Funeral Potatoes with Cornflake Topping
Funeral potatoes made with frozen hash browns, sour cream, sharp cheddar, and a buttery cornflake topping, baked at 350°F until golden.
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Funeral potatoes are the pan that shows up at church luncheons and potlucks all over the country, and the name is exactly what it sounds like. This is the casserole people carry to a family having the worst week of their lives, because it’s warm, it feeds a crowd, and nobody has ever pushed it around the plate.
It’s built out of things you can keep on hand: a bag of frozen diced hash browns, sour cream, a can of cream of chicken soup, and a lot of sharp cheddar. The only real technique in the whole recipe is softening half an onion in butter first, and it’s worth the five minutes. Raw onion stays sharp and crunchy through the bake, while cooked onion melts into the sauce and tastes like it belongs there.
The cornflake topping is the part people remember. Crush the flakes by hand so you get pieces instead of dust, toss them with melted butter, and scatter them on before the pan goes in. Buttered flakes toast; dry ones just burn.
Why You’ll Love This Funeral Potatoes Recipe
- Ten minutes of real work. Soften an onion, stir everything in one bowl, crush some cornflakes. The oven does the rest for fifty minutes.
- It travels. Bake it in the dish you plan to carry, cover it with foil, and it holds its heat all the way to the potluck table.
- Two textures in every scoop. Creamy cheddar potatoes underneath, crunchy buttered cornflakes on top.
- Pantry and freezer ingredients. Nothing on the list is fresh except half an onion, so it’s the side you can pull together without a store run.
Funeral Potatoes Ingredients
Buy the diced hash browns in the bag, the little cubes, not the shredded kind. Shredded potatoes pack down and go pasty under all that sour cream, while the diced ones keep their shape and give you actual pieces of potato in every scoop. Thaw them completely and pour off any water in the bag before they go in the bowl.
- 1 (30 oz) bag frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 8 tbsp butter, melted and divided
- 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 (10.5 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar (10 oz), divided
- 2 cups cornflakes, crushed
Recipe Variations
- Use condensed cream of mushroom soup in place of the cream of chicken to keep the pan meat-free. The flavor goes earthier.
- Swap the cornflakes for crushed Ritz crackers or kettle chips. Both are already salted and buttery, so cut the topping butter back to 3 tablespoons.
- Fold in 2 cups of diced fully cooked ham with the potatoes to turn it into a main dish. The ham is already cooked, so nothing changes about the bake, and the casserole still needs to reach 165°F in the center.
How to Make Funeral Potatoes
- Thaw the potatoes: Move the bag of hash browns to the fridge the night before, or spread them on a sheet pan and leave them at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Pour off any water that collects. Frozen potatoes chill the whole casserole and add 20 minutes to the bake.
- Cook the onion: Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until it turns soft and translucent with no crunch left.
- Mix the base: Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish. In a large bowl, stir together the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, the buttered onion with all the butter from the pan, the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 2 cups of the cheddar.
- Fold in the potatoes: Add the thawed hash browns and fold gently until every piece is coated. Spread the mixture into the baking dish in an even layer and scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar over the top.
- Make the topping: Put the cornflakes in a zip-top bag and crush them with your hands into rough pieces, not crumbs. Toss them with the remaining 4 tablespoons of melted butter until the flakes look damp, then spread them over the cheese.
- Bake: Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes, until the edges bubble and the cornflakes are deep golden. The center should read 165°F on a thermometer. Tent the pan with foil if the topping browns before the middle is hot.
- Rest and serve: Let the casserole stand for 5-10 minutes before scooping so it sets up enough to hold its shape on the plate.
Recipe FAQs
Why Are They Called Funeral Potatoes?
The name comes from church funeral luncheons, where this casserole is a standard on the table. It’s cheap, it feeds a lot of people, and it holds well on a buffet line, which is exactly what a grieving family needs from a dish.
Can I Make Funeral Potatoes Ahead of Time?
Yes. Assemble everything except the cornflake topping, cover, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Add the buttered flakes right before baking and add about 10 minutes to the oven time since the pan starts cold.
Can I Freeze Them?
Freeze the assembled casserole without the topping for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, add the buttered cornflakes, and bake as written. Freezing after baking makes the potatoes watery.
Can I Use Fresh Potatoes Instead of Frozen?
You can. Peel and dice about 2 pounds of russets, boil them for 8-10 minutes until just fork-tender, and drain them very well. Frozen diced hash browns are already blanched, which is why they only need thawing and draining instead of boiling.
Why Did Mine Come out Soupy?
The hash browns weren’t drained after thawing. A 30-ounce bag can release close to a cup of water, and all of it ends up in the pan. Tip the bag over the sink before the potatoes go in the bowl.
Cooking Tips
- Shred the cheddar off a block. Bagged shredded cheese is dusted with starch so it won’t clump, and that starch is what makes a baked cheese sauce turn grainy.
- Fold, don’t stir. Thawed hash browns break down into mashed potato if you beat them, and the whole appeal is having distinct pieces in the finished pan.
- Set the dish on a sheet pan before it goes in the oven. A full 9×13 of this bubbles right up the sides, and a sheet pan is much easier to wash than the oven floor.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The cornflake topping softens overnight and there’s no way around it.
To freeze: Freeze unbaked and untopped for up to 2 months, wrapped in plastic and then foil. A baked pan freezes poorly because the potatoes turn watery once thawed.
To reheat: Cover with foil and warm at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, until the center reaches 165°F. Scatter a handful of fresh buttered cornflakes over the top for the last 5 minutes to bring back the crunch.
How to Serve Funeral Potatoes
Funeral Potatoes belong next to baked ham, roast chicken, or sliced brisket, and they hold their own on a holiday table with green beans and rolls. They’re also excellent at breakfast under a fried egg, which is what usually happens to the leftovers at my house. Bring the pan in the dish you baked it in, because it does not transfer neatly once it’s out of the oven.
Loved This Recipe?
Funeral Potatoes take ten minutes of work and an hour of oven time, and they’ve been showing up when people need them for about as long as frozen hash browns have existed.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Funeral Potatoes with Cornflake Topping
Ingredients
- 1 (30 oz) bag frozen diced hash brown potatoes thawed
- 8 tbsp butter melted and divided
- 1/2 small yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 (10.5 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar 10 oz, divided
- 2 cups cornflakes crushed
Instructions
- Thaw the potatoes: Move the bag of hash browns to the fridge the night before, or spread them on a sheet pan and leave them at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Pour off any water that collects. Frozen potatoes chill the whole casserole and add 20 minutes to the bake.
- Cook the onion: Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until it turns soft and translucent with no crunch left.
- Mix the base: Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish. In a large bowl, stir together the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, the buttered onion with all the butter from the pan, the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 2 cups of the cheddar.
- Fold in the potatoes: Add the thawed hash browns and fold gently until every piece is coated. Spread the mixture into the baking dish in an even layer and scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar over the top.
- Make the topping: Put the cornflakes in a zip-top bag and crush them with your hands into rough pieces, not crumbs. Toss them with the remaining 4 tablespoons of melted butter until the flakes look damp, then spread them over the cheese.
- Bake: Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes, until the edges bubble and the cornflakes are deep golden. The center should read 165°F on a thermometer. Tent the pan with foil if the topping browns before the middle is hot.
- Rest and serve: Let the casserole stand for 5-10 minutes before scooping so it sets up enough to hold its shape on the plate.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
