{"id":260160,"date":"2026-01-12T14:55:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/?p=260160"},"modified":"2026-01-12T14:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:55:10","slug":"funeral-potatoes-gone-fancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/01\/12\/funeral-potatoes-gone-fancy\/","title":{"rendered":"Funeral potatoes gone fancy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-secondary-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>Wide Open Table is a bi-monthly Montana Free Press column on all things food and cooking. Sign up for this newsletter here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-newsletters-subscribe newspack-newsletters-subscribe \"\n\t\tdata-success-message=\"Thank you for signing up!\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<form id=\"newspack-subscribe-1\" data-newspack-recaptcha=\"newspack_newsletter_signup\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"newspack_newsletters_subscribe\" value=\"1\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"lists[]\" value=\"9\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"newspack-newsletters-email-input\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"newspack-newsletters-subscribe-block-input-60392-email\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"email\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tname=\"npe\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tautocomplete=\"email\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tplaceholder=\"Email Address\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tvalue=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"submit-button has-background-color has-primary-background-color\"type=\"submit\" style=\"background-color: #aa986a;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"submit\">Sign up<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/form>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"newspack-newsletters-subscribe__response\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"newspack-newsletters-subscribe__icon\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"newspack-newsletters-subscribe__message\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When did you first hear about \u201cfuneral potatoes?\u201d I\u2019ll bet many of you have been introduced to this dish, either at a potluck, a family dinner or an actual funeral. My remake of this communal classic is one you can prepare any time during these cold winter months. It will make lots of palates happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It might seem unlikely that a dish with \u201cfuneral\u201d in its name could become popular outside of an internment ceremony. Until you taste it, that is. Originating in Utah\u2019s LDS community, where funeral services are often accompanied by communal potluck meals, this cheesy and creamy potato casserole has spread far beyond its Rocky Mountain roots. As casseroles go, this one, for me, is right up there with <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/10\/20\/worshipping-at-the-altar-of-church-carpet-casserole\/\">church carpet casserole<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One part of its appeal, especially if you\u2019re making a large batch for a big gathering, is convenience. The original recipe uses canned cream soup and pre-shredded store-bought hashbrowns to make it easy to assemble. Saut\u00e9ed onions, sour cream, cheddar cheese and a topping of either crushed potato chips or corn flakes typically round out the dish.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1635\" height=\"2180\" src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2568.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260157\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It occurred to me a few years ago that while this dish is super satisfying on its own, it could be elevated to incorporate new flavors and more scratch-made elements. My version brings some Italian influence to the table, while keeping the convenience of freezer-section hashbrowns.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my biggest upgrades is the introduction of four Italian cheeses, each serving an important role. Mascarpone brings creaminess, parmesan introduces a familiar salty nuttiness, sharp provolone (also called provolone piccante) adds a bit of bite, and mozzarella pulls it all together. Fennel and pancetta are some additional Italian flavors that make the dish special.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a few tips: First, you need a very large saut\u00e9 pan to combine all the ingredients before it\u2019s time to bake. Second, all these cheeses can be found in most large grocery stores, but some stores have two cheese sections \u2014 one for familiar domestic cheeses, and one for imported specialty cheeses. Look in both sections. You might find the pancetta with the imported specialties as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-italian-four-cheese-funeral-potatoes-recipe-nbsp\"><strong>ITALIAN FOUR CHEESE FUNERAL POTATOES RECIPE&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>30 oz. frozen hashbrowns&nbsp;<br>6-8 oz. pancetta, diced<br>1 small onion, diced<br>1 small bulb of fennel, diced<br>14.5 oz. can chicken stock<br>1\/2 cup milk<br>1\/3 cup flour<br>3\/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated<br>1 1\/2 cup shredded mozzarella, shredded&nbsp;<br>1\/2 cup mascarpone<br>3\/4 cup sharp (piccante) provolone, shredded&nbsp;<br>8 tbsp salted butter<br>1\/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped<br>3 cloves chopped garlic<br>1 cup panko breadcrumbs<br>3 tbsp olive oil<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Toast the breadcrumbs with olive oil over medium heat in a small saut\u00e9 pan. Add some salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flake (optional) for heat. Once the breadcrumbs are lightly golden brown, set them aside while you make the rest of the dish.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3024\" height=\"4032\" src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2596.