Gruyere Potatoes Au Gratin
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Gruyere potatoes au gratin is the perfect dish for the holidays. Thinly-sliced potatoes are covered in a rich, creamy, garlic-and-herb sauce. It’s topped with melty cheese and crunchy breadcrumbs. A traditional side for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Prep in 20 minutes then bake.
📌 Pin Gruyere Scalloped Potatoes
🧑🏼🍳 Why We Love Gruyere Potatoes Au Gratin
- It’s a traditional holiday side our grandmas would make. This delicious casserole links generations together, recalling memories of the past and creating new ones together. It’s perfect for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
- This recipe comes together with simple ingredients. Most are refrigerator and pantry staples. Others, like gruyere cheese, are readily available at most any market.
- It’s an easy potatoes au gratin recipe. Prep the recipe in 20 minutes, then bake.
- You can make this dish in advance, then rewarm it the next day. It’s an ideal make-ahead Thanksgiving side.
🛒 Ingredients
- Russet Potatoes: They’re starchy and hearty, which is ideal for a thick sturdy casserole. Another good choice is Yukon Golds. You can peel the potatoes or leave the skins on. To achieve thin, even slices, I recommend using a food processor or a mandoline.
- Butter: We use butter and flour to create a roux that thickens the bechamel. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Garlic Cloves: Adds an earthy rustic taste that pairs well with potatoes.
- Onion Powder (optional): The flavor pairs well with garlic and potatoes.
- Herbes de Provence: Adds herbaceous flavor to the bechamel sauce.
- Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Black Ground Pepper: Has an earthy, complex flavor profile with a bit of heat.
- All-Purpose Flour: We combine it with melted butter to create a roux.
- Whole Milk: Or half and half. Do not substitute with skim milk or 2% milk. If low-fat products are used (low-fat milk or low-fat cheese), the sauce will split during cooking.
- Shredded Gruyere Cheese: This salty, nutty cheese is the star ingredient of our Gruyere potatoes au gratin. Make sure to use good-quality (aged 1+ years) gruyere. A lower quality cheese can make the dish oily.
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese: I prefer Tillamook medium cheddar. But if desired, you can use Colby Jack, fontina, or white cheddar instead. Be sure to hand grate the cheese from a block, as pre-shredded cheese has a coating on the shreds to keep the stands separated. But this coating also prevents the cheese from melting smoothly.
- Freshly-Grated Nutmeg (optional): Adds warmth and spice. But if you don’t like the taste of nutmeg, just leave it out. Add a pinch of paprika instead.
- Breadcrumbs: For a crisp crunchy topping that’s very tasty. Use crushed Ritz crackers, crushed sourdough mini croutons, panko breadcrumbs, or regular dry breadcrumbs.
- Fresh Thyme: For garnishing. Or you can use Italian parsley, or chives instead. I highly recommend using whatever type of herb you have on hand from making other holiday recipes to avoid food waste.
🥣 Expert Tips
- How to store leftover au gratin potatoes: Cover the top of the dish with foil (or transfer to an airtight container) and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- How to reheat potatoes au gratin with gruyere: If reheating the entire make-ahead dish, tent it with foil and rewarm in the oven. For individual servings of leftover casserole, rewarm in the microwave or oven.
- How to make this recipe gluten free: Instead of all-purpose flour, use a gluten-free all-purpose flour (like Bob’s Red Mill) 1:1. And either omit the breadcrumb topping, or use gluten-free breadcrumbs instead.
📖 Recipe Steps
Recipe Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8×8 pan (or an 8-inch round baking dish) with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
- Arrange the potato slices inside the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper between the layers so our gruyere potatoes au gratin doesn’t taste bland. You can stand up the slices, slightly fanning them out, or toss them into the pan and spread them out. Cover the dish with a damp cloth to help prevent oxidation (potatoes turning a purplish grey color).
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Sprinkle flour into the pan. Season with herbes de Provence, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Continuously whisk until a roux forms. Then cook the roux for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Continue whisking until no large lumps remain. Taste the bechamel. Add more seasoning if needed, so it doesn’t taste bland.
- Cook the sauce (about 3 minutes) until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in 1/2 cup gruyere, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, and nutmeg (or paprika), if using.
- Step 5: Keep stirring until the cheese has completely melted. Taste the bechamel. If needed, add more seasoning to taste.
- Step 6: Pour the bechamel over the potatoes. If the potatoes are standing upright, spread the sauce between the slices and along the edges of the pan. The sauce should be distributed throughout the dish, not just sitting on top of the potatoes. If the potatoes were tossed into the dish, then gently stir to incorporate the sauce.
- Step 7: Cover the top of the dish with foil to protect the casserole from over-browning in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle the remaining gruyere and cheddar on top, as well as the cracker crumbs (or breadcrumbs).
