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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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952 comments on “Scalloped Potatoes”

  1. This turned out fantastic!!! Half the dish was gone during dinner. So very very good. My new go-to for scalloped potatoes. Do delicious!






  2. Actually, a question. Have you ever made this, put in the freezer , thaw, then bake. I was thinking about getting a head start for Thanksgiving. Thanks. ps. I make your two Mexican sauces all the time. Fellow Stearns

  3. These are delicious!! Thank you! Even better as leftovers.






  4. The sharp cheddar cheese was too overwhelming and you could not taste the potato and other spices. I will never make this again.






    • Perhaps, as a suggestion, rather than never making this recipe again, adjust the type of cheese to a milder style and disregard thyme. It is fun making a recipe your own. ?

  5. I didn’t add the extra Parmesan cheese, due to more calories, but loved the dish and my husband loved the smell of garlic when he walked in the door and he said the best scalloped potatoes! Loved it!






  6. Best scalloped potatoes I’ve ever had!!! This will be my new go-to recipe!






  7. Made it the other night best scalloped potatoes I have ever had ?






  8. Can you make this the night before ?

  9. This is the only potato dish my daughter eats. I made this last Thanksgiving and Christmas, and will make it again today (on Thanksgiving!)!! Can’t wait!

  10. Made this a few times and LOVE! My bf is a huge fan. Due to COVID and limiting my grocery trips. Is there a way to substitute cream for the milk? Thank you!






  11. It didn’t firm up the way I would like. It was still rather soupy, which is disappointing to say the least.

  12. Do you peel the Yukon Golds for this? I haven’t used them before.

  13. Yummy






  14. Best potato dish I’ve ever had. So incredibly rich and decadent, they can be a meal all on their own.






  15. Another winner from you, Ali! This was amazing! I love that it wasn’t made with loads of heavy cream, like most recipes. I did remove the onions – as another reviewer mentioned, you could leave them in large slices to make them easier to fish out, which I did. My husband doesn’t love onion slices but I still wanted that onion flavor. I shredded a block of Tillamook aged white cheddar. Because I was finishing up other dishes, the potatoes were able to rest for a good 20-30 minutes and I thought the consistency was perfect. I saw a review or two that mentioned it was soupy – I really think that letting it rest lets it set up well. My sauce also thickened up nicely while I sliced the potatoes using a mandoline. If you don’t have one OMG it’s my favorite kitchen gadget ever! I use it all the time! But absolutely delicious, easy, fancy enough for a holiday dinner – Ill be making this again and again!






  16. Made this tonight and loved it! I made some minor changes because I was in a hurry, didn’t precook onions and used some garlic powder rather than fresh garlic. It was very good, I will be using this recipe again, thank you.






  17. This is my favorite recipe! Have been using it for a few years now! One hint add your salt and pepper to the sauted onions so the milk will not curdle.

  18. Just an awesome recipe! We added bacon and my family will never let me but a box again!






  19. Could you swap out the milk with heavy cream?






    • I saw where this has been asked a couple times. Have you gotten a response?
      I’m wondering as well.

  20. Do you have a recommendation to make this for lactose intolerant people? I bet I could substitute in dairy-free cheese, but what do you think about almond milk?

  21. Did not use 4lbs of taters. I used maybe half. Did I do something wrong? Used 9×13 baking dish.






  22. Great resipie I didn’t have all the ingredients just used what I had and what I know I like turned out so good yo

  23. I’ve cooked this recipe a few times and it always turns out amazing.






    • First time making scalloped potatoes! I am an experienced home cook and usually don’t use a recipe so while I did not follow the precise measurements in this I definitely used it as a guide.
      All I had were russet potatoes which get mushier so I sliced them a bit thicker. I used a combination of milk and heavy cream but also added some cream cheese and sour cream to the sauce (add a little extra stock or milk if too thick).
      I had a mozza-cheddar blend on hand so I used that but I would’ve used a gruyere or fontina if I had.
      I slightly over salted the sauce because it will balance with the potato nicely. Also added some dried thyme, parsley, onion and garlic powder, black and cayenne pepper and smoked paprika.
      Awesome! My boyfriend couldn’t travel home for xmas this year and this reminded him of his family traditions. Thank you ? merry Xmas!

  24. I made this last night. Yummo! I couldn’t find fresh thyme, so I used dry. I didn’t peel the potatoes. It was so delicious. Those whom I shared it with loved it and asked for the recipe.

  25. I’m not seeing quantities of ingredients. Sounds good but need quantities

  26. Absolutely love these scalloped potatoes! I made these in the summer and loved them so much, I’m making them with my Christmas Ham, 2020. When you find a perfect recipe, stick with it!!! I love so many of your recipes. Thanks so much for the details in creating variations to recipes as well.

