Funeral potatoes with creamy hashbrowns and crunchy french-fried onions. Easy to make yet hearty and tasty, this cheesy potato casserole is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser!
Hello, everyone! How was your Memorial weekend? I hope you had a grand time full of good food and great people.
We had a small backyard BBQ here at home and had quite a feast. But although we had the usual cookout fare of burgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, and baked beans, I decided to switch things up and swapped the ubiquitous side dish, potato salad, to this cheesy potato casserole, funeral potatoes, instead.
What are Funeral Potatoes?
Funeral potatoes are a traditional potato hot dish made of shredded or diced potatoes, cream of mushroom, celery, or chicken soup, sour cream, and buttered corn flake or potato chip topping. Cubed ham and vegetables such as frozen peas and broccoli florets are also regular additions for a heartier side dish.
The mixture is finished off in the oven and baked in a casserole until hot and bubbly, and the top is golden and crunchy.
Also known as party potatoes, they are commonly served for after-funeral and church dinners as well as for potlucks and picnics.
Something called funeral might seem too morbid and out of place in a fun shindig but really, what’s in a name?
Funeral potatoes are actually the perfect thing to serve for a party. The recipe is mostly dump-and-bake, and you can easily double (or triple!) it to feed a large group.
And the best part is, these party potatoes are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! Who can resist creamy hash brown potatoes loaded with cheese, sour cream, and buttery topping? I sure can’t.
Toppings to Use for Cheesy Hash Browns
- Buttered corn flakes or potato chips are the classic choices.
- You’ll love the added flavor of french-fried onions in this recipe.
- Use crushed Ritz for a buttery crunch!
- You can’t go wrong with piling up more shredded cheese on top!
Can you Freeze Hash Brown Casserole?
Not only is this cheesy potato casserole recipe easy to make and double for a crowd, but it can also be prepped ahead of time and frozen for later. Place, unbaked, in a freezer-to-oven dish and cover tightly. When ready to bake, thaw in the refrigerator and finish off in the oven per recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 package (30 ounces) frozen hash browns, thawed and drained well
- 1 can (10.5) ounces cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 2 cups french-fried onions
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine hash browns, cream soup, sour cream, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until well-incorporated.
- Lightly grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray or melted butter. Transfer potato mixture to pan, using a spatula to spread evenly.
- Top with french-fried onions.
- Cover tightly with foil. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 F oven for about 40 to 50 minutes or until bubbly and golden. If the top is browning too quickly, loosely tent with foil.
- Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
John says
These are what we call party potatoes. Who would come up with a depressing name like funeral potatoes?
Lalaine says
Hi John,
I agree funeral potatoes is not a very good name for something so delicious; I think it’s called that in the Southwestern region because it’s often served during after-funeral dinners.