Potatoes au Gratin – forget scalloped potatoes, THIS is the creme de la creme of all potato recipes!! Also known as Dauphinoise Potatoes, this French classic is adapted from a Julia Child’s recipe. With layers upon layers of finely sliced potatoes baked in, cream, butter and cheese with a hint of fresh thyme, it’s luxurious and thoroughly indulgent.
Bonus: It’s the ultimate make ahead potato side dish! And next time, try Brie Dauphinoise…
Potatoes au Gratin
Potatoes au Gratin? Or Scalloped Potatoes?
If you’re wondering what the difference is between Scalloped Potatoes and Au Gratin Potatoes, scalloped potatoes are made with a flour-butter-milk roux, whereas Potatoes au Gratin are made with 100% indulgence: cream, butter and cheese.
So I ask you again: Potatoes au Gratin? Or Scalloped Potatoes?
There’s no contest. Cream trumps flour Every. Single. Day. 😂
Potatoes au Gratin for the win!!!
All the essential food groups present
I was going to say that it’s quite remarkable how so few ingredients can make something so luxurious. But the reality is, it’s pretty hard to go wrong when potatoes, cream, butter and cheese are involved.
We’re working with all the good stuff today!
Best kind of potatoes for au gratin
This is the sort of potato dish where we want the potatoes to breakdown and become lovely and soft under that golden cheesy crust, so we need to ensure we use starchy potatoes. Australia – I use Sebago (those dirt brushed potatoes). America – Russet is perfect, and for those of you in the UK, King Edward or Maris Piper are perfect. Or any other starchy potatoes – Dutch creams, King Edwards or red delight.
To be honest, as long as you do not use a waxy potato then it’s going to work great – I’ve used all sorts over the years. Waxy potatoes are the kind used for potato salads and if used in Potatoes au Gratin, the layers sort of slip apart and you’ll have paper-thin-potato UFO’s flying all over the place.
Been there, done that. Not good, my friends.
How to make potatoes au gratin
Thinly sliced potato is layered with a cream-butter-garlic mixture, sprinkled with thyme and the mandatory cheese in every layer. Bake covered for 75 minutes (yes really, it takes that long), then uncovered just to make the cheese on top lovely and golden.
While it might seem daunting to thinly slice 1 kg / 2 lb of potatoes, this is the sort of task where you’ll quickly get into a rhythm. By the 3rd potato, you’ll be slicing like a pro!
Though having said that, a mandolin will make short work of it….
I am yet to meet a form of potato I don’t like. And of all the ways to cook potato, this is my favourite. (UPDATE: Though the newly invented Brie Dauphinoise version is also a hot contender!).
Sure, sometimes I stray and get excited by my latest obsession. I went mad for Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes, and crazy over Parmesan Crusted Potatoes. I thought Twice-baked Stuffed Jacket Potatoes were the ant’s pants.
But Potatoes au Gratin are a classic that I’ll love forever and ever. First made using Julie Child’s recipe which then evolved slightly over the years to what it is today. A slightly more streamlined assembly process, the addition of garlic and… I upped the cheese.
Do you think Julia would approve?? 😂 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Potatoes au Gratin (Dauphinoise)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cream , full fat (Note 1)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1.25 kg / 2.5 lb starchy potatoes , Russet, Sebago, Maris Piper (Note 2)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 1/2 cups gruyere cheese (colby, cheddar, havarti or tasty), freshly grated yourself (Note 3)
- 2 tsp thyme leaves , fresh (optional – but highly recommended)
Instructions
- Cream Mixture: Place butter, cream and garlic in a jug. Mix until combined.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (both fan and standard ovens).
- Slice potatoes: Peel the potatoes and slice them 1/8"/3 mm thick. Or use a slicer!
- Layer 1: Spread 1/3 of the potatoes in a baking dish (Note 3), then pour over 1/3 of the Cream Mixture, scatter with 1/3 of the salt, pepper and thyme. Sprinkle with 3/4 cups cheese.
- Layers 2 & 3: Repeat for the 2nd and third layer, but do not finish with cheese on the top layer (will add later).
- Cover & bake: Cover with lid or foil, and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the potatoes in the middle are soft (use knife to test), it might take 1 1/2 hours. (Note 5)
- Top with cheese, bake again: Remove foil, top with cheese. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Stand 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Au Gratin Potatoes recipe originally published December 2014. New photos, recipe video and updated post in December 2018, then some tidying up done in December 2020. No change to recipe!
Feed your potato obsession
Life of Dozer
Can this be frozen? If so, what changes might need to be made? Thank you
Can this be doubled? What size pan? Looking forward to this for the holiday! I have a large crowd. The make ahead instructions are great!
