Creamy Potatoes au Gratin is an indulgent side dish made with thinly sliced potatoes layered in a creamy mixture of butter, cream, garlic, and cheese. This wonderful recipe has an incredible, rich flavor.
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It's baked until golden and bubbly, giving it a deliciously cheesy crust. The potatoes are cooked until tender and pair perfectly with any main dish. These potatoes are the perfect side dish to use when you would normally make Garlic Roasted Potatoes or Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
Why this recipe works
It's simple enough for a weekly side dish recipe yet can be fancy enough to be served on a special occasion or with your holiday main dishes like my Slow Cooker Honey Ham.
This Au Gratin Potatoes recipe is easy to prep, it only takes 15 minutes of prep time. The tender potatoes combined with the fresh garlic, creamy sauce, and lots of cheese are the best comfort food to enjoy.
Ingredients needed
- Potatoes: I used Russet potatoes
- Butter
- Onion: medium white onion, diced
- Cloves garlic: Fresh minced is best here.
- All-purpose flour: Helps to thicken the sauce.
- Heavy whipping cream: can be swapped for half and half
- Herbs: Fresh thyme, or dried thyme, and fresh parsley for garnish
- Gruyere cheese: You can use a white cheddar, Mozzarella cheese or a mixture.
How to Make Creamy Potatoes Au Gratin
- Step 1: In a skillet, melt butter and add the garlic and diced onion. Saute everything together until onions are golden brown.
- Step 2: Add flour, stir, and let cook.
- Step 3: Pour in the cream and stir.
- Step 4: Continue to stir the cream as you add salt, pepper, and thyme so the cream doesn't burn.
- Step 5: Peel and cut potatoes.
- Step 6: In the bottom of a casserole dish, add a layer of potato slices.
- Step 7: Cover potatoes with 1/2 of the cream mixture.
- Step 8: Add 1/3 of the cheese.
- Step 9: Add another layer of potatoes.
- Step 10: Pour on the rest of the cream sauce and another layer of cheese. Bake covered with aluminum foil, then add the last bit of cheese and finish baking. Salt and pepper to taste, serve, and enjoy.
Recipe Tips
- I like to use Gruyere cheese because the flavor is incredible, but it can be expensive. If you need a cheaper option, try freshly shredded mozzarella cheese since it melts nicely. It just won't be as flavorful. Also, you could use cheddar cheese or a combination of any of these.
- I suggest getting a block of cheese and shredding it. Don't buy the pre-shredded stuff as it doesn't melt as nicely.
- Make this perfect side dish even cheesier by garnishing it with parmesan cheese.
- When adding the potato layers, don't layer them too thick or too tight together. You want all the potatoes to cook evenly.
Recipe Faq's
I like to russet potatoes, but you can use Yukon gold potatoes as well. Yukons have a nice buttery flavor that pairs nicely with the cream sauce. This potato gratin recipe would also be delicious if you used sweet potatoes.
To get nice, even thin slices for your potatoes, you can cut by hand. But, I find it much easier, and faster, to use a mandoline slicer.
For best results, once these creamy au gratin potatoes have cooled to room temperature, you can transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and store them in the fridge. Or you can cover the baking dish with foil and store it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Keep in mind that the longer these potatoes sit in the sauce, the faster they'll turn to mush.
The good news is, yes, you can prep this ahead of time. You can make the cheesy sauce, slice the potatoes, and layer it all together in the dish before baking. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before storing it in the refrigerator for up to a day or two in advance. Any longer and you risk the potatoes starting to break down from the sauce around them.
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Potatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients
- 3 pounds potatoes I use Russet
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ medium white onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream or half n half
- 1 teaspoon salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 ½ cups Gruyere or freshly grated cheddar cheese *See note
- Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat add onions and garlic, saute for 2-3 minutes. Add flour and whisk for 30 seconds to let the flour cook a bit.
- Reduce heat to low and pour in the cream, salt, pepper, and thyme, whisk and let come to a simmer. Keep whisking it so it doesn’t scorch. After 3-4 minutes the sauce should thicken nicely. Turn off the heat and set it aside.
- Peel potatoes and using a sharp knife or mandoline slicer cut potatoes about 1/8 inches thick.
- Place a layer of potatoes in a prepared baking dish. Followed by 1/3 of the sauce. And 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat but don’t add the last layer of cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and add the rest of the cheese. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Add more salt and pepper to taste and garnish with fresh parsley
one of my favourite dishes