Twas the day before Easter and my friend Chandra and I were discussing our Easter Dinner menus. She mentioned that she was making Party Potatoes, which we all know is a delicious, creamy, and cheesy potato dish.
While I knew exactly what Chandra was talking about, it occurred to me that when I was growing up, my family always called this dish “Funeral Potatoes.” Same recipe, same deliciousness, but incredibly different label. Party Potatoes and Funeral Potatoes are one in the same? Yes, indeed.
Chandra and I decided that people in the north (where her family is from) must like parties better. And that people in the south (where my family is from) need to let go and live a little. Bless our hearts.
Indeed, my family had Funeral Potatoes on all the most exciting celebration days: Easter, Christmas, and Birthdays. “Happy Easter, He is Risen!!!! Please pass the Funeral Potatoes.” What is wrong with me that I never realized what we were saying?
It is worth noting that Death By Chocolate was also a family favorite. I requested it at one of my Bridal Parties before Matt and I got married. “I’m going to marry the man of my dreams! I want Death by Chocolate please!”
Well, now you know the truth about my family history. We really knew how to party.
I have decided that it’s time to break the cycle. No more Funeral Potatoes. From now on, we will eat Party Potatoes!! Woohoooo, I LOVE PARTY POTATOES!!!!!”
Though what will I do the next time I’m at a funeral and they serve Party Potatoes? This is a conundrum.
Simple Slow Cooker Party Potatoes
You’ll notice that I’ve taken this popular potato dish recipe and tweaked it to include all real food ingredients (so we can avoid the MSG in canned soup). You’ll also notice that I found a way to make this dish in a slow cooker. I found this to be a helpful trick for the times I’m out of the house and need the potatoes to be ready to eat when we get home. It’s also nice to use the slow cooker method as it frees up oven space.
Not to worry though. I’ve included instructions for oven baking as well. As you can see, I’ve done all that I can to meet all of your funeral and party planning needs.
- 24 ounces frozen hashbrowns or cut potatoes
- 3 Tablespoons dry minced onion
- 1-2 teaspoons sea salt, to taste
- 16 ounces sour cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 16 ounces shredded Colby jack or cheddar cheese
- Mix all ingredients together and spread evening in a slow cooker or 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Oven Instructions: Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.
Survey time: What did you call this potato recipe when you were growing up?
Hello Laura!
I grew up in Florida and didn’t have these growing up. We tended to have more rice and pasta, or other veges like cabbage, dried beans or peas, than potatoes. I now live in Missouri, in a hot bed of “Cheesy Potatoes” (that’s what we call them here). The only difference in our recipe is that we replace the heavy cream with a can of cream of chicken soup. (I have since made mine healthier using homemade cream of chicken soup.
My husband is super picky. Wouldn’t ever try them until we were at a friend’s house. She had made them for our supper and my hubby has been sold ever since. We serve them for potlucks and for family supper, for breakfast, lunch, and planned leftovers. Just delicious!
You can make them with frozen cubed or shredded potatoes, in the crockpot or in the oven. One thing you can be sure of is that you will always be left with an empty dish and will never have any to throw away. ;)
Any thoughts on doing this in my handy dandy instant pot that you sold me on? Lovin’ it!!!
I’ve done this in the Instant Pot before and it does work, but not great as I can’t figure out how to get the Instant Pot to rise in pressure for this recipe!
We call Potluck Potato Casserole.
We live in Canada and our area is raises lots of potatoes.
We always cook our own potatoes and make our own hashbrowns.
We’ve some times also made our own cream of mushroom soup that we’ve canned in little jars to use for recipes like this.
We called them funeral potatoes. I was always told 2 different reasons. One was because every single funeral has these. It is a must have. And two was because if you ate them all the time you’d end up having your own funeral.
I never thought to try to slow cooker this, but I love the traditional crispy corn flakes top.
But I did start making a vegan version of them so my husband, who is deathly allergic to milk, can enjoy the goodness too.
We called these “Cheesy Potatoes,” because apparently we live in a very literal part of the country. A favorite of everyone’s, no matter what their name! Thanks for the real-food version.
We live in MN and we call them cheesy potatoes. OR at least, that’s what I’ve always called them!!
Perhaps they can still be called party potatoes at a funeral because the person’s life you are “celebrating” is now in heaven having THE BEST party with Jesus! :-)
They were called New Bride’s Pototoes in my family. My Aunt said that when she first had them it was at a potluck and “the new bride” brought them….every time someone asked who brought the potatoes they would say “the new bride” so the name stuck – she can’t even remember what the new bride’s name was!