Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes
Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes feature thinly sliced potatoes layered with garlic and Gruyère cheese, drenched in cream, then baked, overturned, and sliced for an elegant presentation that's perfect for special occasions and holiday dinners!
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If you enjoy potato side dishes, you'll also love Garlic + Herb Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Creamy Crockpot Mashed Potatoes, and German Potato Salad!
Well, we're creeping through December and my Christmas to-do list is still a mile long. (Please tell me I'm not alone. I'm not alone. Right???) But one thing that I have checked off my list is deciding our Christmas dinner menu, and today I'm going to share with you the starring side dish: Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes!
These aren't your ordinary scalloped potatoes, folks. No sirree. Paper thin potatoes are layered with minced garlic and flavorful Gruyère cheese before being doused with a cream-laden custard.
The dish is then baked until golden and bubbly. But the real magic happens when your otherwise ordinary-looking scalloped potatoes are overturned (think scalloped potato flan) and then sliced before serving.
Truly, how beautiful would these Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes look on your holiday table?
They're perfect for any special occasion. But they also have the ability to elevate an everyday dinner from ordinary to extraordinary!
And though they take a bit of time to bake, there's nothing complicated or difficult about these Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes. The ingredients are simple and the preparation is straightforward...but the presentation and flavor will earn this dish a spot in your favorite recipe file! It's been in mine for a number of years now, and each time I fix it, we all marvel at how tasty it is.
Ingredients
So what do you need to make Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes?
Hint: I bet you can guess just about all of the ingredients! 😉
- Butter. At room temperature for greasing the baking dish. Salted or unsalted will work.
- Garlic. Freshly minced. As written, this recipe has a definite garlic undertone. However, you can go as light or heavy with the garlic as you'd like!
- Yukon gold potatoes. Peeled and very thinly sliced...I recommend using a mandoline slicer to get your slices as thin and uniform as possible (scroll down for more info on using a mandoline). If you can't find Yukon golds, regular yellow or gold potatoes will work.
- Gruyère cheese. Freshly grated.
- Eggs + heavy cream. For the custard.
- Seasonings. Specifically, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. If you've got freshly ground nutmeg, even better! I have a nutmeg mill, but you can also grate fresh whole nutmeg using a microplane zester.
How to Make Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes
(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)
The steps for this Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes recipe are simple, straightforward, and pretty standard as compared to most variations of scalloped potatoes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Grease an 8-inch square baking dish and line it with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and then set your custard aside.
- Lay the potato slices in overlapping rows until the bottom of the dish is completely covered. Sprinkle with a little bit of minced garlic and a handful of grated cheese.
- Repeat the layers about halfway up the side of the dish. Pour half of the custard over the potatoes, alternately lifting up the layers with a fork and then pressing down on them to ensure that the custard gets in between all of the layers.
- Repeat layering the potatoes, garlic, and cheese until everything is used up and you reach the top of the dish. Pour the rest of the custard over the potatoes, once again lifting and pressing on the potato layers to make sure that there are no dry spots.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 ½ hours.
- Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the potatoes in the center of the dish are completely tender when pierced with a small knife.
- Remove the flan to a wire rack and allow it to cool for 15 minutes before placing a platter over the top of the dish. Carefully overturn the flan onto the platter.
- Slice your glorious Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes into portions. Serve warm and enjoy!
Slicing Potatoes with a Mandoline
As mentioned in the ingredient overview above, this Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes recipe is particularly amazing when the potatoes are sliced as thinly as possible. Since it's difficult to get potatoes uniformly thin with a knife and it takes forever (at least for me), so I find a mandoline slicer to be invaluable when making this dish.
I have a few different mandolines, but this simple ceramic blade mandoline is the one I reach for time and time again. It's handheld and nothing fancy. But with it, I can slice 3 pounds of potatoes paper-thin in just a few minutes. It is extremely sharp, so it requires careful handling (use the hand guard!), but it's a pretty handy tool when you require thin slices.
(I also use mine often when I need thinly-sliced apples or cucumbers.)
