Irresistible Potatoes Au Gratin
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Incredible Potatoes au Gratin
Easter is just around the corner, and in my opinion, a potato side dish really completes the meal! My love for potatoes has grown strong ever since I was a little boy!
Something that has always been on my bucket list was to make scalloped potatoes. Now, those are coming, but when I discovered Au Gratin Potatoes, I wanted to make those first! I mean, who can resist THE CHEESE?
I know I cannot, and that’s why I was so excited to prepare these Incredibly Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin! These potatoes are actually super easy to make and require very little hands-on work! If you’ve always wanted to prepare these special potatoes, then this Easter will be perfect occasion to check this off your bucket list as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Sign up to my free email newsletter to get started on your cooking journey today, plus you’ll always have dinner inspiration sent straight to your inbox!
Check out the video at the bottom of this post to follow along to see how to make the white sauce and how to assemble this incredible potato casserole! If you haven’t already, it would mean a lot if you would please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and be sure to press the bell icon so you’re notified when all of my video recipes are live! Let’s get cooking!
What are Potatoes au Gratin?
Potatoes au Gratin is a French potato side dish casserole consisting of thinly sliced potatoes, layered with a white sauce and topped with cheese and breadcrumbs, then baked in the oven. This is easy to make and you’ll want to make this for all of your holiday meals, or even if you just want to switch up the usual weeknight meal plan!
Why YOu’ll Love Potatoes au Gratin!
Easy to make: All you need to do is make the béchamel sauce then bake!
Cheesy: If you’re a cheese lover, then this is definitely the potato dish for you!
Great for a crowd: Depending on what size of casserole you use, you can feed lots of hungry mouths!
Make-ahead friendly: If you’ve got a lot of components going on for your holiday feast, then Potatoes au Gratin is a great option because you can let it bake in the oven as you prepare more involved dishes, and you can even make this the night before the event that you are hosting!
What is the difference in scalloped and au gratin potatoes?
I have to admit that pretty much up until I actually made the dish I was very confused about the differences between Scalloped Potatoes and Au Gratin Potatoes. When you’re searching for one, you get results of the other, and it’s really hard to distinguish what is what. Once you know, you can really wrap your ahead around it!
While both scalloped potatoes and au gratin potatoes are layered with a béchamel sauce or cream sauce, the key difference that sets au gratin potatoes apart from scalloped potatoes is the addition of cheese and breadcrumbs to the recipe. Au Gratin potatoes hail from the Dauphiné region of south-east France, not too far from Italy. The French name for this potato dish is actually Gratin Dauphinois. “Au gratin” literally means “with a crust,” and this refers to the cheese and breadcrumb crust that will be added to the potatoes before baking. “Au gratin” means refers to the method of adding a crust to a dish, so “potatoes au gratin” mean “potato with a crust! On the other hand, the origins of “scalloped” potatoes are less known, but it is believed that this dish originated in England, because scalloped potatoes, along with other “scalloped” recipes, originate from the original dish - baked oysters and breadcrumbs.
Furthermore, another the potato rounds of scalloped potatoes are cut into thicker pieces than potatoes au gratin. This is because we want thinner potato pieces for the au gratin potatoes to get a satisfying experience of biting through many layers, almost like a lasagna made with potatoes instead!
What are the best potatoes for potatoes au gratin?
You want to choose a starchy potato for these Potatoes au Gratin. This is because you want the moisture in the potatoes to evaporate, and this helps to cook the potatoes. These can be Yukon gold potatoes or Russet potatoes. For my Potatoes au Gratin recipe, I’m going to use Yukon gold potatoes.
What cheese should I use for potatoes au gratin?
I’m using a combination of cheddar cheese and Gruyère cheese. In particular, the cheddar cheese I’m using is Red Fox aged cheese, which is quite strong! Gruyère is the ideal choice because of its flavour and because it’s an excellent cheese for melting. Lots of Potatoes au Gratin recipes top their casseroles with Parmesan as well, but since Gruyère cheese is very strong on its own, I didn’t think that Parmesan cheese was needed this time. Use this time to experiment with similar cheese combinations for your dish.
What If I don’t have a Mandolin slicer?
Well technically a mandolin in this case would be considered a luxury, it’s satisfying to get clean even cuts rather quickly using a mandolin. But I’d argue its just fine to use your hands and a knife and get very similar results. Make conscious, deliberate cuts to the potatoes to get 1/8th inch thick slices.
Why Did My Potatoes au Gratin Curdle?
The milk or béchamel sauce can curdle for a couple of reasons, but in essence when the proteins in the milk denature, it causes the split. This can occur for several reasons, some of them being cooking the casserole at high temperatures and for cooking for extended durations.
Make sure to cook out the roux for the béchamel really well before adding the milk and then mixing the ingredients well together.
Sometimes older milk can curdle much easier than fresh milk, so try and use the freshest sourced milk if possible.
Try to keep the temperature range between 350 to 375 F.
