Scalloped Potatoes are an easy classic recipe, perfect for your Easter dinner, Christmas, Thanksgiving or even just for Sunday dinner.
In this side dish, thinly sliced potatoes and onions are layered in an easy homemade cream sauce and baked until tender, golden, and bubbly. Potato perfection!
An Easy Classic
Of all the potato side dishes from Oven Roasted Potatoes to Perfect Baked Potatoes, nothing says comfort food like creamy side of scalloped potatoes (except maybe creamy buttery mashed potatoes).
So exactly what are Scalloped Potatoes? Thought to have originated in England, the word ‘scallop’ is basically a definition for how the potato is sliced. Thin and uniformly cut potatoes are layered in a casserole dish and then covered with a seasoned onion cream sauce and baked. The result is this savory scalloped potato recipe!
Ingredients
- Potatoes Yukon gold potatoes (or red potatoes) have tender skin and don’t require peeling (they hold their shape well). Russet potatoes or Idaho potatoes will work but tend to break apart more (but still taste good).
- Onions Onions add a lot of flavor to this recipe and are a classic ingredient.
- Cream Sauce A quick cream sauce made with flour, butter, milk and broth. If you’d like to add cheese, remove the sauce from the heat and stir in a handful or two of shredded cheese. It will melt from the heat of the sauce.
- Seasonings Simple seasonings in this recipe include salt, pepper, onion, garlic. Add in your own favorites including thyme, rosemary, parsley.
How to Make Scalloped Potatoes
Making scalloped potatoes from scratch takes time but it is easy. While true scalloped potatoes do not have cheese, we sometimes add a little bit in!
- Thinly slice potatoes & onions.
- Make homemade sauce (recipe below)
- Layer potatoes, onions and sauce. Cover and bake.
- Remove foil and bake a bit more, this step creates the delicious brown top on the scalloped potatoes
IMPORTANT Cool 20 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to thicken.
Tips for Perfect Scalloped Potatoes
- Slice the potatoes evenly to ensure the scalloped potatoes cook evenly
- Use a mandoline to make this job extra quick (a $25 mandoline like this one does a great job and will save you lots of time)
- A roux is the foundation for a creamy sauce. A roux just means to cook fat (in this case butter) and flour and add liquid to make a sauce!
- If you decide to add cheese to the sauce (which will actually make these into Potatoes Au Gratin) remove the sauce from the stove and stir in 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cheese (cheddar/gruyere are great choices).
- Season the potatoes with salt and pepper between layers.
- Cover with foil while it bakes, this allows it to steam and the potatoes will cook a bit faster.
To Make Scalloped Potatoes Ahead of Time
To make these ahead of time (and keep cooking fast on the day of serving) we have tested partially baking them with great results.
- Bake the dish covered for 50-60 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on the counter (leave them covered, the steam will help to finish cooking).
- Cover well and refrigerate.
- On the day of serving, remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered about 35 minutes or until heated through.
More Potato Recipes You’ll Love
- Twice Baked Potatoes – Make ahead & freeze!
- Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Loaded Mashed Potato Cakes – Great for leftovers.
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole
- Baked Potato Soup – Easy weeknight meal
Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 pounds white potatoes sliced about ⅛" thick
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Sauce
- To make the sauce, melt butter, onion and garlic over medium low heat. Cook until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low. Combine milk and broth. Add a small amount at a time whisking to thicken. The mixture will become very thick, continue adding a little bit of liquid at a time whisking until smooth.
- Once all of the liquid has been added, bring to a boil over medium heat while continuing to whisk. Stir in salt and pepper and let boil 1 minute.
Assembly
- Grease a 9"x13" baking dish. Place ⅓ of the potatoes in the bottom and season with salt and pepper. Pour ⅓ of the cream sauce sauce over top.
- Repeat layers ending with cream sauce. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes or until golden brown and potatoes are tender. Broil for 3-4 minutes to obtain a golden top.
- Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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What is the Difference Between Scalloped and Au Gratin Potatoes?
Potatoes au Gratin are also called cheesy potatoes because the white sauce is actually a cheese sauce (and they often have cheese sprinkled between the layers and/or breadcrumb topping).
This scalloped potato recipe can (of course) be topped with cheese or have cheese added in but sometimes I love the simplicity in this recipe without cheese. The sweetness of the onions and milk is the perfect addition to these sliced potatoes!
Can You Freeze Scalloped Potatoes?
These potatoes will keep in the fridge for about 4 days and reheat well in the microwave, oven or in a frying pan! If you want to freeze them longer, yes, scalloped potatoes can be frozen!
