A popular Utah casserole, these Funeral Potatoes are good for more than just funerals! This classic potato casserole is comforting and crowd-pleasing.
I pretty much love any potato side dish! These Funeral Potatoes are right at the top of the list with these Scalloped Potatoes and The Best Sweet Potato Casserole!
Are you looking for the perfect holiday side dish?
This cheesy potato casserole is great for holidays – we have them a lot on Easter, but they are great for Thanksgiving or Christmas as well. Actually – they are really perfect for any holiday!
Why Are They Called Funeral Potatoes?
Yes – you read the title right – Funeral Potatoes. If you don’t live in Utah, you may be wondering if that was a typo. But it’s not!! This side dish gets its name because it is a popular dish for luncheons after funerals here in Utah. And in fact, I made these potatoes that I am blogging about for a funeral last month! I think they are so popular after funerals because they are super comforting, crowd friendly, and easy to make in large amounts. But don’t worry, you can eat these anytime – not just following a funeral, thank goodness.
They are known by many other names, as well, like Cheesy Potato Casserole, Company Potatoes, Comfort Potatoes, Holiday Potatoes, Hash Brown Casserole, and Heart Attack Casserole.
Ingredients:
- Butter: I use unsalted butter. I am actually a salt addict, but find these plenty salty with just the other ingredients, so I would stick with unsalted butter.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: If you are a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that I’m not normally a big fan of “cream of…” soups. I probably only have a handful of recipes (out of hundreds) here on this blog that have them as an ingredient. But in staying true to this recipe, I stuck with the most well-known ingredients, which includes some cream of chicken soup. Feel free to substitute cream of mushroom, or any other cream soup you’d like. Or if you are feeling ambitious, try making the casserole from scratch!
- Sour Cream: This is not a low fat dish, so I would stick with full fat for the best outcome.
- Cheddar Cheese: I always suggest freshly grating the cheese because it will melt the best.
- Chopped Onions: I like yellow or white onions the best.
- Frozen Hash Browns: I have used both shredded potatoes and cubed potatoes. The shredded hash browns will cook faster than the cubed, so make sure you keep that in mind.
- Corn Flakes and Butter: I’ve had some confusion with people thinking that you put Frosted Flakes on top. These are just regular, not-sweet corn flakes. If you don’t like the idea of the cornflakes, I’ve had people use panko bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, french fried onions, or even just more shredded cheese. The melted butter on top of the corn flakes makes it so that the corn flakes get nice and crispy.
How to Make Funeral Potatoes
Start by melting the butter in a large bowl. (Make sure the bowl is really big so you have room to stir everything together!) I just do this in the microwave, but you can melt it on the stove and then add it to the large bowl.
Stir in the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheese, and onions. Stir it well.
Add in the hashbrowns and stir.
Spread the mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
Spread the crushed cornflakes on top.
Then drizzle the butter over the cornflakes.
Bake until everything is heated through and bubbling!
Tips and Tricks
- These Funeral Potatoes can be made ahead of time. Just don’t top them with the corn flakes until right before you bake them.
- If you want to make them even further ahead of time and freeze them, again, assemble the casserole, leaving the corn flakes off. Wrap it tightly and freeze. Thaw completely before baking, topping with the cornflakes and butter before you put them in the oven.
- Technically, you can double the recipe, but you would need a *very* large bowl. I would suggest just making the recipe twice.
- No need to defrost the hashbrowns before adding them to the mix. If they are thawed, your potatoes will be finished baking 10-15 minutes faster.
Funeral Potatoes Video
You can watch the video above to see how to make these Funeral Potatoes.
More delicious side dish recipes:
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes – if you are looking for something familiar, but different, this is a great way to change things up without going too crazy.
Glazed Carrots – this is such an easy side dish, and it gets devoured every time.
Scalloped Corn and Broccoli – this one has become a holiday staple for us.
Corn Casserole – this side dish is easy enough for a weeknight, but tasty enough for a holiday!
LOOKING FOR MORE FREE RECIPES?
Subscribe to my free recipe newsletter to get new family friendly recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more family-friendly inspiration on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.
Funeral Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 32 oz package frozen shredded or cubed hash browns
- 3 cups corn flakes coarsely crushed
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl. Add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheese and onions and mix to combine. Stir in the hash browns. Spread into the prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle the corn flakes evenly on top of the potatoes. Drizzle the 2 tablespoons butter over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven. For shredded hash browns, bake about 30 minutes. For cubed hash browns, bake for 55-60 minutes.
