Keto Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole
This version of the famous Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole will satisfy your potato craving and fool your entire family. I frequently make potato dishes with cauliflower and my husband still could not believe this wasn’t actually potatoes! This easy recipe is low carb, keto, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole. That might be my favorite 4-word phrase ever. Anytime we are on a road trip and pop into a Cracker Barrel with the kids I have a hard time resisting a heaping side of cheesy, potato goodness. My kids have grown to love it too so I’ve made a few copycat recipes over the years using shredded potatoes and cream of chicken soup.
It is a great make-ahead for brunches. Whenever my kids have had a celebration like a Baptism or First Communion my favorite (and the easiest) meal to feed our guests is always brunch. I make egg bakes, some coffee cakes, and a copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole. It is delicious but is definitely not the healthiest option.
Therefore, a remake of this has been on my recipe list for YEARS. Every few months I would think about how could I possibly make the delicious, carb-loaded, fattening Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole healthy?
Ingredients
The rest of the ingredients in my remake of the Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole Recipe were easier. I can do cheese, and onion, and more cheese. Who doesn’t love cheese? I chose to use a blend of shredded cheddar and Monterey jack but you can use whatever your family’s favorite cheese is.
Butter – I like to use salted butter.
Shredded cauliflower stalks – Use your food processor to make this fast and simple.
Sour cream – You can use regular sour cream or any version that works.
Mayo – Helps to add creaminess to the texture.
Shredded cheese – Have fun and change up the blends.
Minced onion – Adds some texture and flavor.
Bouillon powder – Gives a boost of salt to the mixture.
Salt and pepper – To taste.
How to make Keto Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole
You’re going to love the ease of this low carb hashbrown casserole! Simple and delicious!
Step One: Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.
Step Two: Set aside 1/3 cup of the shredded cheese to use as a topping.
Stir together the remaining ingredients.
Spread in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
Step Three: Bake for 50-60 minutes until the casserole is golden and bubbly.
Variations
Add toppings – Gravy and parsley are always delicious to add to the top. You can also top it with even more cheddar cheese!
Add meat – If you want to add ground beef, cook it up well and then add. This makes this casserole dish hearty!
Common Questions
What is the Best Low Carb Potato Substitute?
First, I thought over the different potato subs. Should I use jicama? Should I use radishes? What about cauliflower? And how on earth do I replicate cream of chicken soup? The more I thought about it the more my plan became solid in my mind.
My favorite potato sub is cauliflower so I decided I would just use cauliflower. But I would only use the stalks of fresh cauliflower because I wanted a shredded texture, not the texture of the florets which is more rice-like.
How do I make Keto Cream of Chicken Soup?
To make the cream of chicken soup I needed a few creamy ingredients and some chicken bouillon. You can use canned chicken broth concentrate paste or homemade powdered bouillon. The bouillon paste ends up being 1/8 tsp per serving so it has a negligible impact on the nutrition facts.
There is a link in the recipe card to a recipe to make your own version if you prefer to do so. My powdered chicken bouillon does also work. I make one using nutritional yeast that was amazing. I could not believe how much nutritional yeast plus some salt and spices could taste like chicken.
Can I use frozen cauliflower for this dish?
If you want to use up some of the things that you have in your freezer, frozen cauliflower will work! Just thaw it and then chop or shred it as the directions say.
When should you serve this cracker barrel hash brown casserole?
It’s perfect for a weekend meal, weeknight dinner, Sunday brunch, or great for Thanksgiving or Christmas as well! It feeds a crowd!
How much cauliflower do I need?
This was the biggest part of disguising the cauliflower as a potato substitute. My family knows mashed cauliflower. And they know cauliflower rice. But shredded cauliflower? That is a new one. To do this I cut off the florets trying to leave as much of the stalk as possible. Then, I put them through the food processor with a shredding disc.
One medium head of cauliflower had enough stalks for me to have the 3 cups of shredded cauliflower I needed for this recipe. I put the florets in a large plastic storage bag and roasted them for dinner a few nights later with some roasted garlic paste.
What so serve with Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole
I served this hashbrown casserole recipe along with some baked pork chops. It goes well with breakfast, breakfast for dinner, or just your regular dinner as a side dish. Next on my to-do list is to add shredded chicken to this to make it a one-dish meal. If you try that make sure to let me know how it turns out!
