Thinly sliced potatoes nestle in a bath of cream, milk and butter, resulting in the tastiest Scalloped Potatoes on the planet. For reals.
Friends, meet the Best Scalloped Potatoes on the planet. I’ve been making these for over twenty years. And they are still as good today as I remember them the first time I made them. Today, they are a special occasion treat, though, saved for Christmas and Easter.
These Scalloped Potatoes are easy to make, and there are rarely leftovers. If there are, I wake up early in the morning to eat them for breakfast when no one’s looking. Or awake.
They are that good.
I can’t take credit for them exactly. I found them in a potato cookbook years ago. I don’t have that book anymore. I don’t even remember what it was called. And I never wrote down the recipe. I basically have the recipe memorized.
In fact, I have it carved on my heart.
I just make it as I remember it, honestly. And that works for us.
These potatoes are rich, yes, full of cream and butter. And slicing potatoes is a chore, but if you can use the food processor, prep time will be a whiz. It’s totally worth it. I promise.
Totally.
How to make this good and cheap:
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Meal plan around what’s on sale. Potatoes are kind of a pantry staple, but some times are better to buy them than others. Buy potatoes during those times.
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. Buy potatoes on sale, but also look for sales on cream and half-and-half. (For non-US readers, “half-and-half” is equal parts milk and cream that have been homogenized. You can make your own for this recipe and it won’t matter.)
Tools I use to make this recipe easy:
This is a pretty straight-forward dish. You don’t need any fancy equipment. However, having some good basic kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs. Here are the tools that I like to use in this recipe.
- plastic cutting boards – I have blue boards for veggies and white boards for meat.
- Ergo Chef chef’s knife – I’ve had my set for several years and they work well.
- food processor – A must for slicing many potatoes.
- 3 pounds russet potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
- salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Grease a large baking dish. Preheat the oven to 325 °.
- Overlap the potato slices in the prepared dish, seasoning with salt and pepper every few layers. Pour over the half and half and dot the surface with the butter. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered.
- Pour the heavy cream over the potatoes and bake another 45 minutes until cooked through and golden brown.
Promptly store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.
Nutritional values are approximate and based on 1/8 the recipe.
Updated April 8, 2017.
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Interesting that you don’t cheese your potatoes. I’m not sure I’ve ever had scalloped that did not have cheese at least sprinkled across the top. Never mind that, though, I want to know what you did to that cauliflower on the right side of the plate. I’m not a big cauliflower eater, but the kid likes it and that looks scrumptious.
@Sandi, believe me, you won’t miss the cheese! Sharing the cauliflower tonight on Life as MOM. 😉 And it was scrumptious!
@Sandi,
Au Gratin potatoes have cheese, Scalloped potatoes don’t.
In Australia we don’t have ‘half and half’ – what is it exactly? Do you have any ideas on a substitute?
It’s half cream, half whole milk. So you can make your own.
These are exactly how my mom makes them–with the addition of a couple cups of cheese!
Oh my! I thought life got lost in the translation when I could not find a scalloped potatoes recipe that did not have cheese in it. When it had cheese, I’d known that to be Potatoes Au Gratin. I was looking for a stand-alone scalloped potato recipe. Thank you.
I do scalloped potato with pork chops casserole my mother handed down, which relies on milk, flour and butter layered in. Sliced onions are layered in as well. It isn’t as creamy as this version should be, but then it is centered around the meat in the dish and simply tasty. Brown flour-dredged chops and when assembling the casserole in a 13 x 9 pan, butter is dotted in with flour and milk among the potato and onion slices that will thicken the milk and meat juices as it bakes. Its always been a family favorite.
I only have one oven and our main dish will have to cook at 400. Do you think I can manage to bake this at a higher temperature? I can’t wait to try them! Love your site & thanks!
THAT is the tricky part. I can’t remember what I did last year to accommodate the ham and the potatoes at the same time. I just decided in the last hour that the ham will have to go in the crockpot tomorrow.
I’m not sure what your views are on microwave cooking? Electricity is ridiculously expensive here, so I often part-cook dishes that bake for long in my microwave, and then just bake for the last 5-10 minutes in the oven, or under the grill, to get some golden colour.
Anyway, if you don’t mind microwaving, I always make my scalloped potatoes in the microwave, and they come out superbly, in a fraction of the time 🙂
Which I’m thinking might help you with the need to bake more than one dish at the same time, Denise?
Oh, no!!! What is step 3?!?
Haha. There isn’t one. It was a renegade code. Thanks.
Do these reheat well? I want to make them for Christmas Eve but we will be gone all day. I was wondering if I could make the day before and just reheat prior to serving.
We devour the leftovers, but the texture is not the same as fresh from the oven.
Those potatoes look so yummy! We will be so ready for home cooked meals again after this week!! On the list!
Can this Scalloped Potato recipe be frozen since using cream?
I would not recommend that. Neither the cream or the potatoes will freeze well.