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How to Make Hashbrown Casserole When You Ain’t Got No Hashbrowns!

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Are you one of those people who gets the hashbrown casserole everytime you have breakfast at Cracker Barrel? Me, too! It’s also my go to recipe when we are getting together with my hubby’s family for our Christmas breakfast. Well, because we are masters at procrastination, we waited until the day before to buy our ingredients. Oops! The grocery store was out of hashbrowns! Eeek! So we improvised! 


Have No Fear! The Tater Tots are Here!

Have you ever used tater tots to make your breakfast hashbrown casserole? There is a whole different recipe for tater tot casserole but its a dinner meal. So, my husband and I came up with our own version of hashbrown casserole using frozen tater tots! I know, I know.. they are basically the same thing as hashbrowns, but at the same time, they aren’t.

frozen tater tots being poured into an aluminum pan

I guess we could have thawed out the tater tots and crumbled them up to resemble hashbrowns. However, I wanted to experiment with the whole frozen tater tots, because let’s be honest, we all want more time, right? 😉 We were making for a crowd, so we used a full five pound bag of tater tots. 

adding heavy cream to frozen tater tots in a pan

We added about a cup of heavy cream to the pan of frozen tater tots. 

adding cream of mushroom to a pan of tater tots

Then we added two large cans of cream of mushroom soup. We literally just poured them in. This is one of those recipes where you just add all the ingredients, mix, and bake! 

melting a stick of butter in a pan

Next, we put a stick of butter into a small saucepan on low to melt. 

chopped onion on a plate

While our butter was melting, I chopped up a whole onion. You gotta have an onion. I love the taste that an onion brings to a dish. 

adding chopped onion to a pan full of tater tots

Then I just tossed them right on top of the pile! 

adding melted butter to a pan of tater tots, cream of mushroom soup and onions

Once the butter was melted, we poured that over top of everything else. We will eventually mix everything together. You can mix it after adding each ingredient, but we’re talking about saving time here, so.. 😉 

onion powder, garlic powder, and salt

These are my go-to additions to most dishes. I liberally sprinkled on garlic powder, onion powder, and some salt. If I had to guess, maybe a TBSP of each. It was a large pan. 

mixing ingredients together for hashbrown casserole

Let the mixing begin!

mixing in a cup of sour cream to a pan of tater tots and other ingredients

But we’re not finished adding! Next, we added one cup of sour cream. Then, continued mixing. 

adding shredded cheese to a pan of mixed ingredients to make hashbrown casserole

One of our last ingredients was two heaping cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Oh my yum! I love cheese! My tummy doesn’t but I usually let my mouth fight it out with my tummy and my mouth usually wins. Lol  

adding pepper to a mixed pan of ingredients to make a breakfast casserole

Last thing we did was add some cracked black peppercorns. She’s all mixed up and ready to go sit in an oven for an hour. We set the oven at 425 and let it bake for about an hour. Oven temps may vary. 

crispy browned top of a hashbrown casserole right out of the oven

Watch your oven and don’t let it burn. You could add some aluminum foil to the pan if you don’t like the crispy cheesy crust. After the top was browned, we turned off the oven and just let it sit in the warm oven for another 15 minutes.

hashbrown casserole in a bowl with a fork

Look how yummy delicious this looks!

hashbrown casserole in a bowl

We enjoyed it so much, and thankfully had leftovers, so we had it for dinner as well! 

Pin this recipe to your breakfast and casserole boards!

hashbrown casserole without the casserole recipe pin

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and that you might try it for your family gatherings or just for your family dinners. This will definitely be a regular dish at our house! Join our email family to be notified when we have new blog posts like these, new Facebook lives, or new items in our shop on Etsy! Thanks and have a wonderful day! 

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Donna chestnut

    This looks good. Thanks for sharing

    1. JRandLBriska

      You are very welcome!

  2. Debra Eisen

    OMG that looks so good 😊 I’ve got to try it!!!!!

    1. JRandLBriska

      It was so yum!!

  3. Virginia Gregg

    Yummy yummy for my tummy!! How easy! Looks awesome!

    1. JRandLBriska

      That’s what I loved about it! How easy it was!

  4. Ocia Fromme

    That looks so good and yes I always get it when I go to Cracker Barrel ♥️ Can’t wait to make it!,!

    1. JRandLBriska

      I always get it, too! Yum!

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