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Rich, comforting, and surprisingly simple, these potatoes au gratin are an irresistible side dish that always gets rave reviews.
This classic potatoes au gratin recipe is one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes, and it’s also fitting for Christmas, a dinner party, or any meal that calls for something a little extra. It involves layering thinly sliced potatoes with heavy cream and grated cheese in a casserole dish, and then baking until the cream thickens and blankets the potatoes in a rich, creamy sauce. And while it’s certainly worthy of a special occasion, honestly, a pan of these potatoes makes any dinner feel like one.
“I only gave this five stars because I couldn’t give it 10 stars. This may be my favorite side dish ever. It is amazing!”
Potatoes Au Gratin vs Scalloped Potatoes
Potatoes au gratin and scalloped potatoes are similar dishes, but there are a few key differences. Both are made with thinly sliced potatoes baked until tender, but au gratin potatoes typically include cheese and are known for their rich, golden-brown top. Scalloped potatoes traditionally don’t contain cheese and are often flavored with onions and baked in a milk or cream sauce thickened with a roux.
What You’ll Need To Make Potatoes Au Gratin
- Russet Potatoes: With their high starch content, russets soak up the cream beautifully and bake into soft, melt-in-your-mouth layers. They’re the best choice for this dish. Skip the Yukon Golds here—they won’t give you the same texture.
- Heavy Cream: The secret to the luscious, velvety sauce. You might be tempted to swap in milk or half-and-half, but don’t—this recipe really needs heavy cream to thicken properly.
- Parmigiano Reggiano: Adds a salty, nutty depth that melts right into the potatoes, creating incredible flavor and texture. Be sure to use true Parmigiano Reggiano. If you can’t find it, Pecorino Romano makes a great substitute.
- Salt, Pepper & Thyme: These simple seasonings bring everything to life—the thyme is optional but adds a subtle earthiness that pairs perfectly with the creamy potatoes and cheese.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Potatoes Au Gratin
Slice the potatoes: Slice the potatoes as thinly and uniformly as possible so they cook at the same rate. A mandoline works well, but a sharp knife is all you need. If a potato feels wobbly, cut a thin slice lengthwise and place it cut-side down on the cutting board to create a stable base.
Season the potatoes: Toss the slices thoroughly with salt and pepper so the seasoning is evenly distributed. Potatoes need a generous amount of salt to bring out their flavor, so don’t be tempted to skimp.
Assemble the gratin: Arrange the potatoes in overlapping layers in a buttered baking dish, distributing the cheese and cream evenly as you go. Don’t worry about making the layers perfectly neat, but try to keep them fairly even so the potatoes cook uniformly. Be sure to pour in all of the cream—it will thicken as the gratin bakes, creating the rich, velvety sauce.
Bake until golden: Bake the gratin until the top is deeply golden and a knife slides easily through the potatoes with almost no resistance. Don’t cover the dish with foil; baking it uncovered is what gives you that beautiful browned top. Let it rest for a few minutes before serving so the cream can settle and thicken around the potatoes.
Finish with a sprinkle of fresh thyme and serve hot, while the top is crisp and golden and the potatoes underneath are creamy and tender.
Potatoes au gratin are best baked just before serving, but you can do some of the work ahead. See the recipe card below for my make-ahead, storage, and reheating instructions. If you love this recipe, try my cauliflower gratin or Brussels sprouts gratin next.
More Potato Side Dishes You May Like
Potatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients
- Butter to grease the baking dish
- 2½ lb Russet potatoes (3 to 4), peeled and very thinly sliced
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (4 oz) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 2¼ cups heavy cream
- Fresh thyme, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease an 8-in (20-cm) or 2-qt/2L baking dish with butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the potatoes with the salt and pepper until evenly coated.
- Arrange some of the potato slices, edges overlapping, in a single layer on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over the potatoes, and then pour a quarter of the cream over the cheese. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, cheese, and cream, forming 4 layers. Pour any leftover cream over top.
