Smothered and Covered Hash Browns are crispy golden and topped with sweet sauteed onions and loads of melted cheese. You can also add country sausage gravy if you want. That’s a thing.
Waffle House. A southern staple.
I don’t frequent Waffle House much because it mostly requires a certain level of after hours + intoxication + a willing designate-a-driver, but there a few things that Waffle House does extremely well.
Coffee is not one of them.
Hash browns are, though. And if you’ve ever had Waffle House Hash Browns, you know they have their own lingo to go along with the greasy-spoon diner experience.
Smothered is with sauteed onions and covered is with melted cheese. (For more cheese and onion covered hash browns you definitely need these Cheesy Hash Brown Breakfast Sliders.)
To be honest, I have never really understood the descriptives here because if I’m smothering anything it’s definitely going to be with cheese. Covering sounds more like what to do with sauteed onions.
So we have smothered these with cheese and covered them with onions, but I also took these smothered covered hash browns a step further and added homemade sausage gravy.
That makes them country. It also makes hash browns into a main dish.
Main dish hash browns makes husbands happy. Also anything with sausage gravy.
Other hash brown add-ins that the good ‘ol Waffle House has to offer include chunked hickory smoked ham (not a fan of the word “chunked”), diced grilled tomatoes (fancy talk for “we put the tomatoes on the flat top grill”), peppered with spicy jalapeño peppers (remember that time we made Brown Sugar Jalapeno Bacon? This is definitely my jam), capped with grilled button mushrooms, and topped with Bart’s chili (NO.).
I can get down with cheese and gravy and veggies, but I am drawing the line at chili, y’all.
Anyway, the moral of the story here is that Waffle House has really great hash browns (and waffles).
But if you are not at a certain level of late night intoxication, or you are without a DD, or you just really need some greasy spoon goodness in your life, you can make Smothered Covered Hash Browns at home.
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Smothered and Covered Hash Browns Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 2 cups Frozen Shredded Hash Browns
- 1 cup Diced Onion sweet onions are best!
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 recipe Country Sausage Gravy optional
Instructions
- Prepare the hash browns according to the package skillet instructions.
- Remove the cooked hash browns to an oven-safe plate and place them in the oven on warm.
- Add the onions and butter to the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want them to be fragrant and translucent.
- Top the warm hash browns with the onions and then cover them with cheese.