🐾 CopyCaturday: Hashbrown Casserole Copycat (Cracker Barrel Style)
When the craving for a hashbrown casserole copycat hits somewhere between exits and empty coffee cups, you know it’s serious. Cracker Barrel’s version has a hold on us — that cheesy, golden comfort food we can never quite forget. So naturally, we decided to make our own hashbrown casserole copycat right in the bus kitchen.
The Hashbrown Casserole Copycat Situation
Picture it: a slow morning on the road, a sleepy Cracker Barrel, and Zach laser-focused on one mission — hashbrown casserole or bust. The restaurant wasn’t even that busy, but as fate would have it, they had run out of potatoes. OUT. OF. POTATOES. I swear, I almost told them to send someone to Walmart. 😂
He ended up ordering something else, but I could tell it wasn’t the same. That’s when I pulled out my phone, muttered something about “fixing this injustice,” and went down the rabbit hole of copycat recipes.
Ingredient Reality
I found one version online, but honestly? It seemed bland — and we like flavor around here. So I showed Zach, rolled my eyes at half the ingredient list, and decided to make my own version that would still taste like Cracker Barrel’s, just with a little more life to it.
Our bus kitchen isn’t exactly Cracker Barrel’s test lab, but it does the job. Frozen hashbrowns, a can of cream of chicken soup, shredded cheese, a bit of sour cream, and butter — all mixed together and baked until golden. It’s one of those recipes that fills the whole bus with that cozy breakfast smell that makes you forget where you are.
Hashbrown Casserole Copycat Magic
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl, then transfer to baking dish.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- Serve with over easy eggs on top.
Notes
No epic food photos this round — because I forgot to take them before we ate it. Honestly, that feels like the most accurate kind of CopyCaturday energy. 😂
Nothing fancy — just simple, warm, and exactly what we needed. The best part? It froze perfectly for future breakfasts on the road. We just thawed it and pan-fried it until it crisped up again like it was fresh from the oven. 10/10 would meal-prep again.
Was it a Complete Copycat?
Zach said it’s 90% identical to the real thing. I say it’s better — no crowds, no waiting, and no “sorry, we’re out of potatoes” speech to crush your spirit. 😎
Will We Make It Again?
Absolutely. This one’s earned a permanent spot in our travel-day breakfast rotation. It’s quick, hearty, and perfect for those slow, foggy mornings where coffee comes first and conversation comes later.
Frequently Asked Questions
The key is the mix of cream-of-chicken soup, sour cream, and shredded cheese. Baking until golden gives it that same creamy-crispy balance you get at the restaurant.
Yes! Assemble it, cover, and refrigerate overnight, or bake fully and freeze. Reheat in the oven or skillet until hot and crisp on top.
Absolutely. It bakes perfectly in a full-size gas range or a small convection oven—just adjust cook time if your oven runs hotter.
Caturday Recipes Aplenty!
If you’re on the hunt for more weekend kitchen experiments, here are a few of my favorite copycat resources:
Websites
- Top Secret Recipes — tons of paid restaurant copycats (or get 8 free a month with a membership)
- CopyKat.com — hundreds of free recipes plus books on Amazon
Cookbooks
🐾 CopyCaturday Continues…
We’ve had some wins (looking at you, Crunchwrap Supreme) and some hilarious fails (Kandy Kakes, we still love you). That one taught us that sometimes… we should just leave it to the professionals. 😂
But that’s the whole point of CopyCaturday—trying, tweaking, and taste-testing our way through road-friendly comfort food. If it flops, we laugh. If it lands, we freeze it for later.
We made this version while parked at a chilly Harvest Hosts stop in Michigan — cold morning, golden casserole, total comfort.
Catch more cozy chaos:
- CopyCaturday: Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme — still in rotation, still freezer-friendly.
- CopyCaturday: Kandy Kakes Copycat — the glorious fail that reminded us not everything needs a DIY.
More copycats coming soon. Because when the road throws curveballs, we throw cheese on it and call it breakfast.