Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes are an easy, impressive Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish that we make every year. Thinly sliced layers of potatoes are tossed in a rich and flavorful gruyere cheese sauce and baked until bubbly and golden. Every bite is delicious!
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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 Roasted Carrots for a memorable Easter feast! This potato casserole is absolutely holiday-worthy, but simple to prepare, especially with our quick method for thinly slicing the potatoes (see below).
Au Gratin Potatoes Video
Watch Natasha make these creamy and cheesy au gratin potatoes. These potatoes are so luxurious, yet so easy to make!
Au Gratin vs Scalloped Potatoes?
The two are very similar and often used interchangeably, but technically, scalloped potatoes are made from sliced potatoes baked in a simple mixture of milk and heavy cream. Meanwhile, “au gratin” (also called Gratin Dauphinois) is a French cooking technique that involves baking the potatoes in cream along with decadent layers of grated gruyere cheese.
Ingredients for Potatoes Au Gratin
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 Heavy Whipping Cream – Using cream will prevent the cream from curdling or breaking, and adding milk prevents it from becoming too heavy.
- Seasoning – We season the cream sauce with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Gruyere Cheese – Gruyere (pronounced “groo-yehr”) is a hard Swiss Alpine cheese made from cow’s milk. It’s smooth and great for melting. If you don’t have Gruyere, use grated sharp white cheddar cheese or a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheese instead.
- 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 potatoes 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 feels a little safer since you aren’t getting close to the blade. We use Level 1 on our Cuisinart, which has an adjustable blade.
- 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! Begin by slicing off one end of the potato to create a flat surface for the holder to grab onto, and make sure to 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. Whisk in the milk and cream, then season to taste and continue to stir until the sauce has thickened. Once the pot is off the heat, stir in about half of the shredded Gruyere.
- 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. For even more browning on top of your au gratin potatoes, set the oven to broil for the final minute or two, but don’t let it burn!
How to Serve Au Gratin Potatoes?
We love to serve these au gratin potatoes with a sprinkle of fresh chives, 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 Juicy Roast Turkey with Turkey Gravy.
- Roasts – Roasted Beef Tenderloin, Prime Rib or Spatchcock Chicken.
- Veggies – Pair with Oven-Roasted Broccoli 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.
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 Recipe
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 Recipes
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
Hello,
I just Love your recipes!!! Everything I make from your recipes always turns out fantastic!! Saw the shark move along your cutting board.
I’m so glad to hear that, Teresa!
I saw the shark! Twice! First time, he bounced along the edge of the cutting board as Natasha moved away. The second time, he was looking over Natasha’s shoulder as she was cutting chives over the dish. I will try these potatoes because I am a potato lover too.
Best potato bake I have made. Lots of comments about how nice it is. Will be making a lot of your dishes, from your book (Ros Perth Australia)
I needed waaaaay more time in the oven to make sure everything was cooked. I wish I had left the tin foil on for longer…
Also, I know I had uniform slices because I was using my food processor.
Hi Mel, was your oven fully preheated? Also, the thickness of the slices as well as the size of the casserole dish can affect the bake time. Since not all ovens are the same and there can be variances, I suggest poking the potatoes when they are done and they should be fork tender.
Made this recipe for a dinner we hosted and it was fabulous! Definitely a keeper recipe!!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit, Linda! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Made these for the first time tonight and they turned out perfectly. I added a little more salt , garlic powder and onion powder . Will definitely be making these again !
I did these potatoes for Easter they were so delicious. My whole family loved them.you are fantastic. I have your book and I am lining up recipes now to make.you make me happy to cook again.love you. I will let you know what else I try next.
I’m so happy to hear that, I’m smiling big reading this comment. Thank you Rita!
Mouth watering new favorite to go with you holiday ham recipe Best Ever! Also Lemon roasted Asparagus is an all time favorite requested for Easter 🐣
REALLY yummy! We especially enjoyed that it wasn’t too salty as we served it with a ham for Easter.
My family (including young children) loved these so much that they have specifically requested them this year. In the oven now!
What adjustments do you recommend if using a convection oven?
Hi Sandra! I’ve never tested this in a convection oven to provide those instructions. They bake faster so you’ll need to experiment with the time/temp.
Can I prep it the night before and then just bake in the morning?
Hi Stephanie! What I included in the make-ahead instructions are the best options for making this ahead. I would not recommend storing it without baking it. Potatoes can not only change color but the salt can draw liquid out and you risk turning the dish into a watery mess.
I am making these for Easter Sunday dinner and prepping/measuring Saturday to speed up the process day of. It’s very handy to be able to increase the servings and have the ingredients adjusted. However it makes sense, especially because some ingredients are split (butter) to have the adjustments follow into the recipe instructions as well. Instead of constantly doing the math I finally had to go old school and print then write in the adjustments to the instructions. No point in auto upping if there’s no follow through. Just sayin.
Hi Donna! Thank you for the feedback. We are working on making improvements however that is not a feature available to us currently. We are aware of it and hopefully we can find a work around.
Thank you Natasha I have your book and I do love this recipe. I will be serving the recipe for Easter 2024. Your many other recipes are fabulous. I have been a banker for years and of course love receiving your recipes. Lynette
1st time following you. Loved this recipe also liked the sharked. My 2 year old Granddaughter spots the shark so I watched it 4 times. LOL Thanks.
Hi James! That’s awesome. Thank you so much for trying me recipe.
Hi Natasha, can you use GF flour for the sauce? I have a 1-1 GF flour, but no regular flour.
Hi Cheri! I don’t have any experience with GF flour but based on what I’ve read, yes. One of my readers also reported using cornstarch in place of flour.
The shark crossed the screen as you were putting the food processor away
Great eye, Randall! Thank you for watching!
Saw the shark right in front of the counter where you are working
Can I cut the potatoes and soak in water to remove starch a day ahead of making them?
Hi Tyler. That would be fine. Peeled potatoes can be submerged in water for 24hrs.
Can’t wait to try this. Looks delicious
I saw sharky sail along your cutting board.