Creamy, cheesy dauphinoise potatoes are popular with everyone, no matter their age. And this classic French dish is easy to make, especially if you have a mandolin for slicing the potatoes.
If you make this for a dinner party, make it ahead and rewarm when ready to serve. This frees up the oven for other dishes.
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Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.
Jump to:
- 🤷♀️ What are Dauphinoise potatoes?
- What's the difference between potato au gratin and Dauphinoise potatoes?
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- 🥔 What are the best potatoes to use?
- 👩🍳 Can I make Dauphinoise potatoes ahead?
- 🏔️ Making This Recipe at High Altitude
- Best Dauphinoise Potatoes with Gruyère
Potato au gratin with poblanos, potato Dauphinoise, and scalloped potatoes are all winning side dishes for so many entrees, such as hasselbacked butternut squash or butternut squash steaks.
This type of creamy casserole dish is perfect for a special occasion dinner like Christmas or Easter dinner.
🤷♀️ What are Dauphinoise potatoes?
Dauphinoise potatoes originated in the Dauphiné region of France as gratin Dauphinoise and has as many variations as there are cooks who make it. The original recipe, going back to the late 1700s, calls for thinly sliced raw potatoes layered in a shallow dish rubbed with butter and garlic and covered with cream or crème fraîche.
What's the difference between potato au gratin and Dauphinoise potatoes?
The biggest difference between potato au gratin and Dauphinoise potatoes is that potato gratins layer pre-cooked slices of potatoes, usually boiled. Dauphinoise potatoes has layers of raw sliced potatoes.
Additionally, au gratins are casseroles topped with melty cheese such as Gruyère cheese and buttered breadcrumbs. The original Dauphinoise potatoes recipes did not typically include cheese, although they may include Gruyere cheese today. But they are not usually finished with buttered breadcrumbs.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Total comfort food.
- Lightened by switching out some of the heavy cream with whole milk and seasoned vegetable broth.
- Make it ahead and rewarm it in a 350˚F oven when ready to serve.
- A crowd-pleaser side dish that goes with many entrees.
- No fancy ingredients you need to hunt down.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minute meal or less.
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Garlic
- Whole milk - 2% milk results in a watery casserole.
- Heavy whipping cream
- Better Than Bouillon Roasted Vegetable Paste
- Fresh rosemary herb - do not substitute dried rosemary for the fresh herb.
- Yukon gold potatoes - Russet potatoes are also excellent but don't use waxy potatoes. See the below section on "Best Potatoes to Use".
- Gruyère cheese - Emmentaler cheese is fine as a substitute.
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- 8" X 8" baking dish
- Hand-held mandolin - for quickly and easily slicing potatoes into a consistent thickness that will bake evenly.
- Medium saucepan
📝 Instructions Overview
Thinly slice Yukon gold potatoes using a hand-held mandolin and layered in a casserole dish with grated Gruyére cheese. Garlic and a large sprig of rosemary are steeped in a mixture of milk, cream, and vegetable broth made with Better Than Bouillon. The creamy liquid is poured over layered uncooked potato slices and cheese. Bake until the potatoes are tender and the casserole is bubbly.
🥔 What are the best potatoes to use?
Bottom line, both Russet and Yukon gold potatoes work great. It's based on individual preferences. Here's a breakdown.
- Yukon golds (my favorite) are denser than russet potatoes but more absorbent than waxy potatoes. They can take a little longer to become tender than russets but result in a beautiful creamy casserole with defined layers.
- Russet potatoes (also excellent) are more absorbent than other potatoes and, therefore, crumble more easily in a casserole. They soak in the milk, cream, butter, and cheese into one big cheesy, creamy pan of potato bliss.
- Waxy red potatoes and white boiling potatoes (poor) are generally not as successful in gratins as they are more waxy and don't absorb the liquids as well. As a result, these gratins and Dauphinoise casseroles can bake up more watery.
👩🍳 Can I make Dauphinoise potatoes ahead?
Yes! Bake the casserole and allow to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Rewarm in a 350˚F oven until bubbly. If the top begins to brown too much, cover the casserole with foil while it reheats.
🏔️ Making This Recipe at High Altitude
Add 10 - 15 minutes to the baking time if you make this above 5000 feet.
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Best Dauphinoise Potatoes with Gruyère
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 2 large garlic cloves divided
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Paste
- 1 -2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes about 5 potatoes
- 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Butter an 8" X 8" baking dish with ½ tablespoon of the unsalted butter. Cut one of the cloves of garlic in half and rub the inside of the baking dish with it.
- Combine the milk, cream, water, Better Than Bouillon, rosemary, salt, pepper, and remaining 1 ½ tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Smash and mince the remaining garlic and add to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Do not allow the liquid to come to a full simmer as the cream may break. Cool on the stove and remove the rosemary sprigs, leaving any detached rosemary leaves in the liquid.
- Scrub the potatoes and slice them (unpeeled) about ⅛" thick using a hand-held mandolin. I used the thinnest setting on my mandolin and sliced them all up in about 5 minutes. Alternatively, use a sharp chef's knife to slice the potatoes.Arrange half of the potato slices, overlapping them, in layers in the baking dish. Salt and pepper each layer before beginning the next layer. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese over the top of the layers. Repeat with the remaining potato slices and cheese.
- Pour the warm creamy liquid over the potatoes.
- Place the baking dish on a baking sheet, and slide into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Pro-tip: Check it after 20 minutes to see if it's browning too quickly. If so, cover with foil, and continue to bake until the potatoes are tender.
Liz
This gratin would be perfect for so many occasions, but especially a hit on a buffet table!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Liz! It's definitely a family favorite here 🙂
Melissa F
I am not sure why, but I have never made a gratin unless it came from a box which we all know is not that great. I am certainly going to put this on my list this year and check out some of the other great recipes too. thanks for sharing!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Gratins can be very easy to make - and I admit, this one is easiest with my little mandoline. It allows me to get even slices of the potatoes so they cook evenly. I hope you give this a try!
Anna
Why do you have bacon wrapped ham on a vegetarian blog?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's a round up with SundaySupper, which I often participate in. They don't require all dishes to be vegetarian. And I should add, this is a mostly vegetarian blog, hence the name "Wimpy" Vegetarian.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
And I should mention that the ham recipe isn't mine. The only recipe in the roundup that's mine is this potato gratin.
Laura Dembowski
I adore potato gratin but have never made it. Your version looks like perfection.
Ben Myhre
This looks great and I love the historical tidbits thrown into this post. Super interesting.