Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Sliced potatoes, layered with a seasoned cream sauce and cheese baked to a bubbly perfection for the holiday side dish you will add to your table every year!
Hey ya’ll! When it comes to holiday meals, cheese is absolutely necessary. For me at least! If it’s a cheesy side, I gotta have it. Of course we’ve got mac & cheese which is the king of cheesy sides. I mean, there’s 4 of them on this site! And in my family, we also have broccoli casserole, squash casserole and, sometimes, cheesy biscuits. But this year, I had to bring the cheesy scalloped potatoes. Honestly, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long. These potatoes are tender, saucy and super flavorful, you definitely want to bring these to Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving and any other holiday meal you have coming up!
A Little About Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
If you’ve never had scalloped potatoes before, this should be your time to try them. They’re slices of potatoes, layered with a seasoned bechamel sauce (hello garlic!) and shredded cheese and then baked for a decadent side that can hold its own on the holiday table. It’s also super customizable so you can do different cheese blends to match your meal. When I made this version, I decided to use sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheese. The slight addition of spice keeps these interesting, but you could use any combination you want, much like a mac & cheese! I would avoid very aged cheeses though, as they will not melt the way you’d like.
The other key to a perfect pan of scalloped potatoes is is the thickness of the potatoes. This is where you need to be most precise! Potatoes sliced to about 1/8″ are the perfect thickness to ensure your potatoes bake through, but do not fuse together to become a gloopy mess. 1/8″ is about the thickness of a quarter, so you can keep one close by if you have to slice by hand. If you have access to a food processor with a slice attachment or a mandoline, you can quickly and easily obtain that thickness. Now that you’ve got the technical stuff out of the way, let me give you the final tips for making and the recipe!
Tips For Making This Cheesy Potato Dish
There are a few things that make these scalloped potatoes even more simple and I’m gonna share that here. But I’ll emphasize that the key to make sure that the potatoes are cut to 1/8″. If you don’t pay attention to anything else, pay attention to this for the perfect potato texture! Okay, here are a few other tips:
- When making the bechamel, you want the liquid to just thicken to where it can coat the back of a spoon, but not take it too far. As the potatoes cook, the sauce will thicken. If it cooks too long, it will become too thick and a little clumpy.
- You can make this in advance by preparing the bechamel a day in advance. Before serving, loosen with 1/4 cup of milk in a sauce pan.
- To reheat, cook covered with aluminum foil in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 mins.
That’s all I have for ya’ll today. If you make this, be sure to tag me using #lizeeangel or join the NikNacks and follow me!. You can find me on tiktok , pinterest, instagram, facebook, twitter and youtube!
Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 9×13" Baking Dish
- 1 knife, mandoline or food processor
Ingredients
- 2 lbs yukon gold potatoes
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic chopped to a paste
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 cups 2%, whole milk or half and half warmed to about 100 degrees
- 2 tsp worcestershire
- 3/4 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp thyme dried, or 1 tsp fresh
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan
- 2 lbs yukon gold potatoes cut to 1/8" slices
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheese see notes
Instructions
- Slice potatoes and place into a bowl of ice water until ready to assemble. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a pan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add garlic and cook until fragrant. About 4 minutes.
- Add flour and cook to remove raw flour taste, about 3 minutes.
- Carefully and slowly, add about 1/3 of the milk to the pan while whisking to remove lumps. Slowly stream in remaining milk while whisking to ensure no clumps appear.
- Add worcestershire sauce, spices and whisk until combined. Continue to stir until sauce just coats the back of a spoon. Add parmesan and immediately remove from heat. Bechamel sauce should still be quite thin.
- If making ahead. Allow sauce to cool and put in airtight container. To assemble, move forward to next step.
- To assemble, spray baking dish with cooking spray. Assemble a layer of sliced potatoes, slightly overlapping. Top with a spoonful of sauce per row and use back of spoon to spread. You do not need much sauce between layers as sauce will spread as it bakes.
- Top with a bit of the cheese, about 1/3 of the mixture and repeat, building 2 more layers with the potatoes, sauce and cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from foil and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, or until potatoes are bubbling in the center.
- Remove and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy
