Gluten-Free Party Potatoes Deluxe

One of the hardest parts about having to go gluten-free has been giving up some of my family’s holiday favorites. Sweet and creamy Dirt Cake on the 4th of July, the doughy center cinnamon roll on Thanksgiving morning, warm sourdough bread used to sop up buttery, spicy shrimp broth on Christmas Eve, Pepperidge Farms Frozen Birthday Cake All. Year. Long. MMMM! Love(d) me some gluteny holiday treats!

Luckily though, many of our Thanksgiving and Christmas Day favorites are naturally gluten-free (nearly 20 of them, in fact!) or are incredibly easy to modify in order to remove the devil gluten. Smoked Sausage and Chicken Gumbo, a Christmas favorite, is a perfect example. Just swap the all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour. Easy!

And Party Potatoes Deluxe – a staple on the Iowa Family Eats’ holiday table? Nix the 19-ingredient, gluten-filled canned cream of chicken soup (which, who wants to be eating anyway?!) make your own in under 10 minutes, and in two shakes you’ve got Gluten-Free Party Potatoes Deluxe!

Gluten-Free Party Potatoes Deluxe is a dish that makes me forget I have Celiac Disease. Like the time I ate a french fry fresh out of Louie’s Wine Dive’s gluten-free fryer last year, and honest to God had to hold back the tears, each bite of these creamy, decadent, buttery (there’s the “party!) and cheesy (that’s the “deluxe!”) potatoes makes me feel NORMAL. Like I’m back at my parent’s Thanksgiving Day table circa 2001 with no worries other than what I was going to eat for dessert – a slice of pumpkin pie with or without whipped cream – and which pair of sunglasses I was going to wear inside the dance club the following night while boogying with the friends I hadn’t seen since the summer when we all went off to college. It was an exciting time, you see.

Seriously though, these potatoes taste exactly like the original.

If you’ve got Celiac Disease, a gluten-sensitivity, or thankfully don’t have to worry about either, I’m beggin’ ya’ to include Gluten-Free Party Potatoes Deluxe in your Thanksgiving spread. My Mom has been making this dish for decades and it’s always the first to go at our holiday table. The original recipe is from an old church cookbook, where all the best recipes come from, and is legitimately one of the best foods I’ve ever eaten, on account of the “party” and “deluxe”, of course. :)

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This dish is a diet buster for sure, but thankfully calories don’t count on Thanksgiving. What a glorious day indeed!

Start by making the homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup which takes all of 7 minutes to make. Like I said, the original recipe calls for store-bought canned condensed soup, which it usually not gluten-free, plus it has NINETEEN ingredients. How do they even fit 19 ingredients into that teeny tiny can?

Anyway…start by sautéing 1 Tablespoon minced shallot in 1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil until softened, 2 minutes, then add 2 Tablespoon butter and, once melted, sprinkle in 2 Tablespoons gluten-free or all-purpose flour (dish will not be GF if using AP flour.) Whisk until smooth then cook for 30 seconds. I like Bob’s Red Mill Sweet Rice Flour for thickening soups and sauces, by the way!

Next, slowly add splashes of 3/4 cups gluten-free chicken broth and 1/2 cup milk (any kind, I used unsweetened almond milk,) while whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Finally, add 1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper then turn the heat up slightly to bring the soup to a bubble. Turn the heat back down to medium then simmer until the soup is fairly thick, 3-4 minutes.

Raise your hand if you’re never buying canned condensed cream of chicken soup again after seeing how easy (and much more healthy!) it is to make at home? This stuff is (thickened) liquid gold! You can easily make this 2-3 days ahead of time, too.

Ok! The next part’s even easier. Simply whisk together the slightly cooled cream of chicken soup with 8oz sour cream then fold in 2lbs country-style (diced) frozen hash browns that have been thawed, 8oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and 1/2 cup chopped green onions. Scoop the mixture into a baking dish that has 1/2 cup melted butter in the bottom then smooth into an even layer.

Bake the potatoes for 35 minutes at 350 degrees, then top with a crispy, crunchy corn flake topping. That’s just 2 cups crushed gluten-free corn flakes (LOVE this Erewhon brand – the ingredients are just organic milled corn and sea salt!) mixed with 1/2 cup melted butter.

Sprinkle the corn flakes on top then bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the topping is crisp and golden brown. Scoop onto plates, then serve!

Creamy, decadent, crispy, buttery – PARTY potatoes DELUXE! Enjoy and savor to the very end!