Tips, Tricks, & Special Equipment
- This Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes recipe was created to be baked in an 8- by 8-inch dish, and if you use exactly 3 pounds of potatoes, the ingredients will go all the way to the top of your dish but should not overflow. However, it might not be a bad idea to put a sheet pan under your baking dish, just in case there's any overflow!
- Lining your dish with parchment paper ensures that your potatoes will come out like a true flan once overturned, so I wouldn't recommend skipping it.
- If you're feeling adventurous, feel free to sprinkle some fresh chopped herbs in between the potato layers (thyme would be delicious!), or even some crispy, crumbled bacon. YUM.
- Scalloped potatoes are notorious for taking a long time to bake. They should be tender after the time allotted in this recipe...but that's only if your potato slices are very thin, as directed. If not, you can always re-cover your potatoes to prevent over-browning and continue cooking until they're completely tender.
I think these Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes would be lovely alongside just about any holiday dinner entree, from beef tenderloin to clove-studded ham to crown roast of lamb to Christmas goose!
Whatever it accompanies, just beware that this side dish may very well overshadow the main course and become the star of the show!
Luckily, it's so darn delicious that nobody will even mind.
Make this one soon, friends...you'll be happy you did. 🙂
More Elegant Holiday Side Dishes
- Brussels Sprouts Gratin
- Holiday Honeycrisp Salad
- Green Bean Bundles with Bacon + Brown Sugar Glaze
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic, Pistachios, + Cranberries
Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 8 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Prepare an 8- by 8- by 2-inch baking dish by greasing it with butter and lining it with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs. Whisk in cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Lay the potatoes in overlapping rows until the bottom of the dish is completely covered. Sprinkle with a little bit of minced garlic and a handful of grated cheese. Repeat layers about halfway up the side of the dish. Pour half of the cream mixture over the potatoes, alternately lifting up the layers with a fork and then pressing down to ensure that the cream gets in between all of the layers. Repeat layering potatoes, garlic, and cheese until it's all used up and you reach the top of the dish. Pour the rest of the cream mixture over the potatoes, once again lifting and pressing on the potato layers to make sure that there are not dry spots.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 ½ hours. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until top is golden brown and potatoes in the center of the dish are tender when pierced with a small knife.
- Remove the Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes to a wire rack. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and then place a platter over the top of the dish. Overturn the dish onto the platter and then carefully peel away the parchment paper. Slice into portions and serve warm. Leftovers may be transferred to a tightly-sealed container and refrigerated for up to four days.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- I cut the parchment paper to the width of the dish and then lay it so that it covers the bottom and goes up two sides. You may either lay a second sheet of parchment paper in the other direction to cover the other two sides, or generously grease those sides with extra butter. If any parts of the dish interior aren't covered by parchment paper, you'll need to carefully run a thin knife along those edges after the potatoes come out of the oven and again before overturning the dish, just to make sure there's no sticking where the parchment paper is missing.
- If you use more than 3 pounds of potatoes, all of the ingredients will not fit in an 8- by 8-inch dish. If you use a larger dish, you may have to adjust the cooking time accordingly if your layer of potatoes ends up being thicker or thinner than usual.
- Garlic is a prominent flavor in this dish, so feel free to use less if you prefer a milder garlic flavor.
- This recipe has never overflowed for me, but it does go all the way to the top, so use a baking sheet under your dish in the oven if you're concerned about potential spills.
- You may slice your overturned flan into wedges or squares.
- To reheat this recipe after it's been fully cooked, remove the baking dish from the fridge 1 hour ahead of time and allow it to come to room temperature. Cover with foil, preheat the oven to 350°F, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through.
Nutrition
Post originally published on December 14, 2013, and updated on April 12, 2014, January 11, 2024, and December 5, 2024.
Could this work with any cheese besides Gruyere?
Hi there! I've only ever made this recipe with Gruyère, but swapping in another type of cheese should work just fine. I'd probably recommend Swiss, gouda, or white cheddar. 🙂
I don’t understand how you get 10 to 12 servings pie shaped out of an 8 x 8 pan. What am I missing?