    Merry Christmas

    Gail







  27. Au gratin potatoes have cheese. These are au gratin. Scalloped potatoes do NOT have cheese. Please understand the difference and correctly title them. It makes a difference. Thansk

    • Actually Wikipedia says:

      scalloped – cooked gratin; baked in a typical type of sauce, usually with cheese, as a casserole, e.g. scalloped potatoes; scalloped corn ? Merry Christmas

    • I added mushrooms to the saute and leftover ham from Christmas layers…. DELICHE

  28. Should be labeled cottage vs scalloped potatoes with inclusion of cheese. They were too garlicky. Typically, I like thyme but not in this recipe.






  29. Question – intro text says to slice potatoes into 1/4-inch rounds but actual recipe instructions at the bottom say 1/8 inch. Which one is correct? I can’t completely tell by the photos. By the way, I’ve tried a few of your other recipes and love them all so far. Can’t wait to try this one out!

  30. OMG! Fantastic, straight recipe if you know your way around roux. Tasty!






  31. For One, I love scalloped potatoes. This is an awesome recipe. I would highly recommend that you have everything minced, cut and measured before really cooking for a easy cooking experience. Definitely 5 STARS for sure.






  32. I loved these potato’s! They sure are cheesy and sooo, yummy…






  33. Thank you for sharing:) was absolutely delicious!






  34. Made this recipe for Christmas dinner, doubled the sauce recipe as it definitely wasnt enough. Only had the cheddar cheese and it was great. 6 for dinner and everyone love it! Definitely a keeper recipe!






  35. Just made these for xmas dinner. I followed the recipe (mostly). Used red potatoes, substituted some of the milk with sour cream and a nice goat cheese for the parmesan. Also added some boursin that was in the fridge. Fatty fat fat with all the extras, but my dad said it was the best scalloped potatoes he’s ever had and my boyfriend was delighted as well.
    Will make again (with whatever cheeses I have in hand).






  36. Delicious! Hubby asked for scalloped potatoes for our Christmas dinner, just the 2 of us. Out of the billions of scalloped potatoes recipes on the internet, I chose yours. :-) He loved them! He’s a big “potatoes guy” so that is saying a lot. He had 2 big helpings. I finely chopped the onion but otherwise made the recipe exactly as written. I’m looking forward to trying more recipes on your site. Happy and Healthy 2021!






  37. These scalloped potatoes are amazing! I used gruyere, because that my drug of choice, and they were soooo good!






  38. Foodie Family loved this yesterday (Xmas); I made as written. Used a mandolin that had thickness increments – I used 1/8″; which look larger than the pictured spuds 3/16″ (guessing). Advice: if your oven cooks slowly go thinner or add more time; I also rotated when removing tin foil for more even baking. The lazy baker in me didn’t strain onions, it didn’t bother the Family. As I put leftovers into storage containers, I thought that had we had a holiday ham, the extra ham & scalloped potatoes would have made a wonderful morning mash.

    *Note: mandolin = right tool for the job (LOVE mine). All the best in 2021!






  39. I don’t have Yukon potatoes can I use what I have ….Russet?
    Thanks Millie

  40. How many cups of sliced potatoes equals the 4 pounds of potatoes?
    Thanks!

  41. Instant holiday hit!






  42. Best scalloped potatoes I’ve ever had. Simple and fun to make! So tasty!






  43. OMG this recipe is awesome. I absolutely it






  44. My first time making scallop potatoes and this was the easiest recipe and they came out delicious !!!!!!!






  45. Made this to go with our New Year’s ham and it is delicious. I left out the garlic & onions because of stomach issues and subbed with some garlic & shallot infused olive oil. It’s so good we’ve been eating it since it got out of the oven instead of waiting for dinner later.






  46. This was a fantastic recipe! Full of flavour, for the cheeses I used marble, bourgeron and parmesan! The whole family loved it. This is my new go to scalloped potato recipe and it’s so easy to put together. Thank you for sharing:)






  47. Loved the savory flavors. I added a bit more broth and used whipping cream instead of milk. Also subbed a combo of gruyere and Vermont cheddar for the sharp cheddar. And I added a couple cups of chopped ham to the sauce. It was yummy!






  48. This is AMAZING! I actually made only an 8″ x 8″ dish (for two people). I kept the flour and butter quantity the same and cut everything else in half. And I used jarred minced garlic and pre-shredded parmesan. Hubby and I loved it and we had two servings left over, it reheats well! Will be adding this to my side rotation for sure. Thank you!

  49. These scalloped potatoes came out delicious! I sprinkled in between the slices in addition to salt and pepper adobo. I also sprinkled with cheddar cheese less than a cup in total just to keep calories down. The timing directions are perfect. I’ve made them before and they didn’t as cook through, 90 minutes is perfect. Thanks for sharing…..