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When it comes to crowd-pleasing holiday comfort foods, you can’t beat scalloped potatoes. Rich, creamy, and refreshingly unfussy, this versatile side dish is great for everything from Easter dinner to school potlucks. Read on for my top tips to guarantee yours are best they can be, every time you make them.
What People Are Saying:
"These are the perfect alternative to mashed potatoes! The texture is perfect and the creaminess is the best part." - Pcrams18
"I never thought anyone could come close to my mum's scalloped potatoes. I may have been wrong. These are amazing." – trinidemboy868
Get started by making the infused cream. Combine the shallot, garlic, cream, milk, and peppercorns in a large saucepan. Prep should be quick: Just quarter the shallot, smash the garlic, and toss them into the pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes or so (no need to be punctual) to the cream time to absorb the flavors of the alliums and peppercorns.
While the cream is infusing, put the time to good use by preheating your oven (350°, please), greasing a large (13" x 9") baking dish with butter, and slicing the potatoes. The potatoes will take a minute, since you'll want to cut them into even, 1/8"-thick slices. A mandoline makes this easy, as does the slicing blade on a food processor, but a sharp chef's knife and a little patience will more than get the job done.
Strain cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, then pour it back into the saucepan. Stir in the salt, then add the sliced potatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook just until the potatoes are barely tender, 3 to 4 minutes. This par-cooking step is the secret to the creamiest scalloped potatoes—it allows the potatoes to meld with the cream in the sauce while simultaneously cooking off a little of the excess moisture from the potatoes, resulting in a dish with a silky-smooth texture.
Now let's layer these potatoes in the baking dish. Add half of the potatoes and cream to the prepared dish and spread into an even layer. Scatter half of the cheese over. Add the remaining potatoes and cream and top with remaining cheese.
Bake the scalloped potatoes until golden brown on top, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool slightly before topping with chives and serving.
The full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.
If you want to make these scalloped potatoes in advance, you can cook them all the way through, let them cool, and then cover and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat, covered, in a 350° oven, just until warmed through. This goes for leftovers too!
shallot, peeled, quartered
garlic cloves, peeled, smashed
heavy cream
whole milk
whole black peppercorns
unsalted butter
medium Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed
kosher salt
Parmesan, finely shredded (about 3/4 cup), divided
thinly sliced chives
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