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2021 HBH Holiday Guide: Beauty
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Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, the ultimate holiday side dish. These potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and seasoned simply for a potato casserole that everyone really loves. The thinly sliced potatoes melt into a creamy, cheesy sauce. The top brown up in the oven adding a bit of crunch. Together these creamy crunchy potatoes are so delicious. They’re simple to make and always a crowd favorite.
Monday potatoes in prep for Thanksgiving next week! Is everyone getting excited for the big feast? I talked about this yesterday, but it feels as though we’ve skipped over Thanksgiving and moved right on into Christmas.
I mean, to a point! I’m still here sharing out as many Thanksgiving recipes as possible before the 25th rolls around. And these potatoes will add another delicious item to our Thanksgiving menu.
What’s funny about these potatoes is that as simple as these are, they really took me a while to perfect. I’ve struggled with scalloped potatoes for the longest time. I just could never get them to cook all the way through.
After a few rounds of these I figured out the secret. A lower oven temperature, plenty of liquid, and lots of time in the oven.
So while these do take a while to make, the prep is simple, and the rest is mostly hands off.
Here are the details
Before I slice the potatoes, I always caramelize the onions. A lot of potato casseroles call for onion powder. But I wanted to add a little more of a fresh onion flavor that wasn’t over powering, but just right.
I love to use caramelized onions for an onion flavor that’s more mellow.
I caramelize them down in a bit of butter and add wine to help them caramelize a little faster. Then just a little fresh thyme, salt, and pepper.
While the onions are cooking, I mix the cream, milk, and the two types of cheese together. Most scalloped or au gratin recipes will call for you to cook the milk and cheese together on the stove, creating more of a cheese sauce.
I’ve found that the cheese sauce didn’t help the potatoes cook. It left me with a drier potato, and not in a delicious way.
So I skip cooking the sauce.
Slice the potatoes using a super sharp knife or a mandoline. Using a mandoline is ideal as you’ll get even slices and it’s much quicker too.
Layer the potatoes in a baking dish with the cream/milk/cheese mix and onions. I layer this up similar to a lasagna to ensure every potato gets evenly seasoned.
Once assembled, you bake
The baking time for these potatoes is long. I cook mine a full two + hours to ensure that the potatoes are really cooked and turn tender. I then remove the foil, add a little more cheese, and bake until the cheese is bubbling and browning on top.
It might seem simple, but that browned, golden top really adds another layer of deliciousness to the potatoes that makes everyone want more.
Serve these up warm with a little added fresh thyme for color.
I’m excited to have this recipe to share with not only you guys, but family and friends as well. I actually served them earlier in the month to my oldest brother Creighton. He said they’re probably one of his favorite potato dishes.
When you win over the brothers, all is good!
The next question is, what will you be pairing these cheesy potatoes with? The obvious answer for Thanksgiving is turkey. But come December, over here it will be my roasted beef tenderloin.
Looking for other easy Thanksgiving sides?? Here are my favorites:
Make Ahead Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Crispy Parmesan Thyme Sweet Potato Stacks
Sweet Potato Casserole with Sweet ‘n’ Savory Bacon Pecans
Lastly, if you make these Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 478 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 3/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 russet or yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. 2. Melt together the butter and onions in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 10 minutes. At this point, you'll want to add the wine and continue to cook another 5 minutes until the onions are deeply caramelized.3. Add the garlic and thyme, then season with salt and pepper. Cook another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. 4. Butter a 9x13 inch casserole dish. In a large glass measuring cup, combine the cream, milk, a pinch of cayenne, salt, and pepper. Then add the Gruyere cheese. Pour 1/3 of the milk mix into the bottom of the baking dish. Layer in 1/3 of the potatoes, and 1/2 of the onions. Add another 1/3 milk mix, then 1/3 of the potatoes, and then the remaining onions. Add the remaining potatoes, then pour over the last of the remaining milk mix. Try to get the potatoes in an even layer. 5. Cover and bake 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours. Remove the foil and top with cheddar cheese. Bake another 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden and melty. Serve the dish warm, topped with fresh thyme.
Notes
To make Ahead: prepare and bake through step 5, but stop cooking after 2 hours. Let chill, then cover, and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Before baking, bring the dish to room temperature, add the cheddar cheese, and bake another 20-30 minutes.
My friend requested I make scalloped potatoes for their dinner party to go with lamb. I was going to make Latke’s! I made these, added extra Gruyere cheese. They were a hit. Everyone loved them.
