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Funeral Potatoes Recipe
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If you’re looking for the BEST EVER version of Funeral Potatoes, congratulations, you’ve found it! This is the one people ask me to bring to every holiday, potluck, and yes, after-funeral luncheons, too (hence the name). It’s cheesy, creamy, onion-y, and topped with the perfect layer of crispy cornflakes. It’s the ultimate comfort food.
Ingredient Notes
- Frozen diced hash browns– Diced gives the casserole more texture and keeps it hearty. Skip shredded here…they create a softer consistency.
- Condensed cream of chicken soup– This creates the creamy base and adds savory depth. You can swap cream of mushroom if that’s more your thing.
- Sour cream– Adds richness with just enough tang to keep everything balanced.
- Freshly grated cheddar cheese– Grating it yourself makes a huge difference. It melts smoother and gives better flavor.
- Corn flakes– The classic topping for a reason. They toast up buttery, crisp, and golden.
- Butter– It shows up twice, because obviously it does. Once for richness in the filling, once for that crunchy topping.
- Onion– Sautéing it first softens the bite and adds subtle sweetness.
How to Make Funeral Potatoes
Only a few quick minutes of prep is required before a long oven bake. For full recipe details, including ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1: Preheat + Prep Pan
Preheat your oven to 350° F and grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter or nonstick spray.
Step 2. Cook the Onions
Cook the diced onion in butter in a large skillet (the extra space helps the onions soften evenly) over medium heat until soft and translucent. This quick step builds flavor right from the start.
Step 3: Make the Filling
In a large mixing bowl, combine frozen diced hash browns, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, cooked onion, salt, and black pepper. Stir until everything is evenly coated.
Pro Tip: You do not need thawed hash browns for this recipe… use from frozen.
Step 4: Make the Topping
Melt butter in the skillet, then toss in crushed corn flakes. Toast for about 1 minute. This tiny extra step makes a huge difference. It gives the topping a deeper, buttery flavor and a better crunch.
Step 4: Bake and Serve
Spread everything into your casserole dish, top with the cornflake mixture, and bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes until hot, bubbly, and golden brown. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.
What to Serve with Funeral Potatoes
These cheesy potatoes pair well with main dishes like ham, roast beef, or turkey. It’s a great dish for Christmas dinner, Sunday dinner, or any special occasions. Here are a few main dish ideas:
- Smoked Pork Butt – classic main dish for these potatoes
- Oven Baked BBQ Chicken – easy weeknight pairing
- Southern Fried Chicken – talk about comfort food on top of comfort food!
- Easy Oven Baked Ribs – perfect flavor combo
- Prime Rib – A holiday classic that pairs perfectly with cheesy potatoes
Storage and Reheating
Cover leftovers tightly and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
To Reheat: Warm in the oven at 325° F until heated through, or microwave individual portions.
To Freeze: Assemble the casserole without the cornflake topping, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 3 months. Add fresh topping before baking.
Make Ahead: Assemble the filling up to 24 hours in advance, refrigerate, then add the topping right before baking.
Variations
- Swap cheddar for Colby Jack or pepper jack for extra flavor.
- Use cream of mushroom soup for a vegetarian version.
- Add cooked diced ham or bacon for a heartier dish.
- Try panko breadcrumbs instead of corn flakes for a different crunch.
More Tasty Potato Recipes to Try
- Sausage Hash Brown Casserole
- Mashed Potatoes In Crock Pot
- Perfect Scalloped Potatoes
- Fried Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potatoes
This funeral potatoes recipe is creamy, cheesy, crispy-on-top comfort food at its finest. Make it once, and don’t be surprised when it becomes your most-requested side dish. The printable recipe card is below. Have a wonderful week, friends!
Best Funeral Potatoes
Creamy, cheesy funeral potatoes made with diced hash browns, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and a buttery crispy cornflake topping, baked until hot and golden. This classic comfort food casserole is always a crowd favorite for holidays, potlucks, and family dinners.
