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Scalloped Potatoes

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My favorite cheesy, creamy, garlicky, always-delicious scalloped potatoes recipe.

Scalloped Potatoes Recipe

Anyone else out there still have yet to plan your menu for Easter Sunday this coming weekend?

Well, good news: 1) you’re not alone and 2) I’ve gotcha covered!

We have all sorts of delicious recipes here on our Easter section of the blog that are sure to please a crowd. If you’re feeling those brunch vibes, there’s everything from my favorite 1-hour cinnamon rolls, to the world’s best sour cream coffee cake, to a classic breakfast casserole, to nearly every way to prepare eggs, to mimosas and more. Or, if you’re going more of the Easter dinner route, our family’s favorite salad, classic deviled eggs, these perfectly roasted Brussels sprouts, an easy fruit salad, these quick 1-hour soft and buttery dinner rolls might be calling your name. Of course, carrot cake (or this vegan, gluten-free carrot cake) is also a must around here every Easter.

But the other non-negotiable for me each Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving and — let’s be real — any night of the year that I’m craving some creamy, garlicky, cheesy comfort food?

Scalloped potatoes. ♡

Specifically, these scalloped potatoes (which are technically potatoes au gratin). In my humble opinion, they are simply the best. And in the years since I originally posted this recipe here on the blog, thousands of you have also tried them and agreed! So today, I thought I’d bump this recipe back to the top of the stack for those of you who might be new to the blog and looking for a tried and true recipe to make this weekend. As someone who has made these dozens and dozens of times, I can vouch — they won’t let you down.

Scalloped Potatoes Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Scalloped Potatoes Ingredients:

The ingredients to make this classic scalloped potatoes recipe are pretty simple. You’ll need:

  • Yukon gold potatoes: I prefer these to Russets because of their nice creamy texture and buttery flavor. Be sure to slice them uniformly — about 1/4-inch thick — so that they will cook evenly.
  • Shredded cheese: It’s important to have a good melty cheese for these. I have always preferred a nice sharp cheddar (not one that has been aged, since those don’t melt as well). But I have also made these with mozzarella, gouda, fontina and gruyere, and all have been delicious. So feel free to pick your favorite, or use a mix! Plus, some freshly-grated Parmesan is also a must.
  • Sliced onion: For extra flavor. I always cook the onion in the sauce, and then strain it out and add it to the middle layer of the potatoes, so that there aren’t a bunch of onion slices sitting on the top layer.
  • Garlic: If you ask me, the more the merrier. The recipe calls for 4 cloves, but I’ve used up to 8 before. :)
  • Fresh thyme: I’ve always used fresh thyme as my main seasoning for scalloped potatoes, but you could also use a teaspoon of dried thyme instead. Or any other favorite fresh herbs or dried seasoning blends! (I occasionally love adding a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning to my sauce — it’s delicious.)
  • Cream sauce: In lieu of heavy cream, my sauce for this recipe calls for a roux with butter and flour, whole milk and chicken stock (or vegetable stock).

Yukon Gold Potatoes for Scalloped Potatoes

How To Make Scalloped Potatoes:

To make this scalloped potatoes recipe, simply…

  1. Make the cream sauce. Sauté onion and garlic in butter until softened. Then stir in the flour to form a roux and help to thicken the sauce, followed by the stock, milk, salt, pepper and thyme. You want to cook the sauce until it just reaches a simmer. (Don’t let it boil, otherwise it can “break” and become watery once baked.)  Then remove it from the heat until you’re ready to put it to use.
  2. Layer the potatoes. Spread half of the sliced potatoes in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Top evenly with half of the cream sauce. (I usually strain out all of the onions and add them here too.)  Then sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese, and all of the Parmesan cheese. Top evenly with the remaining sliced potatoes, the other half of the cream sauce, and the remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
  3. Bake: Cover the pan lightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the sauce is all bubbly around the edges. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the cheese on top is nice and golden. (If the cheese starts to get too brown on top, just lightly cover the top with a sheet of foil again until the potatoes are ready to go.)
  4. Cool. Transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of thyme and extra Parmesan.
  5. Serve. This casserole is definitely best fresh out of the oven, so dive in while it’s nice and warm!

How To Make Scalloped Potatoes

Possible Recipe Variations:

There are all sorts of delicious ways that you can customize these homemade scalloped potatoes if you would like. For example, feel free to…

  • Add bacon or ham: Diced cooked bacon or ham would be a delicious addition here! (Or go for the gold and make scalloped potatoes with ham and bacon!)
  • Add greens: Fresh kale or baby spinach would also be delicious. Just stir a large handful to the sauce before layering the potatoes.
  • Add pesto: For an extra herby twist, feel free to stir 1/4 cup of basil pesto into the sauce.
  • Use half sweet potatoes: I also love making a version of this dish with half Yukon gold and half sweet potatoes. The sweet/savory combo is such a winner.
  • Use a different cheese: Mozzarella, gouda, fontina or gruyere would also be delicious in place of the sharp cheddar. Or you could also sprinkle some extra crumbled/diced brie, goat cheese, or feta into the casserole.
  • Use cream: Feel free to sub in heavy cream for half of the milk for an even creamier dish.
  • Make it gluten-free: Just use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (in place of the standard AP flour). Or whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the cold milk before adding it to the sauce.

