Cheesy Funeral Potatoes with Crispy Cornflake Topping

There is a reason funeral potatoes show up at every potluck, holiday table and yes, actual funeral across Utah and the Mountain West: creamy, cheesy hashbrowns under a shattering cornflake crust is comfort food engineering at its finest. This version keeps the classic formula — sour cream, cream of chicken soup, sharp cheddar, green onions — and finishes it with the crispiest buttered cornflake canopy, baked until the sauce bubbles right up through the topping.

Funeral potatoes earned their name honestly: for decades, community kitchens in Utah have delivered this casserole to grieving families because it feeds a crowd, travels well, and comforts like nothing else. The dish has since become a beloved holiday and potluck staple throughout the region. The construction is simple.

Thawed diced hashbrowns get folded into a rich sauce of sour cream, condensed cream of chicken soup, melted butter and grated sharp cheddar, brightened with sliced green onions. The dish is crowned with cornflakes tossed in salted butter and baked at 350°F until the cheese sauce bubbles up through a deep golden crust. The result is a study in contrasts — molten, savory potatoes beneath a topping that stays audibly crunchy even after ten minutes on the table.

Ingredients

Why this recipe works

The sauce relies on two thick dairy components doing complementary jobs. Sour cream brings tang and body, while condensed cream of chicken soup contributes savory depth, salt and stabilizers that keep the sauce from breaking or thinning during a long bake. Because both are already concentrated, no flour or roux is needed — the sauce clings to the potatoes instead of pooling at the bottom.

Melting the butter into the base rather than layering it on top distributes richness evenly, so every bite tastes the same from edge to center. The cornflake topping works because it stays dry until it hits the oven: crushing the flakes by hand leaves irregular pieces that trap air and shatter loudly, while tossing them in melted salted butter fat-fries each flake in place as it bakes, turning it deep golden and crisp rather than soggy.

Baking at a moderate 350°F is the quiet key. High heat browns the topping long before the center warms through, leaving a dark crust over cool potatoes. At 350°F, the forty-minute bake gives the thick potato layer time to heat fully and lets the sauce reach a slow, vigorous bubble — the visual signal that the dish is done all the way through — while the cornflakes toast gently to an even gold.

Covering the dish edge to edge also protects the cheese sauce underneath, sealing in moisture and letting the potatoes essentially braise in their own creamy sauce while the canopy above toasts, so the contrast between creamy base and shattering crust survives the whole meal.

Notes and substitutions

Ingredient choices matter more here than the short list suggests. Buy sharp cheddar in a block and grate it fresh: pre-shredded cheese is dusted with anti-caking starch that resists melting and can leave the sauce grainy. Sour cream should be full-fat; light versions can curdle at a long bake.

The cream of chicken soup is the classic condensed canned kind — one cup, straight from the can without diluting. Diced hashbrowns give the traditional texture; thaw them fully and blot well, since excess ice melt is the number one cause of a watery casserole.

Equipment is deliberately minimal: a 9x13-inch baking dish, one large bowl, one small bowl and a box grater. Glass or ceramic dishes brown the topping a touch more gently than dark metal pans; if using dark metal, check five minutes early. For substitutions, cream of mushroom soup swaps one-for-one, Monterey Jack can replace half the cheddar for a silkier melt, and crushed buttery crackers stand in for cornflakes in a pinch — though nothing else delivers quite the same shattering crunch.

• cream of chicken soup: Cream of mushroom soup works the same way, and a simple homemade white sauce with chicken base stands in well if canned soup is not an option.
• frozen diced hashbrowns: Shredded frozen hashbrowns give a softer, more traditional texture; thaw and drain them the same way before folding in.
• sharp cheddar: A 50/50 blend of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack melts silkier while keeping plenty of tang.
• cornflakes: Crushed buttery crackers or panko tossed in melted butter make a fine crust, though cornflakes stay the crispiest.

Equipment

• 9x13-inch baking dish
• large mixing bowl
• small bowl
• box grater
• rubber spatula
• measuring cups and spoons