Cheesy Funeral Potatoes — 🧡💛 This casserole is creamy, CHEESY, and topped with crunchy Corn Flakes! It’s an easy side dish that feeds a crowd, so it’s perfect for potlucks, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and family gatherings. Just 10 minutes of active prep time make this one of the EASIEST casseroles ever! No funeral luncheon required to enjoy this comfort food family favorite!
Table of Contents
What Are Funeral Potatoes?
Don’t let the gloomy name of this creamy, cheesy hash brown casserole put you off! It’s a popular side dish that’s believed to have originated in Utah and is definitely NOT just for funerals or funeral luncheons!
Funeral potatoes are made with frozen hash browns, two types of cheese for extra cheesiness, and sour cream for creaminess, tang, and richness of flavor.
Some recipes call for canned soup, but I can assure you there’s no condensed soup in sight in my recipe!
The buttery Corn Flake topping adds some much needed crunch to an otherwise rich, creamy, and cheesy casserole.
It’s a stick-to-your-ribs casserole that’s reminiscent of the hearty fare I grew up eating in the Midwest.
Make this quick and easy recipe for funeral potatoes for your next holiday party or family gathering. No one can say no to creamy, cheesy potatoes pulled straight from the oven!
Ingredients for Funeral Potatoes
While I don’t mind using a cooking shortcut now and then like condensed chicken soup, I much prefer using a mixture of milk, sour cream, and chicken bouillon to make the base of this casserole.
Otherwise this is a classic funeral potatoes recipe made with Corn Flakes and hash browns.
Gather the following ingredients:
- Hash browns (I use diced hash browns, but you can use shredded)
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Milk
- Sour cream
- Cheddar cheese
- Colby Jack cheese
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chicken bouillon
- Corn Flakes
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Funeral Potato Casserole
When I say these funeral cheesy potatoes is quick and easy, I mean it! It takes about 10 minutes to assemble the casserole, then your oven finishes the job for you. The recipe takes about 40 minutes total time.
- Melt the butter in a large pan, then whisk in the flour to the melted butter. Add the milk and stir.
- Once the sauce begins to thicken, add the sour cream, cheeses, onion powder, garlic powder, chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.
- Stir the hash browns into the sauce. Spread the hash brown mixture into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, crush Corn Flakes, add melted butter, toss, and then sprinkle the crushed cornflakes topping over the hash brown mixture.
- Bake until browned and bubbling around the edges before serving.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This funeral potato hash brown casserole can be assembled in advance and baked off just before you plan on serving it.
- Assemble the casserole: Follow the recipe instructions as written but do NOT add the Corn Flakes topping. Reserve the Corn Flakes until you plan on baking the casserole, otherwise they’ll become soggy as they sit on top of the hash brown mixture.
- Cover tightly and chill: You can assemble the base of the casserole up to 3 days in advance.
- When ready to bake: Take it out of the fridge and set the baking dish on your counter for about 30 minutes before baking. While the casserole is coming to room temp, prepare the Corn Flakes topping. Sprinkle over the casserole and bake as instructed.
Recipe FAQs
You’ll want to use pre-packaged hash browns for this recipe. Both cubed (diced) and shredded hash browns will work, so buy whichever sounds best to you. I typically buy frozen hash browns and then thaw them in the fridge overnight before making this recipe.
You can, but then this easy recipes starts to begin to be a lot more work! If you make hashbrowns regularly, then make and brown them like you normally would before carrying on with the recipe. If you need to ask how to make homemade hash browns for the recipe, you are the person for whom frozen hash browns were intended. So use those!
Funeral potatoes are classically known to be made with hash browns rather than say mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, or any other kind of potato. Stick with hash browns for the classic recipe and tried-and-true results.
Yep! If you don’t have Corn Flakes on hand or don’t like them, you can replace them with crushed potato chips, crushed Ritz crackers, or even panko breadcrumbs if desired. However, don’t omit the crunchy topping altogether, as that’s what makes funeral potatoes so special!
I use shredded cheddar cheese and shredded Colby Jack because they both melt quite well and the flavors of both are just perfect for this easy side dish recipe. However, you can mix-and-match the cheese types a bit. If you want to try Monterey Jack instead of Colby Jack, that’s fine. Or shredded American or most any type of common shredded cheese blend, I’m sure everything will work out just fine.
No! Reduced fat dairy products don’t have the necessary fat to melt well, or at all, like low-fat cheese. And lite sour cream is more water than fat which would render this recipe more like potato soup rather than a luscious casserole.
Recipe Variations to Try
Classic funeral potatoes made with hash browns and Corn Flakes on top is my family’s favorite, but there’s definitely some wiggle room in the recipe if you want to change things up!
- Use different hash browns. For this batch, I used cubed hash browns, but shredded will also work.
- Add bacon. You’ll want to cook the bacon until crisp, then crumble into the casserole mixture before spooning it into the pan and baking. Hey, it’s extra protein, right!
- Swap out the Corn Flakes. Try using crushed Ritz crackers, plain potato chips, or panko breadcrumbs instead.
- Use different cheeses. I used cheddar and Colby Jack, but any soft, gooey cheeses will work. Or, use all cheddar or all Colby Jack!
What to Serve with Funeral Potato Casserole
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Cheesy Funeral Potatoes Casserole
Ingredients
Casserole
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk, whole is what I use, 2% may be substituted, at room temp
- 2 cups full fat sour cream, at room temp
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, at room temp
- 1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, at room temp
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 32 ounces diced or cubed hash browns, from a frozen package that are thawed (shredded hash browns may be substituted)
Topping
- 3 cups corn flakes, crushed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9×13-inch baking dish (or 2.5 to 3 quart baking dish) very well with cooking spray; set aside.
- Casserole – To a large saute pan, add the butter, and heat over medium-high heat to melt, whisk constantly.
- Add the flour and cook for 1 minute; whish constantly. Tips – Do not shortcut this step. First, you need to cook the flour or later on yoru casserole will have an odd raw flour taste. Secondly, this is a roux, which is what is used to help thicken the cream sauce and casserole later on, since we are not used any canned/condensed/cream-of style soups.
- Slowly add the milk; whisk constantly and continue to do so for about 1 minute, or until the sauce begins to thicken slightly.
- Add the sour cream and whisk to combine.
- Add both cheeses, all three seasonings, salt, pepper, and whisk constantly until the cheese has melted.
- Add the hash browns and stir to combine and coat evenly.
- Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan; set aside momentarily.
- Topping – To a large bowl, add the Corn Flakes. Tip – I crush the corn flakes in my hand, a heaping handful at a time. They don't have to be in a fine dust or too small. Therefore crushing them in my hand is the fastest, easiest, and creates no extra dishes or appliances to wash.
- Evenly drizzle the melted butter over the cereal and toss to evenly coat, noting that it won't seem like there's quite enough butter, but it's enough to just moisten some of the flakes, which is that's needed.
- Evenly add the topping over the casserole.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the lightly golden browned and bubbling around the edges, or as desired. Tip – I rotate my pan once midway through for even baking and browning. All ovens vary, so just keep an eye on your casserole to make sure the corn flakes aren't getting overly browned nor are burning.
- Serve immediately. Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Note that the Corn Flakes will not stay crispy on the leftovers or for anything that's been frozen. They absorb the moisture from the cheesy potatoes below and that's just the way it is. See below for make-ahead tips.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Great recipe! Did you mean to say it can be “stored at ROOM TEMPERATURE for 5 days”?
No it was a typo clearly! In the post body I did say refrigerator as well and now the recipe card reflects that. Thanks for letting me know.