This recipe for Funeral Potatoes makes a crowd-pleasing cheesy hash brown casserole complete with a crispy cornflake topping. Made without condensed soups, this potato casserole still comes together with ease, creating a side dish that is perfect for holidays and potlucks.
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 potatoes, a rich creamy sauce, and a crispy buttery topping, it is easy to see why Funeral Potatoes is a crowd-favorite side dish!
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, the dish is downright delicious and 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 detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step One: 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.
Step Two. Prepare 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. Slowly whisk in stock and milk, season, and simmer until thickened.
Step Three. 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!
Step Four: Assemble the Funeral Potatoes. Combine the homemade sauce, cheese (if you haven't already added it), sour cream, and defrosted hashbrowns together until creamy and well combined. Add that mixture to a buttered casserole dish and then top it with the cornflake topping.
Step Five. 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 this recipe gluten-free, replace the all-purpose flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour. Kellogg's Cornflakes sold in the United States are not gluten-free but several brands have options for gluten-free cornflakes.
- Keep it Vegetarian-Friendly. Replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth for a delicious vegetarian-friendly hashbrown potato casserole.
- 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 Baked Ham, Instant Pot Ham, Roasted 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
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 degrees F and grease a 9x13 baking dish with a bit of butter.
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large heavy-duty saucepan. Once melted, add the minced onion and cook until the onion has softened about 4-5 minutes. Be sure to stir often. Whisk the flour into the butter and onion mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for a full minute.
- Slowly whisk in the chicken stock to the roux. Once the stock is fully incorporated, whisk in the milk and season with seasoned salt and 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 the cheese until smooth. Stir in the sour cream.
- Add the thawed hash browns and gently fold the mixture together until well combined. Transfer the hash brown mixture to the prepared casserole dish.
- Place the cornflakes into a large storage bag, and gently crush them with a rolling pin. Add the melted butter 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.
Melissa
I love that this doesn't use cans! It just tastes that much better. We will for sure make this again!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed so much, Melissa!
Leigh
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!
Kristen Chidsey
It is a horrible name, but delicious dish 🙂
Gina F
Simply the best! Even better than my mother in laws lol! Great recipe, I am saving thsi to make again.
Kristen Chidsey
LOL! I won't tell your MIL! Thank you so much!