Cheesy Potato Casserole

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Cheesy Potato Casserole is a cornerstone holiday recipe in the Midwest. This version has from-scratch cream of chicken soup and a crunchy cornflake topping.

A pile of cheesy potato casserole on a plate.


 

Recipe ingredients

Labeled ingredients for cheesy potato casserole

Ingredient notes

  • Cream of chicken soup: 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup may be substituted for the homemade version written in to the recipe.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. To make the cream of chicken soup, combine chicken broth, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper) in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer.
Condensed cream of chicken soup ingredients cooking in a silver pot.
  1. Whisk together milk and flour until smooth. Pour into saucepan, whisking continuously, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Condensed cream of chicken soup in a silver pot.
  1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, add cream of chicken soup, hash browns, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper).
Cheesy potato casserole ingredients in a bowl before mixing.
  1. Stir to combine, then pour into prepared baking dish. Bake uncovered for 1 hour, then remove from oven.
Cheesy potato casserole before baking.
  1. Melt butter in the microwave. In a large bowl, add corn flakes. Drizzle with melted butter, then spread over the top of the casserole in an even layer. Bake uncovered 20 minutes longer, then garnish with parsley if desired.
Cheesy potato casserole

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes serving for at least 12, more if you have a bountiful buffet.
  • Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerated for up to 4 days.
  • Make ahead: Assemble the casserole through step 2 of the “casserole” section (step 4 overall). Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours in advance. Proceed with the baking instructions as directed in the recipe.
  • Freezer: Assemble the casserole through step 2 of the “casserole” section (step 4 overall). Cover and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then proceed with the baking instructions and directed in the recipe.
  • Mushroom soup: Substitute cream of mushroom soup for the cream of chicken soup.
  • Meat lover’s: Stir in cooked bacon or chopped ham with the hash browns.
  • Tex-Mex: Stir in one (4-ounce) can of diced green chiles or some cooked chorizo with the hash browns. Or, use the O’Brien style hash browns with the peppers and onions.
A pile of cheesy potato casserole on a plate.

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A pile of cheesy potato casserole on a plate.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Cheesy Potato Casserole is a cornerstone holiday recipe in the Midwest. This version has from-scratch cream of chicken soup and a crunchy cornflake topping.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Calories 189
5 from 17 votes

Ingredients 

For the cream of chicken soup (see note 1):

For the casserole:

Instructions 

To make the cream of chicken soup:

  • In a 1 1/2-quart saucepan, combine chicken broth, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper). Bring to a simmer.
  • Whisk together milk and flour until smooth. Pour into saucepan, whisking continuously, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

To make the casserole:

  • Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
  • In a large bowl, add cream of chicken soup, hash browns, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). Stir to combine, then pour into prepared baking dish.
  • Bake uncovered for 1 hour, then remove from oven. Melt butter in the microwave. In a large bowl, add corn flakes. Drizzle with melted butter, then spread over the top of the casserole in an even layer. Bake uncovered 20 minutes longer, then garnish with parsley if desired.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Cream of chicken soup: 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup may be substituted for the homemade version written in to the recipe.
  2. Yield: This recipe makes serving for at least 12, more if you have a bountiful buffet.
  3. Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerated for up to 4 days.
  4. Make ahead: Assemble the casserole through step 2 of the “casserole” section (step 4 overall). Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours in advance. Proceed with the baking instructions as directed in the recipe.
  5. Freezer: Assemble the casserole through step 2 of the “casserole” section (step 4 overall). Cover and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then proceed with the baking instructions and directed in the recipe.
  6. Mushroom soup: Substitute cream of mushroom soup for the cream of chicken soup.
  7. Meat lover’s: Stir in cooked bacon or chopped ham with the hash browns.
  8. Tex-Mex: Stir in one (4-ounce) can of diced green chiles or some cooked chorizo with the hash browns. Or, use the O’Brien style hash browns with the peppers and onions.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 189kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 6gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 275mgPotassium: 88mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 580IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 172mgIron: 2mg
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    Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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    Comments

