How To Make Scalloped Potatoes

You know you’ve got yourself a party when the scalloped potatoes show up at the table. With its layers of cream and potatoes, and then more cream and more potatoes, all baked until bubbly — well, I would be hard-pressed to think of another dish that pairs comfort and elegance quite so perfectly. Here’s the easy scalloped potatoes recipe, a classic dish perfect for your next dinner party.

Think scalloped potatoes and gratins are one and the same? Not so fast, my friend! Both are made with thinly sliced potatoes cooked in cream, but they have one small, but significant, difference: cheese. Classic scalloped potatoes are made with just cream and potatoes, while gratins add cheese between those layers and over the top.

These two dishes have gotten pretty scrambled together over the years (because who doesn’t love cheese with their creamy potatoes?), but today we’re focusing on the classic scalloped potato dish. Don’t worry — if you want to add cheese to your version, that’s totally fine by us.

Read more: What’s the Difference Between Scalloped and Au Gratin Potatoes?

You want starchy potatoes for this dish — it’s that starch that helps the cream thicken up into a velvety sauce during cooking. Go for Russet potatoes or Yukon Golds.

Russets have the most starch and make the creamiest sauce, but Yukons tend to hold their shape a little better (although your sauce will be slightly more milky).

Cut the potatoes to between 1/8- and 1/4-inch thick. A mandoline makes this very quick and easy, but you can also do this with a sharp chef’s knife. Just make sure your slices are all roughly the same thickness so they cook at the same rate.

I like to simmer the sliced potatoes in the cream for a few minutes before layering everything in the dish. This gets all the ingredients warmed up to the same temperature, which cuts down on the total cooking time. You’re not actually cooking the potatoes through at this point; once your cream starts to simmer, you’re ready to go.

The potatoes won’t all be submerged in the cream, so gently move them around with tongs during this step so they warm evenly.

This dish is more about potatoes cooked in cream rather than a firmly set casserole recipe, so the sauce might still be fairly loose and liquidy even once the dish is bubbling and the potatoes are tender. This is all fine — nothing about potatoes cooked in cream is really a bad thing, in my opinion.

Use a slotted spoon or a fish spatula to serve so that you can lift the stacked layers and serve the potatoes in squares or wedges. Scoop out some of that creamy sauce left in the pan and drizzle it over the top. Leftovers are very good reheated.

Although I’d rather not admit it, I actually grew up with boxed scalloped potatoes and didn’t taste the homemade version until way too late in life. I am happy to report this recipe is helping me make up for lost time. It’s as tried and true as it gets, and so creamy and decadent. As the weather begins to cool down, this is the perfect side dish to turn to. Of course, it’s also a classic choice once Thanksgiving prep gets underway.

— Sheela, September 2018