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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. Great recipe. Easy to make and the sauce is definitely not bland.






  2. Absolutely Delicious! Added extra cheddar, everyone loved them. This recipe is a keeper!






  3. This recipe was great! My family really enjoyed it. Even my picky kids that hate scalloped potatoes! Easy to make and great flavour and waaaay better than pre-packaged stuff. This is my go-to recipe from now on. You can even half the recipe if you’re cooking for less people and it still works.






  4. The recipe looks good, however on the ingredients and what you need has no quantity with the ingredients.
    I am sure I can figure it out. Would be nice to know how much cheese. Maybe I missed it.

  5. Just made this for a party we were going to and it was a big hit, both from the men
    And women. First time making it but it is now my favorite. Loved it.

  6. Great result, I was just looking for a little different twist to scalloped potatoes and this sauce tasted awesome






  7. Amazing dish! First time making scalloped potatoes and they turned out perfect.

  8. I made this last Easter to rave reviews from my family! I did 1 1/2 times the recipe to feed 16 people. The only thing I did differently was add the cheeses to the white sauce so it melted instead of layering with the potatoes. I made this the night before and cooked part way. Then let cool to room temp and refrigerated. Easter Day I popped in the oven with my ham to finish cooking. I think making it the day before intensified the flavors. There were no leftovers, so this year I’m doubling the recipe! Thanks for a great recipe, Ali!






  9. Delicious and impressive!






  10. I haven’t made this yet, but plan to for Easter next Sunday. Just wondering if I can use a non-dairy milk (almond, soy, etc.) instead of regular milk.

  11. Do you peel the potatoes ?

  12. Such a delicious aroma I was almost tempted to dig in right out of the oven! Made this today and will reheat for Easter dinner tomorrow (thanks also for the tips on reheating).
    I didn’t have fresh thyme but dried worked, used a combination of cheddar and gruyere cheeses, a keeper!






  13. So delicious- made exactly as recipe states- this is my go-to for Easter! Thanks, Ali!






  14. In the oven now. Substituted beef stock because it was on hand. Halved the recipe.. I’m going to fridge it untill Easter.

  15. Fabulous recipe! Used half and half, half of the thyme and garlic, and the husband loved it. He is a very picky eater who had a super chef mother, so that’s quite a compliment. So much better than boxed mixes, which we have eaten for years but won’t anymore ;) Thanks for sharing!






  16. Looks delicious. In the oven now for Easter dinner.






  17. Absolutely delicious! This recipe is a keeper!






  18. These aren’t scalloped potatoes. They are potatoes au gratin.

  19. Oh my goodness, this is absolutely the best scalloped potatoes! I brought it to a Easter party yesterday and everyone loved it! Thank you so much for sharing!!






  20. I love this recipe! I have made it three times on different occasions and it is always a hit.






  21. Made this for Easter. I used a mix of sliced muenster with grated gruyere and parmesan. Delicious!






  22. This recipe is amazing ?

  23. I made this today for an Easter meal with friends and received several complements. It is so good! It would even be good without any cheese, because the sauce is great! It’s my go to recipe for scalloped potatoes.






  24. 5 Stars! Made this dish for Easter dinner tonight and give it a full thumbs ups! Rave reviews from all around the table, a double batch requested next time! Yum ?!!






  25. DEE-lush-ousssss! Made these for Easter dinner. OMGOSH. This recipe is sooo much goodness ! Delicious, decadent and to die for! Thank you sooooo much for this recipe. You’re detailed steps make it so dang easy- even I couldn’t screw it up!






  26. I made this for Easter dinner. It’s my first time making scalloped potatoes and they turned out fantastic! Thanks for the easy to follow directions.






