Cari’s Hash Brown Casserole

Imported from Medium, 2021

I’m back with another recipe, and this time I have measurements! Well, kind of. I don’t really do measurements; my grandma was brought up during the Depression and all of her cooking was pretty much eyeballing the amount of each ingredient. Plus, I have made a few changes to her and Mom’s recipes.

I think this recipe came from my cousin, and she messed up the dish by using cream cheese instead of sour cream, which was actually good! I substitute frosted flakes for the corn flakes because I love sweet stuff. It’s a pretty versatile dish.

This hash brown casserole is one of my favorites. It takes a massive amount of butter, though! I’d say about 1/4-pound of Cari butter, which is what I call real butter/Amish butter that doesn’t have vegetable oil in it (that margarine stuff is gross).

What You Need

• 32 ounces shredded hash browns (30 will work, too)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 4 tablespoons Cari butter
• 1 small or medium onion, diced
• 12 ounces Ragu double cheddar cheese sauce (it comes in 15-ounce jars) or 12 ounces of cheddar cheese or Cheese Whiz
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 2 cups crushed corn flakes
• 6 tablespoons melted Cari butter for the topping

What You Do:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Place frozen hash browns in a 9″ x 13″ cake pan and shake them around. Break up the big chunks, but don’t thaw them; the soup mixture will melt them.
• In a saucepan, combine the cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, sour cream, 4 tablespoons of butter, diced onion, salt, and cheese or cheese sauce. Bring to a near-boil, stirring frequently.
• Once the sauce is hot, pour it over the frozen hash browns but do not stir the sauce and hash browns together. I don’t know why, but that is what the recipe said, so I followed it. I make 9-12 holes in the hash browns so the cheese sauce gets down in it. It will mix together beautifully in the oven.
• Shake the crushed corn flakes on top of the casserole and spread them out as much as possible across the top. Grab the melted butter and pour evenly over the corn flakes. Bake for 45 minutes until the top is a golden-brown crust.

Modifications

• As I mentioned, this recipe calls for a lot of butter. I omit the salt and butter from the sauce portion and can’t tell a difference
• Try cream cheese instead of sour cream for a sweet, creamy taste
• Try frosted flakes instead of corn flakes for a sweeter taste
• Use cream of celery, cream of broccoli, or cream of something instead of cream of mushroom soup if you dislike mushrooms. I can’t taste the mushrooms but hubby can.
• Add some ham chunks or bacon bits!