Potato Gratin

This simple potato gratin recipe is the perfect side dish for weeknight dinners and holiday meals alike. Thin slices of Yukon gold potato are baked in cream, milk, two cheeses, garlic, and thyme.

Do you remember after Thanksgiving, I shared this post with a rundown of my Thanksgiving menu and talked about what I loved and what I didn’t? I mentioned how I decided to skip mashed potatoes altogether and make potato gratin instead, and how much more I love potato gratin as a side dish.

(For the record, I still love mashed potatoes, but I think a gratin is better).

Many of you asked me to share the recipe, so here it is! You’ll see that it’s quite simple, but oh man is it delicious. And the leftovers are even better.

There are a few things that I do with my potato gratin that make it a better dish overall.

First, you want to have the cream and milk together in a big bowl before you start slicing the potatoes, then put the potatoes directly into the milk and cream after you slice them, as opposed to storing them in a bowl of water as you do with many other recipes. We want to preserve the precious starch from the potato slices and release them into the milk and cream, so it thickens the liquid. A lot of gratin recipes solely use cream for the baking liquid, but this way you can cut calories and fat slightly by replacing with milk, and letting the potato starch thicken the liquid.

And before we move on, I highly suggest using a mandolin for slicing the potatoes. While it’s possible to slice by hand, the slices will be uneven and it takes FOREVER. If you get a good quality mandolin like this one, it’s not as scary to use as you might think, and I use mine ALL the time.

When the potatoes are sliced up, add two kinds of cheese. My choices are sharp and tangy aged parmigiano reggiano and melty, nutty aged gruyere:

Both cheeses serve different purposes and are equally necessary.

Next add tons of fresh thyme leaves, garlic, salt, and pepper:

I find 2 tsp of salt is perfect for me, but I will literally pull a slice of potato from the bowl and taste for seasoning (you can spit out the potato once you’ve determined it’s properly seasoned).

Toss the ingredients well to evenly coat the potatoes, then dump the entire contents of the bowl into an 8×12 baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Then, place the entire baking dish on a sheet pan.

Trust me, don’t skip out on the sheet pan, or you’ll have a burned mess on the bottom of the oven. Since the liquid has cream in it, it loves to boil over and seep out the sides.

Bake for an hour, then remove the foil. The potatoes will look like this:

They will be mostly tender, but now it’s time to bake for 30 more minutes to really brown the top and let the liquid reduce down:

The potato gratin should now be very tender in the middle but cheesy and brown on the surface. It’s ready to serve!

These potatoes go great as a side dish to nearly any type of main protein. Chicken, beef, pork, it’s all good. Enjoy!

Potato Gratin

Yield: Serves 8

Prep Time:15 minutes

Cook Time:90 minutes

Total Time:1 hour 45 minutes

This simple potato gratin recipe is the perfect side dish for weeknight dinners and holiday meals alike. Thin slices of Yukon gold potato are baked in cream, milk, two cheeses, garlic, and thyme.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs yukon gold potatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ lb gruyere cheese, grated
• ¼ lb parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
• 3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tsp salt
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and milk.
3. Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes very thinly (if you don’t have a mandolin, you can use a knife, but it will be a lot more work and time). As you finish slicing each potato, place it into the cream milk mixture so the slices don’t brown.
4. When the potatoes are all sliced, add the gruyere and parmigiano cheeses to the bowl, along with the garlic, the leaves from the thyme sprigs, salt, and a few cracks of black pepper. Toss well.
5. Pour the potatoes and cream into an 8×11 baking dish, then cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan, then bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake for 30 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender, bubbling, and golden brown on top. Serve and enjoy!

All images and text ©Fifteen Spatulas.

Products used in this recipe:

(may include affiliate links)

Good-quality Mandolin

Garlic Press

Stainless Mixing Bowls