- Step 8: Return the casserole to the oven and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the potatoes are fork tender. Garnish the gruyere potatoes al gratin with fresh thyme, Italian parsley or chives.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQ
These are the most commonly-asked questions for making the BEST gruyere potatoes au gratin, and the most helpful answers for recipe success.
This casserole needs plenty of seasoning. Make sure the sauce is well seasoned, and that enough salt and pepper are added in between the individual layers potatoes.
It’s because the potatoes have been exposed to air for too long. When this happens they become discolored. While they may no longer look pretty, they’re still fine to eat. To avoid this, don’t prep the potatoes too far in advance. If you do, be sure to place them in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Drain off the water and pat them dry before using.
This happens if the casserole is not cooked properly. Halfway through the bake time, be sure to rotate the dish. Test for doneness with a fork in multiple places. The utensil should slide in and out of the potatoes without resistance.
This can happen if the dish is not covered with foil for at least 2/3 of the cooking time to protect the top from browning. Additionally, the casserole should be baked in the center of the oven so it’s not exposed to the heating element which can cause over-browning. Cover the dish with foil and continue cooking until the potatoes are fork tender.
If you used waxy potatoes (instead of starchy baking potatoes like russets or Yukon golds), this type tends to release more water than starchy potatoes. Another possibility is the potatoes were sliced and stored in water, and after the water was drained the potatoes were not pat completely dry.
By parboiling whole potatoes in salted water (that tastes like the ocean) for 5 to 10 minutes. This will help speed up the cooking process in the oven, and make sure the potatoes cook through. Pat them dry before slicing.
🥔 More Tasty Potato Sides
Make dinner more delicious with these tasty potato sides. Pair them with chicken, steak, turkey or ham. Add them to your meal-plan rotation.
- Loaded Baked Potato Casserole
- Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
- Best Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
- Loaded Baked Potato Salad
- Grilled Potato Salad
- Sweet Potato Fluff
Rate This Recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flavor testers rated this the BEST gruyere potatoes au gratin. The tender texture of the potatoes, and the delicious flavor of the cheesy sauce is amazing. They also loved the crisp breadcrumb topping on the casserole. They said it’s the perfect holiday side.
If you agree this recipe’s a keeper, give it a 5-star rating in the comments. Then be a recipe hero. Share it with friends. 📌 Pin it to Pinterest.
Gruyere Potatoes Au Gratin
- Total Time: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Description
Gruyere potatoes au gratin is the perfect dish for the holidays. Thinly-sliced potatoes are covered in a rich sauce, and topped with melty cheese and buttery cracker crumbs.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, washed or peeled and thinly sliced (1/8-inch thick)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk (or half and half)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded gruyere cheese, divided
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 pinch nutmeg, ground or freshly-grated*
- 1/2 cup (crushed) Ritz crackers**
- Fresh thyme (or Italian parsley or chives), for garnishing
Instructions
Recipe Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8×8 pan (or an 8-inch round baking dish) with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
- Arrange the potato slices inside the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper between the layers so our gruyere potatoes au gratin doesn’t taste bland. You can stand up the slices, slightly fanning them out, or toss them into the pan and spread them out. Cover the dish with a damp cloth to help prevent oxidation (potatoes turning a purplish grey color).
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle flour into the pan. Season with herbes de Provence, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Continuously whisk until a roux forms. Then cook the roux for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Continue whisking until no large lumps remain. Taste the bechamel. Add more seasoning if needed.
- Cook the sauce (about 3 minutes) until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in 1/2 cup gruyere, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, and nutmeg (or paprika), if using. Keep stirring until the cheese has completely melted. Taste the bechamel. If needed, add more seasoning to taste.
- Pour the bechamel over the potatoes. If the potatoes are standing upright, spread the sauce between the slices and along the edges of the pan. The sauce should be distributed throughout the dish, not just sitting on top of the potatoes. If the potatoes were tossed into the dish, then gently stir to incorporate the sauce.
- Cover the top of the dish with foil to protect the casserole from over-browning in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle the remaining gruyere and cheddar over the top, as well as the cracker crumbs.
- Return the casserole to the oven and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the potatoes are fork tender. Garnish the gruyere potatoes al gratin with fresh thyme, Italian parsley or chives.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
*If you don’t like the flavor of nutmeg: Leave it out. If desired, you can use a pinch of paprika instead.
**Ritz Crackers topping: They add a crisp, delicious buttery taste. But if you don’t have them on hand, use dry bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, or crushed croutons instead.
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 90 Minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Gruyere Potatoes Au Gratin 👉🏻 Join the Convo
Are you excited to make this yummy potato casserole? Do you have fond memories of your mother, grandma or aunties making this dish? Share your thoughts on this gruyere potatoes au gratin recipe in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.
