Funeral Potatoes - minus the canned soup

I was watching the Food Network and the Neely’s show came on. Let me just tell you, I usually dislike that show (they are so nauseatingly cheesy), but I was intrigued by one item on the menu so I continued to watch. Well sort of - it was just long enough to see them make this hash brown casserole, which looked pretty dang amazing…AND as an added bonus, it didn’t use any sort of canned cream of something soup.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I grew up eating canned cream of something soups, but I have recently decided I do not like them. I guess not too recent - It has been a few years. Don’t worry - I am not getting all weird - I still eat my fair share of Doritos and other delicious processed foods - just not canned soups :)

Back to the funeral potatoes (by the way, is that a Utah term?)…seems like it is.

In true Hailee fashion, I started with the original recipe and modified. Here is what I came up with:

Funeral Potatoes

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-5 slices of bacon - diced and cooked to a crisp
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar
• 15 ounces package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (they only had 30 ounce packages at my grocery store - I just used half)
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the butter and olive oil to a large skillet. Once foaming and melted, add the onions and sauté until tender. Stir in the flour and some salt and pepper and cook until starting to get light brown, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and stir until smooth. The mixture will begin to thicken as it comes to a simmer. Once thick, turn off the heat and add 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir until melted. Now add in the sour cream and garlic and stir to combine. Next, add the hash browns, bacon, and green onions and stir until well mixed. Check the seasoning at this point and add salt and pepper as needed.

Add to a 2 quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes.

I think the only thing I would have done differently is cutting down on the bacon and just sprinkling it on the top. It lost its crispness - which wasn’t cool! Everything else was spot on. This was great as a side for dinner, but would also be awesome for breakfast or brunch!

So...it's Friday and I am excited! This whole daylight savings thing has thrown me off! Have a great weekend everyone.