Hi! Even though the baking dish is a square, you can still cut it into slices like a pie. For example, cut it into quarters, and then slice each quarter into thirds. The edges won't be perfectly rounded as they would be if made in a round pan, but you don't really notice since the wedges are rather thin...and this recipe is so rich that you don't need more than a small slice! 😉
Alternatively, you can slice your Gruyere Scalloped Potatoes into square pieces.
Hope this helps and hope you enjoy if you decide to give this recipe a try. 🙂
Hi. Am thinking this would also be beautiful done in a circular pan. Any reason not to use an 8” springform pan?
I think that the presentation would be lovely! I just worry about the cream mixture leaking out around the bottom of the springform pan. But maybe if you line with foil and then parchment paper (and bake on top of a rimmed sheet pan, just in case) it wouldn't be an issue? Please let me know how it turns out if you decide to give it a try! 🙂
I made this recipe about a month ago. I did prepare it the day before and it was delicious. I am in the process of preparing it again for New Years Eve. It works just great prepared a day ahead & refrigerated. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. Happy New Year, Samantha.
Any time I have made or eaten a potato gratin, no matter how much liquid or how long I bake them, the potatoes seem tough or under cooked. Somehow they never are tender. Does this potato flan have a tender and creamy consistency? Thank you.
Hi Sonia! Yes, this potato dish does end up tender and creamy. But the key is slicing the potatoes very thinly and cooking it long enough! It sounds like your potato gratins in the past may have needed to cook longer, or maybe they required more liquid? At any rate, I hope this recipe is a success for you if you decide to try it! 🙂
Absolutlely delish! VERY decadent and rich. I served it on New Year's Eve with a rare roast beef; the creamy potatoes were a perfect side. I took the liberty of adding minced fresh chives and thyme between the layers. I also went wild and lowered the cooking temp to 350 degrees whilst my roast was cooking, so added a bit more cooking time to the potatoes. A 'smashing' success, and thank you much for sharing!,
I'm so happy to hear that these potatoes were a success, Terri! I agree that it's a very rich, special occasion-type dish, but perfect for New Year's Eve. 🙂 Your addition of chives and thyme sounds wonderful...I think I'll add some fresh herbs as well the next time I make this! Thanks for coming back to let me know that this was a hit, and I hope your 2015 is off to a fantastic start!
Can this be made the day before, stored in the fridge, then baked the day of?
I have a Christmas Eve dinner with one side of the family and a Christmas Day dinner with the other side. I would love to make this for both, but save time by making it all Christmas Eve morning! Thanks!!
Hi Sarah! That's a great question. I haven't tried it myself with this particular recipe, but I have made other variations of scalloped potatoes ahead of time and then baked them before serving. So I see no reason why that wouldn't work just fine with this recipe! I would recommend taking the dish out of the refrigerator and letting it come to room temperature for awhile before baking it, though, since the potatoes will be chilled. Otherwise they might require a tad more baking time. Good luck, I hope everyone enjoys this dish, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
I stumbled upon this site while I was looking for a crock pot ham recipe. Wow- this is a treasure of recipes! I am going to share it with all my friends looking for new recipes and I can't wait to try most of them :-).
Keep up the good works Samantha!
You are too sweet, Simone...thank you for your kind comment and for sharing the site with your friends. I hope you find a lot of recipes to try and that you enjoy them all! 🙂 Have a great week!
I also stumbled across this recipe looking for a slow cooker ham recipe for Easter and this looks like a perfect side dish
Can this dish be assembled early in the day and then baked just before serving?
I made this as a trial run for a dinner party and it was gorgeous. I'm cutting back on the garlic and adding some finely chopped sautéed onion. Very showy and delicious recipe. Thanks
Hi Karen! I'm so glad that you were pleased with how this turned out for your trial run...I hope that everyone loves it at your dinner party! I haven't personally tried assembling it early in the day and then baking before serving, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work? I would probably suggest taking it out of the refrigerator and allowing it to come to room temperature before baking. But I think it you're assembling it and baking it within the same day, it should be just fine. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, please come back and let us know how it works out. Enjoy! 🙂
Ive made your recipe twice and it is terrific. I was hoping to see if anyone made the dish a day earlier and reheated the whole thing rather than a slice to see how it turned out. Im too chicken to try it myself because if it didnt work out well then we'd have a beautiful tenderloin, green, bread and just okay potatoes...
