It is classic comfort food. Whether you call them Funeral Potatoes, Nauvoo Potatoes, Party Potatoes, Cheesy Potatoes or Potato Casserole, what you have is a fail-safe, sure to please, sidedish that is easy to make and holds up well. Perfect for any dinner or pot luck.
There is no need to break out the can opener when making a thick Béchamel sauce is so easy and lets you control what goes into your food.
Béchamel 101
Béchamel (pronounced bā-shə-ˈmel) is a classic french white sauce made with butter, flour (heated to form a roux) and milk. It is one of the 5 mother sauces in French cooking and forms the base of half a dozen other sauces.
While roux colors, fat choices and liquid varieties can cause many an argument; The basic formula for a classic sauce is 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk. This will create a rich and creamy sauce that can replace the cream of “fill in the blank” soup that is so prevalent in many down-home recipes.
- Heat the butter until it has melted and is foamy.
- Whisk in the flour and continue whisking until the mixture comes together into a paste-like consistency. Cook for 2 minutes to begin to cook out the floury taste.
- Continue whisking while you slowing add in the milk. If you slowing pour and continually whisk that milk will easily incorporate into the roux (flour and fat), and will thicken to form a stiff gravy.
- Remove for the heat, add the seasonings you want.
And voila, you have the simplified version of a Béchamel sauce. This simple process takes less than 10 minutes and will make you a rock star in the kitchen.
It is the secret to silky creamy goodness in all sorts of gravies, sauces, and savory dishes. There are a couple of other tricks for cheesy potato casserole that make a big difference in the finished recipe.
- Defrost the frozen hash brown shredded potatoes. This removes that little bit of excess liquid that results in soupy potatoes in the center of the dish.
- Add panko to the crushed cornflakes. It makes the topping crisp up better and gives a great flavor and texture to the topping.
- Warm the milk before whisking into the sauce helps the sauce come together better and faster.
Cheesy Potato Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minute
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: side dish
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is the classic recipe of cheesy potato casserole is made without canned soup as the base. It is still quick to make with a wonderful cornflake-panko topping to form the crust.
Ingredients
- 1 (32 ounce) package frozen shredded potatoes, defrosted
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1–1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon bouillon (whatever flavor you desire)
- Pinch of white pepper
- 1 pint (2 cups) sour cream (regular, not light)
- ½ cup grated onion
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1½ cups crushed corn flakes
- ½ cup panko crumbs
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease or spray a 9”×13” pan or baking dish; set aside.
- Thaw frozen hash browns in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Drain off any liquid. (This step helps avoid the soupy middle of the casserole.)
- in a medium pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. When melted and foamy, whisk in the flour to form a light paste. Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 minute. Slowly drizzle the milk into the flour and butter roux while whisking until the milk is all incorporated and thickens into a stiff gravy.
- Remove from heat, stir in the bouillon (whatever flavor you want) and white pepper.
- Grate the onion on a box grater.
- In a large bowl, combine béchamel sauce, sour cream, onion, cheeses, salt and pepper and stir until all the ingredients are mixed together. Taste and add additional salt if desired.
- Fold the potatoes into the sour cream mixture and stir so all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Press the cheesy potatoes evenly into the greased 9”x13” pan.
- Place the cornflakes in a bag and crush them with a mallet or rolling pin. Combine with the panko crumbs.
- Combine the 1/4 cup melted butter with the cornflake/panko crumbs and stir well.
- Top cheesy potatoes with cornflake mixture and spread out evenly.
- Bake uncovered at 350° for 45-60 minutes 1 hour or until nicely browned.
- Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Notes
You can add use roasted vegetable boulion to make the dish vegetarian.
Grating the onion makes them disappear into the potatoes, but still imparts the wonderful onion flavor.
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