Scalloped Potatoes

Make-Ahead Instructions:

Over the years, I’ve had lots of you ask if you can prep this recipe in advance — and the answer is yes! For make-ahead scalloped potatoes, just bake the scalloped potatoes and let them cool completely to room temperature. Then cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 days. And on the day you are ready to serve them, bake the pan covered (with foil) at 350° for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are warmed through.

Scalloped Potatoes

More Potato Recipes:

If you love this recipe, be sure to check out some of my other potato faves including:

Enjoy, everyone!

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Scalloped Potatoes Recipe

Scalloped Potatoes

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 393 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 55 minutes
  • Total Time: 80 minutes
  • Yield: 10 -12 servings 1x

Description

My favorite recipe for garlicky, cheesy, perfect scalloped potatoes.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small white or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 4 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • 2 cups whole milk (or half and half)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
  • 4 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
  • 2 cups freshly-grated sharp cheddar cheese*, divided (feel free to add more cheese if you’d like)
  • 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Instructions

  1. Prep oven and baking dish: Heat oven to 400°F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, and set it aside.
  2. Sauté the onion and garlic. Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion, and sauté for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent.  Add garlic and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Stir in the flour until it is evenly combined, and cook for 1 more minute.
  3. Simmer the sauce. Gradually pour in the stock, and whisk until combined.  Add in the milk, salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme, and whisk until combined.  Continue cooking for an additional 1-2 minutes until the sauce just barely begins to simmer around the edges of the pan and thickens.  (Avoid letting it reach a boil.)  Then remove from heat and set aside.
  4. Layer the potatoes.  Spread half of the sliced potatoes in an even layer on the bottom of the pan.  Top evenly with half of the cream sauce.  (I usually strain out all of the onions and add them here too.)  Then sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese, and all of the Parmesan cheese.  Top evenly with the remaining sliced potatoes, the other half of the cream sauce, and the remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
  5. Bake: Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  The sauce should be nice and bubbly around the edges.  Then remove the foil and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through.
  6. Cool. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack, and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of thyme and extra Parmesan.
  7. Serve. Serve warm.


Notes

Shredded cheese: As always when melting shredded cheese into a recipe, it’s best if you grate the cheese yourself just before adding it to the recipe.  Store-bought shredded cheese usually contains a coating that prevents it from melting smoothly.

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958 comments on “Scalloped Potatoes”

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  1. Made these potatoes this evening. They were delicious and looked just like the pictures! So yummy and creamy. The only thing that was annoying was trying to get the onions out of the sauce. I will definitely make these again! Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe.

    • After I add flour to the butter and then the liquids, i can never get the roux to full “dissolve” or mix into the liquids and stays clumped. Is this supposed to happen?

    • If you do not plan on leaving the onions in, they do not need to be thinly sliced. Make bigger chunks or put in a blender and whizz them up.






  2. This is the best scalloped potatoes I have ever made and I have been looking for the perfect recipe for many years. I use up cheeses on hand and have mixed red, yellow and white potatoes just to use them up and always so very good.
    Thank you!






  3. Absolutely delish, did not add or take away thing.






  4. I made this recipe and it was a big hit with everyone including myself. I will most definitely be making it again. Thanks for posting this.






  5. A very good recipe for any occasion. Thank you for posting this. I really enjoy the onions and thyme (I used dried thyme and sprinkled it on top before baking covered with foil). They both add aroma and flavor to make it very savoury. This is just the thing to fill up on after playing or working in winter weather.






  6. Everyone loved this recipe. I got so many compliments. Every last bit of it got eaten up! Thank you!!

  7. Useless has no use

  8. Delicious and easy recipe to follow. My husband and I enjoyed it very much. I didn’t have heavy creme, but used evaporated milk instead with a bit more milk and added cream cheese.






  9. This is potatoes au gratin not scalloped potatoes.

    • Same thing ???

    • Literally the difference between scalloped potatoes and potatoes au gratin is the inclusion of cheese. WLM is correct – this is not scalloped potatoes.

    • You’re a potato….

    • Regardless of the “name” the recipe is excellent. If you have nothing better to do than pick on people you are a very small minded individual. People like you are the reason I don’t have a blog.






