Pillsbury's Cheesy Potatoes

I might have had them earlier, but the first experience I remember at having "funeral potatoes" was at a marching band banquet in college, possibly my first year.  When Scott and I got married and I found out that his mother had a recipe for them, I jumped on the chance to get it for my collection.  We made them for several years and loved them.  Then, a few years ago, I found this recipe for cheesy potatoes.  It is a lot like "funeral potatoes" (same great taste) but they are a little less work, which is always a plus for me.  One big difference, there is no bread crumb/potato chip topping.  We make these all the time now, and my family loves them.  Enjoy!

The picture and recipe came from the Pillsbury website.

Cheesy Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (32 oz.) frozen diced potatoes/hash browns
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 2 cups shredded cheese (8 oz.)                                
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream                                
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 can (10 ¾ oz.) cream of chix soup                        
• ¼ cup chopped onion (optional)
• 2 Tbl. Chopped fresh parsley (use less if using dry parsley)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Spray 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  
3. In large microwave bowl, defrost potatoes 12-15 minutes, or until thawed, stirring once or twice.  
4. Stir in remaining ingredients, except parsley.  Spread in baking dish.  
5. Bake 30-45 minutes, or until browned and bubbly around the edges.  Sprinkle with parsley.

Marsha's Notes:

If using dry parsley, I just add enough to have little green flecks running through my potatoes and I mix them into the sauce before I bake everything instead of sprinkling them on at the end.  I also like to use the frozen potatoes that are tiny cubes, just like the ones in the picture.  It's just a little different than the grated potato hash browns.

We have also added bacon bits to this recipe, and it was great. Just watch how much salt you use when adding bacon.