Funeral Potatoes

Cheesy potato casserole, also dubbed the slightly morbid “Funeral Potatoes” for its ongoing appearance as a gift casserole after a funeral (I prefer “party potatoes”), is an easy cheesy from scratch potato side dish recipe that is not only filling but flawless.

These delicious funeral potatoes, made with shredded potatoes (hash browns), make prep so simple that kitchen stress is non-existent.

Unlike sausage hash brown casserole, this dish is meant to be a side, accompanied and complementary to BBQ, grilling, chicken, and pork, and is savory enough to almost eat as a main dish.

What are “funeral potatoes”?

Many people wonder why funeral potatoes are even called funeral potatoes. Death can be complicated to consider (even though we all, at some point, reach the same end), and calling a food by that name can be off-putting.

While I prefer potluck potatoes or party potatoes, many people search for this recipe by that name, and therefore, to find it, I also have to consider how the average person will reach this recipe.

This dish and potato recipe is precisely what it sounds like: a side dish or casserole dish often brought to share over a celebration of someone’s life or gifted to a widow to help with the burden of cooking after losing a loved one.

Food brings people together, and dishes like funeral potatoes, Watergate salad, ambrosia salad, or other casseroles like chicken and rice bake are often gifted when food is the last thing on someone’s mind.

Ingredients

• butter
• White onion
• all-purpose flour
• chicken broth
• half and half; if needed, heavy whipping cream would work as a substitute
• Salt, dry thyme, and ground black pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 30 oz. frozen hash browns—these should be kept frozen
• sour cream
• Sour cream and onion potato chips—potato chips are the perfect topping, and you can choose to use any flavor. Simple, crushed-down salty potato chips, cheesy potato chips, or any will do if you enjoy the flavor. It’s best to use regular chips and not chips with ridges for this dish.

How to make Funeral Potato Casserole

1. Grease a 9×13 baking pan and preheat the oven to 350.
2. Add pats of butter and chopped white onion to a large stock pot and heat over medium heat. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add flour and cook for 1 minute more (this mixture will thicken).
4. Whisk in chicken broth, half and half, salt, dried thyme, and black pepper. Combine well.
5. Heat the pot over medium-high heat and whisk constantly until the mixture begins to bubble and boil.
6. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 4 minutes as it thickens. Remove pot from heat and stir in shredded cheese until melted.

7. Add frozen shredded hash brown potatoes and heat over medium heat until hash browns are thawed, about 10 minutes. Add in the sour cream and stir until mixed.
8. Pour the cheesy potatoes into a casserole dish and spread them evenly.
9. Sprinkle the top of the hash browns with crushed potato chips.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 45–50 minutes.
11. Let the funeral potatoes stand for 5 minutes before serving.

More Potato Lovers Recipes

Potatoes are pretty easily the world’s most perfect food. Many types can be whipped, shredded, diced, and mashed!

If you are a potato lover, consider these other fantastic side dish recipe options no matter what main dish you serve.

1. Fouchy potatoes are a super creamy and delicious viral potato dish that brings everyone to the table.
2. Nothing says ease like learning how to have a crispy-skinned baked potato in the air fryer! However, if you prefer sliced and roasted, we have that, too.
3. The most popular side dish on Salty side Dish is these scored parmesan roasted potatoes – for good reason.
4. Last, it’s easy to make oven-roasted large melting potatoes (or small creamer potatoes) with huge love on Pinterest.