    • I MADE THESE POTATOES…THET ARE “DELICIOUS!!!” WHAT DOES IT MATTER…SCALLOPED OR AU GRATIN!?!? GEEZ!!! SOME FOLKS JUST GOTTA FIND SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT!!! ? I REALLY ENJOYED EM!!! YUMMY!!!

  10. This recipe is super easy and sooooo delicious! I followed your instructions axactly, the only changes I made were, I used Italian seasoning instead of thyme and used margarine instead of butter and added about 2 cups of chopped Ham. I baked it foil on for 35min. and foil off for 30min. It turned out amazing! I will definitely make this over and over and over again. Thank you so much for sharing ❤️






  11. I have a similar recipe, but where I live (8500 ft. elevation) potatoes take forEVER to cook. So I microwave bake the potatoes before peeling and slicing, which really speeds up the process!

  12. Hello. I thought you might be interested to know (or not!), that this recipe is technically ‘au gratin potatoes’ as they have cheese. Scalloped potatoes are very similar but no cheese.

  13. All of these recipe naming police on these comments can be ignored…..who cares about the scalloped vs au gratin recipe name? Host your own blog if you care that much to correct anyone.

    Anyways….I made this last night exactly as written here, and my family absolutely raved! Very easy to put together once the potatoes are sliced. Sooooooo yummy – I cant wait to make this again.






  14. I followed the recipe to a “T”. Unfortunately, it came out really soupy. Next time, I will skip the veggie broth.






    • I’m making in the morning to prepare ahead of time. Can I put together, refrigerate and then cook before dinner?






    • I too followed the directions to the letter with the exception of the Parmesan cheese. I inadvertently bought Asiago cheese instead. I used 1/2 cup of Asiago along with the Cheddar. Baked as directed. Flavor was good, but potatoes were very soupy. I put the uncovered dish back into the oven for 20 more minutes, still too wet. ☹️ I reviewed the recipe to see if I had missed something, but I didn’t. I don’t know what happened.

  15. Hi,
    This looks delicious! Do you think this will come out okay if I half the recipe, and put it in an 8×8 or 9×9 pan?

  16. Amazing!!!






  17. Stuck in the house during the pandemic for Easter!! Dinner for one, how sad! I decided to bake and cook up a storm. This garlicky, cheesy scalloped potato dish caught my eye. I was happy with the results. I mixed both orange and white cheddar for a little color and added Herbs Provence. I think I’d go lighter on the cheese next time but definitely worth the effort. Yum ? Happy Easter dinner for one but it will be eaten over the next few days.

  18. I use shallots and leave them in. We are obsessed with this recipe and my entire family – including my fussy 8 year old – love it. We will be enjoying them today for Easter with spiral ham and fresh asparagus

  19. I halved it and it didn’t seem like there was enough sauce. Is the sauce rather minimal?

  20. Best scalloped potatoes ever! Turned out perfectly and looked beautiful. Can’t wait to make again!






  21. This was AWESOME! I forgot the parm cheese, and was out of thyme … but it was great. Thanks .. I will keep and tweak!






  22. I will most definitely be making it again.
    Everyone in my house loved the cheesy creamy texture.
    Even the picky people.
    Easy, delicious not to time consuming!






  23. These are really awesome. I used 4 very lg russet potatoes. Also for cheese I used gruyere and
    fontina. With the parm. I used 1/2 tsp dried thyme. For milk I used whole. The sauce is amazing. I was worried was to salty but turned out fine.
    THANK YOU!






  24. The best ever! I added ham and made a tossed salad and it was a perfect meal.






  25. Fantastic recipe! Thank you. I didn’t have any chicken or vegetable stock or broth so I ended up using extra milk and salt to make up for the fluid and salt content and they were fabulous! Will make again for sure.






  26. On vacation in the USA in the 70s I first sampled scalloped potatoes and have been making it ever since, this is one of the nicest and easiest I have made.






  27. These potatoes are the bomb-diggity! My quarantine pantry didn’t have all the right ingredients exactly, but because this is a such a solid foundation recipe with so many suggested variations I was able to improvise a bit with excellent results. I will 10/10 make this again.






  28. Followed recipe ingredients pretty much but not technique. Used russets. Minced the onion. Added the 2 cups of cheddar to the sauce. And then added my mandolin sliced potatoes to the barely warm sauce. Added a splash of hot sauce. Filled large single portion sized ramekins with potato cheese sauce mixture. Adding in layers. Topping with cheddar. Baked as directed. Delicious! Recipe a keeper!






  29. Scalloped potatoes are made without cheese. Au Gratin Potatoes are similar, but made with cheese,

  30. I made this for Mother’s Day and it was a HIT! I did have to make some minor alterations, due to not having a full kitchen but I left the onions in there (no strainer) and instead of broth, I used water (which I added salt and pepper to). Other than that I followed the recipe to the T and can not praise it enough! Don’t hesitate to make this for your family or yourself!






