First question-do you know what I’m talking about when I say Funeral Potatoes? They are a staple at Latter-day Saint funeral luncheons, and like many, I grew up with them as a staple on Christmas Eve and often Easter. They were always a favorite–the combination of Cream of Chicken Soup, Cheese, Sour Cream, Butter and Potatoes is bound to create something that keeps you coming back for more.

But as my detours from plant-strong eating have become more and more infrequent, I really wanted to find a way to recreate this delicious comfort food with simple, whole food ingredients.

When I began experimenting with this plant-based spinach artichoke dip, the dip wasn’t especially popular with the troops. Pretty sure they just weren’t ready for the artichokes, but I knew the sauce itself had potential. When I combined the short ingredient list, pureed it into a smooth and creamy sauce and poured it over cooked potatoes, the results were divine!

And even though we are heading into the time of year when I like to avoid the oven, I included these in the May Meal Plan because they are just so good! And here in Colorado we had our field day get snowed out at the end of May last year, so it’s good to have some variety on the menu.

While I am a fresh potato kind of girl, this should come together no problem with frozen potatoes, making this meal super easy. If green onions in the casserole or cornflakes on top are your thing, add them! Add some salad and fruit and this easily makes for any plant-based main dish. But it’s also the perfect side dish to bring to a traditional holiday meal.

To make these, start by cooking your potatoes your preferred method. I made double the recipe below, and just washed 5 lbs of potatoes and cooked them in my Instant Pot for 12 minutes (2 cups water). Starting this in the morning gave them time to cool off and made peeling and chopping a breeze.

If you are using frozen potatoes, I recommend rinsing them with warm water so they are mostly thawed.

While your potatoes cook, soak your cashews, saute your onions and garlic and then blend it up into a rich and creamy sauce!

A Note About Salt

Keep your audience in mind when you consider how much salt to add to these. If you are feeding them to people who are accustomed to traditional funeral potatoes, which are made with mostly high-sodium ingredients, they will prefer these with a higher salt content.

If you are careful about your salt intake, you can use less and just give it a little sprinkle when you eat.

These funeral potatoes are whole-food, plant-based, vegan and easy!

Print Recipe

Healthy, Plant-Based Funeral Potatoes [Vegan, Easy]

Perfect for holidays, but easy enough to make any night of the week!

Course

Main Dish

Keyword

healthy, Plant-Based, Vegan

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Passive Time

30 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

• 2.5 lbs potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups cashews preferably raw unsalted, but any will work
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 1/2 C plain, unsweetened almond milk or non-dairy milk of choice, NOT coconut
• 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice from 1 small lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• corn flakes, bread crumbs, crackers optional topping
• 1/2 cup diced green onion optional

Course Main Dish Keyword healthy, Plant-Based, Vegan Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Passive Time 30 minutes Servings Ingredients 2.5 lbs potatoes 1 1/2 cups cashews preferably raw unsalted, but any will work 4 cloves garlic minced 1 small onion diced 1 1/2 C plain, unsweetened almond milk or non-dairy milk of choice, NOT coconut 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice from 1 small lemon 1 tsp salt corn flakes, bread crumbs, crackers optional topping 1/2 cup diced green onion optional

Instructions

1. Cook potatoes in Instant Pot (15 minutes), boil on the stove, or bake whole in the oven. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and chop into 3/4 inch pieces.
2. Preheat oven to 425. Meanwhile pour about 3 cups hot water over the cashews and allow them soak.
3. Saute onion and garlic in a skillet with a splash of water for 7-8 minutes until soft.
4. Add plant milk, lemon juice and salt to blender. After at least 5 minutes soak time, drain cashews and add to blender. Blend until smooth.
5. When potatoes are well-cooked and cooled, peel and chop into 3/4 inch pieces and mix with cashew sauce and green onions if using in large bowl. Carefully pour mixture into 2.5 qt, 8x11 pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown. If using additional corn flakes or other topping, add after 20 minutes bake time.

Recipe Notes

Notes: To save time, frozen hash browns can be used. For best results, thaw in advance and choose a brand that has only potatoes in the ingredient list.

Recipe is doubled in photo in an 11 x 15 pan.