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Kale and Bacon Hash Brown Casserole
![Kale and Bacon Hash Brown Casserole](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/05/06/dining/05Magnoliarex2/merlin_171962925_a0238879-d2a3-4643-bd83-c0f4366825f9-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6slices bacon
- ½medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 4cups lightly packed chopped kale (about 3 ounces)
- 1garlic clove, minced
- 12large eggs
- 1cup whole milk
- 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 6ounces shredded mozzarella (about 1½ cups)
- 6ounces shredded Gruyère (about 1½ cups)
- 1(20-ounce) bag frozen hash browns, thawed and patted dry
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with the butter.
- Step 2
In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-low until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop bacon.
- Step 3
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pan. Heat the skillet over medium, add the onion, and sauté until soft and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the kale and garlic and sauté until the garlic is tender and fragrant, another minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped bacon.
- Step 4
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and mustard. Add ½ cup mozzarella, ½ cup Gruyère, the hash browns, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper; stir to combine.
- Step 5
Stir the kale mixture into the eggs, then pour into the buttered dish. Top evenly with the remaining mozzarella and Gruyère. Cover with foil.
- Step 6
Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake, uncovered, until the top is lightly browned and bubbly, another 15 minutes. Serve hot. (Cooled casserole will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.)
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Boil your own potatoes. Cool in refrigerator until potatoes are pretty cold or make ahead the day before and leave in refrigerator until ready to make the dish then and grate with a cheese grater.
Delicious! We baked the bacon so didn’t have the fat and substituted with EVO. We thought the taste would have been overpowering with both fat and the bacon. Browning the hash browns ahead of time would be an improvement. Lastly, topped the dish with panko. Will most definitely make this dish again!
I made this with fresh potatoes, cubed and sautéed after cooking the bacon. I also added more chopped kale, which gave the dish more body and flavor. So delicious!
Can this be frozen after cooking?
Could just be me, but I found the proportions to be off and the cook time way off. Egg all over the bottom of the oven, smoke alarm going off and still not cooked after over an hour.
I was excited to make this, but disappointed with the results. It was dry and needed more salt (and I hardly ever salt my food!) I’ll probably try this again, and tweak the recipe a little bit. As another commenter noted, it may help to lightly brown the hash browns beforehand, probably in evoo, and add a teaspoon of salt at that time. Also, I would increase the amount of cheese in the egg mixture (maybe by 1/2 cup) because the frozen potatoes seemed to absorb a lot of the cheese’s moisture.
I substituted spinach for kale, grated cold day old baked potatoes and cooked them in the bacon fat before baking into the casserole. It was fantastic! Thanks!
Giant meh. If i made it again, which I won't, I would use less cheese and less bacon. Made exactly as written, but used spinach because I had a ton on hand. Maybe kale would have made it less leaden, but regardless, it needs more veg, less fatty stuff, and some spice or herbs.
The 1st time I made this it was OK. Second time, I cubed potatoes and sautéed them for a while in the bacon fat. Subbed spinach for kale. I did the bacon potatoes day before the save time Easter morning. It was a hit! Soft and flavorful.
This was delicious! Fed a crowd so did 1.5x the recipe. And baked in large casserole dish. Added 1tsp red pepper flakes with the garlic and kale. Increased salt with two large pinches added to kale and 1.5tsp added to egg mixture plus lots of cracked pepper. Prepared night before and baked the next morning. Also, did not defrost and pat dry the potatoes based on comments that this could be dry. Ours was very moist and delicious! Highly recommend.
For the potato component I put some russets in the microwave on the potato timer and took them out about 3/4 the way through. I roughly chopped them. I had a 10 oz bag of Trader Joe’s lacinato kale, used all of it. Did not have mozzarella or Gruyère so I used only a sharp white cheddar. 3 Tablespoons Dijon. Tasty. Nothing to write home about though. I guess it’s a nice way to get some Veg. And some bacon grease too. :)
I made this exactly by the recipe and found it bland and uninteresting. Nevertheless, I would make it again, perhaps doubling the amount of bacon and adding salt and pepper. I think the previous suggestions to brown the hashbrowns might help, too. If it weren't for the fact that cheese doesn't agree with my digestive tract, I might also add more gruyere.
Next time will pre-cook the hash browns to improve the consistency in the final dish. We added a diced red bell pepper and a whole diced onion (instead of half). We also used EVO instead of bacon fat, but probably could have gone either way. Easy & fast. Will make again.
I added more bacon and more kale, and will do so again - you can double the greens if you like. This recipe lends itself to modifying for your tastes - I went heavier on the garlic and used a smoked Gruyère and got wonderful flavor. I used 9 whole eggs and 3 egg whites (the yolks were for a key lime pie), and texture was light & not dry. Made this for Father’s Day - both my husband & father raved about it. Definitely will go back to as a base recipe.
Meh. Pretty bland, even after doubling the salt and pepper and adding a bit of cayenne pepper. Might be better with stronger cheese? Next time I'll just make some eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns separately.
Used about a teaspoon of ground Szechuan peppercorn in the eggs mix before cooking. Delicious
I made this for Easter - it was very tasty and fed lots of people, and I could make it the day before. Given the notes, instead of store bought hash browns I diced and sautéed/browned 2 potatoes, then proceeded with the rest of the recipe. I don’t think it added much more time. Added in a bit more bacon and less cheese. It was tasty and leftovers were great.
Seriously bland. As previous commenters noted, needs more salt, browning potatoes would have helped, and in reheating, a little cayenne goes a long way.
This was fabulous! Made it for ladies’ brunch and everyone asked for the recipe. After reading other’s comments, I did a few things. Tried to brown the hash browns but all they did was dry out a bit— probably a good thing. Used spinach because I prefer it to kale. Added more cheese, but not 1/2 cup—maybe 1/3 more. Also added halved cherry tomatoes which did add moisture. Sprinkled Spanish paprika over the cheese. The middle wasn’t quite done so had to put that back in 375oven for 10 mins.
This was great. I used 8 oz. of smoked gruyere and it added to the smoky bacon. Top with plenty of hot sauce, but I'll make this again often.
Enjoyed at Epiphany potluck at church tonight. Was made with sausage instead, according to the bringer. But so delicious! As they were kind enough to tell me the recipe source, I’ll try making it myself now!
I added a cup of fresh corn, halved a handful of grape tomatoes, and added a small can of green chiles to the onion and kale saute. I loved this and will definitely make again.
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