Funeral Potatoes - Our Best Bites

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• 1 small-medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 28-oz. bag shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 2 c. sour cream
• 1 10-oz. can cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom) soup
• 2 1/4 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• OPTIONAL: Crushed cornflakes, seasoned bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, or crushed Ritz or saltine crackers

Details

Servings 9
Adapted from ourbestbites.com

Preparation

Step 1

, you know?  However, there are times and places and sometimes there are rules that need to be broken.  The time is now.  The place is here. I give you…Funeral Potatoes.

Believe it or not, “Funeral Potatoes” is not actually their technical name–it’s usually something like Cheesy Potato Casserole.  But these are often found served with ham on Easter dinner tables as well as luncheons following funerals which, shockingly, is how they got their name.

Since Easter is coming up and ham is often served at Easter, and since this is my favorite side dish for ham, I had to swallow my feelings about Cream of Something soups.  If you have a little extra time/motivation on your hands, you can always make

(make a half batch of the soup for the potatoes recipe), but honestly, these potatoes are so good and so easy and such great comfort food that I wholeheartedly recommend just popping open the can of soup.  C’mon, just one time won’t hurt, right?

Preheat the oven to 350 and then, in a large skillet, melt a tablespoon or two of butter over medium heat.  Add a chopped onion and 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic and saute until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant.

Remove the pan from heat and add the thawed hash browns…

Toss in some kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and then combine the ingredients well.  Spread them into a 9×13″ (or similarly sized) dish.

Now, there is a serious, relevant, and ongoing debate about whether or not Funeral Potatoes should have a crunchy topping.  I am firmly in the “no topping” camp–I love these because they don’t necessarily have to be served immediately and because they make awesome leftovers.  When a crunchy topping is involved, both of those virtues fly out the window because the topping gets soggy.  HOWEVER.  If you want a crunchy topping, you can add crushed cornflakes, seasoned bread crumbs, or even crushed saltines to the casserole before you bake it.

You can serve this as a main dish (kind of like mac and cheese, right?) with a salad and fruit or serve it alongside pot roast, ham, or roasted chicken. The funeral is totally optional.

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant.  Remove from heat.  Add the thawed hash browns, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese, salt, and pepper and combine well.  Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Spread the mixture into a 9×13″ (or similar) dish and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the casserole is hot in the center and the cheese is bubbly throughout.  Serve as a main dish with a salad and fruit or alongside roasted ham, turkey, chicken, or beef.  Makes 6-8 main dish or 10-12 side dish servings.

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