Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole – Guest Post

Hi everyone!  My name is Kristin and I am a writer for Marie Callender’s® and other ConAgra brands.  I am thrilled to be writing for Lori today.  Let me tell you a little about myself.  I live in the Chicago suburbs and I absolutely love cooking new recipes.  My favorites include breakfast sandwiches in the morning, Mediterranean-style wraps for lunch and rice-based dishes (with lots of Cholula) for dinner.

It’s getting a bit chilly here in the Chicagoland area, so I am starting to use my oven more frequently to warm up the house. Whenever I have my friends over for dinner, I bust out my Apples to Apples game and serve my cheesy hash brown casserole—one of my favorite recipes for fall. The dish takes around an hour to prepare and makes great leftovers! Hope you enjoy.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
• 6 tbs. bacon fat
• 6 tbs. butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 dash black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 can Marie Callender’s Chicken Pot Pie Soup
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Paprika to taste

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 325° F.
• Grate potatoes into a large bowl lined with paper towels.  Once finished, squeeze out any moisture with additional paper towels.
• Warm a large skillet over medium-low heat for three minutes.  Add bacon fat.
• Pour grated potatoes into the pan. Mix bacon fat and grated potatoes; cook for five minutes on one side undisturbed. Flip fat and potato mix and cook for an additional five minutes.
• Combine the potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, onion, chicken pot pie soup and cheese in a medium bowl. Mix well

• Pour mixture into a 9″ casserole dish.
• Bake for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika. Enjoy the casserole hot!