Southern Spice Hash Brown Casserole

By margiekyle

Ingredients

• 1 large bag of frozen hash browns, country style, and thawed
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 1 medium chopped green bell pepper
• 1 regular size can of rotel tomatoes and chilies....hot
• 1 Tbsp celery seeds
• 1 Tbsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika, sweet mild
• 1 jar hormel real bacon bits...do not use dried imitation bits
• 3 c finely shredded cheese (i use monterey/cheddar mix)
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 24 ounce container of sour cream
• 1 c finely shredded cheese as above

Details

Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 90mins
Adapted from justapinch.com

Preparation

Step 1

After the hash browns are thawed, mix all ingredients in a large bowl except the soup and sour cream, and the 1 cup of shredded cheese. Toss together well.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the cream of celery soup and sour cream. Add this mixture to the potato mixture and thoroughly mix together

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with oil and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Pour the potato mixture into the casserole dish and spread out evenly. Place in preheated oven and bake for 1 hour.

After an hour pull the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle the last cup of cheese over the top. Turn the oven off and put the dish back in the oven and let it stay about 10 minutes for the cheese to melt.

This dish is spicy but not really hot. If you are adventurous and want more heat, add 1/2 cup of finely chopped jalapeno pepper; leave the seeds in for even more heat!!!