Scalloped potatoes au gratin are a rite of passage for every home cook and these are my family’s favorite. The heavy cream and bubbly-browned gruyere cheese push the flavor over the top. They are a staple of our Easter Sunday dinner and pair perfectly with a baked ham.
Cheeses Galore
My favorite is gruyere, but if you’re a cheddar-head this recipe works equally well. Parmesan and fontina, smoked gouda and havarti or any combination of cheeses will make make a delicious casserole.
Pitfalls
There is really only one way to mess up scalloped potatoes and it’s undercooking them. You don’t want to bite into a hard raw potato in the middle of all that gooey cheesy goodness. This is easily avoided.
Slicing the potatoes uniformly thin ensures they all cook completely and equally. I use a mandolin for this and it accomplishes both objectives quickly and easily.
Pre-Assembly
To save time with pre-dinner prep follow the instructions, but leave off the last portion of cheese. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, pressing it uniformly onto the surface to keep a skin from forming and refrigerate a day ahead. Remove the plastic wrap 30 minutes before baking, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake.
Scalloped Potatoes Au Gratin
Creamy gruyere scalloped potatoes!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic – peeled and smashed
- Butter – room temp
- 4 pounds yukon gold potatoes – peeled and sliced thinly with a mandoline
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 TBLfresh thyme – packed
- 1 TBL saly
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 7–8 oz (1 wedge) gruyere cheese – coarsely grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375
- Rub the bottom and sides of a 10 X 12 baking dish with the garlic – reserve the garlic
- Brush pan generously with butter
- Place the cream, milk, nutmeg, salt, pepper and thyme into a heavy bottom pot
- Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/8″ thick rounds with a mandolin to achieve uniform thickness of the potatoes
- Place the potatoes in the pot as you peel and slice them to prevent them from turning brown. Do not rinse the potatoes because you want to retain all the starch
- Gently combine with a spatula and bring to a boil over high heat
- Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 1-2 more minutes
- Spoon 1/3 of the potatoes and sauce mixture into your baking dish
- Sprinkle with 1/3 of the gruyere cheese and repeat layering twice more
- Loosely cover the dish with parchment lined aluminum foil, parchment side down
- Bake until potatoes are tender, about 40 minutes
- Remove the foil and turn the oven to broil
- Broil until the potatoes and cheese are bubbly and browned, 3-5 minutes
- Remove from the oven and cool 20 minutes before serving