    1. Delicious. Served with ham. Going to try with chicken or hamburgers. Will Keep this in my favourites file.5 stars

    2. Meggan, thank you for providing your own recipe for cream of chicken soup. There are many people with food allergies and having a good homemade version of popular “ingredients” is helpful to us out here who have one or more family members for whom we need to tailor our cooking. My wife and my granddaughter are gluten intolerant and I cannot use commercially prepared soups. However, I can take your recipe and replace the flour with gluten free flour and prepare this wonderful meal for my entire family. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness

      1. Thank you Pat for all of your comments! I appreciate your generosity and enthusiasm in the food world. I hope you and your family enjoy this modified version, please come back and let me know how it went! – Meggan

    3. The links are not working from the blog but can get to Recipe via searching. Regards from Thailand

      1. Hi Paul, sorry the link isn’t working for you! I’m going to have a copy of the recipe emailed to you directly. Sorry again – Meggan

    4. This has become our favorite potato recipe. Take some stress off and make it the day before as mentioned in the recipe. I added a little extra sour cream to keep it moist overnight. Next time I will try making your homemade cream of chicken soup instead of using canned. I wonder….is there a way to make your own hash brown potatoes instead of buying frozen??? Thanks for another great recipe!!5 stars

      1. Hi Barbara! It makes me so happy to hear that you love this recipe! I haven’t tried homemade hashbrowns in this myself, I imagine it would work though as long as the hashbrowns were cooked beforehand then added to the mixture. Otherwise, it might end up mushy. What a great idea, though! If you do try it, would you please let me know how it turns out? – Meggan

    5. You can buy a cheaper & smaller box of another brand of Corn Flakes at Dollar Tree for a $1. Then you don’t have the waste of a big box! They work just as well! This is one of our Family’s Favorite that everyone likes and yes I’m from the Midwest!!5 stars

      1. YES! That sounds like the best idea ever. You are my spirit animal! Thanks for the suggestion. -Meggan

    6. I use crushed potato chips on top instead of the cornflakes and so gud! Your recipe is wonderful!!!!!5 stars

    7. I love your variations that don’t contain the crappy canned soup! It is amazing to me how some recipes are so regional…

    8. Hi Meggan! This looks delicious. I need to make something for a vegetarian brunch – would cream of vegetable soup work for this or do you have alternative recommendations? :)

      1. Hi Jenny, sure, any creamy vegetable soup would work! If I was making it, I’d use cream of celery (that’s my fave) but I think any one would work. It’s really about the consistency, not the flavor. I have this feeling when my mom makes it, she doesn’t use the cream of chicken… I think she uses the celery. I will ask her about that. Thank you so much for your question and for stopping by! :)

    9. This is a great variation. I’ve been making this for years but instead of using cornflakes for the breading I use crushed croutons and throw in some green onions and garlic for more zing. Def plan on making this.

      1. Hello Mimi, that sounds REALLY incredible! Green onions and garlic in the middle plus crushed croutons on top… yep. I’m going to try that the next time I make these! Thank you so much for the suggestions!

    10. Oh goodness! This looks awesome.  But how in the world could anything so cheesy, potato-ey and crunchy EVER be wrong?!  Plus you used homemade cream of chicken soup!? Forget about it!  Sold. Done and done.  However, I would prefer to have the obligation of making this and then devouring all of it, hidden in a corner of shame somewhere.  :D Cheers and thanks for sharing the scrumptiousness!

