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.
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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 need gluten free meals
Hi Les, we don’t specifically create gluten free recipes but a lot of our recipes are naturally gluten free or can easily be made gluten free by swapping in gf flour or other alternatives. A few of my personal favorites right now: Beef Stew (especially with the snow on the ground!), Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole (my go-to weekend brunch), and this easy Sticky Honey Chicken recipe just to name a few!
Made these tonight and added some smoked kielbasa, it is so good!!!! I’ve been struggling to get the perfect consistency on my scalloped potatoes and this was it! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
I was looking for a simple recipe for scalloped potatoes that didn’t use cream or other fancy ingredients. This recipe is excellent. I had some leftover ham, which I spread around on the layers of potatoes, and also a partial bag of leftover shredded Mexican cheese, so I sprinkled that in there too. The result was amazing. Even my granddaughter ate these with abandon. This will be my go-to recipe in the future.
So happy to hear that, Mary! I am glad everyone enjoyed it.
That’s hands down the best scalloped potatoes recipe I’ve ever made. I have have been trying so many recipes to find one like my Gramma made and that was in the 50’s , excellent, good job
This recipe is wonderful! I will make again. It help me be creative and add my own touches.
I added 1 tsp of chicken bouillon along with salt and pepper.
I also substituted 1 cup of milk for half and half.
Delicious, very simple and easy to make. love the little pockets of sauce between the potatoes. I’ve been experimenting with tarragon, I sprinkled on top and it was such a nice addition. I am already craving them! Taste just as good microwaving the leftovers.
Deeeeeelicious!!!!! Great blend of flavors. I added cubed ham but followed the directions to an T and was not disappointed!
These potatoes are absolutely delicious! They came out perfectly as I followed the recipe exactly! These will definitely be a staple side dish in my household now.
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and yum, they came out delicious. I will be using this recipe for future. Thank you for sharing.
These came out great!! Made them as written for the first time. I don’t see any reason to change anything. Next time I may add some cheese for a flavor change.
I just made this recipe today as written and they were the best scalloped potatoes ever!!! Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe!!!
Can I use red potatoes for this recipe? I’ve made it a couple times already – I do use less potatoes than the recipe calls for to keep it moister and it’s always a hit!
Hi Amy, yes you can use red potatoes for this recipe. I would love to hear how the dish turns out for you!
Covered with foil first hour but still took almost 2 hours to bake. Taste-tested after an hour; bland, tasted like potatoes and milk gravy. I added garlic powder, more salt, basil, thyme and later, cheddar cheese. Tasted better, but won’t make this again.
Sorry this dish didn’t turn out for you, Ramona. Usually our readers love it!
I enjoy a lot of the recipes form this site, but I won’t make this one again as I also found it bland – both the potatoes and the sauce.
Thanks for trying our recipe, Katie!