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Family-favorite funeral potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and crispy on top. It’s perfect for dinners and holidays!
If you like cheesy potatoes, you’ll love Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes or Baked Mashed Potatoes.
A Holiday Must-Have!
There are certain side dishes that have to be made on Thanksgiving for our family. Some of those include my aunt’s famous Ham, my mom’s famous rolls, and several side dishes, including funeral potatoes (also known as cheesy potato casserole).
We also make Classic Mashed Potatoes as well, but we always have at least two pans of funeral potatoes. It’s a favorite because:
- They are sinfully delicious!! So flavorful and filled with ingredients we all love – it’s the ultimate comfort food!
- So many variations! Add onions, leave them out, or add ham or change up the toppings based on preference.
- Can be made ahead of time. Funeral potatoes are the perfect side dish for large gatherings, parties, and holidays (like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Why are they called funeral potatoes? At some point, someone noticed that this dish had become a staple at funeral luncheons and the nickname has stuck. They’re an easy dish to feed a crowd which means they are great to have for holiday dinners, potlucks, and family gatherings all year long.
Ingredients
- frozen diced hash browns – Use shredded hash browns instead of cubed potatoes – we have a similar recipe using them for Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole.
- sour cream – we recommend full fat sour cream but reduced fat works as well as plain greek yogurt for a tangier taste.
- cream of chicken soup – You can use other flavors of soup such as cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, or even cream of chicken soup.
- unsalted butter
- sharp cheddar cheese (shredded) – You can also use medium or mild cheddar cheese or can use another favorite like monterey jack cheese.
- seasonings – salt, black pepper (if desired) and onion powder (or 1/4 cup chopped onions)
- corn flakes – We think unfrosted cornflake cereal works the best, but you can also use Panko, bread crumbs, Lays Potato Chips, or even crushed Ritz crackers. Most kinds of crackers will do, but Ritz works best.
- unsalted butter
You can also use fresh potatoes. Just peel about 6-7 medium russet potatoes and cut into small cubes. Add the cubes to a large pot and cover with cold water. Add a dash of salt and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain potatoes and allow to cool to room temp before adding the cubes to the cream mixture
Just Mix and Bake!
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- POTATOES. Place hash browns in a colander and let sit until fully thawed and drained.
- SAUCE. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine sour cream, soup, and ½ cup butter and mix well. Add cheese, salt, and onion powder and mix until well combined.
- COMBINE. Add potatoes to the cheese mixture and stir until combined. Place in a lightly greased 9-x-13-inch baking dish.
- TOPPING. Combine cornflakes and the remaining ¼ cup melted butter in a large resealable plastic bag and crush corn flakes.
- BAKE. Sprinkle buttered cornflakes over potatoes. Bake for 42–46 minutes. Serve warm.
To Make for a Large Crowd
To make this recipe for 50 or more people – just triple the recipe or more. This recipe serves about 16 people. Make sure you have a few 9×13 pans lying around to bake all the potatoes in! Or better yet – buy large disposable pans to bake them in.
Recipe TIPS
- Flavor. Add flavor using extra salt, pepper, garlic salt, or even some paprika, chili powder, or red pepper flakes. Toss on some cooked crumbled bacon or ham (similar to our Ham and Potato Casserole).
- Crock pot. We like this version in the oven, but we do have a Slow Cooker Cheesy Potatoes recipe we love!
- What to serve with Funeral Potatoes? Here are some of our favorite main dishes:
Storing Info
Make ahead of time. Make them as the recipe says, but don’t add the cornflake topping or butter. When you’re ready to bake, thaw in the fridge overnight. Add the butter and cornflake topping and bake as directed!
STORE. Place the leftover cheesy potatoes with cornflakes in an airtight container and leave it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat, just place on a plate and reheat in the microwave until heated through.
FREEZE. Make these potatoes to the point where you pour the potatoes into the dish (use a disposable pan if freezing). Do not add the cornflakes, instead cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
For more potato recipes:
COLLECTIONS: Thanksgiving Sides
Funeral Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 32-ounce package frozen diced hash browns, (or shredded potatoes)
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 10.5-ounce can cream of chicken soup
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder optional
- 2-3 cups corn flakes crushed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place hash browns in a colander and let sit until fully thawed and drained.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine sour cream, soup, and ½ cup butter and mix well.
- Add cheese, salt, and onion powder and mix until well combined.
- Add potatoes to cheese mixture and stir until combined. Place in a lightly greased 9-x-13-inch baking dish.
- Combine cornflakes and the remaining ¼ cup melted butter in a large resealable plastic bag and shake until cereal is coated.
- Sprinkle buttered cornflakes over potatoes.
- Bake for 42–46 minutes. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
would love to see more recipes and home decor
Hope you find some good ones to try 🙂 I don’t share a lot about home decor on my blog, though.
These are great! We have modified the recipe to use creaM of onion soup instead of chicken (then skip the onion later), and add blue cheese powder and lots of black pepper. Your recipe is a great base for a Great dish!
That sounds great!! Thank you for sharing that!
Can you freeze leftover Cooked Funeral potatoes?
I haven’t tried freezing, after baking, because of the cornflakes. I am guessing it would be fine, but can’t say for sure.
It is an incredible recipe already.
We’ve aDded just a few shakes for a slight umph.
A little Bit of pEpper, dash of papRikA, seAson salt, some chopped green onions, green and wHites Scattered doWn the center during baking. Had everyone asking foR the recipe. ITs so dElIcious and simple your family and friends will love it.
DePending on my mix of croud i may need to cut the heaT. If that happenS i may use a blend of jalapeno Jack and a milder cheddar.
Either way it is a heap of ooey gooey goodness.
Enjoy
Sounds great!! Thanks for sharing that!
I usually thaw my frozen potatoes beforee I makee this in the ovenn. Wanting to do crockpot version tomorrow, but differences in amounts from oven version. I have 2-28 oz bag. But no butter used in crockpot version and different amount of sour cream.can I just double the recipe from the oven version and still thaw my potatoes. Wont have to cook so long as well? Also the butter issue? Thanks
I haven’t tried this specific recipe for a crockpot, but I do have this version…https://lilluna.com/crockpot-cheesy-potatoes/
These were perfect! I made a gluten free version for easter, my mother and i have celiacs disease, using Gluten free cornflakes and health valley brand gluten free cream of chicken soup. Because the soup is not condensed i added 4oz of SOFTENED cream cheese to the potato mixture and you could not tell recipe was gluten free at all!
I am so glad you found a way to make it for you two:) Thank you for sharing what you did!
Your carb count listed is too Low
In the process of making these I realized I didn’t have any cheddar cheese. I used mozzarella instead and they were just as good. So yummy!
Good to know! Thank you for sharing that! I am happy you liked it!
Oh my god, this smelled SO good! It tasted good too, but the smell was best. I had to use Ritz crackers and half cup butter didn’t seem enough. Maybe crackers crush into smaller crumbs than corn flakes..I wasn’t sure what you meant by thawed potatoes. I eyeballed a 32 oz bag to separate into 24oz into a colander and soaked them, then drained and let dry while the butter sticks warmed. Cooked up easy but didn’t seem enough! This is something best prepared in bulk. I’d hate to give it away ha ha!
Thank you for trying it! Thawed, I mean just taking out of the freezer while prepping the recipe. Sometimes, I have even used them straight from the freezer. They don’t have to be completely thawed.
We call these funeral potatoes too! They always disappear quickly! Great recipe!