- Hey, I'm John Kannell, and today on Preppy Kitchen, we're making an easy comfort classic, hash brown casserole! So let's get started! First off, set your oven to 350. It should be nice and hot, and we have just a little
bit of prep work to do. I want a small onion for this. This is a large one, so
I won't use all of it. (chops onion) My favorite way to chop onions, you just add little vertical cuts, and if I had left the root tip on, it would be even better, but it's okay. And then you can just chop away. (chops onion) This way you just finished
chopping when the tears hit. Ah, perfect. Speed. That's the name of the game. (gong sounds) I also want. (laughs) I also want- (signal beeps) I also want three cups of
shredded cheddar cheese. So, shred it out. Yes, you could buy
packaged shredded cheese, but it always has like a
little bit of wood pulp to kind of keep it separate. So I like to freshly grate mine. If you haven't had it, hash brown casserole is like, it's like potluck gold. If you're having a big party,
a big group of people over, fill them up, make them happy. It's so easy to make and it
comes together in a snap. You can also make it ahead and then bake it off the next day. So it's like, what's not to like? Mmm. Before we get to mixing, half a cup of melted butter goes right into your casserole dish. And we're just going to swirl it around so it coats everything. (sniffs dish) It smells heavenly. Okay, into a large bowl, I'm adding two cups of sour cream. This, of course, is gonna give us a lovely
like creamy consistency, lots of tang, and good body. I'm also adding in a
10 and a half ounce can of cream of chicken soup. Time to add your finally chopped onion in. And I actually minced more than I needed. I really wanted a small onion. It was like half of a large onion. One teaspoon of salt. This is kosher sea salt. Just FYI, it's my favorite. A teaspoon of freshly
cracked black pepper, and like by the by, this can't go wrong. So if you wanted to add some sausage, some sun dried tomatoes, some olives, like anything you want
to add could go into this and it'll still be delicious. Play with more herbs, all those flavor profiles will work well, and it's like creamy
potato dream casserole, which is what I would call
it if I were naming it. I also want two cups of
the shredded cheddar. Not all of it. Save that for last. And now we're just gonna mix this up so it's nice and combined. There we go. It's time for our star ingredient. Add the frozen hash browns. Some of my hash browns are
nice out of the freezer, but I have two giant rocks. So grab your favorite tool and (stabs potatoes) get to work. It just happens when they
get a little bit too warm during delivery or you know, like when they're coming
to the store bit thawed. And then refreeze in a giant lump, right? I'm gonna add my hash
browns right into the bowl. Hmm. This bowl looks pretty full. (John laughs) Instead, let's just work smarter. Fold this in. You really just want to
get all the potatoes coated in this creamy mixture
so that they bake up and just take on all the flavor. Little garlic powder never hurt. That's optional. Here we go. Look at that. Nice coverage, cheese evenly
distributed in everything. Grab your casserole dish
and we're gonna spoon the mixture in now so we
have a nice even layer. This is almost like a baked
potato casserole, if you will. Like you have the sour
cream, the cheese, onion. Everything's working together, so it's like a loaded baked potato. Work that into a flat, even layer. You want to have no big
voids hanging around. Now we're gonna sprinkle with
a remaining cup of cheese. This guy is ready to go into the oven. 350 for 45 to 50 minutes, or
until it's golden and bubbly. If you wanted to, you could cover it and
pop it into the fridge and bake it off the next day. In you go. Once golden and bubbling, allow the casserole to cool
for at least 15 minutes and then it's ready to enjoy. Mmm. That is some cheesy, creamy potato magic. Comes together in a flash and it is this like perfect comfort food. I hope you get a chance
to make this recipe, and if you like this video, check out my side dish playlist.
