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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 389 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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Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

952 comments on “Scalloped Potatoes”

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  1. Awesome and super easy even for inexperienced cooks






  2. The best scalloped potatoes au gratin I have made. This has become my go to recipe for a potato casserole when I need to feed a crowd. Perfect!






    • @LUCILE
      The best Scalloped potatoes. Au gratin.
      Omg, you just killed it, ROFL!!!
      This, right here for all you kitchen police trolls!

      Thanks Ali for kindly sharing the recipe with the rest of us, cooking it right now :)






  3. This potatoes do not cook! I have followed the recipe exactly as it says. I have cook them for one hour and they are very hard

  4. I only gave this four stars because (IMO) it needs at least 50% more sauce. I went full garlic, used seaside cheddar and fresh parmigiana regiano, added the prescribed amount of fresh thyme plus the same amount of dried, five tablespoons of butter (I dipped off a little over half a cup of grease after baking) and was fortunate to have some fresh chicken stock from the night before. Oh, and I used Red’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour.

    OMG – ridiculously indulgent.






  5. My daughter made this for a family gathering pot luck last year and everyone loved it! So, I asked her for the recipe and now it is my “go to” for cheesy scalloped potatoes. Delicious and worth the extra time to create! I use whatever melty cheese I have on hand (including, at times, havarti with jalapeño peppers; creamy gorgonzola ( about 1 teaspoon, cut really fine and distributed equally); mexican queso…. non-salty variety; and asiago mixed in with the parmesan.

  6. This was a great recipe but I think it needs to be oven longer than the recipe suggested because the cheese wasn’t browned on the top with the suggested time.






  7. This was a total win with my family! A little salty, so next time I will just cut back on that because we are not use to that amount. However, it was still delicious! Thank you!!






  8. Dear my. These are INCREDIBLE. I mean…..incredible. I will make these whenever we need a side dish. And I gained 4 pounds just looking at it in the overn. Delish!!

  9. My kids, husband and I lived this!






  10. I just halved this recipe and made it for dinner. My son said they’re as good as the upscale steak restaurant we go to and I have to agree. I used red potatoes and extra sharp white cheddar and it was DELICIOUS, DELICIOUS, DELICIOUS!!!! I just printed this out to put in my cookbook. ?






  11. Janay

    There was no reply button on your post, and I saw no one replied. If you are having trouble with your sauce not combining add the liquid in a little at a time and slowly. Very slowly. Whisk the whole time and then as it starts to combine and thicken add a little more. Also make sure the pan is hot enough. It should not be on high but can’t be on low. If it gets too hot just take the pan off the stove for a few seconds and turn it down a bit. Try making a roux or even gravy then do this recipe again. You can get it done. I know you can.

  12. Excellent, very rich.
    N.B., made a smaller batch but put in a deeper dish…needed a full hour covered to cook through.






  13. This was delicious! The whole family loved it. The only thing I changed was I subbed 3/4 cup of gruyere with the cheddar. Loved it.






  14. Deliciousness






  15. These were excellent! I doubled the cheese and used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 mozz. Best Au Gratin scalloped potato recipe I’ve tried. Thanks!






  16. Excellent flavor, will try some of the variations as well.






  17. Great recipe! Do you think I could use heavy cream instead of regular milk?

  18. I burnt the bottom of this recipe. I would recommend 350-375 for the time required.






  19. Really delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I will definitely make again but I’ll add chopped bacon to the top next time!

  20. These are the best scalloped potatoes! Every family dinner I’m told to bring the potatoes






  21. I made these potatoes tonight and they were yummy1. I like the taste of onions so I left them in the sauce. Thanks for the recipe. They turned out wonderful!






  22. Very good! Keep the onion! I diced the onion smaller and kept in.
    Tossed a few small pieced of sliced provolone on the top here and there.
    Can’t follow a recipe exactly but the base was super.

    Thanks will make again.






  23. These were ridiculously good! Having never made scalloped potatoes or au gratin, this was my first attempt, and dang it was yummy. Thanks for an easy recipe that did not require any tweaking. Love that the sauce ensured you don’t have soupy potatoes like some others I’ve eaten before. Sure you could adjust cheese blends or add spice, but it was great as is and my Labor Day gang ate them up.