- Place in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife and golden brown on top. Let the dish settle on the counter for about ten minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme, if using, and then serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you’re following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Hello. These potatoes are delicious. My family enjoyed them very much. Didn’t need quite as much cream. I’m thinking of making these for thanksgiving. I will need to triple the recipe. Do you suggest cooking in 3 separate pans? Do you have any idea of how much longer it will take to cook? It took a good hour and 15 minutes tonight. Should I increase the temperature? Thank you!
Hi Tanyia, glad you enjoyed this! If you want to triple the recipe, yes, I would use three separate pans so they bake evenly. I would keep the oven temp the same – – they will take a bit longer but not much so keep a close eye on them. Hope you have a great holiday!
Potatoes au gratin is a staple in our house, but this is by far the best recipe we’ve come across. I made it exactly as called for here with three tiny exceptions. I rinsed the sliced potatoes in water laced with a very small amount of lemon juice to keep them from browning, let them air-dry in a colander, then layered them in a bowl with about a quarter of the salt and pepper on each layer before tossing.
The result was quite simply the best Potatoes au gratin we’ve ever had, no doubt due to the use of imported Parmigiano Reggiano. The creamy deliciousness was even better the next day with the (very small) leftovers. I highly recommend this recipe to everyone.
By the way, I routinely seek new recipes from on-line site like this one, but am invariably disappointed and left wondering if any of the authors actually even made the recipes touted on their sites. This site is the most welcomed exception though. I have made several other dishes using Chef Segal’s’ recipes and all have turned out fabulous.
Hi Jenn,
I noticed just recently you changed your recipe for potatoes au gratin in particular the part about mixing the potatoes with salt and pepper in a bowl rather than putting salt and pepper in a cup and pour it over the potatoes during the cream part. By applying salt and pepper on it directly does that allow for a better taste?
Hi Cy, You really can do it either way. However, sometimes I notice that the salt and pepper cling to the bottom of the bowl when mixed with the cream, so you don’t get all of the flavor unless you whisk really well. Hope that clarifies!
So easy and Yum! My family likes onion and i don’t so I added a tsp of onion powder to the salt n pepper mix. Got rave reviews! Thanks!
I made this recipe alternating potatoes and sweet potatoes. Both ways are delicious. It’s nice to change it up a bit. Thank you Jen for all my families favorite meals!
I followed this recipe to a T. No flavor at all😣
Thank you for noting the number of potatoes vs how many pounds. It helps figure out if I have enough at home because I don’t have a food scale, and rarely when I buy produce do I weigh it at the store unless I know in advance what I am preparing and know I need X amount. I love recipes that give ball park numbers for quantity as well as pounds.
This is an excellent recipe. It was great! And easy!
Made these twice. The first time they were excellent. The second time I didn”t use russet potatoes, just whatever I had on hand…definitely not as good…will definetely make them again using only russets!
I love your recipes & am a huge fan of potatoes au gratin so will certainly make this…with one addition: GARLIC!! Really – it takes a gratin to whole new levels.
This was totally delicious and easy to make. A great change from Gruyeré and my new favorite. I used a food processor to slice the potatoes. I started using convection at 350° but 25 minutes in it became clear the top was browning too fast so I switched to regular. Thanks for your great recipes!
Can you double the recipe? if so, how long would you cook if I use 6 potatoes and double the cream and cheese?
Hi Janet, Yes, you could double this (you’d need to double all the ingredients). You can use either two 8 x 8-inch baking pans or one 9 x 13. Bake time will be a bit longer than an hour, but I’m not certain how long so just keep a close eye on it. Hope you enjoy!
So doing the regular recipe plus a half of one should work fine in a 13x9x2 pan but would need extra cooking time? Any guess how much extra time? Thanks in advance for your reply!
Hi Randy, I think the cooking time should be about the same. Hope you enjoy!