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260158\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Saut\u00e9 four ounces of the pancetta in a very large pan for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add and cook the diced onion and fennel in 5 tbsp butter over medium heat until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper while it saut\u00e9s. Add the garlic and rosemary, and cook another two minutes. Add the flour, stir it in, and cook another 2-3 minutes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, add the milk, stir, allow it to thicken, and then add the chicken stock. Whisk to make sure no flour lumps remain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simmer the ingredients for a few minutes and then remove from heat. Add your mascarpone first and mix thoroughly. Then stir in the shredded provolone, the shredded mozzarella, and half of the grated parmesan. Add the hashbrowns and stir until all ingredients are incorporated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Transfer the mixture to a buttered 9\u201d x 13\u201d or 10\u201d x 14\u201d casserole dish (or two smaller dishes) and top with the toasted bread crumbs and the rest of the grated parmesan. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Allow the casserole to sit 15-20 minutes before serving. While it sits, saut\u00e9 the remaining 2-4 ounces of pancetta until crisp, and drain off the fat. Top each serving with crispy pancetta when plating.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-gray-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha ts-2 \"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"240619\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-section-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>LATEST STORIES<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262736\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-montana-insights category-montana-insights type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/75-of-voters-want-montana-to-have-at-least-as-much-federal-land-as-it-does-now\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">75% of voters want Montana to have at least as much federal land as it does now<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Federal land transfer has been a party of the GOP party platform at both the state and national level, but a recent MTFP-Eagleton poll indicates that a majority of Republican voters oppose reducing the amount of land in federal ownership.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/aeggert\/\">Amanda Eggert<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T14:34:54-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T14:35:02-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262727\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-westerndev category-politics type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/christi-jacobsen-zinke-western-house\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen joins contest for Zinke\u2019s western U.S. House District seat<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Jacobsen made her announcement on Facebook with a campaign video portraying her as both a political outsider and the favorite of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/tom-lutey\/\">Tom Lutey<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T12:29:26-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T22:45:03-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262679\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-bob-morris tag-data-centers tag-energy tag-greg-gianforte tag-montana-insights tag-northwestern-energy tag-public-service-commission tag-ryan-zinke tag-steve-daines tag-troy-downing tag-u-s-congress tag-unleashing-energy-task-force category-energy category-montana-insights type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/montanans-want-more-solar-natural-gas-development-are-less-interested-in-new-coal-plants\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Montanans want more solar, natural gas development, are less interested in new coal plants<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The poll results on Montana\u2019s energy mix come as politicians and policymakers grapple with surging electricity demand spurred by investment in artificial intelligence and the data centers that support it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/aeggert\/\">Amanda Eggert<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T08:00:00-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll bet many of you have been introduced to \u201cfuneral potatoes,\u201d either at a potluck, a family dinner or an actual funeral. My remake of this communal classic is one you can prepare any time during these cold winter months. It will make lots of palates happy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1980,"featured_media":260161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-01-12T21:55:07Z","apple_news_api_id":"74ddeca5-f7c4-4709-83ea-ea53f38a6e35","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-01-12T21:55:16Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AdN3spffERwmD6upT84puNQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_primary_brand":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"A four-cheese Italian version of the communal casserole classic.\n","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[16556,34493],"tags":[10351,34496],"post_format":[],"brand":[],"partner":[],"series":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[34491],"class_list":["post-260160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-wide-open-table","tag-homepage-hidden","tag-wide-open-table","entry"],"slp_mobile_featured_image":{"id":260161,"href":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260161","image_path":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/funeral-potato-2.png","caption":""},"slp_coauthors":[{"display_name":"Jon Bennion","user_nicename":"jon-bennion","author_link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/jon-bennion\/"}],"slp_primary_category":{"id":34493,"name":"Wide Open Table"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Funeral potatoes gone fancy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A four-cheese Italian version of the communal casserole classic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/01\/12\/funeral-potatoes-gone-fancy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Funeral potatoes gone fancy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A four-cheese Italian version of the communal casserole classic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/01\/12\/funeral-potatoes-gone-fancy\/\" 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