Scalloped Potatoes have thinly sliced potatoes in a light, creamy cream cheese and chive sauce, baked in the style of a gratin.
Scalloped Potatoes
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
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Scalloped Potatoes are my recipe of the day with the From Our Family Table blogging group. Today we are posting recipes with dairy (specifically milk).
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I’ve tried a lot of gratin recipes over the years, and while some are good, I haven’t been happy with all of them. In general, the common failure is that the potatoes are either still too hard or the top is overbrowned.
I have made my solution to be cooking them in the casserole in salted water then draining off the water and topping with a sauce.
This way the sauce is not over dark and the potatoes are tender.
Difference Between Scalloped Potatoes and Au Gratin Potatoes
We can talk about what constitutes a gratin vs. scalloped potatoes. In general, scalloped means thinly sliced and gratin has a topping. Usually these casseroles will combine both.
However, I personally think of gratin of potatoes as having more of a cheddar sauce and the scalloped being a lighter sauce with sour cream or cream cheese. Such as I have done here.
Box Mixes are Easy But Not All That
These are much better than box mixes which use dehydrated potatoes and powdered sauce mix. But I am not a snob and I will eat those when I am lazy. But there is no freaking way I would serve those to company, or on a holiday such as Thanksgiving or Sunday Dinner.
That entails a little more thought. And really, these aren’t very hard to make. Just mostly slicing the potatoes and making the cheese sauce, which is no more difficult than say, a cream gravy. Just with any cheese sauce, keep the heat low and whatever you do, don’t let it boil.
Working with Cheese in Cream Sauces and Soups
Boiling any cheese separates out the dairy protein and causes it to string. I’m sure you have seen that and tasted it and want to avoid that. Many times I just pull the pan off the burner and stir the cheese in. If it cools too much to melt, put back on the burner briefly. It’s fool proof.
I hope you enjoy! Be sure to check out the other blogger recipes below as we have all worked very hard to bring you this recipe stack.
Dairy for Dinner
- Alcohol Free Cheese Fondue by That Recipe
- Cheese Burek by Art of Natural Living
- Chicken in Lemon Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta by Making Miracles
- Loaded Beer Cheese Potato Soup by Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Pea and Ricotta Carbonara by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Scalloped Potatoes by Palatable Pastime (You are Here!)
- Southwest Corn and Potato Chowder by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
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Scalloped Potatoes
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Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes (peeled and sliced 1/4-inch)
- 2-1/2 cups hot water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup minced red onion
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 2 tablespoons dried chives
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- salt and black pepper (to taste)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Slice potatoes and place in an oval or oblong baker or casserole dish.
- Stir salt into the hot water and pour over potatoes.
- Cover pan with foil and bake for 70-80 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Lift the potatoes from the pan with a pancake turner so as not to break them up.
- Drain off the cooking water.
- Slide the potatoes from a plate back into the pan and set aside.
- Heat butter in a saucepan and add onion, cooking until it is soft and caramelized.
- Stir in the cream cheese, chives, marjoram, salt and pepper (to taste) and one cup milk, stirring until the cheese melts and creates a sauce.
- Pour sauce over potatoes and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
- Bake, uncovered for twenty minutes or until the cheese melts and is light brown. You can place it under the broiler for a darker color if you like.
What a brilliant idea! I can’t wait to make this and as soon as I can get to the store, I’ll be making this recipe.
I love scalloped potatoes. I love au gratin potatoes. This potato casserole sounds lovely.
These are so good! I made them last night to go with pepper steak. I made a pig of myself eating these! It was only my husband and me but still, I did go overboard. Now it sounds weird on how you prep the potatoes, but it’s really easy. I only had 6 oz of cream cheese, and this still turned out well. I will be making these again.