Cheesy Funeral Potatoes {Au Gratin Potatoes}
These cheesy funeral potatoes (i.e. au gratin potatoes) with that buttery cornflake topping are so easy and delicious! Plus that easy homemade sauce is canned soup free and tastier than ever!
Burning question alert: what do you call potato dishes like this?
Au gratin potatoes?
Funeral potatoes?
Cheesy potatoes?

Something else entirely?
I grew up eating my mom’s ultra-delicious cheesy au gratin potatoes.
That’s what she called them. So that’s what I called them.
It wasn’t until I was a semi-adult that I realized “au gratin” potato dishes were actually kind-of-fancier, thinly sliced potatoes (like this) often topped with bread crumbs and always topped with cheese.
So, basically nothing like what I had grown up eating. Haha.
Too late, though. My mom’s cheesy au gratin potatoes (often called cheesy funeral potatoes in other circles*) ruined me for classic French-style au gratin potatoes long before I even knew what real au gratin potatoes were.
Her cheesy potatoes are legendary; they were one of my favorite dishes growing up! So creamy, so cheesy, so tasty.
AND, my mom made them with a homemade, canned soup-free knockoff sauce long before that kind of thing was even popular (go mom!).
*In many Mormon and some Southern circles, these types of potatoes are known as funeral potatoes, since they are often traditionally served with ham at the meal following a funeral.
These cheesy funeral potatoes (au gratin potatoes/cheesy potatoes/WHATEVER) have been on my site for over five years now, and I make them all the time.
Not just for funerals. Not just for Easter.
No, no. They are a standard go-to side dish for so many main dishes all year long. Once I even made these potatoes to feed a crowd of 400 for a church holiday party.
I still get a nervous twitch thinking about that process, but it was worth it (I think??).
Reading through the comments, you’ll see that many others love them too, and many have adapted them to be slow cooker friendly. Awesome!
I’ve left the recipe exactly the same as the original that was posted long ago, except that over the years, I’ve reduced the amount of dried thyme, so I’ve noted that, and I almost always use cooked potatoes instead of frozen hash browns, so I’ve also included details on that.
I also wrote up my notes on making these potatoes ahead of time; lifesaver.
If you are looking for the best recipe for cheesy funeral potatoes with an easy, homemade sauce this is my favorite of all time in the history of ever!
And don’t even think of leaving off the buttery, cornflake topping. The potatoes will be so lonely, and so will your soul. 🙂
Cheesy Funeral Potatoes {Au Gratin Potatoes}
Ingredients
Potatoes:
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon if you want more thyme flavor
- 2 cups (228 g) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 5-6 large russet potatoes, peeled, cooked and shredded or small diced or a 26-ounce bag frozen shredded hash browns (see note)
- ½ cup (113 g) light or regular sour cream
Topping:
- 3 cups (106 g) cornflakes, lightly crushed
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute. Combine the chicken broth and milk in a liquid measure and slowly whisk in the mixture. Stir in the salt, pepper and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and stir in the cheese until smooth. Add the sour cream and mix until combined.
- Mix in the frozen hash browns or cooked and shredded potatoes, lifting and folding the mixture until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, toss the lightly crushed cornflakes with the butter until evenly combined.
- Evenly spread the potatoes into the prepared 9X13-inch baking dish and top with the buttered cornflakes.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until hot and bubbly around the edges. If baking the potatoes with a ham (my ham recipe bakes at 300 degrees), bake the potatoes for 90 minutes at 300 degrees then crank the oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for 10 minutes more.
- Let the potatoes rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in Cook’s Country as well as my mom’s timeless au gratin potato recipe
Recipe originally published April 2011; updated with new pictures/commentary/recipe notes.
Can these be made a day or two in advance?
I’ve made them a day in advance and it works great.
I made these potatoes last night (using frozen shredded hash browns because it is faster) and they were delicious! The one thing I would do differently next time is leave out the thyme because I thought it was too overpowering. I served the potatoes with grilled pork chops, rosemary bread, skillet green beans, and strawberry spinach salad (all your recipes!). It was an amazing dinner! Thank you so much, Mel, for sharing your recipes!