You need one that holds at least 3-3.5 litres like a large roasting pan (or use two separate 1.5-1.7 litre dishes) . The layer might not be as thick but the dish will still be delicious! N x
Thank you!
Hi Nagi,
Can you do this in a slow cooker? And if so, would you know how long for? I have the Kambrook slow cooker (the biggest one).
Hi Anna – not recommended for this recipe! N x
Will purple potatoes work in this recipe? I bought some at the farmers market but am seeing conflicting info online as to whether they are considered starchy or waxy. The ones I got are fairly big – not fingerling or baby size.
Made this about three weeks ago came out perfect, thank you very much!
The only note I would add is I felt it needed more liquid for that amount of potato. This resulted in me mixing up more of the cream mix.
I’m going to make tonight serve with a lamb shoulder
I was a little short on time so I prepared this as directed and cooked at 400 degrees for 1 hour then I took the tinfoil off and put some more cheese on top and baked for an additional 15 minutes. It worked out great and the potatoes were nice and soft. My cream kind of curdled in the pan though, I feel like some flour in the layers might have helped it thicken up instead. But it was still so good and pretty easy to whip up!
Potatoe gratin doesn’t contain cheese!!! 😛
“Au Gratin’ literally means with cheese. Any recipe with the words au gratin has cheese in it. Scalloped potatoes have no cheese but generally contain sliced onions. I don’t think whether they are thickened with cream or flour has anything to do with differentiating scalloped from au gratin potatoes though.
With cheese would be au fromage
I know! I have a note in the recipe card intro saying that… and also that I could NEVER make this without!! 🙂 N xx
If I wanted to half the recipe, what size pan would I use and how long would I bake for?
I put my melted butter into my cream and it curdled. Any idea why or how to prevent it?
Make sure the cream is at room temp and the butter isn’t too warm.
One of my favourite ways to have potatoes. I also add some garlic because I’m a garlic fiend. I have also layered this on top of cottage pie mince instead of mashed potatoes… Amazing combination!
It is called “gratin dauphinois”. One of my favorites.
Followed the recipe very closely but used a packaged 3 cheeses for bakes, mozzarella, parmi n cheddar mix…turned just as in the pic n delicious
I added mushrooms, onion and bacon
I’m so upset I just can’t seem to get it right I need some help please 🥺 iv made this 3 times now and every time it doesn’t come out nice and creamy it’s almost like it splits and all the cheese goes solid and looks like it’s sitting in water what am I doing wrong ?
Mine split too. I followed the directions but the sauce is NOT creamy. I’ve wasted a lot of ingredients on this.
I cooked the recipe for the first time tonight and had the same issue. Although the taste is there it is a bit runny. I added mushrooms, onion and bacon. I thought next time I might add a teaspoon of flour to the cream, butter and garlic mixture to help thickin up.
Maybe you should try dried
Mushrooms, mushrooms have a lot of moisture in they
Love this recipe! Was thinking for a dinner party I might try individual ones – any ideas! Maybe in large muffin tins? Not sure if it’s worth it our how to adjust. Would really appreciate advice 😊
That sounds cool! I’d do it in ramekins so you can serve still in the dish. Muffin tins would mean you’d have to try and get them out nicely which could be difficult and ruin the hard work of making them individually.
Nagi has done exactly this!
https://salesdock.info/cheesy-potato-gratin-stacks-muffin-tin/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Made this tonight. It was YUM. So so good. I will be making it again. For those struggling with cooking the potatoes properly, you just slice them finely. I used the slicer on my food processor.
Oh my these were good!! And very easy with my food processor. Had to use half and half and partially Swiss cheese because that’s what I had on hand, but no matter. Next time I’ll try sharp cheddar and add jalapeños. I really want to try your Hasslebacks but I don’t think my carpal tunnel will allow it.
Just finished making this in an attempt to introduce Western cuisine to my fiancé and I cannot rate this highly enough! It’s rich. It’s creamy. And it took zero time and effort to make.
Sadly I got a little too heavy-handed with the thyme (it’s never good to just eyeball it while simultaneously watching Netflix), but that’s all on me.
Seriously good and can’t wait for my fiancé’ to have a try as well.
It’s been cooking for 2 hours, potatoes are still hard
I have had that issue in the past with many potato recipes, now I always par cook the potatoes.
Me too. I keep putting it back in the oven.
Thank you, this was an amazingly simple and delicious alternative to my usual attempts!!
Can I use other vegetables such as cauliflower as a substitute for potato?
😄
The potatoes were a great success! But can I use the same cream sauce with cauliflower?🙏😊😊
The potatoes were a great success! But can I use the same cream sauce with cauliflower?🙏😊😊
Hi Jan – you can, although I would roast cauliflower off first to avoid it going watery, like this method: https://salesdock.info/cauliflower-cheese/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E