Smoked Funeral Potatoes
On March 31, 2021 (Updated October 24, 2023)
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These Smoked Funeral Potatoes are a warm, gooey casserole side dish for just about any occasion. Cheesy hash browns topped with a classic Corn Flakes topping are cooked on the smoker for a tasty BBQ twist on this comforting classic.
What are Funeral Potatoes?
Funeral potatoes (AKA cheesy potatoes, cheesy hash browns, or party potatoes) are a delicious, cheesy potato casserole served as a side dish. Funeral potatoes are a staple dish of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) events, particularly funerals.
You don’t have to wait for a funeral to enjoy these potatoes. They make an amazing side dish for many occasions, and they go great with Easter dinner! Not only that, but these are easily made to feed a crowd (simply double or triple the recipe for large events) and they freeze and reheat like a dream!
Funeral Potatoes on the Smoker
While funeral potatoes are traditionally cooked in the oven, we’re changing things up a bit and cooking these funeral potatoes on the smoker. You won’t get a ton of smoke flavor in this casserole, but you should note a bit of added flavor.
Feel free to use your favorite hardwood with these potatoes. I recommend trying pecan, oak, or alder.
Another bonus of these potatoes? They’re cooked start to finish in a cast iron skillet. Aside from one other mixing bowl and your serving dishes, cleanup is a breeze with these!
How to Make Funeral Potatoes
Like many other casseroles, these funeral potatoes are incredibly easy to make. The main things you’ll need for this casserole (besides the ingredients!) are a smoker (I used my CampChef SmokePro for this recipe) and a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Make sure to scroll below to the full printable recipe card. It provides more detail for all the steps outlined here.
- Get that smoke going. Preheat your smoker to 300 degrees F and make the casserole while the smoker is coming to temp.
- Make the potatoes. Preheat your cast iron skillet (and make sure to grab a hot pad so you don’t burn your hand as it it on the stovetop!). Melt butter in the pan, then add onions and sauté until translucent. Next, add minced garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Turn off the heat and add the hash browns.
- Make the cheesy sauce. To make this ooey, goooey cheesy sauce, combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, and Beef Seasoning (or equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder) to a large bowl. Mix well. Pour the sauce over the potatoes in the cast iron skillet.
- Add the topping. Combine melted butter and crushed corn flakes (You can either place the corn flakes in a bag and roll over them with a rolling pin or just crush them by hand). Sprinkle the buttered corn flakes over the top of the potatoes.
- Bake! Cook the potatoes in the smoker for 45 minutes (or until the cheese is starting to bubble around the edges).
- Enjoy. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly before serving, but don’t wait too long! Nothing tastes better than a large serving of steaming-hot funeral potatoes.
Funeral Potatoes Variations
While this recipe is written to be cooked on your smoker, you can also bake these in the oven.
- Cook funeral potatoes in the oven. Simply follow the instructions as written, and preheat the oven to the same temperature (300 degrees F). The rest of the recipe is the same, just keep an eye on the potatoes in the oven and remove them when the potatoes begin to bubble around the edges.
- Add some veggies. These potatoes are perfect just the way they are, but you can always add some veggies to give it a true “casserole” feel. Add in some peas, chopped broccoli florets, chopped green onions, cubed ham, or corn prior to adding the corn flake topping.
- Switch up the potatoes. This recipe calls for shredded hash brown-style potatoes, but funeral potatoes can also be made with diced hash browns or fresh potatoes that are cubed.
What to Serve with Funeral Potatoes?
While these potatoes are good enough to fill your entire plate, they’re best served as a side dish. Try them out with the following recipes from Hey Grill Hey for a comforting, delicious meal!
Smoked Funeral Potatoes Recipe
Smoked Funeral Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 32-ounce bag frozen shredded hash browns
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 1 10.5-ounce can cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 3 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 Tablespoon Beef Seasoning
Corn Flakes Topping
- ¾ cup Corn Flakes cereal roughly crushed
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker. Preheat your smoker to 300 degrees F with your favorite hardwood. Pecan, oak, or alder would all be great with these potatoes.
- Prepare the potatoes. Preheat a 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the pan and melt. Add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 7-9 minutes. Add the minced garlic to the pan and stir. Cook for 1-2 more minutes or until the garlic is fragrant. Turn off the heat and gently stir in the frozen hash browns.
- Mix the cheese sauce. In a large bowl, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese and Beef Seasoning. Stir with a rubber spatula to thoroughly mix. Pour the sauce slowly over the frozen hash browns and onions in the pan, carefully folding the sauce into the potatoes with the rubber spatula. Spread the creamy potatoes evenly into the cast iron pan.
- Add the crunch. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and stir in the crushed corn flakes. Sprinkle the corn flakes evenly across the top of the potato mixture.
- Smoke the funeral potatoes. Place your potatoes on the smoker and close the lid. Cook until the potatoes are just starting to bubble around the edges and are heated through, about 45 minutes.
- Serve. These taste best if eaten right after they come off the smoker (Allow to cool slightly before serving). Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you split this recipe into two 8×8 pans and freeze one for later?
I bet you could!
Is it safe to cook these potato’s along side smoking ribs at a lower temperature of 235 for the entire time?
Yes!
Sounds Delicious ! But what is Beef Seasoning ? Your link does not work.
I’ll get that fixed right now. https://heygrillhey.com/store/products/hey-grill-hey-beef-rub/
Made these today to go with Easter lunch and I had my doubts (mostly because I think I let my cast iron pan get too hot and the onions burned more than they became translucent)
However, when they were all done they were delicious and a hit!
Only thing I add to my funeral potatoes are bacon bits, can’t wait to try your recipe!
Question… Whats your recommendation to make this for a large crowd? I don’t have several cast iron pans. Could this be made in advance and reheated?
You can make this in several 9×13 pans instead of cast iron. Prep in advance and refrigerate. Then just heat through before serving.
I doubled mine and put it in a large aluminum lasagna tray. Cook the onions in whatever vessel you want, then mix in a big bowl. (I used white cheezits for the topping and it was awesome lol)
Substitute french fried onions for the corn flakes. Takes it to next level!
Yum!!
Can’t wait to try these! A little tip, though, try frosted flakes instead of corn flakes. They really elevate the flavor, trust me.
True story, my husband’s Gramda did this once by accident. It’s now a family legend! Haha