A Cracker Barrel hashbrown casserole copycat is thawed frozen hash browns, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar and butter, baked until bubbling and golden. The copycats we read bake it anywhere from 35 minutes at 375°F to an hour at 350°F. Here’s one version, and why the others differ.
This is a home version. We couldn’t read the restaurant’s own recipe, so nothing here claims an exact match. What it does give you is a casserole you can build the day before and slide into the oven when the turkey comes out!
Cracker Barrel hashbrown casserole ingredients
- 1 bag (about 30 ounces) frozen shredded or diced hash browns, thawed
- 1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar, plus ½ cup for the top
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
You’ll also need a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. The amounts are our own, built from the overlap in the copycats below: most use thawed frozen potatoes, canned soup, sour cream and cheddar.
How do you make Cracker Barrel hashbrown casserole at home?
Stir the thawed hash browns with the soup, sour cream, cheddar, butter, onion, salt and pepper. Spread the mix in a buttered dish, top it with more cheese, and bake at 350°F until the center is hot and the top is golden. Let it rest 10 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and butter the baking dish.
- Drain the thawed hash browns well. If they’re wet, press them in a colander first.
- In a large bowl, fold together the hash browns, soup, sour cream, 8 ounces of cheddar, melted butter, onion, salt and pepper.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the dish and scatter the extra ½ cup of cheddar over the top.
- Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and golden on top. The casseroles we read ran from 45 minutes to an hour at this temperature.
- Rest it 10 minutes, then serve.
If you like a crunchy top, you can follow The Tiny Fairy, which reserves 2 tablespoons of the butter, tosses it with 2 cups of panko or corn flakes, and sprinkles that on just before baking.
Why do copycat hashbrown casseroles bake at different times?
Because each one is built differently. The oven runs from 350°F to 400°F, and cheese, butter and onion all change. The three copycats we read most closely run 35 to 60 minutes, so watch the top and the edges rather than the clock.
| Source | Oven | Time | What’s different |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allrecipes copycat | 375°F | 35 to 40 min | Colby-Jack, plus Greek yogurt, 3 tbsp butter, no onion |
| The Tiny Fairy | 350°F | About 1 hour from the fridge | Cheddar, ½ cup onion, 1 stick butter, optional panko top |
| Kid Friendly Things To Do | 350°F | 45 min, then 10 more with cheese | 1 lb cheddar, sweet onion, ½ cup butter |
| Feast and Farm | 400°F | 35 to 40 min | Soup made from scratch instead of canned |
The Allrecipes copycat says not to use more hash browns than the recipe lists, or the dish can turn dry. It serves 10 from a 9 by 12 inch dish. NYT Cooking also swaps canned soup for a homemade white sauce, so skipping the can is an option if you’d rather.
Do you have to thaw the hash browns first?
Mostly yes. Allrecipes calls for thawed, drained potatoes, and Kid Friendly Things To Do says thawing removes excess moisture before baking. Feast and Farm is more relaxed and says the potatoes don’t need to be totally thawed. Thaw them, then drain, to be safe.
Moisture is the whole problem with this dish. Ever pulled out a soggy casserole? It usually means wet potatoes, so squeeze out what you can!
Can you make hashbrown casserole ahead or freeze it?
Yes. Assemble it, cover it, and refrigerate it. The Tiny Fairy chills hers overnight and bakes it about an hour at 350°F the next day, and Feast and Farm says up to two days ahead. Unbaked dairy can separate when frozen, so bake it first, then freeze.
That second point is from Feast and Farm. It says a casserole frozen before baking can turn curdled or lumpy, though the flavor isn’t affected. Its best-results route is to bake first, cool, freeze up to two months, thaw overnight in the fridge, then rewarm at 350°F. The Tiny Fairy freezes hers unbaked for up to a month, so cooks do differ.
Make-ahead matters most on Thanksgiving, when the turkey owns the oven for hours. Our turkey calculator shows when it frees up.
Turkey Thawing and Roasting Time Calculator
Enter your turkey weight and your dinner time. It gives a roasting time and a start window from USDA tables, so you know when the oven frees up for the casserole.
Does Cracker Barrel still make it this way?
We can’t say. Cracker Barrel’s own page wouldn’t load for us. One r/CrackerBarrel poster says the restaurant changed its casserole recipe, though that’s a single unconfirmed post.
“And the new casserole recipe doesn’t make sense. Coating dehydrated shreds in margarine and hashbrown sauce isn’t going to let water be absorbed right.”
– r/CrackerBarrel (11 upvotes)
Treat that as one person’s account, not a fact about the restaurant. It’s a good reason to cook from our home version rather than chase an exact match.
What do you serve with hashbrown casserole?
It’s rich, so you’ll want to pair it with something fresh or roasted. It’s a staple at holiday brunch, and it also sits well beside a roast. Try our vegetable sides sorted by oven space and Christmas side dishes matched to your main course. For a sweeter second casserole, there’s our Ruth’s Chris-style sweet potato casserole.
Hashbrown casserole questions people ask
How long do leftovers keep?
USDA says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, and they keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge or 3 to 4 months in the freezer. Reheat to 165°F, covered.
Can you skip the cream of chicken soup?
Yes. Feast and Farm makes its soup from scratch and NYT Cooking uses a homemade white sauce, though we haven’t tested either here.
How long do you bake hashbrown casserole at 350°F?
The recipes we read at 350°F run 45 minutes to an hour. At 375°F, Allrecipes bakes it 35 to 40 minutes.