P.S. I am about to go make your magical layered brownies. Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks for this recipe! I love funeral potatoes but haven’t been able to get myself to make them until I found your healthier version. Do you think Greek yogurt would sub okay for the sour cream? Thanks again!
Hi Liz – I haven’t tried the Greek yogurt sub in these potatoes but it works so well in other recipes that I’m inclined to say go for it!
This is my GO TO favorite Hash Brown casserole recipe. I have used plain Greek yogurt as a sub for the sour cream since the beginning and its amazing!
For the person who said NOT using cream soup is weird, I just have to say- I love this recipe specifically because it doesn’t contain that crap! Those canned cream soups are full of total junk. This uses actual fresh ingredients, not some goop out of a can. I really appreciate being able to sub the flour for a gluten free blend and use a gluten free corn flake topping so fit my dietary needs. I don’t mind the frozen hash browns at all, either, because the brand I buy contains only one ingredient: potatoes. Thank you for this fantastic recipe, and lots of others, too!
I am loving your easter meal planning post! Everything I’m making is coming from it, thanks for making it so easy! Also, when you make these potatoes do you typically use the frozen hash browns or shred your own potatoes? Just wondering if you’ve tried both and prefer one over the other? Love your blog, keep the great recipes coming!
Hi Britany – I use both. There’s a really great brand of organic, shredded hash browns that I’ve used that are terrific (sorry I can’t remember the brand name). I know people have issues with frozen, shredded potatoes but those good-quality ones are fantastic. Because I don’t have access to those in my small-town grocery store, I usually go for real potatoes that I’ve cubed or shredded myself. Can’t beat real potatoes (but the hash browns are such a timesaver!).
Ope. Just saw that you gave that option. Sorry.
Not using cream soup in your funeral potatoes is just weird! But I might be willing to try it one of these days. Using frozen hashbrowns instead of baking and shredded real potatoes is a cardinal sin, however, and I won’t be trying. You should try it with real potatoes sometime. Much better!
I’m wondering if you really need to precook the potatoes if you aren’t using hash browns. Seems like 45 minutes at 350 ought to cook shredded potatoes suspended in sauce. If not, maybe adding to the cooking time would do it? Thoughts anyone?
Diane – Hash browns are precooked a bit, I’m pretty sure, so if you are going to use raw potatoes, I’d definitely increase the baking time. I haven’t tried it myself though so you will have to experiment a bit.
thanks for sharing! i am doing Easter this year at my house and would love to try these!! just one question—do i have to use light sour cream, or can i just use the regular kind that isn’t light?
Brie – Yes, regular sour cream is fine.
Made these with a wheat free flour and wheat free cereal since my daughter is allergic to wheat. They turned out great! Thank you for a great recipe without canned soup. Funeral potatoes were my favorite growing up.
I made these tonight. I love Funeral Potatoes/Party Potatoes…and this recipe was pretty good but the thyme really was too much:(. I loved the creaminess though! If I make this variation again, I will omit the thyme and add a little more cheese.
Made this for Christmas dinner. Hit it out of the park…everyone loved it!!!! Will definitely be made every holiday! Also made the green bean casserole which was awesome as well!
Made this for Christmas Eve at my brothers house. It’s wonderful, no modifications needed!
Made these for Christmas dinner yesterday and they were amazing. We called these “special potatoes” growing up and now that I have your recipe, without the cream soup, they’ll make an appearance more often! Thank you!
These were so good!!!
In recent weeks I have become one of your biggest fans — and my son and hubby agree! You’ve gotten me back in the kitchen on a regular basis and I am loving it — and the boys are too. When they sit down to supper they don’t even ask where I get the recipes from anymore– “My friend Melanie,” is my answer. I think I misread the ingredients on this one last night though — 3 cups of crushed cornflakes is a little different than 3 cups of cornflakes crushed… we just brushed off the extras. 😮 The potatoes were lovely!
You nailed this!! My husband does not like funeral potatoes (with the cream of chicken) but he REALLY likes this recipe! He even wants me to make it for his friends that are coming for dinner. I know they’ll love it too!
