Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole (In The Slow Cooker!)

Easy cheesy hashbrown casserole is made in the slow cooker so it is warm and gooey when you’re ready to enjoy! Make this easy recipe ahead, these creamy cheesy potatoes will be your new favorite recipe.

 

Why We Love Slow Cooker Hashbrown Casserole

• Make A Holiday Morning Easier – Prep this ahead and pop this hash brown casserole in the slow cooker when you first wake up. You can enjoy your holiday morning while it cooks, and when you’re ready for brunch it’s ready! We like to make this for Easter morning or Christmas morning, but its tasty any day and great for using ham leftovers. This dish is extra delicious with a fried egg on top.
• Classic Side With No Cream Of Soup – I’m not the biggest fan of cream soups, but I do love a good creamy potato side dish. This creamy and cheesy side dish will be a hit with your family and friends.
• Great For Potlucks – Keeping food warm at a potluck isn’t always the easiest, but with this recipe the slow cooker keeps everything warm and gooey. I always think of hash brown casserole as breakfast, but it’s similar to funeral potatoes and works as a side dish easily too.

Ingredients For Slow Cooker Hashbrown Casserole

• butter – salted works great
• ham diced, I have used chopped-up lunch meat in a pinch, but a thicker ham chunk will give you better flavor for this recipe
• minced garlic
• flour – all purpose, could also use wheat flour but it may change the taste slightly
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• pepper
• beef broth – can also use chicken broth or vegetable broth
• heavy cream – can also use half and half or whipping cream
• hash browns – shredded, frozen, can use up to 30 ounces or down to 20 ounces before you have to start adjusting the sauce amount a lot more by simply doubling the recipe.
• sour cream – can use full fat or reduced fat sour cream.
• cheddar cheese – shredded, divided

How To Make Slow Cooker Hashbrown Casserole

1. In a medium sized skillet over medium heat add the butter and melt. Pour diced ham into the pan and sautee stirring frequently until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant; about a minute.

2. Sprinkle flour over ham. Stir continuously and cook for a minute. The flour will just begin to brown. This keeps the sauce from having that flour taste to it.

3. Pour beef broth and heavy cream into the pan. Stir gently until heated through and it begins to thicken. Remove the mixture from the heat.
4. Spray a crockpot base with cooking oil. Add hash browns, sour cream, 1 ½ cups cheese, ham with sauce, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper all to the crockpot base. Mix well with a silicone spatula, then use the spatula to wipe down any of the sauce from the sides of the crock as big splatters sometimes overcook on the sides of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese over the top of the potato mixture.

5. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on low heat or on high heat for 2-3 hours. The dish will be done when it is bubbly and cooked all the way through. See notes at the bottom of the page for more details. Serve and enjoy!

What Other Meat Can I Use In This Crockpot Hashbrown Casserole?

We’ve used ham but bacon, turkey bacon, chopped breakfast sausage or other types of breakfast meats can be swapped into this recipe. Cook any breakfast meat you add all the way through before adding it to the slow cooker. Cooked vegetarian breakfast meat substitutes could also be added.

Kielbasa or other types of pork, chicken, and turkey smoked sausage are also another great addition. I do recommend browning smoked sausage before adding it for the best flavor.

Can I Use Shredded Fresh Hash Browns?

I have not tried fresh shredded potatoes in this recipe but I truly do not recommend it. Frozen shredded potatoes will have a different amount of water in them then fresh typically do. This can cause the entire dish to become too watery and mushy.

Can I Use Frozen Diced Potatoes To Make A Cheesy Hash?

Yes, you can use other types of loose diced frozen potatoes like diced potatoes or frozen Potatoes O’Brien with the peppers and onions.

Can I Use Frozen Tater Tots Or Frozen Fries?

I don’t recommend using tater tots or fries as they are thicker and may not cook through the same way as a small diced or shredded frozen potato. They also will have a different water content amount which can make the whole dish too mushy.

Can You Freeze Crockpot Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole?

While leftovers of this recipe could be frozen, I don’t generally recommend it because the cheese and sauce texture can become gritty from freezing and thawing.

Can I Prep This Hashbrown Casserole In Advance?

Prepping this dish the night before totally works but for the best results I recommend using this process. Follow the recipe and mix all the ingredients together except leave out the potatoes and don’t top with the last 1/2 cup of cheese. Then when you are ready to cook mix in the frozen shredded potatoes and top with the shredded cheese, then turn the slow cooker on.

This will keep the potatoes from defrosting before you cook, which can cause them to get too mushy. Adding in the potatoes and the last bit of cheese right before cooking will give you better final results and your potatoes will taste even better!

How Long Will Leftover Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole Last?

Store leftover hashbrown casserole in an airtight covered container in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days.

You can leave this recipe on warm in the slow cooker for about 4 hours before they may begin to dry out. If the potatoes start to get too thick, stirring in a splash of milk can help.