Funeral Potatoes — The Church Lady Hashbrown Casserole Everybody Asks For
Nobody Agrees on the Name. Everybody Goes Back for Seconds.
Funeral potatoes, church lady potatoes, hashbrown casserole — I do not care what you call it, and honestly nobody at my table ever has. This is the dish that has been showing up on dining tables for generations, and there is a very good reason for that: it is creamy, it is cheesy, it has a buttery crushed cornflake topping, and one pan of it feeds an absolute houseful. I made this one to go alongside a ham for Sunday lunch with our college kids home, and it went in the oven right next to it.
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Watch me make these funeral potatoes from start to finish — or scroll down for the full printable recipe card.
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Funeral Potatoes
Start CookingIngredients
- 2 lb frozen shredded hashbrowns
- ½ cup salted butter 1 stick, melted
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion or 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 10.5 oz cream of chicken soup 1 can
- 1 pint sour cream 2 cups
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups cornflakes
- ½ cup salted butter 1 stick, melted
Don’t Want to Plan? I Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week’s Weekly Meal Plans!Equipment
Method Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an extra-large casserole dish, about 14×16.
- Pour the frozen hashbrowns into the dish and drizzle the melted butter over the top. Work the butter through the potatoes with a spatula until they are coated. You can thaw the hashbrowns first, but you do not have to.
- Add the chopped onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and stir to season the potatoes all the way through.
- Add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and shredded cheddar. Mix everything together right in the dish until it is creamy and evenly combined, then smooth the top flat.
- Scatter the cornflakes evenly over the whole surface, then drizzle the melted butter over them. Give them a gentle toss with your fingers if you want every flake buttered.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and bake another 30 minutes, until the topping is crisp and golden and the edges are bubbling. Let it sit a few minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Short on time or heading out the door? You can leave it covered for the whole hour. The topping will not crisp up the same way, but it will still be warm and delicious — that is exactly what I did the day I filmed this, because I had church.
Fifteen servings is a hearty side. Cut it potluck-size and this pan will stretch to twenty.
No cornflakes? Use a sleeve and a half of butter crackers like Ritz, about a cup and a half crushed.
This doubles as a breakfast casserole. Same pan, same everything — it just goes on the table in the morning instead.
Four Weeks of Family-Friendly FoodWhen people gather, I cook. Four weeks of the dinners my crowd asks for — planned, tested, and shopped for. Come see what’s in the cookbook →Why These Funeral Potatoes Work
The whole reason funeral potatoes have lasted this long is that they were built by people who had to feed a lot of others and still make it to the service on time. Two pounds of frozen shredded hashbrowns go straight into the dish. There is no boiling, no peeling, no ricing, no standing over a pot. You are not cooking so much as assembling, and the oven does the rest.
The creamy part comes from two things doing the work together — one can of cream of chicken soup , which I will argue is the basis for all good casseroles, and a whole pint of sour cream . That is two full cups, and it is what keeps this from tasting like a dry pan of potatoes. Then two cups of sharp cheddar melt through the whole thing while it bakes.
And I mix it right in the baking dish. Every single time. I am not dirtying an extra bowl on a Sunday morning when I already have a ham going and a lunch to get on the table — those church ladies did not get where they are by making more dishes for themselves, and neither will I.
A Few Things That Make Funeral Potatoes Even Easier
- Mix it right in the dish. Butter over the frozen hashbrowns first, smoosh it all through with a spatula, then everything else goes in on top of that. One pan, one spatula, nothing to wash but the thing you are already going to wash.
- Dried minced onion is the quiet trick. I am not a huge fan of big chunks of onion in this, and dried minced gives you all that good onion flavor without anybody hunting through their serving. Two tablespoons does it. If you would rather use fresh, a half cup finely chopped is the swap.
- Be generous with the garlic powder . Two full teaspoons. This is a big pan of potatoes and it will take every bit of seasoning you give it — underseason this and it tastes like exactly what it is, which is a lot of potatoes.
- Butter every last cornflake. Scatter the cornflakes over the top, drizzle the melted butter across them, and then go back with your fingers and toss them a little so nothing stays dry. That is the difference between a crunchy top and a patchy one.
- Covered the whole hour is a completely acceptable life choice. The day I filmed this I was headed to church and could not be back in time to pull the foil off. So I left it covered for the full hour. Less crunch on top, still warm and creamy and gone by the end of lunch.
Funeral Potatoes FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
What temperature and how long do I bake funeral potatoes?
Bake funeral potatoes at 350°F for 30 minutes covered with foil, then uncover and bake another 30 minutes. That second half is what crisps the cornflake topping and gets the edges bubbling. One hour total. If you are baking it deeper than usual in a smaller dish, give it more time and check the middle before you call it done.
Why are they called funeral potatoes?
Because this is what gets carried to a family after a funeral. It travels well, it reheats well, it feeds a crowd of people who are not thinking about cooking, and it is made almost entirely of things already in the pantry. Church ladies know how to feed a lot of people without killing themselves doing it, and this pan is the proof.
Do I have to thaw the hashbrowns first?
No. Sometimes I let them thaw and sometimes I do not — it just depends on what my morning looks like. Thawed hashbrowns mix a little more easily and the butter works through faster. Frozen ones go straight in and nobody has ever been able to tell the difference on the table.
What size dish do I need for funeral potatoes?
This is a big one. I use an extra large casserole dish , about 11×15. If you do not have one that size, two medium 9×11 dishes work beautifully and give you one to keep and one to send. A single 9×13 will hold it, but it sits much deeper in the pan, so add time and check the center before you pull it out.
Can I make funeral potatoes ahead of time?
Yes, and this is one of my favorite things about it. Assemble the whole pan through the mixing step, cover it tightly, and refrigerate overnight. Add the cornflake topping and the butter right before it goes in the oven — if the flakes sit on there overnight they go soft and you lose the crunch entirely. Add about 10 minutes to the covered bake time if it is going in cold.
What can I use instead of cornflakes?
Butter crackers like Ritz. Use a sleeve and a half, which comes out to about the same cup and a half of crumbs. I like the traditional cornflake topping best — it makes a fun little crunch that crackers do not quite match — but the Ritz version is genuinely good and it is what I reach for if the cereal box is already empty.
How long do leftover funeral potatoes keep?
Cover them and get them in the refrigerator within two hours of coming out of the oven. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service puts leftovers at 3 to 4 days in the fridge or 3 to 4 months frozen, and reheated leftovers should come back up to 165°F. This pan reheats beautifully — the topping softens, so run it uncovered for the last few minutes if you want some of that crunch back.
Can I serve funeral potatoes for breakfast?
You absolutely can, and it is one of the best things about this recipe. Same pan, same ingredients, nothing changes — it just goes on the table in the morning instead of at supper. It is wonderful alongside eggs and bacon, and it is a good one to have already assembled in the fridge when you have people staying over.
The short version — every ingredient and every step in one quick pass.
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Ingredients
Equipment
More Side Dishes for a Crowd You’ll Love
- Creamy Baked Mashed Potatoes — the other potato side I make ahead and slide in the oven before church.
- Pineapple Casserole — sweet, savory, and the other pan that always goes next to a ham.
- Cranberry Apple Salad — the warm, sweet-tart dish sitting right beside these potatoes on the plate up there.
- Mama’s Best Baked Beans — my mother-in-law’s recipe, and it came with the pot.
- World’s Best Green Beans — four ingredients, and they are on the plate in the photo up there.
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Funeral Potatoes — About Stephanie’s Recipes
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.