Honestly. As a (currently) starving college kid, these recipes look like heaven to me. I am just sitting here drooling over just about every recipe you’ve posted . Your blog is amazing, and I am hungry 🙂
I saw a similar recipe that said you could freeze this before the baking stage to use as a freezer meal side dish. Thought that sounded awesome.
I LOVE YOU!
um, I mean…I LOVE you!
I call certain recipes with cream of chicken soup or (shudder) cool whip and jello bad names, but I love funeral potatoes! (especially when preggers!!)
So seriously, thank you for making these better! I cannot wait to try them!!
ps I have no idea how I found your website, but most recently I adapted a banana split pie recipe using part of yours (I will make YOURS soon, but it was for my 3rd old’s bday and I was looking for some short couts!). I am a fan just from these two recipes.
Love this recipe! It’s insanely good and makes my husband so happy. Yesterday we hosted a small family dinner. I prepared ham and homemade crescent rolls and wanted to make twice baked potatoes, but we only had reds. I boiled the red potatoes and grated them to use. It was heavenly! I’m allergic to onions so I omitted that step, but I am in love with these potatoes!
Loved this! The only thing I did differently was omit the thyme because I didn’t have any on hand. I used Italian herb seasoning instead and threw in a little Cajun, as well. Next time I think I’ll increase the amount of both! I’ve been trying eliminate the use of canned/processed items when possible, so thank you for this recipe!! 🙂
Loved this! The only thing I did differently was omit the thyme because I didn’t have any on hand. I used Italian herb seasoning instead and threw in a little Cajun, as well. Next time I think I’ll increase the amount of both! I’ve been trying eliminate the use of canned/processed items where possible, so thank you for this recipe!! 🙂
Made a half recipe with regular potatoes this evening.that sauce is very tasty! Also cut up about 6-7 slices of Doug’s Deli smoked ham. It is sure to win Ardmore over. I plan to make these for my brother’s birthday next month.
Delish!
I’m sure these would have been WONDERFUL as a fresh-out-of-the-oven dish….however our plans changed at the last minute the other day when I made these, so I ended up having to serve them as leftovers the next day. By then, the cornflake topping was no longer crunchy and it made the whole dish just “bleh”! 🙁 So, I scraped off the cornflakes and used my hand mixer to whip the hashbrown potatoes with a little additional milk and butter, I then put them in a casserole dish and placed them in the over to warm up until they were almost like a “twice-baked” potato dish. Delicious!! Highly recommend doing it this way as leftovers (unless someone else can enlighten me how to make the cornflakes crunchy again).
I made these today and they were perfect with ribs and coleslaw. I used gluten free all purpose flour (Bobs Red Mill brand) and they were awesome. I am trying to avoid gluten so the gluten free soy sauce and not using a cream soup was what attracted me to this recipe. Thank you!
I made these for Easter dinner and they were a big hit. They even tasted better the second day. I’m making them this afternoon for a breakfast tomorrow but won’t add the cornflakes until I’m ready to bake it in the morning. Ah, the beauty of Pinterest which is where I found this delicious recipe. Thanks Mel.
Joyce
I have always known these as Grandma Potatoes, since it was my husband’s grandmother that introduced these to everyone. The cornflakes on top are always our favorite part. We do, however, use shoestring fries for the potatoe. Would definitely like to try it without the cream of chicken soup. Thanks again!
These are a childhood favorite! We’re currently living in West Africa and my mom’s recipe with canned soup is impossible to make, so your recipes are amazingly perfect for me. Thanks for helping make our Easter complete even all the way over here!
Waiting patiently for his return. His horse’s hooves thundering rhythmically on the line for their family.
Tanyia – yes, I’ve made these ahead of time and I reserve the cornflake topping to put on right before baking so it doesn’t get soggy. I’ve made them up to 12 hours in advance if that helps.
Hello! I made these last night and they were so good! My question is have you ever tried to make these ahead of time? I thought about making these for company and it just makes life easier if most of it can be done ahead and then just baked! Thanks for the recipe!!
yum
I made this dish for our supper this evening and oh my! So much better than the recipes containing cream of’s. The only change I made was to shred fresh potatoes rather than using frozen. It’s our new favorite “funeral potato”
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made these potatoes for a baby shower brunch today and they were fabulous. I love that they are not made with cream of something soup and yet they are still easy and quick.
