking Light and the picture looked scrumptious (you can see the pic on the link to the recipe). It isn’t necessarily a breakfast item but we had it with some eggs. Two items on the ingredient list threw me though. First, it called for frozen Southern-style hash browns. I still don’t know what they are, but I purchased frozen shredded hash browns. The second item was processed cheese such as Velveeta. I’ve honestly never used or eaten Velveeta and when my husband saw I was looking for it in the grocery store he immediately informed me he was not eating anything with Velveeta. So I chose regular shredded cheddar.

This was a relatively easy recipe to make. My husband actually loved it. I thought it was just ok, nothing special. I wouldn’t make it again though. The onions were overpowering and I’d suggest sauteing them prior to throwing them in the casserole. Also, my pics didn’t come out quite as scrumptious as the pics in Cooking Light. And for the record, that one wonderful picture I’ve included does not have a bite taken out of it. It’s just the way I spooned it on the plate!

Overall rating – 2.5 stars

Hash Brown Casserole


This down-home side dish boasts a buttery cornflake crust on top.


3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (32-ounce) package frozen Southern-style hash brown potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted (such as Campbell’s Healthy Request)
8 ounces light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)
1 (8-ounce) carton light sour cream (such as Daisy)
Cooking spray
2 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushedPreheat oven to 350°. Combine first 4 ingredients and 1 tablespoon butter in a large bowl; toss well.Combine soup and cheese in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 6 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring every 2 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Pour cheese mixture over potato mixture, and stir well. Spread mixture evenly in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.Combine cornflakes and remaining 1 tablespoon butter; sprinkle evenly over top of potato mixture. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.Yield:  12 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup)CALORIES 181 (30% from fat); FAT 6g (sat 3.8g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 7.1g; CHOLESTEROL 21mg; CALCIUM 11mg; SODIUM 494mg; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.5g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2007

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