  31. Hi, I’d like to make this without the cheese. Would I need to reduce or increase any of the other ingredients to make up for this?
    Thank you!

  32. Wow, had a dinner party, heard the guest of honor loved scalloped potatoes, so I thought I’d try your 5 star recipe….. I followed the recipe exactly…everyone took 1 bite and grabbed the water!! My advise to anyone making this…its a great sauce BUT don’t put any salt in as butter and cheese are plenty and forget the pepper!!!! Thank God I had sour cream in the frig to put on top of it to put out the fire of the salt and pepper..your recipe calls for way too much of both…I’ll make this as I like the rue but definitely omit the salt and pepper!!!!!






  33. i followed this recipe precisely and they were runny and not well cooked. someone at my embarrassing get together said I should have par boiled the potatoes … but no one ate much because they were runny .. they did look great with the melted cheese on top but I will leave cooking to others and buy my next dish to pass at a store.






  34. In my opinion, you don’t need to take the onions out of the sauce. When you add the cheese on top they are not visible and they melt anyways . Very delicious ?






  35. This looks like a great recipe. Can’t wait to try this. ?

  36. My husband and I enjoyed this very much! We only had ready-shredded cheese, but it was still very delicious. Thanks for posting this recipe ?






  37. Has anyone tried assembling…then refrigerating to bake later?

  38. I made this recipe yesterday. The dish was fantastic. I didn’t have fresh thyme so I used dried instead. Followed everything else in the recipe exactly. This is my new scalloped potato recipe. Thanks!






  39. I had half a bag of russets that needed to be used as they were starting to sprout.. I wasn’t impressed with the recipe in my old BH&G cookbook so looked online and found this one. I didn’t have a small onion so chopped up half of a large white one. Was out of fresh garlic so threw in a teaspoon or so of dry garlic powder. Substituted Wondra for the all purpose as I thought it might blend more easily into the roux (besides being the only flour I found in the cupboard). Only found beef stock in the cupboard so used that along with plain old iodized table salt. No fresh thyme in the kitchen so threw in a teaspoon of dry powdered and, for the reason mentioned earlier, used aging russets instead of the Yukon Gold. Also used factory grated cheese as that’s what was in the fridge and substituted mozzarella for half the sharp cheddar. I like lots of cheese so tossed in some shaved asiago and romano and more parmesian as well. While looking for other ingredients in the fridge I came across a few strips of bacon that were past their prime and some bits of leftover Easter ham that had fallen to the bottom of the meat drawer so fried it all up, chopped it to bits and added it to the sauce. Hadn’t gauged my prep time very well and it was already time to eat so covered it with foil and put it in the fridge overnight. Next day I moved it directly from the fridge to the oven, set the timer and pretty much followed the directions from that point on. Since I didn’t add any extra baking time to compensate for the dish going into the oven cold the potatoes came out slightly al dente but, luckily, my ex wife (that’s whose kitchen I was in) and I both like them that way. The bottom line is that she admitted (after her third helping) that they were pretty good and that is why I give this recipe two thumbs up.

  40. This was a huge hit at our dinner table. The family even requested I make it again at our summer lake trip next week! I substituted French’s fried onions instead of sauteed onions in between potatoe layers and on top.






  41. Made them yesterday and my family LOVED them, the amount of salt and milk is just right and the potatoes come out cheesy and delicious!






  42. Very good! A plus. My husband loved it me too. Thanks for sharing!

  43. These were delicious! Made for dinner tonight and left the onions in the sauce instead of straining them. Will definitely make again.






  44. The best scalloped potatoes I’ve had. I did not have the cheddar cheese on hand but I had the Parmesan because I did not planned on making scalloped potatoes. I came across the site and I thought it looked delicious and the method seemed fairly easy, so I made it for supper. It was great even without the cheddar, next time I will definitely be adding the cheddar. Another thing I really liked about this recipe is, I did not have to cook the potatoes like most recipes.






  45. Well that’s too bad. I followed the recipe precisely and while they looked delicious I cooked them for 80 minutes and they were still crunchy. Also- I my husband nor I really cared for the flavor so I just threw the whole pan in the trash! I only used 1stp of thyme and it was still to strong. I realize I’m apparently the only human that doesn’t like this recipe. Nevertheless… At least I tried something new.






  46. Unbelievably good. Actually easy and the roux vs a creamy sauce made from creamy was amazing . This is a new favorite for sure . I did omit the onions because a guest doesn’t like onions, but I am sure with or or without the onions these are a keeper!






  47. I wish I had parboiled ? first so they cooked thoroughly. Potato cooked in milk remain hard even after an hour cooking at 400 degrees. Also I would recommend melting cheese in the sauce.






  48. Made these for my husband for Father’s Day. He declared them the best potatoes he’s ever had!! Thank you for the recipe! Super easy and delicious!!






  49. Great recipe