Scalloped Potatoes
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Make the most creamy, decadent Scalloped Potatoes using this tested and perfected family recipe! Whether you’re preparing the potatoes for a holiday meal, like Easter or Thanksgiving, or as a side dish for a family dinner, this step-by-step guide will teach you how to make the potatoes perfect every time!
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Oh-so-creamy, buttery, flavorful, just a few words used to describe these incredible potatoes! Growing up, my Grandma Meme would make these scalloped potatoes every Easter to pair with ham. While this was a traditional pairing, she would also make them for Sunday family dinners throughout the year to go with beef roasts, pork chops and other meals.
My husband is a huge fan of scalloped potatoes, so I started making them for him a few years back to pair with special occasion dinners and holiday meals. Now I’m so excited to share this family recipe with all of you!
Over the years, I’ve picked up some of my own tips and tricks to make this recipe easy to make at home. So you don’t just have to save it for Easter lunch or Thanksgiving dinner, you can make it throughout the year. Because these potatoes are so good, they should definitely be put into a regular rotation!
Ingredients
- Butter – to combine with the flour and make a roux, to help thicken the creamy sauce.
- All-purpose flour – combined with the butter to make the roux. You can also make this recipe without flour, and use cornstarch instead. You will only need half of the amount of cornstarch, because cornstarch has more thickening power than flour. For this recipe you’ll need 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to replace the 1/4 cup of flour.
- Onion – I recommend a yellow onion for it’s nice, neutral flavor. You could also use a Vidalia onion if you prefer a more mild, sweet flavor.
- Garlic – I always recommend fresh minced cloves for the best flavor.
- Chicken broth – or use vegetable broth to make the recipe vegetarian.
- Half and half – you could also use whole milk, but I prefer the added creaminess of the half and half.
- Salt + black pepper + fresh thyme – to season the scalloped potatoes.
- Gold potatoes – while I have used russet potatoes to make this recipe a few times over the years, I’ve found that gold potatoes really work best. They’re so creamy, so after they cook in the rich, buttery sauce, the potatoes literally melt in your mouth!
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook the onions and garlic. Melt butter in a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and minced garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes to soften the onions.
- Add flour. Sprinkle flour evenly over the onions and garlic in the skillet.
- Stir to combine everything. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth to the skillet and whisk to combine everything.
- Make it creamy. Reduce the heat on the stove to medium-low and slowly stir in the half and half. Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. You might have to increase the heat on the stove to medium heat to bring it to a boil.
- Season the sauce. Add salt, black pepper and fresh chopped thyme. Stir to combine everything. Turn the heat on the stove off and set the creamy sauce aside.
- Slice the potatoes. For this recipe, I highly recommend using a mandoline to thinly slice the potatoes. I used this mandoline on setting 3 to slice the potatoes, while wearing these cut-resistant gloves. If you’ve always been scared to use your mandoline for fear of slicing your finger, these gloves are perfect. I bought them for my husband to use with a meat slicer, but I’ve ended up using them more than him to slice veggies with my mandoline!
- Layer the potatoes in a baking dish. Grease a 9 inch by 13 inch baking dish with butter, or cooking spray. Layer ⅓ of the potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish, sprinkle about ½ teaspoon salt evenly over the potatoes.
- Cover with the creamy sauce. Pour ⅓ of the creamy sauce over the potatoes. Repeat with another layer of potatoes, salt and creamy sauce, then again with the final layer of potatoes, salt and creamy sauce. Cover the casserole dish with foil, then place the potatoes on the middle rack in a preheated oven set to 350°F and bake the potatoes for 45 minutes. Uncover the potatoes and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes. Turn the oven from bake to broil on high and cook for an extra 2-3 minutes, or until the potatoes turn golden brown on top. Do not walk away while the potatoes are under the broiler, you want to watch them and remove them just when they start to brown on top. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them rest for 15 minutes before serving. This will allow the creamy sauce to set around the potatoes and makes it easy to slice and serve the potatoes.
Recipe tips
- Make sure to thinly slice the potatoes. I like using a mandoline and my handy cut-resistant gloves to make this process quick, easy and painless.
- Let the half and half sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before using it in this recipe. Really cold milk, or half-and-half, will take longer to thicken in the sauce. Simply set the half and half on the counter before starting this recipe. By the time you’re ready to use the half and half in the creamy sauce, it will be good to go!
- The difference between potatoes au gratin and scalloped potatoes is the addition of cheese. To make au gratin potatoes, follow this recipe, but add 4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, gruyere or parmesan cheese. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese on top of the first two layers of the creamy sauce, and 2 cups of cheese on the top layer.