Amy, I am in the process of cooking these potatoes for the third time. Once again doing them ahead. I took them out of the fridge next day to get to room temp then put them back in the oven 350* for about 30 mins. Works great!
I made a trial run of this dish yesterday (recipe found along with a beef tenderloin recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/herb-crusted-beef-tenderloin-recipe.html) and it was delicious. My dad requested it for our Easter dinner. My notes:
-Trying to cut down on salt in our food and this was very salty, even with the kosher salt, so I'll be using less, maybe 1 tsp.
-Only had 2 T of garlic, and that was enough to make it very garlicky.
-Used a knife to slice my potatoes so they weren't as beautifully thin as yours; I'll have to drag out my mandoline next time. That also might account for all the pepper sinking to the bottom, larger gaps between potatoes!
-Used a 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 3 dish (are you supposed to measure across the top or bottom edges?), or 2.75 quarts, and it worked perfectly, no worries about spilling.
Thanks for this recipe. Your presentation is beautiful!
Thanks so much for the thoughtful and thorough comment, Julie! I'm glad you enjoyed this and I appreciate you sharing your adaptations. I've been thinking about the use of Kosher salt since reading your comment, and I'm afraid that some people might try to substitute it equally not realizing that regular salt is more concentrated. So I went ahead and changed the recipe to call for regular or sea salt instead of Kosher. I also reduced the called-for amount of salt in general because I'd rather have it slightly undersalted than oversalted...you can always add more but it's impossible to take it away! So thank you for your input!
I did originally note that garlic is a predominant flavor in this recipe, and while my family loves garlic, I've noticed that the intensity of the garlic in this recipe does increase over time, so leftovers become even more garlicky. I'm glad 2 tablespoons was the right amount for you! As far as the dish size, I believe you're supposed to measure across the top from inside edge to inside edge, and depth is measured going straight down with a ruler (as opposed to laying the ruler along an angled side).
I hope these potatoes are a lovely addition to your Easter dinner! Thanks again for taking the time to share your results. Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂
Oh my heck! This looks AMAZING! I cannot wait to try this!
Thank you, Courtney! I hope it's a hit at your house! 🙂
Wow this looks so delicious! I pinned it and might just make it for Christmas dinner if I can. Mine never turns out as good as yours though 🙂
I bet that yours will turn out just perfect, Shamene! If it makes you feel any better, my cakes will never be as pretty as yours... 😉 Hope you enjoy this one, whether you make it on Christmas or another day!
Oh, this looks like a dish I would truly enjoy!! It looks simply delicious!! I am going to have to try this!!! Thank you for sharing!!
You are so welcome, Renee! I hope you do enjoy it...and I'm pretty sure you will! 😉
This is beyond gorgeous. And dangerous! I'd eat it all!
Thank you, Dorothy! I have the same problem. I always end up eating more of these potatoes than anything else on my plate! And then I have more for dessert. And more for breakfast the next day...
Oh this looks so delicious! And it looks so beautiful with all the thin layers of potato!
I agree, Maria...I love the way the thin layers of potato look when you cut into it. It's definitely a fun twist on scalloped potatoes!
Samantha, this looks absolutely divine! And, gorgeous.... and just down right scrumptious! Love this creative way to use potatoes. (=
Thank you so much, Gloria! It's definitely one of my fall-back, recipes-to-impress! Hope you enjoy it if you end up trying it. 🙂
This is 100% being added to our dinner menu, we're going to have a great upcoming meal! Thanks in advance!
I'm so happy to hear it, Pamela...I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by!
Samantha, whoa, this looks FANTASTIC! What a beautiful dish and this is my kind of side! Amazing photos! Pinning! 🙂
Thank you, Cindy! This dish does make for a very pretty presentation, but honestly? It's deceptively easy to make. 🙂 Thanks so much for the sweet comment and the pin!