Lauren says
Is it okay to double this recipe? Feeding a larger crowd of 25. Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been looking for this exact one I used to see in my moms amish cookbook, nice to see it is still around :).
Deborah says
You should be fine to double it. It will probably take longer to bake, depending on the dish you bake it in.
Marilyn says
We call ’em cheesy potatoes, but top them with crushed potato chips. Made pounds – literally pounds – of these potatoes for my son’s football team for their “brotherhood dinners” (night before the game). Still make them for family dinners. My son (now an adult) – always takes leftovers when he comes for dinner. Takes enough for himself and a friend who loves them but never has them at home. They’re the perfect comfort food! Had a chuckle over the lime jello recipe . . . just finished reading Ann B. Ross’ Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble . . . a variation of the recipe is found in this novel (page 327 of the hardcover edition) and called Cottage Cheese Salad.
Vickie says
One time at a funeral, someone said they were sick of making funeral potatoes, we made baked instead. The family was so upset! Now we stick with Funeral potatos. We dont usually use green jello, we just do green salad with a yummy Poppy seed dressing that almost every one loves! I am from Utah!
Deborah says
Haha – that’s funny! People do love the funeral potatoes!!
Shirley Crabtree says
I had to chuckle when I saw the response to your lime jello recipe using raspberry jello. I have a friend who does not like to cook, but when her family gathers or when we have potluck at church, she always brings “pink stuff.” She uses cherry Jello/ I thought that title was original with her.
I can’t wait for a funeral to try your potatoes. They sound so yummy and fattening. Fattening foods are usually yummy 🙂
Dee says
Can someone please tell me what kind of shredded cheese to use? It’s the first ingrediant but I don’t see anywhere that it says what kind of shredded cheese. I would love to make this! Thx Dee
Deborah says
I usually just use Cheddar, but you can substitute in your favorite cheese if desired.
Jess says
Huh, I’ve made this for years. I call it “heart attack casserole”. Because it’s not the healthiest thing in the world. I also add a roll of hot jimmy dean sausage browned to the mix.
Roxie says
I just fell in love with this recipe. And I ate the whole pan by myself not in one day. So now I give the recipe to my friends and family.
kin says
Can I use fresh boiled cube potatoes instead of frozen hash brown? Thanks
Deborah says
Yes – you sure can!
bookman says
I noticed that this recipe calls for sour cream. Not being a sour cream or cream cheese eater, I looked through the rest of the comments to see if anyone had a substitute for the sour cream. One person uses Greek yogurt. I was wondering if regular yogurt could be used, and what is the difference in Greek yogurt and regular. Thanks!
Deborah says
I haven’t tried yogurt, so I can’t say how it would turn out. But if you did use yogurt, I would suggest Greek yogurt because it is thicker. The regular might work, but they might be a bit runnier.
Bookman says
I was going to ask whether there was a substitute for the sour cream. Many have suggested Greek Yogurt. What is the difference in regular yogurt and the Greek kind? Will the Greek yogurt give the recipe somewhat of the same taste as the sour cream? I am not a sour cream or cream cheese eater. Makes it hard to cook sometimes. Thanks!
Jay Gee says
Instead of bland corn flakes, I’m going to try this recipe with crushed Ritz crackers – I always find that to be a more flavorful topping.
Gloria McKitchens says
Everybody Loves these potatoes! What I call them, depends on the event anymore. Funeral Potatoes is a good name for after a funeral meals. Anymore, I call them my “Comfort Potatoes” or “Crowd Pleaser Potato Casserole”, because people love them and usually we’re all having a celebration or get together of some kind. Thanks for all your comments and little changes. Their all taste.
Elaine says
Love the recipes. But tell me, is there any way to print them off without going through all the comments? This recipe had an additional 13 pages of printing before it gave me what I wanted. Big waste of good paper.
Deborah says
Elaine – up by the title of the recipe is a print button. If you click on that, it will print just the recipe. Most of the recipes on my site are formatted with that. Not all of them, but I am working on updating them.
Donna Mead says
Funeral potatoes is a rather morbid name for something so good. I call them hash brown casserole!
Judy says
So funny–all the names given to this famous casserole. I am a SDA and we call them Sabbath potatoes because they are so quick and easy to make. The only difference is that I use cream of mushroom soup.
Deborah says
I love all of the different names!!
Angi says
My mother calls them potatoes romanov and makes them a bit different (parboiled and shredded potatoes instead of store bought–way less grease; also, no cream of soup, just cheese and sour cream, maybe a touch of milk, and salt/pepper). They are very good with green onions or chives added, too. We have them for holidays rather than funerals 😉