Easy Funeral Potatoes

Easy funeral potatoes are called by that decidedly macabre name because, quite simply, some take on the dish was traditionally served at gatherings convened after funerals. Especially common in Mormon communities but seen throughout much of the American West, the dish is the ultimate easy comfort food: easy to make, easy to transport and serve, and delicious and filling, perfect for a time when you just want to feel a bit better.

Even if you don't have anything so draining as a funeral going on — and for the record, we sure hope you don't — in life, there is always space for a comfort food that's comfortingly easy to make. And chef and recipe developer Erin Johnson of Probably in the Kitchen says: "These potatoes are pretty much impossible to mess up."

They're the perfect side dish to bring along with you even if you're not headed to a funerary event. "I almost always make these in a baking dish with a lid for easy transport," says Johnson. "If you are going to take them to a potluck, they reheat well, either in the oven or microwave."

As for what this comforting side goes best with? "I like to serve these with anything you'd pair with macaroni and cheese, as the flavors are complimentary," says Johnson, so think "ham, fried chicken, even as a breakfast side."

We'll just be direct and say it: These easy funeral potatoes are not a health food type of dish. But it's not an everyday dish, either. The recipe calls for a can of condensed cheddar cheese soup (like the kind Campbell's makes), lots of sour cream, milk, kosher salt, onion powder, pepper, lots of shredded cheddar cheese, a bag of diced hash brown potatoes (thawed), plenty of crushed corn flakes, and an entire stick of butter.

Little wonder why funeral potatoes taste amazing, right? If you want to add a bit of red pepper for some kick, that's a fine option. And you can always use fresh diced potatoes, too — just parboil them first.

Start off this recipe for easy funeral potatoes by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the soup, the sour cream, and the milk, and then use a spoon to stir and combine these ingredients.

Now add in the salt, pepper, onion powder, and cheese, and again stir to combine. Next, fold in the potatoes, mixing more carefully now so that all ingredients come together but without the potatoes being broken up too much. Pour this potato mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. 

Most of your work on this recipe is now already done. See? Legitimately an amazingly easy recipe, this one.

Melt the butter and add it to the crushed cornflakes, combining them in a small bowl, then sprinkle the buttered corn flakes over the top of the easy funeral potatoes casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until the dish is bubbly and the potatoes are cooked through. And that's that.

If you want the dish to be extra fresh when you serve it but want to do most of the work now, you can complete all steps up to the butter and cornflakes several hours ahead of time and store the dish covered in the fridge, then complete the recipe later that day. Just add five minutes to the baking time.