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Well, I can officially say that I have mastered my perfect scalloped potato recipe that my entire family ate! These rich and creamy cheesy scalloped potatoes are some of the best I have ever eaten, these will be my holiday go-to recipe from now on.
What are Scalloped Potatoes?
Classic scalloped potatoes are much simpler than my recipe, traditionally they are potatoes, onions and milk for the main flavours and is a white sauce, not a cheddar sauce. You mix together a roux white sauce that only has milk and onions and bake that up with sliced potatoes. However, that type of scalloped potatoes didn’t have my picky eating daughter taking them in a thermos to school the next day, now did they? It’s true.That kid actually ate the heck out of these scalloped potatoes and then took them as a hot main meal for her lunch. That officially makes them the best ever, that and she asked me to make them again because she wanted to take them for lunches.
How to Make Homemade Scalloped Potatoes
To make scalloped potatoes you simply need to:
- Preheat your oven to 400 °F.
- Wash and slice your potatoes.
- Prepare a creamy cheese sauce.
- Place the potatoes in a buttered casserole dish in layers along with the cheese sauce.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes, then bake uncovered for another 30 or until the potatoes are tender.
It’s really that easy! Now yes, mine are a cheese based sauce rather than a plain white milk sauce. Trust me, that sauce is what makes these so good!
The Best Potatoes to use for Scalloped Potatoes
The very best potatoes to use for scalloped potatoes are Russet potatoes. Russet potatoes have a lot of starch that ends up in your sauce, and that helps make the sauce richer and thicker in the end, not to mention more flavourful with potato starches in it. Yukon potatoes will hold their shape better but are more waxy, not starchy and thus you end up with a thinner sauce. I use Russets exclusively in my scalloped potatoes.
What dishes go with scalloped potatoes?
Ham of course is one of the best dishes to pair scalloped potatoes with, but don’t let that stop you from making these to go with any main meat dish. You can even have this as your main dish if you want a vegetarian meal, I won’t judge you! These really are pretty fantastic scalloped potatoes. I grated the onion to hide the texture and to make sure that it was a prominent flavour in the cheddar sauce as well. I didn’t want a plain milk and flour sauce, scalloped potatoes need cheese in my opinion.
What is the Difference Between Scalloped and Au Gratin Potatoes?
Scalloped potatoes have a simple onion and milk roux sauce that is poured into the potato slices and baked. A potato au gratin usually has a cheese sauce and then also has grated cheese sprinkled between the layers which ends up with a baked potato dish that is far more cheesy and decadent. Another difference is that breadcrumbs are sprinkled on top of potatoes au gratin and baked.
More Potato Side Dish Recipes
If you are looking for some other great potato side dishes that are all tried, tested and true, try these reader favourites:
These scalloped potatoes will grace the table every time I make ham from now on, they are the perfect accompaniment. They’ll also apparently be made for lunches every now and then for the kids as a treat. Lucky them!
Happy cooking!
Love,
Karlynn
Rich & Creamy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 cups thinly sliced potatoes I like to leave the skin on after washing well
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 medium onion grated
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup grated cheese
- paprika smoked is amazing!
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 °F. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish with butter and set aside.
- In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add in the grated onions and cook until tender and soft.
- Add in the flour and stir until mixed throughout the butter. Stir for another minute, then whisk in the milk slowly, stirring with the whisk to ensure that there are no lumps.
- Season with the salt to your own taste (start at 1/2 tsp).
- Cook the sauce on low until smooth and thick, stirring occasionally with the whisk to ensure that the mixture doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot.
- Reduce the heat and stir in the cheese, whisking until it is smooth.
- Place half of the sliced potatoes in the casserole dish.
- Pour half of the cheese sauce over the first layer of sliced potatoes. Repeat with the second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
- Bake covered in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Take off the lid and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and paprika if wanted.
- Bake uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and cooked.
Notes
Nutrition
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Marion Lawrence says
Have enjoyed many of your recipes, going to try the tender flake pie crust next, Thank You for them all and your Web site.
Karlynn says
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! I hope you keep Enjoying the recipes!