So we kind of have this unspoken rule around OBB that we don’t have recipes with Cream of Something soup in them. And I totally adhere to that in my own cooking 99.9% of the time–it’s just not my thing, you know? However, there are times and places and sometimes there are rules that need to be broken. The time is now. The place is here. I give you…Funeral Potatoes.
But why funeral potatoes???
Believe it or not, “Funeral Potatoes” is not actually their technical name–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, shockingly, is how they got their name.
Since Easter is coming up and ham is often served at Easter, and since this is my favorite side dish for ham, I had to swallow my feelings about Cream of Something soups. If you have a little extra time/motivation on your hands, you can always make Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup (make a half batch of the soup for the potatoes recipe), but honestly, these potatoes are so good and so easy and such great comfort food that I wholeheartedly recommend just popping open the can of soup. C’mon, just one time won’t hurt, right?
how to make them
So anyway…you’ll need a bag of shredded hash brown potatoes from the freezer section (thawed), a can of cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom if you’re going vegetarian), shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, an onion, a few cloves of garlic, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a little butter.
Preheat the oven to 350 and then, in a large skillet, melt a tablespoon or two of butter over medium heat. I’m actually doing the entire thing in a 12″ cast iron skillet which is amazing on so many levels (only dirtying one pan, fun/rustic presentation, stovetop to oven…if you want to learn more about why I love cast iron, check out this post.)Â Chop an onion and mince 2-3 cloves of garlic…
and saute until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant.
While the onions and garlic are sautéing, combine together the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, salt, and pepper.
Remove the pan with the garlic and onions from heat and add the thawed hash browns, the sour cream mixture, and the cheese…
Combine the ingredients well.
If you’re not baking this in the skillet, transfer the mixture to a 9×13″ baking dish.
to crunch or not to crunch
Now, there is a serious, relevant, and ongoing debate about whether or not Funeral Potatoes should have a crunchy topping. I am firmly in the “no topping” camp–I love these because they don’t necessarily have to be served immediately and because they make awesome leftovers. When a crunchy topping is involved, both of those virtues fly out the window because the topping gets soggy. HOWEVER. If you want a crunchy topping, you can add crushed cornflakes, seasoned bread crumbs, or even crushed saltines to the casserole before you bake it.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly throughout and the casserole is hot in the center.
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.
(For the sake of nostalgia, here’s what these looked like back in 2011 when we originally published this recipe…)
Funeral Potatoes
Description
Cheesy and comforting, this casserole is the perfect side dish for a holiday dinner (or a funeral.)
Ingredients
- 1 small-medium onion, diced
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1–2 tablespoons butter
- 1 28-30 ounce bag shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 1 16-ounce container sour cream
- 1 10-oz. can cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom) soup
- 8 ounces (about 2 cups) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- OPTIONAL: Crushed cornflakes, seasoned bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, or crushed Ritz or saltine crackers
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. Makes 6-8 main dish or 10-12 side dish servings.
Questions & Reviews
I usually use rice krispies or any kind of chex cereal that I happen to have on hand. .it usually stays crunchy!! Wonderful recipe for sure!
I was going to make these for a potluck at work one day and I saw a recipe that called for crushed corn flakes on top. It wasn’t until they were baking that I realized that I had accidentally used frosted flakes! It was a breakfast potluck so I decided to just pass them off as breakfast potatoes!
Oh my goodness! I’ve died and gone to heaven! I love me some funeral potatoes! But, I’ve gotta have the corn flakes on top!
I made these tonight for dinner! We only had colby jack cheese so I hope they turn out ok. Thanks so much for this! We haven’t had a funeral in my ward since we’ve been here( thank goodness) but I didn’t know who to ask for this recipe!! Thanks so so much!!!
I’m sure colby jack will be delicious–I just like sharp because it gives it a little more zing, but colby jack is my next choice. 🙂
I thought it was so funny you call them Funeral potatoes because I grew up always knowing them as Wedding potatoes…what a different mindset!
I’ve always known that I love you girls, but could never pin point the exact reason why. Now I know. It’s because you don’t use cream of whatever soup in your recipes. I keep it in my pantry for food storage, but rarely ever use it. I just might have to dust off one of my cans though and try this for Easter.
When I make these we have to use “real” potatoes. I boil them until tender, peel and grate. This makes them really creamy. I also add green onions and we have to put the cornflakes on top mixed with melted butter. This is what we have every year on Christmas day.
OMG! I love this recipe. My mom’s friend brought these over once when we were kids for Sunday brunch and I LOVED IT! I begged her to write down the recipe because I needed my mom to make it for me everyday. She was good about making it for me but as the years went on she stopped. I had forgotten about this recipe until just now!! Thank you! I’m making this tomorrow. HURRAY!!!
We call these Church Potatoes because well, you always see them at funeral luncheons.
Now I have made these with the crunch topping and frozen the whole dish, and when put into the oven, and baked the topping was just as good as if I had just mixed everything together that day.
There are so many variations of this recipe I have seen. The one I grew up on uses potatoes that have been boiled until they’re soft and then riced (or you can mash them, but ricing them makes the end product creamier). I have tried both kinds but prefer them with the riced potatoes because they are much creamier and smoother than if you use hash browns. You can also try them with green onion instead of regular onion.
I love potato casserole, but only with a crunchy topping! we use anything from corn flakes to ritz crackers to crushed cheese-itz…mixed with butter of course! if you want the topping to be crunchy the next day, just warm the left over casserole in the microwave (yep, go ahead and use the microwave, after all, you are reheating creamed soup, sour cream, and tons of cheese, a little radiation isnt going to kill you!) then pop it under the broiler for a couple minutes (watch closely). Tah-Dah, crunchy leftovers!
Another easy way to make these … if you’ve got to have the “real” potatoes … is to buy the “Simply Potatoes”. They are in a dark green bag and are precooked REAL potatoes! I usually find them by the eggs, etc. I also make mine in the crockpot. Just throw everything in stir it up and cook on low. They taste great!
Oh no! You can’t have these without crushed cornflakes and butter on top. It’s almost sacrilegious. 😉
we LOVE funeral potatoes. sometimes we go all-out and make the potatoes ourselves by cooking them and grating them. which makes it delicious. but also so delicious with the hash browns. we call them “yummy potatoes” in my family
I love these!!! Sometimes I like to crunch up cornflakes and put them on top and then drizzle the cornflakes with melted butter before baking.
I love these!! We call them “church potatoes” or “cheesy potatoes”. One awesome thin about these is that they freeze pretty well after baking. I’ll make a pan and freeze leftovers for another meal. You can either heat them in the microwave or in the oven in a small casserole dish. We also make ours without onion since we have onion-sensitive family members and they taste just as good.
my copy of your cookbook came today!!! I was so excited to see the Fedex guy. It is amazing! I especially love the Rollovers index, that is so incredibly helpful! I wish all cook books had that! I have already integrated a bunch of the recipes into my weekly menus, can’t wait to try more of them!
Thanks!!!
One of our favorite recipes ! (We don’t use garlic, though.)
Just wanted to let you know that I linked to you from my blog today!
I love these potatoes–have been making them for years. What I don’t understand though, is why would you need to add any salt? That can of soup has more than enough flavor–and sodium.
I’m so glad that you are making sure that the world has this recipe. We ate this just last week with ham and I was thinking that it’s such a pity that I don’t make them more!
I was so shocked to see this because this is MY funeral potato casserole as well! (Also family reunions which are strangely similar) Mine have a crushed cornflake and butter topping and I use square hashbrowns. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve taken this to church and it always gets eaten. Never a bite to take back. Guess comfort food is universal in some way!
All that wonderful looking cheese definitely makes up for the canned soup! Looks delicious.
I just tried these for the first time earlier this week, although the recipe was called Party Potatoes. Super yummy and the whole family loved them.
I recently discovered a site that has recipes for various homemade ‘cream of’ and ‘cheddar’ soup substitutes. Really worth the changeover!
What is the site for those creamed soups? Very curious.
These are a staple in our family. We love them. My mom always adds a can of diced green chilies (drained). Subtle but delicious addition:) We love your site and can’t get enough of your great recipes. THANKS
Mmmmm. MUST have cornflake topping though (and lots of it!). Love these.
We call these Picnic Potatoes in my neck of the wood…
I love every version of these I have tried, probably because of all the cheese LOL. I’ll use what I have on hand, they don’t care, they turn out great every time.
ha- i thought maybe the “funeral” part came from the fact that this recipe calls for so much cheese, sour cream, and creamed soup; seems like a heart attack in a casserole dish! at any rate, it sounds like a VERY DELICIOUS way to die. and for my last meal i might as well go nuts and add bacon and scallions. ;-p
Oh, yay!! I’ve just discovered you guys recently and so far you’re 3 for 3 with the recipes I’ve tried! I will definitely be trying this one out. It’s so funny because my hubby is not a big fan of cream-of-soups, but this is one of his favorite dishes and he’s been requesting it! This just may be what it takes to convince him that you two ladies are full of wisdom and that I NEED your book!
So funny, my husband’s family all love these and I had never even heard of them before joining the church! I still would way rather have scalloped potatoes but I have come to enjoy these for what they are 🙂