Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes are an easy, impressive Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish that I make every year, and everyone looks forward to it. Thinly sliced layers of potatoes are tossed in a rich and flavorful cheese sauce and baked until bubbly and golden. Every bite is delicious!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Helpful Reader Review
“4th time making this recipe since Thanksgiving and it never disappoints. Had to double it today to feed 13. We almost licked them both clean.” – Diana ★★★★★
Au Gratin Potatoes Video
I’ll show you, step by step, how to make this creamy, cheesy au gratin potato side dish that will be the star of your holiday table. These potatoes are so luxurious, yet so easy to make!
Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes Recipe
“Au Gratin” (also called Gratin Dauphinois) is a French cooking technique that involves baking potatoes in cream, with decadent layers of grated gruyere cheese.
This Au Gratin Potatoes recipe is a showstopping potato side dish that I like to make for the major holidays because it tastes and looks so special. Pair this with Baked Ham and Juicy Roast Turkey for a memorable holiday feast! This potato casserole is absolutely holiday-worthy, but simple to prepare, especially with our quick method for thinly slicing the potatoes (see below).
Potatoes Au Gratin Ingredients
The secret to making the perfect au gratin potatoes is in this recipe’s simple yet flavorful ingredients. Below is an overview of what you’ll need, with the full details available in the recipe card.
- Butter and Flour – You’ll whisk together melted butter and flour to form a roux, which is the base for the cream sauce.
- Milk and Cream – Adding a bit of heavy cream will prevent it from curdling or breaking. Milk keeps it light and moist.
- Seasoning – We season the cream sauce with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Gruyere Cheese – Gruyere is a hard Swiss Alpine cheese that’s smooth and great for melting. You can substitute grated sharp white cheddar or a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Potatoes – We love using Yukon gold potatoes for this au gratin recipe, but other starchy potatoes, like russet potatoes, will also work. You can peel the potatoes or leave them unpeeled; it’s up to you.
Pro Tip:
I found that Costco had the best pricing for Gruyere cheese (photographed above), but it’s available in the cheese section of most grocery stores. I’ll buy Gruyere by the block and then shred it with the large holes of my box grater.
3 Ways to Thinly Slice Potatoes
The key to having the au gratin potatoes cook through evenly is to evenly and thinly slice the potatoes. to 1/8″ thick. Below are our tried-and-true methods to achieve perfect, thinly sliced potatoes for this recipe:
- Knife – We love our santoku for slicing potatoes. It has handy grooves that keep the food from sticking to the knife.
- Food Processor – The food processor is our favorite method for thinly sliced potatoes. It’s definitely the fastest and most efficient, and it feels safer since you aren’t getting close to the blade. We use a level 1 blade on our Cuisinart.
- Mandolin Slicer – I recommend using the food holder that comes with a mandolin, as well as a safety glove to protect your fingers, as those blades can be sharp! Slice off one end of the potato to create a flat surface for the holder to grab onto, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions when slicing.
How to Make Au Gratin Potatoes
- Make the Cheese Sauce – Start by making the roux – whisk butter and flour in a large pot or dutch oven until golden. To prevent lumps, slowly whisk in the milk and cream, then season to taste and continue to stir until thickened. Once the pot is off the heat, stir half of the shredded Gruyère into your creamy sauce.
- Slice the Potatoes – Slice your peeled or unpeeled potatoes into rounds about ⅛” thick (see above).
- Combine – Toss the potato slices in the cream mixture until well coated, then transfer the potatoes to a buttered casserole dish. Cover everything in a generous layer of the remaining grated cheese.
- Bake – Cover the potatoes with foil and bake at 350ºF for 1 hour, then uncovered for 15-30 minutes until tender and the sauce is bubbling. For even more browning on top of your au gratin potatoes, broil for a couple of minutes at the end.
How to Serve Au Gratin Potatoes?
