It’s the holiday season, and if you ask me, that means it’s time for some good, old school indulgent recipes. Scalloped Potatoes are a specialty of Roy’s and I convinced him to spill his secrets to us! This recipe is simple, but it does take some work. It’s perfect for a holiday meal where you want to fuss a bit. The results are absolutely worth it.

scalloped potatoes in a baking dish

What You Need to Make Scalloped Potatoes

For your scalloped potatoes, you’ll first and foremost need a really sharp knife, a mandolin, or a slicer. I personally stay far away from mandolins, but I absolutely love my slicer, which is very reasonably priced for the workhorse it is in my kitchen. Beyond your tool for slicing, you’ll also need a square baking dish. I love Made In’s bakeware. It’s seriously all I use in my kitchen at this point.

Ingredients

Scalloped Potatoes are a bit time consuming, but ultimately, they are simple to assemble, with only a handful of ingredients:

  • Unsalted butter
  • Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • Kosher salt
  • Gruyere cheese
  • White pepper
  • Ground nutmeg (use fresh nutmeg if you can!)
  • Heavy cream
close up on scalloped potatoes

How to Make Scalloped Potatoes

Start by preheating the oven and butter your baking dish.

Boil Your Potatoes

This process starts how any good potato starts: parboil! A crunchy potato needs to be cooked twice to get the result you want. So first, wash and peel your potatoes. Then slice them into 1/8-inch slices. Use a bowl of water to put your slices in to prevent browning while you cut them. For the sake of this dish, make sure not to use any of the small end pieces of the potatoes. You want each slice to be about the same size.

Bring water to boil, drain the potato slices from their water bowl and blanch them for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, immediately remove them from the hot water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a large bowl filled with ice water, to cool. This will stop the potatoes from cooking so that they don’t get too soft.

potatoes drying on a towel

Assemble Your Dish

Once the potatoes are cooled, lay them out on a towel to dry. Now it’s time to build your scalloped potatoes!

Separate your potato slices into three even parts. In your buttered baking dish and begin layering the potato slices, tiling them, to cover the bottom of the dish. Season as evenly as you can with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Sprinkle a third of the cheese over top. Repeat this process for a second layer.

potatoes and cheese in a baking dish

Place the third and final layer of potatoes and season with pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the potatoes. Drizzle the cream slowly over the top. Make sure that you reach the edges where the potatoes meet the baking dish. You want the cream really seep into the dish as much as possible.

Bake until the cream is bubbling, the cheese is golden, and the potatoes are fork tender. Avoid opening the oven as much as possible, so try to observe through the oven door to get visual cues. If the dish is browning but the potatoes aren’t done cooking, then tent the dish loosely with foil, and continue cooking. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

crunchy potatoes in a baking dish overhead

More Inspiration

If you make these scalloped potatoes, be sure you rate and review it below. I can’t wait to hear what you serve them with! I love serving them with a standing rib roast to make it feel really festive. Alongside a simple salad, you have a perfect holiday meal!

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close up on scalloped potatoes

Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.3 from 11 reviews
  • Author: Teri Turner
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Oven
  • Diet: Gluten Free
Print Recipe

Description

These scalloped potatoes are an incredible holiday side dish. They are creamy and indulgent and an absolute crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

  •   1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
  •   3 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes
  •   2 tablespoons salt for the boiling water, plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  •   10 ounces gruyere cheese, shredded
  •   1 ½ teaspoons white pepper, divided
  •   ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (use fresh nutmeg, if possible), divided
  •   1 ¼ cups heavy cream

Instructions

  1.   Preheat oven to 350° Butter an 8×8 baking dish.
  2.   Wash and peel your potatoes.
  3.   Slice your potatoes into 1/8-inch slices and put into a bowl of water to prevent browning. If you can’t get a similarly shaped or full slice from the ends of the potatoes, put those to the side and use them in something else. (You can go ahead and parboil them with the rest of the slices, but don’t use them in this dish.)
  4.   Put a pot with 4 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to boil.
  5.   Once the water is boiling, drain the potato slices from their water bowl and blanch for 3 minutes. Note that the water does not have to return to a boil. After 3 minutes immediately remove them from the hot water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a large bowl, or two if needed, filled with ice water, to cool.
  6.   Once the potatoes are cooled, transfer the slices to a towel lined baking sheet to drain and blot them lightly to dry.
  7.   Divide the shredded cheese into three piles, with one pile being slightly larger than the other two.
  8.   Separate your potato slices into three even parts. In your buttered baking dish and begin layering the potato slices, overlapping or tiling them, to cover the bottom of the dish. Season as evenly as you can with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg. Sprinkle one of the smaller cheese piles over top.
  9.   Layer a second later of potatoes and repeat the seasoning as above.
  10.   Place the third and final layer of potatoes and season with 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Sprinkle the larger cheese pile evenly over the potatoes. Drizzle the cream slowly over the top, taking your time to drizzle evenly and making sure that you reach the edge and corners where the potatoes meet the baking dish. You want the cream to travel down to the lower layers and really seep into the dish as much as possible.
  11.   Bake for an hour and 15 to 30 minutes, or until the cream is bubbling, the cheese is golden, and the potatoes are fork tender. Look through the oven door without opening it to get visual cues around 45 minutes. Around an hour to an hour 15 minutes, you can fork test the potatoes to see how done they are. If more cooking is needed, then tent the dish loosely with foil to prevent over-browning, and continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes.
  12.   Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!