Funeral potatoes are a classic baked hashbrown casserole with a rich, cheesy sauce and crisp topping that delivers big comfort with minimal ingredients. They are the coziest, creamiest potatoes perfect for any crowd!
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: We love funeral potatoes because they’re creamy, cheesy, and hearty with a crunchy, buttery topping.
- Time-Saving Tip: Use pre-shredded cheese to save time on prep!
- Serving Suggestion: Keep these cheesy potatoes warm in a Crockpot for an easy, grab-and-go buffet favorite.
What Are Funeral Potatoes?
Funeral potatoes are a dish from the midwest that are a staple for post-funeral luncheons.
It’s a comforting dish that can easily be made ahead of time making it an ideal choice for gatherings.
Easy Ingredients
- Potatoes: This funeral potatoes recipe uses diced frozen hash browns. Any frozen (or pre-cooked) potatoes will work.
- Cheese: Sharp cheddar cheese adds a bright, tangy flavor, but use what’s in your cheese drawer. Cheese tends to melt best if you shred it yourself from a block, but you can use pre-shredded cheese if time is short.
- Sauce: Melted butter, condensed cream of chicken soup, and sour cream make up the sauce. You can use cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup in place of cream of chicken to make it vegetarian.
- Topping: Crushed cornflakes are mixed with butter for the best crunchy topping. Replace the cereal with crushed potato chips (any flavor), Ritz crackers, or bread crumbs if that’s all you have.
Ingredient Swap: To use fresh potatoes instead of hash browns, dice them ½” or smaller and add them to salted boiling water. Cook for about 7 minutes or just until tender. Cool slightly and proceed with the recipe.
How to Make Funeral Potatoes
- Topping: Prepare the cornflakes topping and set aside.
- Sauce: Sauté onion in butter & mix with sour cream, soup, and some of the cheese.
- Assemble: Stir in potatoes and spread into a casserole dish.
- Bake: Add cheese & topping and bake until bubbly and golden brown.
Storing Cozy Casseroles
- Storing: Cover the pan with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: Place a thawed portion or two in the microwave for a few minutes or toast in the oven at 325°F for 15-20 minutes!
- Make ahead & freeze: Skip the topping, freeze in the dish until firm. Remove from the fish and wrap in foil and plastic wrap, and store in a large zip bag up to 3 months. Pop back into the casserole dish when ready to defrost and bake.
- Reheat: Bake frozen, covered with foil, at 350°F for 50-60 minutes. Add topping, bake 15-20 more minutes or until it reaches 160°F.
Casseroles for a Crowd
Did you make these Funeral Potatoes? Be sure to leave a rating and comment below!
Ingredients
- 1 (32 ounce) bag diced hash brown potatoes thawed
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ onion finely chopped
- 1½ cups sour cream
- 2 (10.5 ounce each) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2½ cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
Topping
- 1½ cups cornflakes
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish with butter.
- In a medium bowl, make the topping by gently crushing the cornflakes. Toss with 4 tablespoons of melted butter and set aside.
- In a small skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter and onions, sour cream, condensed soup, and 2 cups of cheese. Season to taste with salt & black pepper.
- Gently stir in the hash brown potatoes. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
- Top with the remaining ½ cup of cheese and sprinkle the topping over top.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Casserole, Side Dish
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I’m sorry, am I dense or did I miss when to put the topping on?
The topping should be added in step 6!
Can you make this ahead of time and put in refrigerator until ready to bake?
You sure can! Take it out of the fridge while the oven preheats (or even an hour ahead if time allows). If it is chilled from the fridge, you may need to add extra cooking time.
So I have to ask… no one has had any deaths in the family immediately after making them, have they?? The recipe sounds amazing, but I’m not about jinxing myself… ♀️
Hi MM, this recipe is considered the ultimate comfort food and is often served at gatherings held after the funeral takes place (hence the name). But we enjoy this recipe all year round (without jinx), whenever a little extra comfort food is needed.
This recipe sounds delicious & easy! I’m planning to make this for a large family gathering in a deep dish disposable pan. If I double the recipe, would you recommend more time or a higher temperature…or both? Thanks for sharing!
You may need to increase the cooking time depending on how large of a batch you are intending to make. I would check your casserole around the 40-minute mark and see if the potatoes are fully cooked and increase the temperature from there. You could also make two separate batches.
Looking forward to easy recipes
Made these yesterday using my own potatoes shredded in a food processor. It was delicious!
I’ve made this recipe for years without knowing it had a particular name. Cool !!!
Instead of the corn flakes, I use crushed Goldfish crackers as a topping. It adds to the cheesy goodness !!
Thank you for all of the recipe ideas !!
Great idea on the topping John! And you are welcome!
Like what I see , of your recipes
Enjoy Donna, let us know which ones you try!
Super easy to make and delicious
I used French onion dip instead of sour cream and potato chips instead of corn flakes and omg
That sounds amazing Grant!
Wow are these delicious. When I made these I thought they seemed like the Cracker Barrel hash brown casserole, BUT…these are way better! Much lighter and just the texture of the corn flakes makes them over the top! I used shredded hash browns because that’s what I had. My husband said, “keep this recipe for sure!” I am planning on it!
So glad you loved them as much as we do Robynn!
I made this several times omitting the onions ( disliked by fiancée but added onion powder) and topped it off with crushed spicey Cheese-Its or Grape Nuts. For a breakfast dish, I added 1 lb. Kroger hot breakfast sausage cooked and drained. Add a few shakes of hot sauce for extra spicey or when served. I’m going to try and freeze two for Thanksgiving breakfast. Family and friends love this dish.
I love the addition of sausage to this recipe!
Do I need to thaw the frozen hash browns or just use them straight from the freezer? Just wanted to make sure I did it the right way before making these, which look delicious!
I usually thaw them first (I’ve updated the recipe to include this). If they’re still a little bit frozen, the recipe will work just fine but you might need to add a few minutes cook time.
How long would I cook if I use fresh potato’s I shredded my self
You’ll want to partially cook the potatoes ahead of making the casserole, then it would cook the same. Whole potatoes should be cooked about 10-12 minutes before shredding. Enjoy Aundrea!
These funeral potatoes were the easiest and best tasting! I should have made double because that’s how fast they went.
Quick,easy and delicious
So many yummy recipes…..I love casseroles!!
You just don’t need tto saute the onions. They cook fine in the casserole!
Can this be frozen?
Hi Barb, Funeral Potatoes can definitely be frozen! I would freeze before baking, then when you’re ready to bake just be sure to thaw the casserole first and bake per the recipe instructions. Let us know how they turn out for you!
Love to try your recipes thank you
First time I’ll be making this type of dish with diced potatoes and wonder if this recipe could be made in a slow cooker. Need it to be transportable. Sounds yummy!
Yes, this can be made in the slow cooker. I would cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours. I would suggest skipping the topping in the slow cooker as the cornflakes may become mushy. If you’d like a little crunch, lightly brown some Panko breadcrumbs in butter in a skillet and sprinkle on top just before serving.