Growing up, one of my favorite foods was scalloped potatoes, but when I went to culinary school, I learned how to make it the way it was “supposed” to be done, using classical techniques, and I’ve been doing that ever since. However, I just went back and attempted to make my mother’s version again for whatever reason, and I was reminded of why I had originally enjoyed hers.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 large russet potatoes, or more to taste
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- ¾ cup grated sharp white Cheddar cheese
- 3 ½ cups whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole dish with 2 tablespoons butter and set aside.
- Peel potatoes and cut at a 45-degree angle into 1/4-inch thick round slices.
- Arrange 1/3 of the potato slices in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared dish. Season the layer very generously with salt, and sparingly with the freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne, if using. Top evenly with 1/3 of the Cheddar cheese. Repeat this process two more times for a total of three layers of potatoes, except for the last third of the cheese. Slowly and carefully pour in the milk, without upsetting the layers. The milk should almost, but not quite, cover the potatoes.
- Top with remaining Cheddar cheese and place the casserole dish on a sheet pan to catch any drips.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven until potatoes are tender and the top is well browned and bubbling, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- For a richer gratin, the top can be dotted with butter, and/or cream can be used instead of milk. More cheese can also be used if desired.
- If all you have is 2% milk, you can always dot some butter in between the layers to make up for it.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 248 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 29 g |
| Cholesterol | 32 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 132 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Sorry Chef John, this did not come out well. I followed the directions but ended up with milky, undercooked potatoes and curdled cheese. I let it bake much longer than suggested to get the potatoes cooked. It didn’t taste bad but the texture was not what it should have been. I don’t know what the issue was – Chef John recipes are usually awesome and delicious. I did follow every step as directed. 🙁
I used 3 lbs of sliced small yellow potatoes, and a cheese that had caramelized onions in it and layered the potatoes with that cheese, sliced red onion, and diced fresh rosemary. I used 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream mixed with a can of cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup whole milk. Baked at 400 degrees for 2 hours. Foil over the top for the last hour. It was amazing!
I made the casserole as directed. The result was a soupy, runny non-casserole. Think about it. ‘Three large potatoes’ with 3.5 cups of milk and 2 TBS of butter????? Tasted bad. Soupy. the milk curdled. Did you mean 3 lbs of potatoes? Don’t follow this recipe. Use a whole lot more potatoes and 400 degrees makes the milk curdle. I won’t be using this recipe again.
Got to be easiest potatoe gratins in the world! I don’t see how anyone can mess this receipe up. It’s a staple on a weekly basis for our family.
I followed this to the letter. The potatoes weren’t cooked all the way through in the time stated, perhaps if they were 1/8″ vs 1/4″ they would have been done. It was watery and the cheese was separated and clumped up into chunks. It looked so unappealing. I will not make this again.
Salty and watery. I actually let it cook an hour longer hoping some of the liquid would absorb and evaporate.
This was tasty and I like how the dish browned and how the potatoes cooked in the milk and soaked it all up. But I’m wondering if I did something wrong because the cheese didn’t stick to the potato slices — I did soak the slices in salted water as I prepared them to keep them from discoloring; may have removed too much starch. In any case it’s the easiest and least fussy scalloped potatoes recipe I’ve made that I will make again!
It’s the love & the memory! I told my boyfeiend that your mom’s recipe was identical to my moms except my mom sprinkled flour between layers! Then I watched the video (hate to miss those puns, lol) & yes! your mom added flour too. I have a theory: our moms were cooking from Joy Of, McCalls or Better Homes….great days!
What I ended up with was unpleasantly hard potatoes swimming in milk… What did I do wrong?
It was delicious and simple. No change was made to recipe.
This dish was easy and had good flavor, but ended up being pretty watery. I used a smaller dish, so maybe that was why? Willing to try again in a larger dish to maybe help absorb the liquid.
I chose to make this recipe because it looked much lighter than most potato gratin recipes. I made it with 1% milk and it still came out delicious and satisfying! But, the potatoes didn’t absorb all the milk! I had some in the bottom of the pan even though I followed chef John’s recommendation to add just enough milk to barely cover the potato slices!
Family loves these, I make them often! Thanks for a delicious, easy recipe!
Unbelievable! I will never make Potato Bake any other way Again! Seriously so so Good! Thankyou!
Family loved it!
Made as written and was happy with the comfort flavour. Paired very nicely with chef John’s Moroccan pork roast.
I made this last night and don’t know what happened, but the cheese had the consistency of scrambled eggs and it was very watery. The taste was great, but I don’t think I will make this again.
Made these as written. Was a winner in my house.
Easy and delicious, used cheddar and gouda, and baked for 70 min. Used a little garlic powder, will try the cayenne next time. I had a pile of various sized russets, so sliced enough to fill an 8×8 dish 3/4 full with 4 single layers and enough milk to do as the chef advised. I love simple and good home cooking, so thanks to CJ’s mom! And ,of course to Chef John for another winner shared with us.