  27. Excellent! I made these for Easter and everybody loved them. They are my new favorite scalloped potatoe recipe. I love to cook and I’ve made scalloped potatoes for many years. I have recipes that have cream of chicken soup and others that have whip cream in them. I like the ingredients better in this recipe and flavor is amazing!-






  28. I made this recipe to bring to an Easter Dinner party, exactly as the recipe stated, except I added 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika to the sauce. It was excellent and I will make it again and again. Sadly I did not take a photo, but I’ll try to next time. Used fresh thyme from my garden – perfect! I have one of the new standard 9×13 Pyrex pans which is deeper than the old style. Sliced 4 pounds of potatoes 1/8 ” thick and only about 3 1/2 pounds would fit. I noticed a slight discrepancy, in your discussion you mention 1/4 inch thick, yet the actual recipe calls for 1/8. I’m not sure I would make them a long time ahead, loved the bubbling cheesy personality of this dish. It’s a keeper!






  29. This turned out perfectly for our Easter dinner, the ideal side to ham. Make sure you grease the foil otherwise the cheddar will stick, like it did for me. Thank you for explaining about using the Yukon Gold potatoes as the better option.






  30. I tried this recipe as my first attempt at real scalloped potatoes, it turned out great although I had to adjust my recipe when I was distracted by guests that I forgot to add the floor to the butter onion mixer prior to the chicken broth. No big deal, I created a side roux of floor and butter and added it then continued on. I ended up adding the cheese (Cheddar, Gruyere and Fontina) to the cream sauce and letting it melt, tossed all the potatoes into the cream / cheese sauce. Tossed to completely coat and put it all into my backing dish, cover with some more cheese including the parmesan. Due to the extra butter roux I had to dab the top of the dish towards the end and it turned out great, wish I took a picture.

    Always remember to take a moment when you make a mistake, think about a fix before throwing out and starting over.

    Thank you for the great recipe.






  31. From the guests: “best scalloped potatoes you’ve ever made”!






  32. These were a big hit! I made them the day before and cooked it covered for 30 minutes. The next day I cooked them uncovered for about 45 minutes. So yummy!!!!






  33. I made these to serve with our Easter ham. They were hands down the best scalloped potatoes I have ever had.






  34. Made this for Easter. My new favorite side dish! Everyone loved it. This recipe is now a staple for all holiday feasts!






  35. Can you omit the parmesan? I don’t have any on hand

  36. I was surprised to see so many good comments about this recipe. We did not like the flavor and it came out greasy from all the cheese.






  37. The best recipe around we all loved it!! Thank You

  38. This was just a tad bit too salty. Probably because I added a lot of extra cheese though. Very easy to make.






  39. I made these twice and they turned out delicious! But when making the roux, both times, it never thickened, so things kind of turned out soupy. What am I missing or doing wrong?






  40. You really need to boil potatoes first. I made this recipe without (per recipe) and baked twice as long and the potatoes were still hard. Not my favorite overall, at all.. must say. But good reviews so guess I’m the odd one out!






  41. Made it for Easter dinner at a potluck. Was the hit of the dinner.






  42. I made this recipe for a family dinner and everyone loved it. It’s a perfect blend of cheese, sauce, and potatoes, and baked up with a beautifully golden brown top. Definitely my new go-to scalloped potatoes dish! Thank you!






  43. I loved this recipe! It was an absolute hit with the family. I had recently bought a bag of Russet Potatoes so I had to use this up and still turned out perfect. Thank you for posting this recipe. I will definitely add to my rotation.






  44. This recipe used every pan and extra utensil in my kitchen. Result was very tasty but it’s a major effort if not done in stages, such as paring potatoes the day before and making sauce day before.






  45. These were really good but waaaaay too much salt. I think you would only have to put in 1/2 teaspoon rather than 1 1/2.






  46. Wonderful recipe,so much better than the ones with soup and hash browns.






  47. When invited 2 a cookout I asked what I should bring. The hostess said I like scalloped potatoes. Now I had not made that in like 30yrs. I followed this recipe to the tee and it was a huge hit. Thanks

  48. Absolutely the best scalloped potato recipe I’ve made in the last 40 years. I don’t know what was so magical about this combination, perhaps the chicken broth? Perhaps simmering the onions in the sauce? Maybe the thyme put it over the top? All I can say is that I don’t care for potatoes, but was making this for the family and I had seconds. I’m definitely saving this recipe






  49. absolutely to die for! family loved it.






  50. I just foind recipe, haven’t made it yet. But, looking forward to use this recipe, for my first time scalloped potatoes.