Hash Brown Potato Casserole - a lighter version

This is one of our family favorites and it often gets served at special occasions or Holidays like Easter or Christmas. It's not made too often because it is not necessarily dietetic. I decided to try lightening it up a bit to see if it lost any of its flavor. I cut out 1 whole stick of butter and substituted lower fat versions of the soup, sour cream and cheese. It was still WONDERFUL! One of the things I did was to saute the onions a bit longer, just until the point of where they started to caramelize.

Hash Brown Potato Casserole

1 cup chopped onions

8 2 T. butter

2 lb. bag, frozen hash browns, thaw

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. white pepper

1 can, cream of chicken soup, 98 % fat-free

16 oz. light sour cream

2 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups crushed cornflakes

4 2 T. butter, melted

Saute the onions with 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat just until they begin to turn a light brown. In the meantime, mix together the thawed hash browns with the salt & pepper. Stir in the soup, sour cream, and cheese. When the onions are ready, add them to the potato mixture. Lightly spray a 9"x13" baking dish and add the potato mixture.

Stir together the crushed cornflakes and remaining butter. Since I cut the butter in half, I actually mixed them with my (clean) hands like I was mixing a meatloaf. This helped to distribute the butter more evenly. Sprinkle the crumbs over the potatoes.

Bake @ 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until the potatoes are tender.

This is one recipe from Midweek Connections Menu on September 14, 2011.