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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
Equipment
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 1 (32-ounce) package hash browns in a colander and let sit until fully thawed and drained.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine 2 cups sour cream, 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup, and ½ cup melted butter and mix well.
- Add 2 cups shredded cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon 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 2-3 cups 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.
This is delish! Sometimes I add cubed ham and peas… Very versatile!
Mmmm I bet those additions are tasty! So glad you love the dish.
Great Recipe! I couldn’t remember exactly how my mom made these but this was extremely helpful. The only real difference is my mom always used minced onions instead of onion powder and we use shredded potatoes. Try them in a shallow baking pan if you like them crispy.. it’s like an edge piece everytime lol.
Glad this recipe could help you out!! Thanks for sharing what you did.
Hey quick question, I see that this recipe is for 16 but a 9×13 pan would serve 8-10. Also, I saw that you are supposed to have 2 bags of potatoes for this recipe. I remember making this in one pan off of a different blog with only one bag of diced potatoes and it was very rich.
Yes, so this recipe fits in one 9×13 pan. We say 16 servings because typically it is served as a side dish. If you were having this as the main dish, it may only serve 8-10. And two bags of the 12 oz potatoes. If you get a larger bag (sometimes they come in 32 oz bags), you certainly wouldn’t need two. Hopefully that helps answer your question!
Looks good. Please specify what size chicken soup can to use. There are two sizes.
It’s just the regular 10.5 oz can. Hope you enjoy the potatoes!
So glad you asked this! I was wondering the same thing!
Could you tell me what a serving size is (in ounces?)
Thank you!
I made it with pepper jack cheese and jalapeños. It was delicious
Hi, I made these last year and they were amazing, so I am so excited to make them again this year. But for the life of me I can’t remember if I used salted or unsalted butter in the recipe, can anyone help me out??
Thank you!!
I always use salted.
I think you can do either. If you use unsalted, you can control the amount of salt the dish has by adding how much you like. But I use salted butter for this recipe a lot and it turns out yummy!! Hope the potatoes turned out delicious!
I made these for a work potluck and rhey were a hit. I had to send the recipe in our work group chat because so many people requested it. Thank you!
You’re welcome!! I’m so glad to hear they were a hit!
Can I use regular frozen hashed browns? I can’t find the cubes.
Awesome recipe!!! This was a definite hit with my family!