In this scalloped potatoes recipe, I layer tender potatoes with a creamy sauce and cheddar cheese. It's a comforting, delicious holiday side dish!
This scalloped potatoes recipe features tender layers of potatoes baked in a creamy sauce. Onions and fresh thyme add savory depth, and melty cheddar cheese takes it over the top!
When I was growing up, my family always had homemade scalloped potatoes at Easter. Cheesy and comforting, they were my favorite part of our holiday dinner.
A few years back, I set out to develop my own version of this classic dish. It took lots of testing and tweaking to get just right, but I couldn’t be happier with the results. The sauce is creamy, but not overly rich, and the herbs and onions add delicious flavor.
Hearty and flavorful, this scalloped potatoes recipe is a show-stopping side dish. Try it for a holiday like Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or serve it as a part of a regular dinner. So many readers have loved this recipe—it now has over 150 5-star reviews. I think you’ll love it too!
Scalloped Potatoes Ingredients
This scalloped potato recipe calls for these simple ingredients:
- Potatoes, of course! I love using russet potatoes for baked potatoes and French fries, but they’re not my #1 pick for this recipe. Instead, I recommend Yukon Gold or other yellow potatoes. Their thin skins, creamy texture, and buttery flavor are so delicious here!
- Butter and flour – They create a roux that thickens the sauce.
- Vegetable broth and whole milk – The sauce’s base! When I was developing this recipe, I tested a version with all milk and no broth, and I found that it felt too rich in the final dish. The combination of broth and milk makes the sauce lightly creamy and more flavorful.
- Garlic and onion – For savory depth of flavor.
- Fresh thyme – It adds fresh, unexpected notes to this comforting casserole. In a pinch, dried thyme works too.
- Cheddar cheese – For tangy, nutty flavor.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Scalloped potatoes vs au gratin
I know some readers will point out that because this dish includes cheese, it’s technically potatoes au gratin. Traditional scalloped potatoes are baked in a milk or cream sauce without cheese.
However, the dish I grew up calling “scalloped potatoes” always contained cheese, so I chose to include it in this recipe. You can call these au gratin potatoes, potatoes au gratin, or cheesy scalloped potatoes if you prefer. They’re delicious any way you cut it!
How to Make Scalloped Potatoes
You can find the complete scalloped potatoes recipe at the bottom of this post, but for now, here’s an overview of how it goes:
Start by slicing the potatoes into 1/8-inch-thick slices. You could use a mandoline slicer for this step, but I actually prefer to do it with a knife. Just be careful to slice the potatoes thinly and evenly so that they cook through at the same rate.
Next, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a medium skillet, and then sprinkle in the flour and whisk to make a roux. Whisk continuously as you slowly add the milk followed by the broth.
Add the garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook until the sauce lightly coats the back of the spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir often and reduce the heat as needed—you don’t want the sauce to come to a boil, or it could split.
Then, assemble the casserole. Layer half the potatoes and onions in an oiled 9×13-inch baking dish. Top with half of the sauce and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
Repeat with another layer of potatoes, onions, sauce, and cheese.
Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 400°F. Remove the foil, then bake uncovered until the potatoes are tender and the cheese on top is golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Finally, dig in!
How to Make Scalloped Potatoes Ahead of Time
As delicious as this recipe is freshly made, I secretly think it’s better leftover! When I prepare it for holidays and gatherings, I often make it ahead.
Here’s how to do it:
- Fully assemble and bake the scalloped potatoes according to the recipe.
- Let them cool to room temperature.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- When you’re ready to serve, let the potatoes stand at room temperature while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake them, covered, for 30 minutes, or until heated through.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat them in a 350°F oven or the microwave.
More Delicious Potato Recipes
If you love these cheesy scalloped potatoes, try one of these tasty potato recipes next:
- Best Mashed Potatoes
- Perfect Baked Potato
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Hasselback Potatoes
Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced ⅛-inch thick
- ½ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute, then slowly add the milk followed by the vegetable broth, whisking continuously. Add the garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, whisking often, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.
- Layer half of the potatoes at the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half the onion, then half the sauce and 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat the layers with the remaining potatoes, onion, sauce, and ½ cup cheese.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the cheese on top is browned. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
I’ve made numerous other scalloped potato recipes and this one was a fail. It came out soupy and I followed it to a tee.
Very easy and simple!
I was looking for a simple side with ingredients I had on hand, and this was a great side with not too many ingredients for the picky eater.
I was worried there would not be enough cheese, but it was perfect. Garlic was spot on too and usually I want to add more than is stated in the recipe, but I stuck with the amount and it was good.
Hi Sandi, I’m so glad you loved it!
These were tasty! I’ve had issues in the past where scalloped potatoes just have not been done cooking per the instructed time but I only extended this by a little bit as a precaution and they were perfect! I reduced the temperature after 40 minutes covered to 375 (uncovered) since I had some rolls to bake as well so I let them cook uncovered for 30 minutes at that temperature. I reheated them for about 15 minutes at 350 when I got to my parents house. They were soft but still held their shape. It made my home smell amazing too!
I do think it could benefit from a different blend of cheeses; like possibly something smokey like a gruyere would be awesome! The addition of the thyme and grated garlic definitely made it quite flavorful.
I plan on using this recipe in the future but just tweaking it a little to my own personal tastes.
Hi Claire, I’m glad you enjoyed them – I agree that thyme and garlic sound awesome!