Hi Shelly,
Awesome! It’s so great to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Have the best weekend❄️ xTieghan
I made this for Thanksgiving and it got rave reviews from everyone! The only thing I changed was using cream cheese, instead of gruyere, because gryuere was sold out everywhere! It still tasted amazing and was super creamy. Thanks for a great recipe to add to my rotation!
Hey Julie,
Happy Friday! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks to much for giving it a try!! xTieghan
Delicious and rich side dish! Love this and will make it again.
Hey Amanda,
I love to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a lot for giving it a try! xTieghan
These were a HUGE hit at thanksgiving. We basically licked the pan clean. The make ahead directions worked perfect.
Hey there,
Happy Sunday! Thanks for giving the recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Made these for my first Thanksgiving ive hosted and it was a hit! I had to cut the potatoes by knife so that was time consuming but other than that – super easy!!
Hi Bri,
Happy Sunday! Thanks for giving the recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I followed the recipe exactly except used lactose free 2% milk. It was tasty but too watery. If I were to do it again I would substitute the milk for more Gruyere. Everyone said they loved it but I would have preferred less fluid
Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
While I think this is a beautiful dish, it is something I would use as more of a starting point because there was just not enough flavor for my group. If I were to remake it I would have: tripled the amount of onions, added Tony’s Chachere’s seasoning to the milk mixture (to really develop the flavor), possibly switched the Thyme for rosemary, and added cheese between all of the layers. Additionally, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing a mandolin from your local store (I found one for $9 at Walmart).
Hi there,
So sorry this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
I followed the recipe exactly as written but they were just “blah” (sorry Tieghan, please don’t take it personally). I think having a weight for the potatoes would be good, since russet potatoes vary so much in size and in comparison to Yukon gold potatoes. So I had to toss out 2 sliced potatoes – no room in my giant casserole dish. I couldn’t taste the onions, so maybe doubling or tripling them would be a good idea? And I felt like there was not enough cheese – maybe because the 4 potatoes I did use were big, it just felt like it was lacking in the cheese area.Broiling it (as others mentioned below) would have been a good idea, too, but we were out of time. Just not much flavor.
Hi Joan,
So sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
I made this recipe in pieces. I did the bulk of the work the day before, and stopped at the suggested step. I had my mom heat it up with the cheddar on it at her house and so it wasn’t hot by the time we ate. I think it would’ve been even better with the cheddar bubbly. My family has boring taste buds so they weren’t really into it but I think it’s a great dish and I would make it again for the right people who would appreciate the flavors more.
Hi Christa,
I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for trying it out! Happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan
I had never made scalloped potatoes, so I was a little nervous once I committed to bringing this to thanksgiving and not even attempting to make it until day of. A comment below said to do more onions, so I did two onions, two cloves of garlic and 1/2 cup wine. I purchased 6 potatoes but I guess my potatoes were huge because I only used about 4. I followed everything else as written and it came out delicious. I got lots of compliments. It was also much easier to make than I anticipated.
Hi Lauren,
I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for trying it out! Happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan
hi there!
made this for our thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! thanks for sharing it. looking back at the recipe I noticed this:
“In a large glass measuring cup, combine the cream, milk, a pinch of cayenne, salt, and pepper. Then add the Gruyere cheese.”
is the cheddar supposed to go in that mixture too? i did just gruyere in the mixture and then the cheddar on top at the end. either way it was delicious!
Hey there,
I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for trying it out! The cheddar goes on top at the end. Happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan
Not sure where I went wrong in the recipe, but they came out super greasy
Hey Sharissa,
Sorry to hear this, there is a lot of butter and cheese which makes this a heavier dish. xTieghan
Unfortunately we had a problem with curdling (even using heavy cream) and a lot of extra liquid. But still tasted pretty good!
Yes, same thing happened to me. Curdling and extra liquid. I had to uncover and increase the temp to 400 and then 425. I ended removing the extra liquid and it worked out. The dish was super yummy and everyone liked the dish, including me. The caramelized onions really transformed the dish. I wonder adding less liquid and maybe adding flour to thicken would help? I would make this dish again.
Were your dairy items at room temp?
Hey there,
Sorry to hear this, was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
This recipe might be very good. Unfortunately, when this dish is cooked and the milk and cream curdle it is totally unappealing.
Husband of the chef
Hi Steve,
Sorry to hear this, was there anything adjusted in the recipe. Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Hi! I’m excited to try this recipe, but I need to use a crockpot, would you suggest I cook it for the same amount of time on high? Thank you!
Hi Mary,
So sorry, I have not tried this recipe in a crockpot so I am unsure what the results would be. Let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan