Funeral Potatoes (Freezer meal friendly!)

It was recently brought to my attention that I had alluded to a funeral potato recipe on my blog a few times but never posted it! Such a tragedy! I'm sorry to have held out on you all for so long :) This recipe comes from my Mom's friend Vicki who is an excellent cook! She was one of my church leaders growing up and I can remember having activities at her house and getting to eat her yummy food.  I think my mom first got this recipe at an activity where they learned about Christmas traditions and we've used this for our Christmas night dinner ever since! We usually pair it with pork roast and chile plum sauce (also from Vicki) and you can check out the recipe for that by clicking here! I even have it pictured with funeral potatoes.  And the blog comes full circle...

Anyway, this is one of my butteriest, creamiest recipes I have...and it's also one of my most requested! It's delicious and also great to feed a crowd. This recipe has been used for fundraisers, girl's camp, and coming soon church Christmas parties.  In fact, they are called funeral potatoes because they are often served at funeral luncheons.  They take about 5 min. to throw together and they bake up in about 45 min.  Enjoy!

Funeral Potatoes
1 bag shredded hash browns
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of celery
16 oz. sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar
1/2 bunch green onion chopped

Topping:
2 cups crushed cereal (I use corn Chex or Crispix)
2 T. butter melted

Combine all ingredients (other than topping ingredients).  Place potatoes mixture in a 9x13 pan.  Bake for 30 min. Stir slightly to allow the center to cook and spread evenly in pan again.  Combine crushed cereal with 2 T. melted butter and top potatoes.  Continue baking for 15 min. or until golden brown and bubbly.

Freezer Meal Instructions:

Assembly: 

Combine all potatoes ingredients (other than topping ingredients).  Place potatoes mixture in a 9x13 pan. In a small bowl combine crushed cereal and melted butter for the topping.  Sprinkle on top of potatoes. At this point you can bake immediately or cover in foil and freeze.

When Ready to Cook:

If frozen: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Tent foil over top of potatoes and place pan on baking sheet. Cook for 1 hour 40 minutes or until heated through.  Remove foil and continue cooking ten minutes or until top is golden.

If defrosted: Follow the same heating instructions but reduce cook time to 45 minutes. Removing foil for the final 10 minutes.