Funeral Potatoes with Chorizo and Smoked Paprika

This funeral potatoes recipe is made from scratch with fresh russet potatoes, Chorizo sausages, smoked paprika and a few other goodies that bring vibrant Spanish flavors to this irresistible cheesy shredded potato casserole. It's only fair to forewarn you that when you taste this, you will not be able to resist coming back for seconds or even thirds!

Funeral Potatoes is a sad-sounding name but an absolutely scrumptious dish! A cheesy potato casserole that's extremely popular in parts of the U.S. In fact if you do a web search for "Funeral Potatoes," you will not believe how many results there are - more than 7 million! 

I only discovered this dish myself recently, when the Idaho Potato Commission asked me to develop a unique funeral potatoes recipe for them. I'm glad they did. It's good to be in the know about funeral potatoes. 

I worked on this recipe for quite some time before I was satisfied. In fact there was a stretch where I served funeral potatoes to my family for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nobody in my house minded one bit. By the way, these are great with fried eggs on top. We had them that way for dinner one night, with a salad.

In the end I came up with this Spanish-inspired funeral potatoes recipe that is out-of-this-world delicious.

Why are they called Funeral Potatoes?

Funeral Potatoes comes from in and around Utah, developed and made popular by members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. In fact this dish is sometimes called Mormon Potatoes.

This cheesy hash brown casserole, often topped with crunchy buttered cornflakes, is a popular side dish at church luncheons that follow a funeral, hence the name. Perfectly suited for a somber occasion that you can't plan much ahead for, funeral potatoes are quick to throw together, easy to make ahead, transportable, and great for feeding a crowd.

But don’t think for a minute that funeral potatoes are only for funerals. This is the perfect side dish for holidays, dinner parties, potlucks or any occasion where scrumptious potatoes are called for.

Are Funeral Potatoes the same thing as Potluck Potatoes? 

Yes. As it turns out, there are LOTS of names for this dish. 

• Party Potatoes
• Wedding Potatoes
• Potluck Potatoes
• Church Potatoes
• Cheesy potato casserole
• Hash brown casserole
• Cheesy hash brown casserole
• Patio potatoes
• Celebration potatoes
• Sinful Potatoes
• Fun Potatoes (fun, short for fun-eral)
• And (with irony) “potatoes to die for”

I felt compelled to call mine 'funeral potatoes' but I actually think ‘heavenly potatoes’ would be more on target 🙂

A Lightened-up Funeral Potatoes Recipe

Most funeral potatoes are made from packaged frozen hash browns, canned cream of chicken soup, sour cream, shredded cheese, and buttered cornflakes or potato chips for the topping. 

This lightened-up, flavor-packed funeral potatoes recipe uses fresh potatoes, no canned soups, Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, and parmesan bread crumbs in place of potato chips. Also included are onions, scallions, red bell peppers, garlic, cheddar cheese, chorizo sausage and smoked paprika. 

How To Make Funeral Potatoes with Chorizo and Smoked Paprika

The potatoes are boiled, cooled, grated, and mixed with shredded cheese, chopped scallions, Greek yogurt, smoked paprika and sautéed sausages, peppers, onions and garlic. The mixture is transferred to a casserole dish, topped with bread crumbs, and baked until it's heated through and the cheese is bubbling. Serve this hot for maximum Spanish flavor and melting cheesiness!

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Here's the Funeral Potatoes Recipe. If you try this recipe I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

Recipe

Funeral Potatoes with Chorizo and Smoked Paprika

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5 from 1 review

• Author: Lisa
• Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins
• Yield: 10 side dish servings 1x

Print Recipe

Description

A cheesy, shredded potato casserole with vibrant Spanish flavors. A perfect side dish for parties and potlucks.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For The Casserole

• 3 pounds of Idaho russet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped (3 cloves)
• 4 ounces of smoked chorizo sausage, finely chopped
• 8 scallions (1 big bunch) trimmed and thinly sliced
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 cup whole milk Greek yogurt whisked with ¼ cup of water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon mild smoked paprika

Panko Parmesan Topping:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

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Instructions

1. Add potatoes to a large pot of boiling water. Boil for 30 minutes. Cool potatoes in the fridge for at least two hours or as long as two days. When cool enough to handle, grate the potatoes into a large bowl using the largest holes on a box grater or the shredding disc on your food processor. No need to peel the potatoes. There are lots of nutrients in the skin. Remove any large pieces of skin that don't make it through the grater.
2. Make The Panko Topping: Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl or in a small saucepan. Stir in the Panko and parmesan. Toss well, to coat. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil or butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
4. Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Add onion, pepper, garlic and chorizo. Sauté over medium-high heat for 7 minutes or so until the vegetables have softened and the chorizo is just starting to brown. Scrape vegetables and chorizo into the bowl with the potatoes. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes and then add scallions, cheddar, yogurt, paprika, salt and black pepper. Toss to combine and spread mixture evenly into prepared casserole dish.
5. Sprinkle the Panko topping evenly over the casserole and bake for 35-45 minutes, uncovered, until it the casserole is golden brown and heated through.

Notes

How to make this ahead: Follow the instructions through step 4. Store the panko topping in the fridge. Cover the casserole with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Let the casserole sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before adding the panko topping and baking. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered until golden brown and heated through.

How to make this with frozen shredded potatoes: You can substitute a 32-ounce bag of frozen shredded potatoes, thawed, for the fresh potatoes. Here's how to thaw frozen potatoes.

• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: Spanish, American

This recipe first appeared on Panning The Globe on February 17, 2018. The post was updated on October 2, 2020 with a shortened title (used to be 'Spanish Inspired Funeral Potatoes with Chorizo and Smoked Paprika'), clarifying details in the written post and added recipe notes for how to make this with frozen potatoes. Same delicious recipe!