Some of my favorites are:
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Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded cauliflower stalks (reserve florets for another use)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1 cup shredded cheddar & Monterey jack cheese, divided
- 1 tbsp minced onion
- 1 tbsp bouillon powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Set aside 1/3 cup of the shredded cheese to use as a topping. Stir together the remaining ingredients. Spread in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the casserole is golden and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition
More Cauliflower Sides and Mains:
- Loaded Cauliflower Casserole
- Cheesy Cauliflower Rice
- Dirty Cauliflower Rice Recipe
- Shepherd’s Pie Recipe with Cauliflower Topping
- Green Chile Cauliflower Casserole
Originally Published October 9, 2019. Revised and Republished November 14, 2022.
How many heads of cauliflower are needed for the 3 cups shredded stalks?
About 2. Try to pick ones with big stalks.
This looks delicious. I think I will try it with spaghetti squash
Im going to make this but will use shredded rutabaga. Which in my opinion is the closest to a potato that i have found. You can fry it, mash it and or cube it. So shredded should be great.
What is the serving size?
There are 8 servings in an 8×8 dish. Each serving is approximately a 2×4 inch piece. I just eye it up as I serve.
Do you think this would work with jicama? My husband can’t stand the taste or smell of cooked cauliflower. I’ve never cooked with jicama, only eaten it raw. I was hoping you’ve tried it or had experience cooking jicama.
I just made fries with jicama last week. I think it could work in this! I want to try myself. If you try please let me know how it turns out!
This looks delicious! I have two questions. Could this be made with frozen riced cauliflower and how would I make this in a crockpot? (I’m disabled so I have to adapt recipes to what I can physically do) Thank you!
Yes, frozen riced cauliflower can work. It is not the best for texture but it’s fine for flavor. As far as the crockpot, you can thaw the cauliflower rice and drain it and then add everything to the crockpot to heat.
Yum!! Made this tonight! Soooo good!! You are a genius!
I want to make this so so bad but I absolutely hate mayo. Can I just add a little extra sour cream to substitute? Or do you have another suggestion?
Sure. But you really can’t taste it at all.
I found the taste of the mayonnaise to be quite a bit stronger than I would prefer but I did not use my own homemade for this recipe. I’m in Germany for can’t always find the options I need, used what I had here and maybe it was just too strong.
.
I will make 2 changes next time, I’m going to try frozen cauliflower and just thaw it and chop it up, and use my own homemade mayonnaise.
This was absolutely delicious!! I swapped the cauliflower for shredded daikon radish…..so amazing! I made it as a dinner side and am enjoying the leftovers like it’s Christmas morning!! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Hi Taryn!
This looks amazing but I was wondering if I swapped the cauliflower for jicama if it would be even swap of quantity? And do you think I would need to cook/blanch jicama 1st? Thinking about mixing in broccoli & ham!!
I’ve never tried jicama in a casserole so I’m not sure, sorry!
My husband eats whatever I cook for my wacky dietary restrictions without complaining. But this is the first time that he’s ever really raved and raved and raved about how much he loves a dish! I can’t have potatoes which is heartbreaking at times. While this doesn’t really taste like potatoes, it sure does taste SPECIAL. I used the nutritional yeast recipe for the bullion. Great job putting this together and thank you!
Sorry but I don’t quite understand, can I just use 1tsp dry chicken bullion?
Yes
Do you think this could be frozen in small batches without intensifying the cauliflower flavor? I am the only keto member of my family.
Yes. This freezes well.
This sounds amazing! How do you think it would taste or work if I subbed the cauliflower for turnips?
I’m probably not the person to ask because I’m not a fan a turnips. lol. But hypothetically I think they would work.
THANK YOU for this recipe. I made it this weekend, and it tastes just like the real thing! I didn’t really make any modifications, but I did thaw out a bag of frozen cauliflower rice and let it dry for about 30 min on some paper towel (instead of shredding my own). I used half sharp cheddar and half guyere/fontina blend from Trader Joe’s; and I only had creme fraiche in the fridge. Absolutely delicious!