Hashbrown Casserole

This is a delicious and easy recipe for weekend brunch, or even a week night dinner. I made it during the week for dinner, and we had the leftovers for breakfasts.

Get the recipe after the jump


Hashbrown Casserole
1 bag frozen, shredded hasbrowns
8 eggs, beaten
1/4 milk or half & half
1 can cream of something soup (I used cheddar)
1 16oz. container of light sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar
8 strips of bacon
1/2 onion, minced (I used two shallots)
1 small red bell pepper
2 green onions, sliced
Salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Start by slicing bacon into pieces and cook on medium until crisp. Be sure to turn on the fan/open the window/have your husband wave a dishtowel in the kitchen so your smoke alarm doesn't go off. Even when I cook bacon on medium, I seem to always set the dang smoke alarm off - fun times!

While that is cooking, start prepping your other ingredients.

Grate the cheese, chop the rest

Beat the eggs, add your milk & seasonings

Mix 2/3 of your cheese with the cream of whatever soup

Mix the shredded hashbrowns in with the cheese/soup mixture and add your sour cream - just enough to make it all creamy and blend well.

Spread that in your baking dish and season the top if you are like me and forgot to season your potatoes while they were in the bowl. Potatoes need a lot of salt - I used the Magic Unicorn salt.

Wishing I had cooked up a bit more.

By now, your bacon should be ready, depending on how fast you mix, and how much cheese you sampled for quality control.

Now cook up your onion and bell pepper to soften them up a bit. If you are feeling decadent, use a little of the bacon grease - I won't tell. But definitely drain out most of it from the pan before adding your veggies as there is usually quite a lot.

After these cooked, I added them to the plate with the bacon to let everything cool down. If you are like me and don't want to wait too long, then put the whole plate in the freezer for a bit to speed this process up. We are going to pour beaten eggs over it and don't want them to start scrambling.

Pretty!

I layered my dish like this, thinking I would have a yummy eggy layer and a yummy hashbrown layer. From experience, I can tell you that it doesn't stay beautifully separate like that. So if you prefer, just go ahead and mix the eggs and add-ins all together and put it in the pan. Next time I will probably mix the eggs with the potato mixture and add the bacon/peppers/onions on top. But here is what it looks like if you don't.

We eat with our eyes too, so make it pretty now. Add your green onion and the reserved cheddar for color.

Now bake the whole thing at 350 for about an hour and 20 minutes until the eggs are set in the middle. I think mixing in the eggs will make this part easier, since it isn't a big egg layer on top.

Oh man, was this a welcome sight when my husband got home.

Let it rest for about 10 minutes to make serving easier. If you didn't mix the eggs in, they may deflate a bit, but I assure you this will not effect the deliciousness.

This recipe serves 8+. We added a few splashes of Tapatio on top to give it some kick. The potatoes are super creamy, and the bacon stays nice since it is cooked crisp at the start. This could easily be adapted to whatever ingredients you have and/or prefer. Diced ham, different peppers, green chilies, different cheeses, etc.

Enjoy!