This is a great recipe…it sounds similar to my Baked Potato Casserole recipe. I make it for holiday occasions.
Hi Amanda – I believe someone who commented above actually did try it in a crockpot and it worked out. Read through the comments to get their feedback. Good luck!
I was going to try this tomorrow – do you think it would work in a crockpot? It’s been about 100 degrees around here so I’d like to avoid having the oven on, if possible. Thanks for the help and what looks like a scrumptious recipe!
My MIL has always made these with the cream of chicken soup and they were one of my favorite things she makes but I got diagnosed with Celiac Disease 3 years ago and wasn’t able to have them anymore. I never occurred to me to make them without the condensed soup. I just subbed the wheat flour for a GF blend, and used Erewhon brand cornflakes on top (which taste to me exactly like Kellogg’s but just don’t have the malt flavoring) and they turned out amazing! Thanks for this recipe!!! I think I will add a bit more cheese next time, and probably a little more salt and pepper- but overall these were unbelievably good and easy to adapt to my dietary needs.
We were introduced to as young adults and called it “cholesterol potatoes.” I don’t think the in-laws who introduced it to us called it that but when we got the recipe, that’s how we referred to it, but we made it and loved it. Your recipe makes it easier to change it to gluten free recipe without the cream of chicken soup. To make it gluten free I can change the flour and make sure the corn flakes are gf. I doubt anyone would even know the difference. Recipes with soup are often those that are hardest to convert.
I made these to go with our Easter dinner yesterday and they were fabulous. This will be the only recipe I use from now on. Thanks for a great recipe without cream soup in it!
Thanks. I love these potatoes. So creamy, not greasy. I added a little dried rosemary (less than 1/2 t) because it was next to the thyme in my pantry. Delicious!
I also made the potatoes in the slow cooker–I agree with Christina 4 hours was perfect. I made it with the shredded hashbrowns but without the cornflake topping. I did sprinkle on a little extra cheese on top. Also added a minced clove of garlic into the sauce. Tasty! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Mel. I followed your recipe except cooked the potatoes in the slow cooker (using cubed hash browns rather than shredded) on low for 4 hours and it was creamy, cheesy, and delicious! I nixed the crunchy topping, although I’m sure it could be crisped it in a pan on the stove and then sprinkled on top just before serving. FYI ~ We call these church potatoes because every time there’s a carry-in dinner at church, at least one person brings a potato casserole. Your version is by far the best I’ve ever eaten, though. Thanks!
I had a difficult time finding a recipe that didn’t ask for the dreaded cream of “something” soup. Yuck! I am very happy to have come across your recipe. I’m going to get it made tonight and cook it up tomorrow. I think I’ll use buttered Panko instead of the crushed corn flakes (only because I don’t have any corn flakes in the pantry)! Thank you Mel for this wonderful sounding recipe. Happy Easter!! 🙂
Christina – I have no idea how this would fare in the crockpot since I’ve never tried it. Sorry I’m not more help. If you try it let me know!
I have a similar recipe (but this sounds better!) that I cook in a slow cooker for 3-4 hours. Do you think this would work? We’ll be gone for several hours Easter morning, so I’m making your slow cooker ham recipe and would like to try cooking these potatoes in another slow cooker at the same time so everything is ready when we get home.
I am excited to try these. I have been searching for a recipe without cream soup in it. I will be trying this on Easter! Thanks!
I have a friend at work who made these and the recipe she had called for 4 cups of crushed lay’s sour cream and onion potato chips for the topping. Yum! It only took her 8 months to pass the recipe on but now that I have it, it will be a comfort food staple in my house.
I’m so excited about this recipe! We called it hashbrown casserole growing up. I haven’t made it much since I’ve been married. But now that I have found a cream of mushroom soup free recipe, I will definitely be trying these. I always liked shredded vrs dice hashbrowns. Why? More cheesy goodness in every bite. Thanks again Mel for sharing your recipes with us all!