Almost any casserole dish can be frozen perfectly with a little know-how. If making a freezer meal, the best way to freeze scalloped potatoes is to not fully cook them all way, but leave them a little undercooked. Then, once they are cooled in the fridge, portion them out the way you want to and wrap carefully before putting in the freezer. To reheat, simply thaw and finish the cooking until the potatoes are tender again!
While that’s a great option, most often we want to freeze leftovers. In this case, these scalloped potatoes freeze well, although I do find they sometimes break apart a bit when reheated but they still taste great!
REPIN this Fantastic Casserole
I have made these potatoes many times and they always turn out fabulous! Making them again for a party tomorrow and it is such peace of mind knowing that I will be bringing something that I am 100% comfortable that all will enjoy! Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes! I visit your site often. :)
Thank you so much for the kind words! I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes.
I made this as a side to go with Beef Wellington for my mom’s birthday dinner yesterday and it was truly delicious! Simple ingredients lead to wonderful results!
We make these often because the whole family loves them!
So yummy! We added a coat of sharp cheddar and Parmesan shredded cheese to the top and it was soooo good! Also added a little bit of Italian herbs and fresh dill
Great recipe! Mine came out a bit too sweet for my liking— added cheddar cheese to the top pre-baking and the top layer felt properly salted but I’m wishing I added to each layer.
This recipe is terrific! Reminds me of my Mom’s scalloped potatoes, but the garlic makes it even better! I topped mine with rosemary and parsley from my garden, and it was superb!
Hello – recipe sounds great. Can it be made ahead of time (and kept in the fridge before baking)?
Hi Molly, we have only tested making this recipe ahead when we are partially baking it. I believe other readers have had success prepping it ahead without baking but we would love to hear how it turned out for you!
These potatoes were delicious! Followed the recipe exactly! I will make these again and again!
This recipe was perfection. Full flavored and just a delight to serve. I did add thyme but that’s the only thing I changed about this recipe just because I like to add herbs to dishes. The potatoes did not turn soupy at all. I think other cooks who had a problem with this didn’t properly cook up the roux enough or just added more liquid than called for. Thank for sharing this one with us. Definitely saving this one for the holiday meals too.
These were perfect, I used 18% cream and added 1 cup parmesan and 1.5 cup mozzarella. Thankyou
I’d recommend these to everyone
My son made this for dinner. We added more garlic and had with shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches. YUM!
Absolutely delicious!!!! I did switch out the milk for condensed cream of mushroom soup to give it even more flavour
What are white potatoes? Will Yukon gold potatoes work?
White, red, or Yukon gold are all potatoes with thin skins and similar textures; they can be used interchangeably in this recipe as they will all hold their shape well. Enjoy Julie!
Well oh my gosh ❤️❤️❤️Delicious, easy to make, and the best I have ever eaten. My hubbys says” ” a 10/10 he says . A great addition to the house recipes. Thanks so much
These were the best scalloped potatoes I’ve ever made! I added some leftover ham, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.
Making this recipe (again) today. BEST scalloped potatoes ever! Last time, I did try the method of baking the casserole for 1 hr the day before, refrigerating, & after bringing casserole to room temp the next day, baked for an additional hour. I also made a bit extra roux than the recipe called for and the casserole still turned out thick, creamy and DELICIOUS! Not sure why recipe has turned out soupy for others?? I would have never thought to use chicken stock in my roux but it really adds a wonderful flavour! One more hour to go (+ resting) and my scalloped potatoes will be ready to devour-my kitchen smells so good. Definitely my GO TO RECIPE for scalloped potatoes! THANKYOU!
Hi.
Can I use almond milk please?
I ran out of the other.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Kate, but that should work just fine. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
I used almond milk to make Mac n cheese years ago. It was awful. I hope your potatoes turn out okay
Made these for a church potluck, exactly as recipe is written, but they were very soupy. Didn’t want to throw them out, so I refrigerated them to try & salvage the next night at home. The next night I baked them at 350 for about 20 mins & still soupy. Increased the temp to 400 & baked them another 30 mins. They came out perfect. Nice golden layer on top, no more soup & a taste the family loved. I will be trying them again, but will probably either use more potatoes, reduce the amount of broth (I don’t normally use broth in my regular scalloped potato recipe) & bake at a higher temperature.
Oh no! We haven’t had that issue so I can’t say for sure what happened. Did you boil the sauce for at least one minute? This helps thicken the sauce.
Thought they were done and ready to take out but upon tasting potatoes were still undercooked, eventhough sliced thin. Had to return to the oven at 500 degrees because family didn’t want to wait much longer. Looking back realized 350 is way too low for potatoes.