My guests and i were immensely satisfied with this dish, tho I didn’t follow the recipe exactly due to certain constraints, preferences, and suggestions in others’ comments. Here’s what i did differently, in case it’s helpful to anyone else:
– after slicing the potatoes, i put them in a big bowl of water with a bit of lemon juice in it to keep them from browning while i got other things prepped. Eventually, fearing (probably needlessly) the potatoes wouldn’t cook all the way thru in the alloted time, i put a big pot of water to boil while making the sauce and parboiled them quickly, patting them dry before layering them.
– deep casserole dish instead of 13×9 pan
– gouda-parmesan blend instead of cheddar
– red onion instead of yellow, and i caramelized it first (in 1-2T butter with some salt over medium heat)
– a few shakes of nutmeg instead of thyme
– oops, i had to leave the house for a couple of hours, after only 50 minutes of baking per the recipe, so i re-covered the dish and dropped the heat down to 170F.
I can hardly wait to enjoy the leftovers–i just wish there were more left 😉
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for your notes – such delicious options!
Used a bigger baking dish than specified. Made smaller batch of sauce. Used exact weight potatoes. Followed recipe for potato slice thickness, oven temp, time cooked covered and uncovered. I always use an oven thermometer, so I’m dealing w/crap equipment. I’m 67 and have been cooking since I was 12. 1. Potatoes were not cooked even 20 minutes later. 2. There was enough sauce for 10 lbs of potatoes. I used high quality gruyere and parm. The sauce itself was very bland. Maybe better the next day, but I would not bother with this one. Lots of work, expensive to put together, and supremely disappointing as it was main Christmas side dish. Fortunately everything else was perfect.
Do you peel the Yukon potatoes?
I’ve made scalloped potatoes for decades and NEVER peel the Yukons (even for mashed potatoes). The skins are tender and add a nice texture to potato dishes. Russets, yes…you’d want to peel those for scalloped potatoes. By the way, for the above recipe, I use chicken broth and make a topping out of Panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and diced cooked bacon (of course, that makes it no longer vegetarian). If you want gluten free, use 1/8 cup cornstarch or potato starch instead of the 1/4 cup flour.
we don’t
Can I freeze this recipe?
OH MY! This is a great recipe for scalloped potatoes. The only thing I changed was 2 cups half&half instead of whole milk and a little more cheese. My husband loved it and my mom said it was the best scalloped potatoes she has ever eaten. 2 Thumbs UP! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe. 🙂
I did ginger instead of garlic, and a three cheese, 2% milk. Just the stuff on hand and it is great.
We made this last night for dinner. I’ve never been able to make scallop potatoes absolutely perfect 🙁 it’s a curse! A few notes on this recipe. Use only 1 tsp salt, the butter and cheese add salt. I used sea salt, maybe kosher would have been better? The sauce to potato/onion ration is low so I only used 2.5lbs potato. It turned out very good, some people at the table love salt so they were very happy, I am salt sensitive so I could tolerate it and the other flavors were delicious.
Just made this recipe and I can tell you that it’s the best that I ever had and I will definitely be making this again. I have been cooking for 40 yrs, ever since I was 19 yrs old.
Leaves something to be desired. 3 tips – carmalized the onions, add way more salt and if making ahead don’t put the top cheese layer on until reheating.
Pretty easy. Definitely start with half the salt! I’m thinking how to make it less salty because it made my eyes twitch a little.
You may have used table salt. Sea salt measures different. Sea salt is flakey and leas dense.
SAME! I’m thinking she used a mandoline slicer or pre-shredded cheese, but I’m 1.5 hrs invested. They already smell great. Happy Thanksgiving!
Made this last night for dinner & it was a hit! I may use the whole onion next time I make this, but that’s personal preference. Super easy to customize (we don’t like thyme, but I put a pinch of nutmeg in the bechamel) This was easy to make and absolutely delicious. Definitely a keeper!
Hi Amanda, I’m so glad you loved it!
Excited for this! About how far in advance can it be prepped? (Planning ahead for holiday meal)
Hi Jo, if you scroll up in the post just a bit there are make ahead instructions. I hope you enjoy!
This recipe looked good and simple, though I did make a few adjustments to it. I didn’t have any vegetable stock so I used 3 cups half and half instead. For the cheese, I used sharp white cheddar and smoked gruyere for the topping along with some diced cooked bacon and garnished with more thyme. I sliced a whole sweet onion into rings and layered according to the recipe. For the potatoes, I chose Yukon golds washed and left the peals om. My roux came out a bit thin though, as I backed off the flour to an 1/8 cup. All in all, very easy to make, and was a hit with my relatives along with the ham I cooked and had bacon wrapped asparagus for the side. Desert was Maple Butternut Squash pie, very tasty meal! My aunt at 93 years of age, was thoroughly satisfied! As were my dad, my uncle, my wife and my cousins. Thanks for the recipe, I will make it again. I like regular cheddar, though it is a bit salty to me, hence the switch to the white cheddar. The smoked gruyere and bacon added an extra richness, not that it needed any with the fresh thyme I used.
Hi Red, that sounds like an incredible meal! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
This recipe was delicions!
I used salted butter then only added salt to taste as I went along (a few pinches in the cream then a pinch on each layer of potatoes). I had not previously read the other comments about it turning out too salty, but I knew I would be using salted butter instead of the unsalted that the recipe calls for so I went easy on the added salt. Using this method, I found that the salt amout was perfect.
Personally I would love it to be a bit more cheesy, so next time I would add at least two cups of shredded cheddar instead of 1.5 cups.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Really easy – ingredients from the pantry. I would recommend using half the salt in the recipe to start with and as needed!!
It was easy and yummy….no cheese?…on a low sodium diet, but it was still yummy!!