We love to serve these au gratin potatoes with a sprinkle of fresh chives or fresh chopped parsley, as a satisfying Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish, or with family meals throughout the colder months. Here are some ideas to build your menu:
- Turkey – Serve as a holiday side dish with Spatchcock Turkey and Turkey Gravy.
- Roasts – Roasted Beef Tenderloin, Prime Rib, or Spatchcock Chicken.
- Veggies – Pair with Oven-Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Carrots, and Roasted Cauliflower.
- Salad – As a tasty side next to a fresh Beet Salad or Cobb Salad.
Make-Ahead & Storage
This cheese-filled potato bake is perfect to make ahead, and easy to store for delicious leftovers.
- Make-Ahead: I recommend baking the casserole completely, then cooling to room temperature, covering, and refrigerating. When you’re ready to serve, reheat per the instructions below.
- To Refrigerate Leftovers: Once the baked casserole has cooled, cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
- Freezing: Baked and cooled gratin potatoes can be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw the potatoes in the fridge before reheating.
- To Reheat: Reheat baked au gratin potatoes in the oven covered in foil, at 350ºF for about 25 minutes or until hot throughout. You can also reheat in the microwave.
Hearty homemade Au Gratin Potatoes are the best comfort food. We’re sure that you’re going to love making these this holiday season, and all winter long!
Au Gratin Potatoes
Ingredients
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk, any kind
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 ¼ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese, from a 6 oz block or white cheddar cheese, divided
- 3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed (peeled or unpeeled)
- Chives, to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ̊F. Use 1 Tbsp butter to grease a 3 quart (9×13) casserole dish.
- In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, melt 4 Tbsp butter. Add flour whisk for 2 minutes to cook off the flour taste. Gradually pour in the milk then the cream while whisking. Add salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder then continue whisking until sauce has thickened. Add more seasonings to taste. Remove from heat and stir in half of the shredded cheese until melted.
- Peel potatoes if desired and thinly slice to 1/8” thick (a food processor makes this quick and easy). Add potatoes to the cheese sauce and stir to coat, then spread the potatoes evenly in the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining grated cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 60 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15-30 minutes or until top is golden brown and potatoes are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. You can broil for 1-2 minutes at the end if more browning is desired but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Rest for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with chives and freshly cracked black pepper if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Potato Side Dishes
If you love this au gratin recipe, below are more must-have potato recipes.
- Twice-Baked Potatoes
- Loaded Potato Soup
- Mashed Potato Pancakes
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Perfect Roasted Potatoes
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Smashed Potato Salad
- Ranch Scalloped Potatoes
Hey Natasha cant wait to make your Au Gratin potato’s for Christmas Day dinner. Saw Sharky over your right shoulder. Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Thanks
Thank you! I hope you’ll love this and all the recipes that you will try from us.
Hi Natasha, love your recipes. I get really confused with weights and measures, how many ounces equals one cup of shredded cheese?
Hi Carl, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
4th time making this recipe since Thanksgiving and it never dissapoints. Had to double it today to feed 13. We almost licked them both clean.
Thank you so much! This recipe also brings memories from my college days. My friends and I used to get together to make Au Gratin chesse sandwiches.
I’m so glad it was a hit, Diana!
I made it, I couldn’t find that cheese, I dont believe that its sold in my part of the country, so I used cheddar and half and half and a little smoked paprika along with the other ingredients and it was finger licking good. I figured I alone was going to eat it since my kids do not like potatoes but they ate it all up. Im really happy.
Hello Rhonda, thank you for sharing. Good to hear that it worked and your kids loved the results!
Maybe I did something wrong but I found the recipe kind of bland.
Hi Chantal! I’m sorry to hear that. I would look over the recipe to see if by chance you missed anything. You can season it to your preferred taste with additional onion, garlic, salt, etc..
Can you substitute corn starch for flour to make it gluten free?
Hi Michele, that should work, here’s what one of our readers wrote: “Substituting corn starch for flour worked for us” I hope that helps!
