Believe it or not, “Funeral Potatoes” is not actually the technical name for this dish–it’s usually something like Cheesy Potato Casserole. But these are often found served with ham on Easter dinner tables as well as luncheons following funerals which, not shockingly, is how they got their name in certain circles. You can serve this as a main dish (kind of like mac and cheese, right?) with a salad and fruit or serve it alongside pot roast, ham, or roasted chicken. The funeral is totally optional. If you’ve never tried them, be prepared for these creamy, cheesy potatoes to disappear very quickly!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Onion
- Fresh garlic
- Butter – Use real butter.
- Frozen hash brown potatoes
- Sour cream – Full fat is best.
- Cream of chicken soup
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Topping of choice – Crushed cornflakes, seasoned bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, crushed crackers, or more cheese!
How to Make Funeral Potatoes
- First you’ll melt some butter and sauté your onions and garlic.
- While the onions and garlic are sautéing, combine together the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, salt, and pepper.
- Combine the sautéed onions and garlic with a bag of thawed hash brown potatoes, the sour cream mixture, and the cheese. Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish.
- You can bake these potatoes as is, or sprinkle with corn flakes, cracker crumbs, or extra cheese before baking. I prefer topping with cheese or leaving them plain, as the other options become soggy on leftovers.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled leftover funeral potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- If you’d like to save dishes, prepare these potatoes in a cast iron skillet or other pan that can go from stovetop to oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Feel free to prep these potatoes a day ahead of time. They will need a few extra minutes in the oven if baking directly from the refrigerator.
You can freeze funeral potatoes for up to 3 months, before or after baking. Leave the toppings off if you plan to freeze. Thaw your pan in the refrigerator overnight before baking or reheating.
Funeral Potatoes
Equipment
- 9×13 baking dish optional
Ingredients
- 1 onion, small-medium diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 tablespoons butter
- 1 28-30 ounce bag hash brown potatoes shredded, thawed
- 1 16-ounce container sour cream
- 1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese about 2 cups, shredded
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- crushed cornflakes, seasoned bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, or crushed Ritz or saltine crackers optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. In a large skillet (or 12" cast iron skillet), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat.
- Add the thawed hash browns, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese, salt, and pepper and combine well. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
- If not baking in the skillet, spread the mixture into a 9×13" (or similar) dish and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the casserole is hot in the center and the cheese is bubbly throughout. Serve as a main dish with a salad and fruit or alongside roasted ham, turkey, chicken, or beef.
Notes
- Store cooled leftover funeral potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- If you’d like to save dishes, prepare these potatoes in a cast iron skillet or other pan that can go from stovetop to oven.
- The comment section on this recipe is filled with interesting and delicious variations, such as adding green onions, different types of toppings, and unique seasonings. If you’re looking for a new spin on this recipe, take a look!
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
If you need to make your own hash browns, I would recommend boiling the potatoes a bit first. If you grate raw potatoes, they turn color rather quickly and tend to taste gummy. If you grate potatoes that are boiled until they are about half cooked, they grate easily, you don’t need to squeeze out the water, and they are fluffier. Just my 2 cents.
YUMMY potatoes!
that’s what MY family calls this delicious treasure. I might just have to volunteer myself to make these for Easter this year.
I am seriously drooling right now – as in, all over my keyboard.
now i’m super hungry! hehe
I love this recipe and often add bits of bacon or ham to it to make it more of a main dish. I always top mine with crushed ritz crackers.
We always do crushed cornflakes at our house.
I just made these yesterday and wrote a post for Tablespoon about them. So funny! They are good. I’m not sure if funeral potatoes is just Mormon lingo or not but that’s what we call them!
It’s not just a Mormon thing! We call them that in Iowa, and I’ve only been to Baptist and Lutheran funerals.
This recipe is called “hash brown casserole” in my neck of the woods here in NW Kentucky. They are on a lot of restaurant menus in this area.
LOVE
LOVE! I make these all the time. There my husband’s favorite.(they’re a great I-want-something weapon) My recipe only has 1 cup of sour cream, but increases the butter to 1/2 a cup! YUMMY!! Oh, and I never use canned cream of chicken soup either. I make my own substitute…it taste a lot better and I know what’s going into it. 🙂
I think these are on the menu for this week…I’m needing a new sewing machine. 😉
*they’re (coffee hasn’t kicked in to the spelling/grammar part of my brain yet)
Oh my… these are one of my favorite potato dishes. We like them with extra “crispies”. Meaning, we like to let the edges and top get extra browned and crunchy! Topping is optional for me to. It’s great along side a grilled steak too!
This looks delicious! I’m definitely adding them to my Easter menu. Thanks!
i just love potatoes especially french fry.
Hi- we can’t get frozen shredded has browns in the UK. They look like grated potato with the excess water squeezed out- but are they raw or cooked? I guess with the over cooking I could do this with grated raw potato, what do you think? Thanks!
Perdita–Yep, they’re just grated potatoes! 🙂 You can just parboil a few potatoes, peel them, push them through a food processor, then push out all the extra water. If you try it, let us know how it works! 🙂
I have made these with boiling the potatoes then running them through the food processor. It was delicious but not worth the extra time. You have to be sure to let the potatoes completely cool prior to grating them. With the time it takes to boil, peel and clean up the food processor I find it’s a lot easier to buy a cheap brand of shredded potatoes because there is not that much flavor improvement for the extra work (and I was using fresh from the farm Idaho potatoes)
I saw a super interesting way to par-cook shredded potatoes (thanks Lucinda Scala Quinn!) that ALSO prevented them from turning pink while you were shredding great piles of them. Shred them into a bowl of really HOT (not boiling, but close) water, then when they’re all shredded drain them and squeeze out the excess water.
I have just baked potatoes, peeled them and then grated them and they work just fine.
Hi there!
I’m in the UK and I make Funeral Potatoes regularly! I used to parboil the potatoes and then grate them – such a faff! And SO MESSY!! Now I buy McCain’s Frozen Hash Browns and just let them thaw before I use them. They come in portioned ‘patties’ (like if you buy them for breakfast in McD’s!), but once they’re defrosted, I crumble them up with my fingers!
It works like a treat! :o)
Do you have cubed hashbrowns? That’s what I always use for funeral potatoes.
Bake the potatoes, put them in the fridge, then shred them. Great way to make hashbrowns.
You need to cook them. You can boil whole potatoes for about an hour or until tender the whole way through, run cold water over them and let them cool. Peel and grate. Or I have used left over baked potatoes that you peel and grate as well. You will need about 10 potatoes.
I’ve made this for years by baking the potatoes in the microwave and then grating them on a cheese grater. Personally, I think it tastes much better with the home-cooked potatoes than with the packaged hash brown potatoes.
I use leftover baked potatoes that I shredded. ope this helps.
My best advice is to par cook (whether boiled or in the microwave) and cool the potatoes before shredding. This makes them easier to shred and eliminates the raw potato taste.
I used to make these without frozen hash browns, I boiled whole potatoes until done, then grated them . If you do this you only have to cook them about 20-30 minutes.
You can cook them for a shorter time because they will finish cooking in the oven. But I never like them raw, they turn brown. Hope yours turn out and Merry Christmas.
Oh- I could eat an entire pan of these myself!! Here is my topping two-bits. My mom, in a desperate situation, ended up throwing Honey Bunches of Oats on top and it has become our family’s secret weapon. So crunchy and yummy! Also, my MIL boils potatoes and then chunks them. Super yummy that way too! Now I can’t wait for Easter!!