hashbrown casserole with turkey bacon, onions & cheese

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I had house guests this past weekend. If you haven't picked up on my "martha stewart compulsiveness" yet, I think you might start to now...Not only did I make assorted muffins & bread, I decided we needed a main course for brunch on Sunday.

I've made this casserole a few times and it's always a hit. Super easy to throw together the night before then just pop in the oven the next morning. Of course, I ran out of time on Saturday to do this and ended up spending an hour and a half in the kitchen this morning. The end result was well worth it though. In my haste to get this to my starving guests as soon as it came out of the oven I forgot to photograph it! You can see a picture of it (and a much better one than I could take!) here.

Hashbrown Casserole
6 turkey bacon slices
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (32-ounce) package frozen Southern-style hash brown potatoes (or 5-6 large baked potatoes, cubed)
1 cup shredded Classic Melts Four Cheese blend, divided
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed 30% reduced-sodium, 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup (or if preferred, you can find a healthier homemade option here)

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, and crumble. Discard drippings in pan. Add 1 cup onion and garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the potatoes; cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine crumbled bacon, 1/4 cup cheese, green onions, sour cream, salt, pepper, and soup in a large bowl. Add potato mixture; toss gently to combine. Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove casserole from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Bake casserole, covered, at 350º for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until bubbly around edges and cheese begins to brown.

recipe adapted from cookinglight.com