Great recipe, this dish was delicious! The sauce smelled divine while I was preparing it and I’m thinking it would be great tossed with cooked pasta!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Cathy!
I made this for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone LOVED this recipe. So good and easy to make. Thank you so much for sharing these. I love watching you on YouTube.
Wonderful! I’m glad it was a hit! Thanks for sharing.
These were amazing. My whole pan got eaten up. I will definitely make again.
Thank you so much for the great feedback!
Absolutely delicious!!! Didn’t have chives, so I added green onion! Yummy. Thank you Natasha!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, LA!
I am making this recipe for Thanksgiving, I like to get everything ready the day before. Can I cut the potatoes on Wednesday and put them in water for cooking the next day.
BTW, I am also making your pumpkin cake. I love your recipes
Hi Fran, It’s best to leave the potatoes whole until you’re ready to slice them. Fill a bowl with cool water, submerge the peeled potatoes, then cover them with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight. When ready, thinly slice them. It’s recommended not to leave the potatoes in the water for more than 24 hours.
These are sooo yummy and creamy. I did add 2 Tbls to the melted butter before I added the cream and milk to make a white sauce and add thickening. They came out perfect. Using the mandolin or food processor to make the potato slices the same thickness is essential to allow them to cook evenly. I used sharp white cheddar and Romano cheeses which added more flavor.
Great recipe and of course so easy like all of Natasha’s great recipes
Thanks for sharing, Andrea! So glad you loved them.
Little shark followed you as you walked off with your favorite food processor for slicing potatoes 🙂 So anxious to make this Au Gratin potato recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Good catch and I hope it becomes your new favorite.
We love all your recipes, I’m going to make this for thanksgiving, but I don’t care for Grier cheese what else could I use?
Glad to hear that, Jack. If you don’t have Gruyere, use grated cheddar cheese instead.
What a delicious dish!!! I love all your recipes!! You’re an amazing chef!!! Thanks for always sharing❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for your good comments and feedback, Jennifer!
Yes, Natasha. I spotted Sharky in the video when you walked the food processor off camera. He followed you. Awesome video. Looking forward to making this recipe for Thanksgiving! Thanks.
Great catch! I hope this recipe becomes a hit when you make it!
4:19 if the video is when the sharks appearing – following Natasha!!
Good catch!
Hi Natasha,
I tried your recipe for AuGratin Potatoes tonight! OMG, So good!! I am from Canada and we have a hard time finding Gruyere Cheese, I, however found some Smoked Gruyere and used that mixed half with Monterey Jack, and halved the recipe, as I am the only person in my house..It was SOOOO awesome. Best ever!! Thank you for all your Delish Recipes they are fin nominal!
Last night I had your Chicken Chow Mein!! that was awesome too!!
Great to hear that the result was great and you loved it! Thank you for your awesome feedback, we appreciate it.
Hi Natasha
The recipe sounds great. I’m going to cut it in half and bake in an 8×8 pan. How long should I bake?
Thanks!
Hi Lucy! I haven’t tested that to provide exact instructions. You’ll have to keep an eye on it.
Hello,
French woman here. Gratin de potatoes would be a more grammatically correct name for your recipe, as gratin is the sort of crusty part resulting from the cooking process, not something you add to your recipe (which is implied when you say potatoes AU gratin). And never, ever under any circumstance will you find in a gratin dauphinois some cheese. Only cream and milk. Chefs in the Dauphiné region would have a fit reading this and you would be scolded if you asked for cheese on your gratin in Grenoble. Also no roux, and garlic and nutmeg are missing !
Hi Audrey, thank you for sharing your insights. I named it based on my research but it probably varies by region as well.
Made your potato’s for a dinner last night. Everyone raved and I brought home an empty pan.
Didn’t change a thing. Your video was helpful! Thank you
Hi Carol, I’m so happy you loved the Gratin Potatoes. Thank you for the lovely review!