Tools needed to make Potatoes au Gratin
Ingredients for The Most Amazing Potatoes Au Gratin
The FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this post or by pressing the “Jump to Recipe” button. You will also be able scale the recipe based on how large your casserole is or how many people you’re looking to feed - you’ll know exactly how many potatoes and cheese you’ll need for everyone to get a wholesome portion!
Potatoes: My favourite type of potato for nearly everything is Yukon gold potatoes. You get a buttery and creamy flavour, plus Yukon gold potatoes are excellent in holding their shape.
Herbs: A sprig of fresh thyme.
Milk: I used whole milk here, and this will give you the best results. You add the milk to the flour and butter, which is the roux. Cold milk is optimal to prevent lumps in your sauce!
Butter: Unsalted butter is my recommendation so that you have better control over the amount of salt.
All-purpose flour: You mix this with butter to make the roux.
Shallots: I will first sauté the shallots with the roux before adding the milk. This will give an excellent aroma.
Garlic cloves: Sauté these with the shallots. Discard afterward.
Seasonings: Freshly ground nutmeg and dried sage leaves. For the nutmeg, I grated whole nutmeg, but you can use pre-ground nutmeg if you want.
Cheeses: I used a combination of cheddar cheese and Gruyère cheese.
Breadcrumbs: Plain breadcrumbs for topping. You could use Panko breadcrumbs if you really want to, but it doesn’t matter so much which kind of breadcrumbs you use for this recipe.
How to Make Cheesy au gratin potatoes
Preheat the oven to 350F. Peel the potatoes and slice to 1/8th inch thick slices.
Add the potatoes to a large bowl and set aside for now.
Heat a pan on medium heat and add butter. Once the butter melts, add in the shallots and sauté for 5-6 minutes. Mix in the flour and whisk for 2-3 mins until the rawness of the flour is cooked out. The rue will begin to smell nutty, which is a good indicator that it is cooked.
Pour in your milk, little bit at a time while whisking to work out any lumps. Once all your milk is mixed in, wait until your sauce starts to come up to a simmer.
As soon as the sauce comes to a simmer, it will begin to thicken. Add the thyme, sage and garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Once the béchamel is thick enough to evenly coat the back of a spoon, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Add the béchamel to the potatoes and mix well.
Spray a casserole dish with oil or brush with molten butter. My casserole is roughly 9 x 6 inches. Add the potatoes and béchamel to the casserole and spread and pat down to make it even.
Cover tightly with aluminium foil and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Top with the cheeses, sprinkle breadcrumbs and bake for 20-30 more minutes or until the cheese has browned and formed a crust.
Let the casserole rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
TIPS To have delightful potatoes au gratin
Slice the potatoes evenly to ensure they cook at the same rate and consistency.
Cook the roux for the béchamel until it darkens slightly and smells nutty.
Discard the thyme and cloves of garlic before baking the casserole. We only need these to scent the sauce.
Make sure the casserole is tightly covered to allow the steam cook the potatoes low and slow.
In case the sauce splits or curdles, add some heavy cream, lightly mix together and continue baking.
Variations of potatoes au gratin
Meat: This Potatoes au Gratin recipe is vegetarian so that it’s accessible to all. However, if you’re serving this for meat lovers, then perhaps add some ham, bacon or sausage!
Cheese: Gruyère is key for the right flavour you want in a classic Potatoes au Gratin. However, it is really expensive! I would honestly recommend you invest your gruyere for this, plus you’ll have lots left over so you can use it in other recipes, such as
Herbs: You could garnish with parsley, dill or chives instead of thyme.
Sauce: Since we’ve got lots of cheese to make these Potatoes au Gratin really rich, I’m just using a standard béchamel sauce with milk. However, if you want to make the sauce richer, feel free to add some heavy cream too! Actually, some cream could prevent the béchamel sauce from splitting, as discussed previously.
Serving Suggestions for potatoes au Gratin
You can serve your Potatoes au Gratin as part of a complete holiday meal! Here are just a couple of ideas to help you craft the perfect meal for your family and friends!
Steak
Pork Chops
Garlic Bread
Can I Make potatoes au gratin ahead of time?
Yes, you can! Potatoes au Gratin make for an amazing side dish for holiday meals not only because they require little hands-on work, but they’re great to make in advance and to leave in the fridge!
How to Store Potatoes au Gratin
You can keep your Potatoes au Gratin in the casserole and place the casserole directly in the fridge, provided there’s space for it! If your casserole doesn’t have a lid, cover the top with plastic wrap. You can keep it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days because of the dairy in here. I wouldn’t freeze Potatoes au Gratin because I don’t like the texture of potatoes when they have been frozen and thawed - I just don’t think you’ll get the same crispiness as you get in the fresh version!
How to Reheat Potatoes au Gratin
I wouldn’t recommend that you reheat your Potatoes au Gratin in the microwave because you’ll lose the shape of the potatoes and as a result, lose the layers! Although it will take some time, I definitely suggest that you reheat your Au Gratin Potatoes in the oven! Preheat the oven to 350F and reheat for about 25 to 30 minutes, depending on how much you’ll be reheating.
More delicious potato recipes!
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