- To enhance the flavors of the creamy sauce, add 1-3 dashes of Tabasco or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper with the salt, thyme and black pepper. This is an old chef’s trick used to enhance the flavors of a creamy sauce. The richness of the sauce will be enhanced by adding just a few dashes of hot sauce to the creamy sauce. Don’t worry, it won’t make this dish spicy, it’s just there as a flavor enhancer!
- To make this recipe gluten free, replace the 1/4 cup of flour in the creamy sauce with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- This recipe will serve 8-10 people as a side dish at a holiday meal with 1-2 other side dishes. If serving this as the only side dish with a meal, it will serve 6-8 people.
- You can make the recipe ahead of time and store it in the fridge, covered, for up to 24 hours before baking and serving the scalloped potatoes.
Storage and reheating
Store leftover scalloped potatoes in the refrigerator for up to 6 days in an airtight container.
To reheat the leftovers in the oven, place the potatoes in an oven-safe dish and cover with aluminum foil. Reheat at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through.
To reheat them in the microwave, place one serving of potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and reheat for 2 minutes.
To freeze cooked scalloped potatoes, allow them to cool completely to room temperature. Place them in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. I always recommend thawing the scalloped potatoes overnight in the fridge before heating them up.
To reheat frozen scalloped potatoes, once they’ve thawed in the refrigerator, place them in an oven-safe pan, cover and heat for 25-30 minutes in a 350°F oven. Uncover and heat for an additional 5-10 minutes.
What to serve them with
These potatoes are an excellent addition to a holiday meal, like Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you’d like to serve them at the holidays, I recommend pairing the scalloped potatoes with any of these impressive main dishes.
- Honey Baked Ham
- Corned Beef
- Beef Wellington
- Roasted Prime Rib
- Smoked Turkey Breast
- Cranberry Glazed Turkey Breast
- Smoked Prime Rib
If you want to make an easy meal anytime of the year, serve this scalloped potato recipe as a side dish with any of these easy main dishes.
More side dish recipes
Try these other delicious side dishes for your next weeknight dinner or holiday meal!
Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 cup onions, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup flour, or 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup chicken broth, or vegetable broth
- 2 cups half and half, or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon salt, + more to season the potatoes
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced with a mandoline
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Add the diced onions and minced garlic and cook until soft, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the flour to the skillet, stir to combine everything, and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth to the skillet and whisk to combine everything.
- Reduce the heat on the stove to medium-low and slowly stir in the half and half.
- Continue to cook, while stirring, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil.
- Stir in the salt, thyme and black pepper. Remove the creamy sauce from the heat and set it aside.
- Thinly slice all of the potatoes using a sharp knife or mandoline. I used this mandoline on setting 3 to slice the potatoes, while wearing these cut-resistant gloves.
- Grease a 9” x 13” casserole dish with butter or cooking spray.
- Place ⅓ of the potatoes in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish, sprinkle about ½ teaspoon salt evenly over the potatoes, then pour ⅓ of the sauce over the potatoes.
- Repeat two more layers of potatoes, salt and cream sauce.
- Cover the casserole dish with a large piece of aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Uncover the baking dish and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes.
- Turn the oven from bake to broil and continue cooking 2-3 minutes, or until the top of the potatoes are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let the potatoes rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Let the half and half sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before using it in this recipe. Really cold milk, or half-and-half, will take longer to thicken in the sauce. Simply set the half and half on the counter before starting this recipe. By the time you’re ready to use the half and half in the creamy sauce, it will be good to go!
- The difference between potatoes au gratin and scalloped potatoes is the addition of cheese. To make au gratin potatoes, follow this recipe, but add 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, gruyere or parmesan cheese. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese on top of each layer of the creamy sauce.
- To enhance the flavors of the creamy sauce, add 1-3 dashes of Tabasco or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper with the salt, thyme and black pepper. This is an old chef’s trick used to enhance the flavors of a creamy sauce. The richness of the sauce will be enhanced by adding just a few dashes of hot sauce to the creamy sauce. Don’t worry, it won’t make this dish spicy, it’s just there as a flavor enhancer!
- To make this recipe gluten free, replace the 1/4 cup of flour in the creamy sauce with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- This recipe will serve 8-10 people as a side dish at a holiday meal with 1-2 other side dishes. If serving this as the only side dish with a meal, it will serve 6-8 people.
- You can make the recipe ahead of time and store it in the fridge, covered, for up to 24 hours before baking and serving the scalloped potatoes.
- Store leftover scalloped potatoes in the refrigerator for up to 6 days in an airtight container. To reheat the leftovers in the oven, place the potatoes in an oven-safe dish and cover with aluminum foil. Reheat at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through. To reheat them in the microwave, place one serving of potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and reheat for 2 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
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