Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes

At a glance

What stands out: Everyone’s favorite crockpot cheesy potatoes (aka funeral potatoes) are a classic dish for potlucks and holidays. They’re so straightforward to mix in a slow cooker with only 5 ingredients!

How long it takes: 5 minutes to prep, 4 to 8 hours to slow cook
Equipment you’ll need: slow cooker
Servings: 10

Classic Cheesy Potatoes

Crockpot cheesy potatoes. Where do we even begin? We swear these have a piece of our heart. Am we the only one that grew up eating these at practically every holiday gathering? Maybe it’s a Michigan thing, but cheesy potatoes are a must at holidays, especially Easter and Christmas. They instantly bring back memories for us.

Throw ham, green beans or crockpot baked beans, soft dinner rolls, 7 layer salad, and a family-favorite dessert (we love apple crisp or chocolate delight dessert!) into the mix, and all that’s left to add is laughter and love.

Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes

Comfort food. After all that discussion about laughter and love, we found out that this recipe is commonly known as “funeral potatoes.” And why not? Comfort food that’s straightforward to mix, ready to serve whenever you need it, reliable for crowds – yup, totally makes sense for funeral gatherings.

Straightforward recipe. This is such a straightforward recipe to make, with only four ingredients, if you don’t count black pepper.

Hands-off. These wonderful potatoes are made in the slow cooker! That’s right – throw everything into the crockpot before you go to church (it takes about five minutes!) and guess what? The cheesy potatoes are ready when you get home (just like this awesome slow cooker stuffing recipe!) Plus, it frees up that valuable oven space AND keeps them warm for serving. It’s pretty much an ideal situation if you ask us.

Holiday perfection. On Thanksgiving you have good ol’ stuffing (or maybe you call it dressing in your neck of the woods) or from-scratch baked mac and cheese, but every other holiday necessitates CHEESY POTATOES.

Brunch. Cheesy potatoes totally work for brunch just as well as for dinner. We always eat the leftovers for breakfast the next day. They’re like hash browns, only better. Who doesn’t like creamy, cheesy, gooey potatoes? This is ultimate comfort food!

What goes in

• Frozen Potatoes: The Southern-style cubed potatoes work best for slow cooker cheesy potatoes. We usually use hash browns shredded potatoes for oven-baked potatoes but they tend to get too mushy in the slow cooker. They sort of turn into cheesy mashed potatoes.
• Sour Cream: You can use reduced fat or just regular sour cream.
• Cream of Chicken Soup: If you want, choose Lighter Request soup which has reduced amounts of fat and cholesterol, or no-salt-added cream of chicken soup if it’s available.
• Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese: For loads of cheesy flavor!

How it comes together

Spray your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray for straightforward cleanup.

Mix all ingredients together in slow cooker until combined (reserve a bit of the cheese for topping, if desired). No need to even get a bowl dirty!

Cook, covered, on high for 4 hours or on low 6 to 8 hours.

If desired, reserve a half cup of the cheese. Fifteen minutes before serving, sprinkle the reserved cheese on top, cover the crockpot, and let the cheese melt. This makes a nice cheesy topping for the potatoes. It looks and tastes good!

Straightforward Recipe Variations

• Add meat. Want to jazz up crockpot cheesy potatoes? Add cooked, crumbled bacon, diced ham, sausage, finely diced onions or green onions, finely diced jalapeño peppers, whatever you love!
• Add a crispy topping. Often cheesy potatoes have a crispy cornflake topping. If you’d like to add it to this recipe, stir together ½ cup melted butter and 1 ½ cups cornflakes. Sprinkle the cornflake topping on the potatoes for the last half hour of cooking time. We like to drape paper towels over the top of the crockpot, then put the lid back on so the condensation on the lid doesn’t drip down and make the topping soggy.
• Make it with raw potatoes. You can cut or coarsely shred your own potatoes for this recipe instead of using frozen potatoes. Make sure to put them in a lint-free towel first and wring out all the liquid.
• Try crockpot mashed potatoes instead. If you are more of a mashed potato fan, try our crockpot mashed potatoes. They are straightforward and turn out so well.
• Looking for a faster option? If you don’t have time for slow cooking, try stovetop cheesy scalloped potatoes or oven roasted parmesan potatoes. Another favorite of ours is cauliflower and potato casserole, which is dressed up with a creamy cheese sauce and crispy breadcrumbs.

Funeral Potatoes

You might know cheesy potatoes as “funeral potatoes. Cheesy potatoes are often brought to funeral gatherings as an expression of sympathy. They travel well, are straightforward to mix, and because they are so rich, starchy, and full of melted cheese, they are considered comfort food.

Cheesy potatoes are somewhat similar to au gratin potatoes but there are significant differences. Funeral potatoes (aka cheesy potatoes) are usually made with frozen potatoes and canned soup, sort of a shortcut version of potatoes au gratin. To make au gratin potatoes, sliced raw potatoes are layered in a baking dish with cheese and a creamy white sauce, and baked until tender.

Make-Ahead Ideas

You can prep the cheesy potatoes the night before if you know you’re going to be short on time the next day. Simply mix all the ingredients in a big bowl, cover and refrigerate. Scrape everything into your crockpot when you’re ready to cook the potatoes, cover, and cook as directed.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate/Freeze: If you have leftover potatoes, refrigerate them in a covered container. They’ll keep for up to five days, assuming they weren’t sitting out for 3 hours before you refrigerated them. You can also freeze them for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Reheat: To reheat potatoes, simply microwave them in 30-second intervals until heated through. If you have a lot left over, you may want to spread them in a baking dish, cover, and reheat in the oven at 325°F for a half hour or so, or until warm.

• Yield: 10
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 4 hours
• Total: 4 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bag (30 ounces) frozen diced potatoes, Southern style (see note 1)
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• ½ teaspoon black pepper, more if desired

Method

1. Spray sides of slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
2. If you want to have a cheese topping, reserve ½ cup of the shredded cheese. (see note 2). Otherwise, mix all ingredients together in slow cooker until combined.
3. Cook, covered, on High for 4 hours or on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Turn slow cooker to the Warm setting to keep potatoes warm until you're ready to serve them.

Notes

Frozen potatoes: we've found that the Southern-style cubed potatoes work best for slow cooker cheesy potatoes. Hash brown shredded potatoesm which we use for oven-baked cheesy potatoes tend to get too mushy in the slow cooker. a cheese topping.

Add a cheese topping. If desired, reserve ½ cup of cheese. Fifteen minutes before serving, sprinkle reserved cheese on top, cover, and let cheese melt. This makes a nice cheesy topping for the potatoes.

Add a crispy cornflake topping. Mix ½ cup melted butter with 1 ½ cups cornflakes. Sprinkle the topping on for the last half hour of cooking time. We like to drape paper towels over the top of the crockpot, then put the lid back on so the condensation on the lid doesn’t drip down and make the topping soggy.

Make a double batch. Double all ingredients. Make sure you have a large enough slow cooker! Cook an additional hour.

Possible add-ins: Finely chopped onions (1 cup) can be added to the potatoes, if desired. More add ins: diced ham, crumbled bacon, cooked sausage, peppers.