Rich and creamy, this Potatoes au Gratin recipe is a decadent side dish that goes with every meal. This French classic is made with layers of finely sliced potatoes, cream, and cheese. What’s not to like about that?! It is perfect for the holidays or a Sunday family dinner.
More Casserole Recipes to Try: Zucchini Casserole Recipe, Cauliflower Casserole Recipe and Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole.
You will love this cozy and indulgent potato side dish. This Casserole recipe is practically the definition of comforting. Creamy on the inside with crisped bits along the edges of the casserole dish, these potatoes au gratin are made with unprocessed ingredients. The whole family will love this recipe and there isn’t a can of creamed anything in sight.
This side dish is perfect for any holiday such as Thanksgiving or Easter. I love serving it with my Garlic Butter Turkey Breast Recipe and Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken. For a more complete holiday dinner, I like to make my Healthier Green Bean Casserole Recipe and Brussels Sprouts Casserole Recipe as well.
What is Potatoes au Gratin?
Potatoes au gratin is a rich and creamy potato dish with thin slices of potatoes covered in cheese. The term “au gratin” means to cover with bread crumbs or grated cheese and browned. It’s quite similar to scalloped potatoes bt scalloped potatoes do not have any cheese.
How to Make
Ingredients
- Heavy cream — I like using heavy cream but you can also use half-half cream to cut down on the richness.
- Garlic — I recommend using fresh garlic cloves instead of garlic powder.
- Butter — I use unsalted butter since there’s already salt and pepper added to the dish.
- Kosher salt and pepper — to taste
- Starchy potatoes — peeled and sliced about 1/8” thick so they add cook evenly.
- Mozzarella — fresh mozzarella is a must for these cheesy potatoes. But you can also use cheddar cheese, sharp cheddar or gruyere cheese.
- Thyme — fresh thymes add a nice touch.
For this recipe I’m not using flour because I want to make a gluten-free Au Gratin potatoes recipe. But the flavor (purpose flour) and texture of this recipe is as good as the ones with flour.
Instructions
Prepare the equipment
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grease a casserole dish with butter or olive oil.
Add everything to the casserole dish
- In a medium glass bowl add heavy cream, garlic, butter, salt, and black pepper. Whisk all well until combined. Set aside.
- Place sliced potatoes in three rows in the casserole dish.
- Pour the cream butter sauce evenly over the potatoes.
- Sprinkle more salt and pepper on top.
Bake the potatoes au gratin
- Cover the dish with foil to prevent the top from burning, place it in the oven, and bake for about 50 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove the foil, top with mozzarella cheese, and return to the oven again.
- Bake for 20 minutes more minutes or until potatoes are done and tender, nice and golden brown on top layer. If it’s not brown, stick the baking dish under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh thyme.
Frequently Asked Questions
You want a starchy and sturdy potato that holds its shape well after baking. The starchy potatoes will help thicken the dish as it bakes. Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes are great for potatoes au gratin. Skip rinsing or soaking the potatoes in cold water, as doing so will rinse away the starches that help thicken the sauce.
If you are using russet potatoes, you should peel the potatoes as the skin is thicker. If you are using a thin-skinned potato like Yukon golds, you can keep the skin on.
You sure can! You can store this in the fridge baked or unbaked a few days ahead of time. If baked, you can reheat the potatoes in the oven. If unbaked, you can bake it as directed but with a few additional minutes as the dish will be cold. Avoid using ceramic if you are making it ahead of time as you don’t want to risk it cracking from the temperature change from the fridge to the oven. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat them in the oven as well.
Recipe Tips
- Other cheeses that would work great are melty cheeses such as cheddar, fontina, havarti, swiss, colby, colby-jack, gruyere, or gouda cheese.
- Instead of thyme, you can try rosemary, marjoram, savory, or oregano.
- If using a mandoline, be sure to use to guard to protect your fingers. If you do not have one, slice them as evenly as you can with a knife. It will take much longer to get even layers, but it works!
More side dishes to try
- Parmesan Brussels Sprouts Salad: This fresh Brussels sprouts are paired with parmesan and a citrus dressing is makes minutes to put together and doesn’t require any fancy ingredients!
- Roasted Green Beans: Perfect side dish for the Holidays!
- Healthier Green Beans Casserole: This casserole is totally made from scratch and it’s lighter than the traditional recipe.
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe: So creamy, tasty and easy to make.
- Savory Mashed Sweet Potato: This healthy and easy side dish recipe is sure to be requested for every holiday meal.
- Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce: A delicious appetizer perfect for any cheese lover.
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Potatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream you can use half-half cream too.
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lb starchy potatoes peeled and sliced about 1/8” thick
- 2 cups mozzarella shredded
- 1 tsp thyme leaves chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350F. Grease with butter or olive oil a rectangular baking dish (9 x 13).
- In a medium glass bowl add heavy cream, garlic, butter, salt and black pepper. Mix all well until combined. Set aside.
- Place sliced potatoes in three tight slanted rows as you can see in the photos and make sure the potato slices are slightly slanted. Pour the cream butter sauce evenly over the potatoes. Sprinkle more salt and pepper on top.
- Cover them with foil, place it in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove the foil, top with mozzarella cheese and return to the oven again. Bake for 20 minutes more minutes or until potatoes are done, nice and golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh thyme. Enjoy!
Tips
- If you’re using potatoes with a thick skin such as russet potatoes, peel them before using them.
- Use half and half instead of heavy cream if you want something a little lighter.
- Shredding your own cheese leads to a smoother potatoes au gratin as pre-shredded cheese has a coating on it that prevents it from melting smoothly.
- To store: You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: I like reheating potatoes au gratin in the oven but you can reheat them in the microwave as well.
- To freeze: While you can freeze this recipe for up to 2 weeks, I find it’s best to make this recipe fresh.
Video
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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