Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon, Onions, and Cheese

Though filling enough as a main dish, you can also serve smaller portions of this creamy, cheesy casserole as a tasty side to scrambled eggs. We enjoyed the way the Classic Melts cheese blend melted over the casserole; substitute cheddar cheese if you can't find this product.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 6  bacon slices
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  (32-ounce) package frozen Southern-style hash brown potatoes
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) preshredded Classic Melts Four Cheese blend, divided
• 1/2  cup  chopped green onions
• 1/2  cup  fat-free 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, undiluted
• Cooking spray

Preparation

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.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

293 (31% from fat)

Fat:

10g (sat 4.8g,mono 3.3g,poly 0.7g)

Protein:

12.2g

Carbohydrate:

41.4g

Fiber:

4.7g

Cholesterol:

31mg

Iron:

0.2mg

Sodium:

720mg

Calcium:

214mg