Name: Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 2 cups heavy cream; 5 cloves garlic (minced); 1 tbsp fresh thyme (picked and rough chopped ); 1¾ tsp kosher salt; ½ tsp black pepper; ⅛ tsp nutmeg; 3 lb russet potatoes (peeled and thinly sliced on mandolin); 3 oz Romano cheese (grated)

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When you’re looking to impress your guests Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes are a sure bet! Layers of potatoes covered in cream, Romano cheese, garlic and thyme are melt in your mouth delicious. Perfect for the holidays or when you’re just craving the best comfort food!

Au gratin potatoes with a couple slices cut out of the pan so you can see the layers

Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes look like you spent a lot of time on them when in reality they’re very easy to put together. The potatoes are sliced on a mandolin then layered into a dish and covered with the sauce and cheese. After that, you bake the Au Gratin Potatoes then slice and eat!

The sauce is a super simple cold sauce of ingredients just whisked together. It includes heavy cream, minced garlic, fresh thyme, salt, pepper and nutmeg. This will be your new favorite dish to make!

This recipe was taught to me by a good friend while working at a butcher shop. It’s a recipe that’s stuck with me ever since, I remember it by heart.

a stack of sliced au gratin potatoes where you can see all the layers, topped with fresh thyme

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Table of Contents

What is the difference between Au Gratin Potatoes and Scalloped Potatoes?

Au Gratin Potatoes and Scalloped Potatoes are very similar. Both are thinly sliced potatoes layered in a casserole dish and baked. Both potato dishes are extremely delicious.

The main difference between the two potato dishes is the cheese. Typically Scalloped Potatoes are made in a cream sauce without cheese. Au Gratin Potatoes are typically made with cheese in between each layer of potato.

Au Gratin Potatoes have many variations, especially in the type of cheese that’s used. This particular recipe I use Romano cheese. Southern Living Mag goes into a bit more detail if you’re interested!

a pan of potatoes with a couple of squares cut out and set on plates

Ingredients you’ll need

Russet Potatoes – These potatoes bake up beautifully
Heavy Cream – This gives the Au Gratin Potatoes their richness
Garlic – Fresh garlic is the best with potatoes
Fresh Thyme – I prefer fresh but if you only have dried thyme that will work as well, just use 1/3 of the amount
Kosher Salt – What are potatoes without salt?
Black Pepper – I love to use course ground pepper
Nutmeg – When you have a cream sauce, nutmeg is a must
Romano Cheese – If you can’t find Romano cheese you can use grated Parmesan

potatoes, cream, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, nutmeg and Romano cheese

Equipment you’ll need

Mandolin – You’ll need a mandolin to thinly slice your potatoes
Casserole Dish – Any baking or casserole dish will work for this. I love using this ceramic dish. This dish cleans up so easily it’s like magic every time I go to wash it!
Oven – You’ll need the oven to bake the Au Gratin Potatoes

top view of pan of au gratins with a knife and some herbs to the side

Tips for the best Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes

The potatoes need to be very thin to bake in the amount of time in the ingredients. You don’t need them to be paper thin but like 1 step up from that
Don’t peel your potatoes until you’re ready to slice and assemble. They’ll start to turn brown on you
I slice as I go. I slice 2 potatoes at a time then layer and build. Once those are all layered in the dish I slice 2 more. This also helps you not end up with brown potatoes
The cream sauce should taste VERY salty. Don’t be alarmed. Potatoes take a lot of salt
These can be baked up to 3 days ahead!! Woohoo! They reheat very nicely in the oven or the microwave
Make sure to cover the potatoes with foil when reheating in the oven. They will already have a beautiful brown color on top, you don’t want to burn them
You should probably just make 2 pans because you’re going to wish you had more when they’re gone

one piece with a bite taken out of it on a plate topped with fresh thyme

How to make Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Peel and mince your garlic. Pick and rough chop your fresh thyme then whisk together the cream, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spray a baking dish with non stick cooking spray then peel your potatoes. Add a small amount of the cream sauce to the bottom of the pan.

Thinly slice 2 potatoes at a time then layer the slices into the dish all facing the same direction. Drizzle a little of the cream mix over the top and sprinkle a light layer of Romano cheese. The next layer of potatoes layer in the opposite direction then drizzle with a bit of cream sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

thinly sliced potatoes layered in a dish then topped with the cream mixture and Romano cheese

Repeat these steps until all the potatoes are layered in. At 2-3 different times during the layering press down on the potatoes and let cream come to the top.

Once all potatoes are layered in, press down one last time to cover the top in cream and sprinkle more cheese over the top. Bake for 40 minutes uncovered then 15 – 20 minutes covered. Serve potatoes hot.

au gratin potatoes baked in a dish until bubbly and golden brown

If you make these Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes please leave me a rating and/or review!

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