  24. THAT WAS FANTASTIC!!!. I have been basically a scientist in the kitchen , trying different things all the time these days. And I have to say wow, the whole family loved it which is hard to do in my house . Thank you for this one , it was perfect even with store bought shredded cheese

  25. I didn’t have fresh milk on hand, so I used 1 cup of la crema and 1 cup of half n half. Soooo creamy and delicious. I didn’t strain out the onions. I didn’t have broth, so I used one cup of chicken bouillon. I also switched out some of the cheddar cheese for Velveeta. Used garden fresh potatoes and onions. Just a wonderful, adaptable recipe. It’ll be fun to make again and change it up again.






  26. Added pesto and it gave it a wonderful taste. My new favorite.






  27. Good recipe






  28. I made this recipe the other night and loved it! The fresh thyme especially adds a very nice touch! I’m saving this one for the recipe box (that’s right…I’m old fashioned and still keep a recipe box). :) Thank you so much for posting!

  29. Made this recipe a couple of years ago and now my mom requests it at every Easter dinner! We absolutely LOVE it! Thank you for sharing it!






  30. Hi, I also want to try it but asking a question. Would it be easier if the potatoes are half cooked?

  31. Loved this recipe but some of my potatoes were not cooked all the way through. I tried to make them thin
    But a few were a little thick. I put them back in the oven for an extra 15-20 min and then they were soft.
    I’m always looking for a good dish for Thanksgiving or the Holidays. I will be making this recipe this year. 2020

  32. This is a great recipe! I’ve made them twice now. Easy to make and delicious!






  33. Love this recipe! Made it twice in the last week! First time with onions and second time without. The amount of sauce could certainly stand to be increased, as other commenters have suggested. Still it came out wonderfully regardless. Second time around I was out of onions, but I’m a garlic nut and put nearly a whole bulb in instead. Delightful. Doubled the amount of thyme and added rosemary too. It also needs far more salt and pepper, in my humble opinion, than the recipe calls for. Thanks for this one!

  34. Delicious and easy to do






  35. I used vegan cheese and almond milk. Great recipe!






  36. We loved these potatoes. I did add diced ham and threw in some frozen petite peas for good measure. I don’t put salt in any of my dishes because the first thing most people do is pick up the salt shaker and shake away. By letting everyone add their own salt they have the correct amount and it’s good for anyone that is on a salt restricted diet.

  37. This was delicious. I didn’t have any Parmesan cheese so I just used cheddar. It was still very good.






  38. Very, very good, cooked for 6 tonight. Everyone loved it. Gonna have to make a bigger batch next time! Also going to have to try adding smoked salmon, or Dungeness crab, or chicken, pork, beef. Maybe even some butternut squash. Thank you for the damn good recipe






  39. Made this tonight. Cut back a bit on the cheese and butter. Used leeks instead of onions.

    Fabulous!






  40. I felt the proportions were right in this recipe; there definitely was enough sauce. Mandolin made this so easy peasy. I preferred to layer the potatoes slices as if I were making a ratatouille and then poured the sauce / cheese over. I did two layers. When Mom and the sister in law react positively…that’s enough validation for me that this is a five star dish.






  41. Going to make for Sunday lunch.






  42. this is delicious, but this is potatoes Au Gratin because you add cheese, Scalloped potatoes are simply in a cream sauce, just sayin’

  43. I mistakenly added the cheese to the finished sauce instead of layering. My first thought was, ‘oh, no!’. As luck would have it, this was so much easier in my opinion. Made the two layers, pouring half over each layer. Sprinkled a small amount of cayenne pepper over the top. DELICIOUS ?






  44. Delicious!! Can’t wait to make another!! Maybe a vegan version. Used oat milk, real cheese, veggie broth and it was very creamy. Have a vegan in the family and can’t wait to try it with the vegan cheese. Thanks for sharing!






  45. This is always the most requested recipe in our house around the holidays. Just wanted you to know how much we love it!






  46. Made this today and it is delicious. I added more salt to taste, but my husband said it had enough salt. My potatoes were cut to exact thickness and 1 hour was just right. Really great!






  47. SO GOOD. Everyone enjoyed and have saved this one for sharing with the rest of the family.






  48. I made half the recipe in a meatloaf pan. We got 3 1/2 nice servings out of it. Everything was coated perfectly all the way to the bottom. Very nice easy recipe.






  49. In the beginning you have the potatoes cut into 1/4″ thick and later in the recipe instruct, “sliced into 1/8″” not a big deal, but thought you should know






  50. I haven’t even baked it yet, but I’m already certain this is the scalloped potatoes recipe I’ve been searching my whole life for! The sauce is so good I just wanted to eat it with a spoon. THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!!! (I used dried thyme and I used bacon fat to make the roux.)