Home » Side Dishes » Cheesy hash brown casserole (Funeral Potatoes)

Cheesy hash brown casserole (Funeral Potatoes)

Cheesy hash brown casserole (funeral potatoes) is a blend of cheese, condensed soup, seasonings and potatoes all baked together into a crowd pleasing classic southern potluck dish. You’ll love this totally made from scratch version! 

a small plate of cheesy hash brown casserole in front of the large 9x13 pan

Funeral potatoes. They are a thing. Morbid as it may be, most of us rarely think of making a cheesy hash brown casserole for a regular weekday side dish but oh–why not?! 

Simple to make a day or two ahead, you can leave this casserole in your fridge until you’re ready to bake and make it a full meal by adding any of your favorite meats like cooked sausage, ham or chicken in to the mix. 

How to make the best cheesy hash brown casserole

  • True to my style, you’ll see that I don’t recommend using canned condensed cream of chicken soup here. I’m going to ask you to go a step past that, take 6 minutes and make it from scratch. It’s worth it and creates a deeper, better flavor. Trust me on that. 
  • To assemble your hash brown casserole, mix your soup, sour cream, onion powder (or grated onion), salt, pepper, and shredded cheese together before adding the potatoes. 
  • And speaking of potatoes, I use what’s labeled “southern style” cubes here instead of shredded potatoes, but either will work just fine. 
  • Mix everything together in a large bowl and transfer to a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish. 
  • Drizzle over a stick of melted butter and bake until golden on top. If you would like to add corn flakes or some other topping you can–we just don’t. 

a 9x13 pan of cheesy hash brown casserole with a spoon

How to freeze a cheesy hash brown casserole

For best results, you can make this casserole ahead, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for up to two days before baking. If you want to freeze it, bake it first, allow it to cool to room temperature then cover in a layer of plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for up to two months. 

To serve thaw overnight in the fridge and then cover and rewarm it in the oven at 350 until heated through. 

If you want to freeze your casserole before baking it, remember that diary can separate once frozen and thawed so you may end up with a curdled or lumpy texture when you bake your cheesy hash brown casserole. It won’t affect the flavor–so go for it if you want to! 

a small plate of cheesy hash brown casserole in front of the large 9x13 pan

Cheesy hash brown casserole

There are so many cheesy hash brown casserole recipes in existence. How do you find the right one? This version is simple and free from all the fluff, but always pleases a crowd.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 8 people
Author Rachel Ballard

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound bag frozen SOUTHERN STYLE hash brown potatoes the little cubed potatoes
  • 8 ounces sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cups homemade condensed cream of chicken soup or 1 can store bought
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste (See note)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter melted

Instructions
 

  • Thaw the potatoes in the fridge (it's okay if they aren't totally thawed) on the counter for a couple of hours or in the fridge overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 400.
  • In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, onion powder, cheese, salt and pepper. Taste for proper seasoning and adjust to your preference.
  • Add the potatoes and stir to coat.
  • Transfer to a greased baking dish. Pour over the melted butter. Bake at 35-40 minutes until the center is hot and bubbly and the top is slightly browned.

Notes

*Because the saltiness of ingredients can vary, make sure to taste your potato mixture before putting it in the oven and adjust the salt as needed. Dairy is naturally quite bland, so don't be afraid to add salt a little at a time until proper seasoning is achieved. 

Nutrition

Calories: 399kcal
Tried this recipe?Tag us on Instagram @feastandfarm and hashtag it #feastandfarm
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American

 

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19 Comments

  1. Great recipe – delicious! I added some chopped onion and it really added some flavor…highly recommend.

  2. Can I make this with raw potatoes? Would I just peel and cube? Do I need to do anything else to make it work for this recipe?

    1. Hey Rhonda, so the thing about frozen potatoes is that they have been par-boiled before freezing. That makes them a lot softer than a raw potato would be so no I would not recommend making this recipe with just raw potatoes. They would need to be cubed and boiled until about 40% soft so that they are slightly tender but not soft enough to fall apart then drained and used in your dish. Good luck! –Rachel

    1. The first thing you do is to decide how much each person will eat as a serving. If there is other food besides the casserole, plan for this recipe to feed 8-10 people with half cup servings. If you are serving less food with it, plan for this recipe to feed closer to 8 people with closer to 3/4 cup servings. Then if you need to feed 35, you’d need to quadruple this recipe which I would do in two 9×13 pans and not try to put it all into one huge one. –Rachel

    1. Sorry I’m just getting to your question Mitzi. And no, I’d not bake this and leave it out all night. It has sour cream in it and that’s one ingredient I don’t want to fester and make people sick. You can assemble then refrigerate and bake when you need it though. –Rachel

    1. Yes Donna, the recipe is based off of 1 pound. Most bags you buy these days are two pounds and the image in the post is of an 11×17 pan so that was more like 4 bags! If you want to use a standard 2-pound bag, you’ll need to double the other ingredients. –Rachel

    1. Hey Peggy, you have LOTS of options with hash brown casserole actually. I’d probably make green beans, a tossed salad, or roasted Brussels sprouts and serve a main meat like meatloaf or fried chicken with mine. I just avoid making a bunch of starches together so no pasta dishes or anything. Does that help? Here are some links to recipes I have that might help:

      https://feastandfarm.com/homestyle-meatloaf-brown-sugar-glaze/
      https://feastandfarm.com/crispy-fried-chicken-tenders/
      https://feastandfarm.com/parmesan-herb-crusted-pork-chops/

  3. Love the simplicity of this classic dish! I swear I’ve never been to a potluck that didn’t have some kind of cheesey potato dish on the table!

    ps – welcome to the club of husbands who eat “nearly” everything!

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About the Author

Rachel Ballard, RN, BSN brings more than 20 years of professional nursing expertise to Feast and Farm. With a love for nutrient dense foods that support wellness, she works to distill complex health information and current trends into recipes that fuel the best version of yourself. Read more about Rachel here.