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This simple recipe for Easy Funeral Potatoes without condensed soup leaves the canned soups on the shelf, yet still comes together quickly to deliver a cheesy hash brown potato casserole complete with a crispy cornflake topping! Perfect for holiday meals and potluck dinners.
Looking for more casseroles made without canned soup? Don't miss my recipes for Green Bean Casserole, Creamy and Cheesy Chicken and Rice, and Turkey Tetrazzini.
Made with tender hash brown potatoes, a rich homemade sauce, and a crispy buttery corn flake topping, it is easy to see why Funeral Potatoes is a crowd-favorite!
But the name Funeral Potatoes? Really?
This dish started with a more fitting name, Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole. But as it found its way to being served again and again at holiday meals, potlucks, and luncheons following funerals, the name Funeral Potatoes came and stuck.
While I don't care for the name, this dish is downright delicious! It deserves to be a part of your holiday meals and potlucks--that are hopefully more upbeat with than a funeral!
No Canned Soup
The reason this Funeral Potatoes recipe stands out from the rest, is that there is no cream of chicken soup, no cream of mushroom soup, no cream of celery soup! Instead, this recipe whips up a super easy, homemade cream of chicken soup, leaving the excess sodium and preservatives on the shelf.
Made with sauteed onions, butter, milk, and seasoned just right, the creamy sauce that coats the hashbrowns along with sour cream and cheese will make these Funeral potatoes the best you have ever had!
How to Make Homemade Funeral Potatoes
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Saute the onion. Sautéing the onion in melted butter will help to soften the onion, enhance its natural sweetness, and add a nice flavor to the potatoes.
- Prepare Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup. I promise this is super easy and takes just about 5 minutes from start to finish. It is as simple as adding flour to the onion mixture and forming thick roux. Then slowly whisk in stock and milk, season, and simmer until thickened.
- Make the Cornflake Topping. Keep it simple and place your cornflakes in a large resealable storage bag. Gently roll them with a rolling pin to lightly crush them. Then add the melted butter right to the bag and toss to coat the cereal with the butter. One less dish to clean up!
- Assemble the Casserole. Fold together the defrosted hashbrowns, sour cream, and and cheese into the prepared sauce. Once combined, transfer that mixture to a buttered casserole dish and then top it with the cornflake topping.
- Bake. Bake until warmed through and bubbly. Then be prepared to enjoy the creamiest, cheesiest, most delicious hash brown potato casserole AKA Funeral Potatoes.
Recipe Modifications
- Make it Gluten-Free. To make gluten-free funeral potatoes, replace the all-purpose flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour in the homemade sauce. For the cornflakes, there are several brands with options for gluten-free cornflakes, but keep in mind that Kellogg's Cornflakes sold in the United States are not gluten-free.
- Keep it Vegetarian-Friendly. Replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.
- Change Out the Topping. Use butter crackers, such as Ritz Crackers, or potato chips in place of the cornflakes.
- Skip the Onion. If you are short on time or don't have an onion on hand, skip sautéing the onion and instead add 1 teaspoon of onion powder to the hash brown casserole base.
- Use Canned Soup. If you don't care to make your homemade cream of chicken soup, use one 10.5-ounce can of cream of chicken soup in place of the butter, flour, milk, chicken broth, and seasoned salt in the base of the hash brown casserole.
- Use Leftover Potatoes: In place of the hash browns use, leftover air fryer cubed potatoes or Potatoes O'Brien.
Serving Suggestions
Funeral Potatoes are a delicious side dish to bring to a potluck, party, or yes, even a funeral luncheon. However, they also make a fabulous holiday side dish. I love serving these cheesy hash brown potatoes with the Glazed Pineapple Ham, Instant Pot Ham, Roast Turkey, Instant Pot Turkey Breast, and New York Strip Roast.
Make Ahead Instructions
To prepare Funeral Potatoes in advance, prepare the casserole up to adding the cornflake topping. Cover your baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate it for up to 48 hours. When ready to bake, remove the casserole dish from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature as the oven preheats to 350 degrees F. Prepare and add the cornflake topping to the hash brown potatoes. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the casserole is warmed through and bubbly.
More Delicious Potato Casseroles
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
- Mashed Potato Casserole
- Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
- Homemade Scalloped Potatoes
- Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole
- Steakhouse Potatoes Romanoff
If you tried this recipe for Funeral Potatoes, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Funeral Potatoes
Ingredients
For the Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing baking dish
- ½ large yellow onion, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken stock, or vegetable broth
- 1 cup milk, any fat percentage
- 1 ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, fully thawed
- ½ cup sour cream
- 26 ounces shredded or diced hash browns, thawed
For the Topping
- 3 cups cornflakes
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃) and grease a 9x13 baking dish with a bit of butter.
- Melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat in a large heavy-duty saucepan. Once melted, add ½ large yellow onion (minced) and cook until the onion has softened about 4-5 minutes. Be sure to stir often. Once softened, whisk ¼ cup all-purpose flour into the mixture, stirring constantly, for a full minute.
- Slowly whisk in 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken stock to the roux. Once the stock is fully incorporated, whisk in 1 cup milk and season with 1 ½ teaspoon seasoned salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling gently, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese until smooth. Stir in the ½ cup sour cream.
- Add 26 ounces shredded or diced hash browns (thawed) and gently fold the mixture together until well combined. Transfer the hash brown mixture to the prepared casserole dish.
- Place 3 cups cornflakes into a large storage bag, and gently crush them with a rolling pin. Add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted) to the bag and toss to combine the cornflakes with the butter. Sprinkle this topping evenly over the casserole dish.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until hot and bubbly around the edges. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are so easy and so good. I love your site because you never use canned soup and every recipe is amazing.
I love hearing you enjoy these potatoes and the canned soup recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review as well.
I love that this doesn't use cans! It just tastes that much better. We will for sure make this again!
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed so much, Melissa!
I brought this to a family gathering and everyone had a good laugh at the name. Who knew funeral potatoes could be so delicious? The dish was a hit, definitely a crowd-pleaser. So good!
It is a horrible name, but delicious dish 🙂
Love this recipe! I mostly enjoy it because it doesn't use cream soup. I have made it for my vegetarian family by swapping out veggie broth. For Christmas, I was thinking of throwing it in a slow cooker on low for about 4-5 hours. Do you think that would work?
Hi Colette! I love hearing you enjoy these potatoes. You can prepare them in the crockpot if you skip the topping (on low heat for 5-6 hours or high heat for 3 hours, stirring at halfway point.). The cornflake topping would get soggy in the crockpot so I would skip it altogether OR melt the butter in the skillet, add the cornflakes and toss to coat and cook over low heat until just toasted. Use that to top potatoes right before serving.
Simply the best! Even better than my mother in laws lol! Great recipe, I am saving thsi to make again.
LOL! I won't tell your MIL! Thank you so much!