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
Brilliant adaptation, Nagi! I’ve tried it with several different cheeses over the years, but you know, I really like your idea of combining Mozz and Parm. You get the gooeyness from one and the umami from the other, and I think it is even better than the standard Gruyère. Cheers and Good on ya!
Utterly delicious and completely demolished in one sitting. No chance of leftovers!
I doubled this to bring for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner for 11 people. Before getting started, I read through the reviews to get an idea of issues others encountered. My main worry was the potatoes would not be cooked all the way through because I was doubling and using one large rectangle dish. I worried for nothing because it came out perfect. I used russet potatoes and even weighed them so it wouldn’t be over the recommended amount. I used full fat cream, gruyere cheese, thyme and other ingredients exactly as called for. This will turn out perfect if you follow Nagi’s recipe exactly as written and using the ingredients called for, i.e. don’t use half and half, the wrong cheese etc. If it helps others, my bake time was 1 hour 30 minutes covered plus the additional 15 minutes uncovered. Don’t skip the thyme. There was a small amount of leftovers which were even tastier the next day. Also, for folks who don’t have a scale, 2 1/2 Ibs potatoes is about 5 medium size. Plan to make again for Christmas dinner!
Question, mine curdled. I used Gouda and Swiss but otherwise followed. Do you have any idea why? Still tasted good but not so much of a looker lol Ps, I love your recipes! Use yours often.
Best potatoes EVER. Don’t skimp. Use the gruyere. I did mostly gruyere plus maybe 1/3 a fancy old hard white cheddar. I also sautéed some finely cut onion with the garlic that I added in.
I’ll be making this for our weekend bbq. But I always double (sometimes triple) the garlic haha!
Also please remember to advise your lovely neighbours here in NZ the best potato to use. Thank you ☺️
Nagi, I was making a baked potato dish where we usually do a shortcut and use a cream of onion soup packet with milk as a sauce to pour over, but I didn’t have any. I quickly looked among your recipes and found this Potato au Gratin (Dauphinoise) potato recipe. I already layered all my cooked sliced potatoes with fried bacon, garlic, a bit of chili, onions and cheese. I needed a sauce so I improvised and used the cream and butter mixture for your recipe and just poured it over everything. The result was amazing. I am never going back to our old way of making a baked potato dish. 🙂
I love the idea of bacon
Family loved it, especially Mum.
Make this regularly as my wife and i absolutely love it. I either use Maris piper or Red potatoes. I use cheddar cheese to reduce the cost plus the strong cheddar is tastier and you don’t need much. We usually have it with roast Chicken, broccoli and other green vegetables. Yummy!
Awesome results and loved by family.
if i double the recipe how big of a dish do i need
i have 16 people coming for dinner and need to double the recipe(which i have made before and love) how big of a dish do i need or is it better to make it in two
Interested recip
This recipe was delicious. The cream garlic and butter makes the potatoes have a light garlicky sour cream flavor with the cheese. Takes a while to cook I cooked at 375 and it still took about 1 hour 15. But I also had something else in the oven. But very easy to assemble which is just my speed.
Great recipe. Added bacon and cooked for 1.5 hours before adding cheese and potato was perfect. Definitely making this again
This is a great recipe.
I used dried thyme and mature cheddar and it came out so well making it again today. 😁
This was insanely good! Thank you for sharing your exquisite recipes with us 💕
Everyone loved these potatoes. Super easy, and yummy. I followed the recipe to the letter but, used pre shredded co jack cheese. Next time I may add some chopped jalapeños to it. This will become a staple in our rotation. Thanks.
I cooked this dish for 3 1/2 hours and it was still raw. I know it’s not my oven because the chicken cooked fine . Still searching for au gratin potato that actually works.
My only thought is that your potatoes were too thick or you did not cover the dish which would help the potatoes steam. A thin cut via a mandolin is ideal and everyone else said there dish was done in 75 mins covered and 15 mins uncovered. Good luck!
My childhood from scratch delicious!!!!!