Ingredients
- butter for greasing pan
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 lbs hash browns frozen, diced (not shredded)
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 21.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup (two 10.75 ounce cans)
- 2 cups sour cream
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 cups cheddar cheese freshly grated
- 3 cups corn flakes crushed
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9×13 casserole dish by greasing with butter or nonstick spray.
- Saute onion in 1 tablespoon butter until translucent in a medium skillet.
- In a large bowl, add frozen hash browns, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, grated cheese, cooked onion, salt, and black pepper. Mix together until combined.
- Replace medium skillet to the heat and melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter.
- Add in crushed corn flakes and stir to toast about 1 minute. Sprinkle over top casserole.
- Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Make Ahead + Storage Instructions
To make ahead: Prepare everything, cover, and refrigerate up to 24 hours before baking. Wait to add the cornflake topping until just before baking. To refrigerate: Store leftover funeral potatoes in its original casserole dish, covered with plastic wrap – or in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. To freeze: Assemble the casserole, cover tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge 24 hours before you want to bake it. Bake as normal.Nutrition
Calories: 573kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 13gFat: 42gSaturated Fat: 23gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 964mgPotassium: 497mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1454IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 288mgIron: 5mg
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If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
These are so yummy! I used cream of mushroom in place of the chicken soup (it’s what I had on hand and boy was it good!!) and I thawed my hash browns in the fridge overnight before adding to the casserole dish. I did cover the dish with foil for the first 30 minutes (or until the potatoes were almost done) then added more cheese on top and the topping and baked uncovered until the topping browned (about 10-15 minutes). It was devoured! I am making this again for Easter. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m confused about the recipe wording. In the list of ingredients, it says a half cup melted butter (8 Tbs). Is that correct? Later with directions it says mix 4 TBs butter with flakes. while list of ingredients says 2.
Normally I won’t review a recipe if I’ve made drastic changes, but…I just have to say thanks for this recipe and for the loaded potato casserole recipe, I basically combined them….and YUM!
It’s a great recipe. But it takes closer to an hour to prepare because it takes awhile to get the onions browned and the cornflakes toasted (it takes more than a minute).
So yummy…this is a real crowd pleaser. Everyone asks for this recipe
Flavor was great but cook time was way off. Jumped ahead to the recipe and followed instructions exactly as written, including uaing frozen diced potatoes. After 60 minutes in oven potatoes were still raw and crunchy in center. Read through blog post and you mentioned covering dish, which may have helped but was not specified in recipe. Will make again but adjust cooking method and increase time.
Oh my!!!!! These are seriously A-mazing!!! The ONLY change I made was I used cream of celery soup instead of cream of chicken. So so so good!!!!!
Could you use chopped potatoes instead of frozen hash browns? I can’t find them at the store anymore!
Making these for a party of around 25 people. Would doubling this be enough? I almost thought to triple it but 2 bags of potatoes is already 4 lbs. Thank you for your help!
Can you make this up the night before? Wasn’t sure if doing the cornflakes the day before would let the flakes cook up correctly.
We have always loved these! No matter what variation you use. I always use cracker barrel stick abd grate it and use cream of potato soup unless i do t gave it and then use either the cream of Mush or cream of Chicken.
I love this. I substitute onion chip dip for the sour cream. It gives it a nice flavor that is not over powering with onion.
Oh I forgot! I use the O’Brien hash browns. It already has onion and green pepper in them!!
I think this is very tasty but the shredded potato’s would have been better.
The diced ones seemed too hard even after the 40-46 minutes of cooking.
Was really good but I didn’t have any corn flakes so what can I use in place of them nexst time i add chesee this time on top
Breadcrumbs or crackers would be yummy too!
What am I missing?? The butter amounts in the ingredient list don’t add up to the amount of butter in the written instructions?? Where does the “4 remaining Tbsp” come from? List says 2 Tbsp?
Why it called funeral?
Do you thaw the potatoes before using them in the recipe and if so how long do they take to thaw?
I don’t usually thaw my potatoes.