By Fourth of July prep — the Claycut Drive institution continues, BBQ shrimp. Summer in full bloom, the kind of heat that makes you question everything except the quality of the food on the table and the cold beer in your hand. The kids are in their summer shapes: Colette drawing and painting with the intensity of someone who sees the world as a canvas and refuses to leave any part of it unfinished. Rémy in the kitchen, in the bayou, in the drainage ditch (still no fish there — eighth year of commitment to a fishless ditch, which is either persistence or insanity, and in the Beaumont family, those are the same thing).
The food was summer food — light where it could be, heavy where it wanted to be, and always, always, with the cayenne and the garlic and the holy trinity that makes everything in this kitchen Cajun regardless of origin. The meal was the day. The day was the meal. And both were good. C\'est bon.
When you’re feeding a house full of people on the Fourth and the grill’s already spoken for by noon, you need something that holds its own at the morning table — something with enough cayenne to remind everybody where they are. These Spicy Sausage Hash Browns were the answer: crispy, loaded, and gone before Rémy came back from the ditch empty-handed again. Summer mornings on Claycut deserve a plate that hits as hard as the heat outside.
Spicy Sausage Hash Browns
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 pound bulk spicy pork sausage
- 1 package (30 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
- 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.
- Brown the sausage. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the spicy sausage, breaking it into crumbles, until no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess grease and set aside.
- Mix the filling. In a large bowl, combine the thawed hash browns, cream of chicken soup, 1-1/2 cups pepper jack cheese, sour cream, onion, green bell pepper, garlic, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Fold in the cooked sausage until evenly distributed.
- Assemble the casserole. Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Drizzle melted butter evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese over the top and bake 5 minutes more, until cheese is melted and edges are golden and bubbling.
- Rest and serve. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with sliced green onions if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 410 | Protein: 17g | Fat: 27g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 820mg