Creamy & Cheesy Funeral Potatoes

By Foodiewife

Funeral potatoes? I know, it sounds a bit macabre. This dish originated as a side dish, commonly served at after-funeral potlucks, by the Mormons. Traditionally, it's made with hash brown or cubed potatoes, with canned cream soup, cheese and sour cream. Since I don't buy canned cream soup, this recipe is made with cooked onion, and a roux of milk and flour. To up the ante of flavor (and added calories) cheese is added along with sour cream. The big ta-da is a topping made with either crushed potato chips (or corn flakes) with melted butter and some Parmesan cheese. Yes, it's decadent, but I guarantee that it's also highly addictive. Recipe source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1-stick) salted butter
• 1 (28- to 32-ounce) bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (or Southern Hashbrowns, as in cubed)
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar
• 2 cups kettle-cooked potato chips (or corn flakes)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Details

Servings 10
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 60mins
Adapted from afeastfortheeyes.net

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

Take the potatoes out of the freezer while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Heat a large, deep skillet (or Dutch oven) over medium-high heat, then melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in it.

Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to incorporate. Cook for a minute or 2 to cook out the raw flour, but do not let it color.

Whisk in the milk, making sure to get out all the lumps.

Add the broth and whisk again if there are still lumps.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow it to thicken, about 3 minutes. Note: Mine didn't thicken as much as I'd like, so I added about another 1/4 cup of flour.)

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Turn off the heat and stir in the Monterey Jack, sour cream and Cheddar. Add the hash brown potatoes and mix everything together.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small pan. Put the potato chips (or corn flakes) and Parmesan in a bowl and crush the potato chips. Pour in the melted butter and toss to coat. Sprinkle the crumbs over the top of the potatoes.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking until golden brown on top and bubbling around the edges, about 15 minutes more.

Note: Depending on your oven, you might need about 25 minutes of baking time. The casserole should be bubbly and slightly brown around the edges.

Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.