      1. Cheyanne, thank you! The trouble with the food-blogger-arrangement is it’s all too easy to sit in a corner (or in front of the TV) in the middle of day alone (while kids nap) watching Netflix eating the whole pan. This is purely conjecture though, I couldn’t possibly be speaking from experience, ha! :)

      2. One of the toughest parts of the job as a good cook or food blogger is testing the results of their creation. That difficulty is compounded by the absolute requirement of consuming every single bite of their initial creation to be certain that it is: First, safe; Second, Tasty, and Third good enough for their ultimate audience. I applaud your efforts (along with the efforts of those dedicated cooks who test your recipes for their own families) to make sure that it tastes as good at the last bite as at the first. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Now I’m going to set out upon the path from creation to tasting to find, yet again, another tasty meal for my household. Thank you for your own sacrifice and dedication in helping the rest of us lost souls on our trek to feed the hungry hoards who dwell within our walls

    11. Love this quick and easy dish! Cornflakes make for an incredible crunchy crust, and that cheese, oh the cheese! My goodness that’s shot is making me drool! 

      1. Thank you so much, Kathleen! :) I am former cheesehead and sometimes that pops out in my recipes…

    12. This casserole sounds wonderful – especially the cream of chicken soup.  I’ve been making my own for a while, something I figured out on my own, but yours is so much easier.  I’m curious to know if there is an acceptable substitute for the cornflakes – I just refuse to buy cornflakes, and don’t care much for them.  If there is a good substitute, I would definitely want to make this casserole.

      1. Hi Susan! I completely understand your aversion to cornflakes. We don’t eat cold cereal in my house, and it is so rare that I have corn flakes on hand (only if I’m making this casserole or my mock fried ice cream!) I would think that you could easily substitute bread or cracker crumbs of some sort, although I haven’t tried it. And depending on the cracker, it might not be much better than corn flakes anyway! If you leave the corn flakes off entirely, the cheesy hash browns themselves would still be creamy and delicious. Failing that, at least you have a new way to make homemade cream of chicken soup if you desire!

    13. Really enjoyed this, Meggan, because I’ve never heard of anything like this. Isn’t it funny how things in one country (or even state in your case!) are so ubiquitous, and yet unheard of somewhere else! The casserole looks gorgeous, though. Perfect for a potluck!
      For a while there while I was living in Greece, I always got asked to take the brownies ;-)
      Oh, and by the way, the new blog design = STUNNING! I might just be a tiny bit envious. Enjoy it!!5 stars

      1. Thanks for stopping over, Helen! I always love your comments. And I’m sure your brownies were delicious in Greece and everywhere else. :) It’s funny because, I write this whole post about how people get pigeon-holed into bringing the same thing every time, but that never happens to me personally! In fact, I will rarely commit to or announce what I’m bringing up front. I think people give me creative freedom because I’m a food blogger so they just assume that whatever I bring will at least be edible. But I really like to cook wherever my mood takes me. I am sure you know when you cook for “work” like we do, the down-time of cooking for pleasure is precious. Anyway. Thank you for your comments on my new site design too. Obviously I paid a lovely company and I’m incredibly pleased with what they did, but the only credit I get is for having good taste in the company I chose, ha ha!

    14. This is cheesy, in a good way. There’s something about gooey melted cheese that makes me want to sit down with the entire casserole. Looks so good.5 stars

      1. My husband was so grateful that I made a few of these in succession. And at first he was like… “No I’m on a diet I can’t eat this.” But then he accidentally tried one bite and went back for several more pieces and requested that I make it on our next “cheat day.” The casserole speaks for itself. :)

    15. Just can’t stop looking at this yumminess! Love potato casserole and this one is extra cheesy, I need to definitely make it! Definitely perfect for a potluck!

      1. Thank you, Mira! It’s all about the stretchy cheese, it just draws you in. :) Thank you for stopping over!

      1. Same here Matt, thank you! I hope you and the family are doing well! I am hanging in there with my 3-month-old and my 3-year-old. It’s a fun, challenging time as I’m sure you know!

    16. This looks scrumptious! I love the crunchy topping and the fact you didn’t use canned soup – bravo! The new site looks great, so bright and colorful… love it.5 stars

      1. Thank you so much, Kevin! I am excited for a new design. And obviously for the Cheesy Potato Casserole! I had to make it a few times to “taste test” even though I’ve made it a zillion times in the past. ;)