A crowd favorite for potlucks and parties, gluten-free hashbrown casserole is cheesy and delicious! I created this easy hashbrown casserole recipe without canned soup. This is a tried-and-true, family-favorite recipe I've been making for years!
Katie's Recipe Notes
Hashbrown casserole has always been one of my favorites, and I'm guessing one of yours too! First made famous by Cracker Barrel, it's a dish that has been a potluck staple for decades. I've even seen this dish go by the name of funeral potatoes, so consider this your gluten-free funeral potatoes recipe!
I used to think you could just swap in a gluten-free canned soup, until one Easter it gave the whole dish an odd flavor and totally ruined it. So I ditched the canned soup and now make a simple gluten-free condensed soup from scratch. It only adds about five minutes to prep and makes a world of difference, but you can still use your favorite canned soup if you prefer!
If you love this recipe, try this gluten-free corn casserole or gluten-free sweet potato casserole, or browse these gluten-free potluck recipes and gluten-free Christmas cookie recipes for your holiday spread!
Ingredients
- Frozen Hashbrowns: Diced hash browns are my preference but shredded also works. Ore-Ida hash browns are gluten-free so I tend to use them. Whichever brand you use, always check labels because not all of them are gluten-free.
- Cheddar cheese: I prefer to shred my own cheese, I do it for my taco dip recipe, too. But you can use pre-shredded if you like.
- Homemade cream soup substitute: Rice flour or potato starch, butter, milk, and chicken stock are what you'll for this. Or substitute 1 (10 ounce) can of your preferred gluten-free cream of chicken soup (or mushroom or celery).
- Butter
- Sour cream
- Dried Minced Onion: Adds a huge flavor boost and is much easier than dicing an onion.
- Crispy Rice Cereal: Arguably the best part of this casserole is the crunchy topping! Always look for gluten-free rice cereal because the name-brand Rice Krispies are not gluten-free. Aldi and Malt-o-meal sell gluten-free versions.
How to Make Gluten-Free Hashbrown Casserole
- Make the gluten-free cream soup substitute, which is basically just a thick gluten-free white sauce.
- Combine the cream soup substitute with the sour cream, melted butter, minced onion, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
- Then stir in the frozen potatoes and pour the mixture into a greased casserole dish. You don't need to thaw the potatoes.
- Mix the crispy rice cereal with remaining melted butter. Spread evenly over the top of the potatoes.
- Bake until golden brown and bubbly!
Make It Ahead for the Holidays
If you're prepping for the holidays or a party, you can make this casserole about one day in advance and keep it in the fridge.
Pro-tip: Pull the casserole out of the fridge about one hour before you place it in the oven. If you place the cold casserole dish right from the refrigerator into a hot oven, it could crack.
Just look at that crunchy topping! That has to be the best part! Don't skip making this cheesy, gluten-free hashbrown casserole for your next gathering, whether it be Easter dinner, a potluck, or a birthday party! This dish is always a crowd-pleaser! If you'd like a somewhat fancier version of this recipe, check out these gluten-free au gratin potatoes!
More Gluten-Free Holiday Side Dishes
Recipe
Gluten-free Hashbrown Casserole
Ingredients
Cream Soup Substitute
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons sweet rice flour (or potato starch)
- ¾ cup gluten-free chicken broth
- ½ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Casserole
- 1 batch cream soup substitute (prepared as directed below)
- 16 ounces sour cream
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese (shredded)
- ½ cup butter (melted)
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 32 ounces frozen diced hashbrown potatoes (not thawed)
Topping
- 2 cups gluten-free crispy rice cereal
- ½ cup butter (melted)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Make the Cream Soup Substitute
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the 3 tablespoons sweet rice flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Gradually whisk in the ¾ cup gluten-free chicken broth and ½ cup milk until smooth. Continue cooking, whisking frequently, until thickened. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Assemble the Casserole
- In a large bowl, stir together the prepared 1 batch cream soup substitute, 16 ounces sour cream, 8 ounces cheddar cheese, ½ cup butter, 2 tablespoons dried minced onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
- Add 32 ounces frozen diced hashbrown potatoes and stir until evenly coated. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish.
Add the Topping and Bake
- In a separate bowl, stir together the 2 cups gluten-free crispy rice cereall and the remaining ½ cup butter. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole.
- Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes, until the edges are bubbling, the topping is golden brown, and the center is hot.
Notes
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Estimated Nutrition
* Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should be used as an estimate only. See the nutrition policy for more information.
Bonnie says
We prefer using the canned cream of chicken soup (gluten free) and using crushed Ruffles for tthe topping. The potato chips really taste better than the rice cereal or cornflakes.
Katie Olesen says
I haven’t tried it with ruffles. We’ve always used the crispy rice cereal but to each their own. But I do use gf cream soup from a can sometimes. This recipe is a great alternative though if you don’t have any on hand or don’t want to pay for the gf markup.
Anna says
Can you use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian?
Katie Olesen says
Absolutely!
Amy says
I want to freeze this for Christmas morning. Should i wait to bake it and put the topping on the morning of?
Katie Olesen says
You will have to let me know how freezing it ahead goes. I haven't done that with this recipe before. I would definitely add the topping on the morning of just to make sure it doesn't get soggy.
Donna Cienciera says
Can you use canned cream of chicken soup?
Katie Olesen says
Yes! Just omit all of the cream soup substitute ingredients and the steps to make it. Replace with one can of gluten-free cream soup.
Heather says
Can I use cornstarch instead of potato starch? I am so excited to find a GF recipe for this casserole!
Katie | Wheat by the Wayside says
Yes, that should be a fine substitution. The result should be thick, not soupy, so you may need to adjust the amount based on the final result. Hope that helps!
Heather says
Made this tonight with a few changes. I used cornstarch because I didn’t have rice flour or potato starch. Added 2 cups of cheese, some onion flakes and topped it with Parmesan. Next time I will make extra soup substitute (we like it creamier). It was delicious! Such a treat for my daughter, who is celiac. We will be making this a lot - great recipe, thank you for sharing it!
Katie | Wheat by the Wayside says
I am so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Heather! I love your modifications and I'm happy to hear cornstarch worked well! Thanks for sharing!
Betty Makela says
Always make it for our ladies' events because it's gluten-free and everyone can enjoy it. I used Aylmer cream of mushroom soup and gluten-free bread crumbs for the topping, so it's absolutely gluten-free.
Kimberly says
Thank you for asking this! I was wondering the same thing.
Jackie says
This was fabulous! I was so very leery of the cream soup substitute when getting ready to make this. I seasoned the soup substitute with S&P as stated in your recipe and then added about a tsp of dried thyme just because of being leery of flavor quality not having the canned soup. I had shredded hashbrowns on hand instead of cubed so I used those and my grocery store did not carry crispy rice gluten free cereal so I used gluten free crushed sea salt rice chips. none of these minor changes altered your recipe in any significant way and everybody loved this dish! I have always made hashbrown casserole with canned soup, but it was so much better with your soup substitute, I will always make it with the substitute from here on. thank you so much for another great recipe!
Katie | Wheat by the Wayside says
Glad you enjoyed it Jackie!