French · Free recipe
Creamy Potato Gratin
Thinly sliced Yukon Golds are simmered briefly in garlic-infused cream on the stovetop, which releases their starch and guarantees a thick, cohesive sauce. Layered with Gruyere and baked low and slow, the gratin turns tender throughout with a blistered, crackling brown lid.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 20 min
- Total
- 1 hr 45 min
- Serves
- 8
- Level
- Medium
Method
-
Heat the oven to 350F and butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
-
Warm the cream, milk, garlic, thyme, salt, nutmeg, and pepper in a large, wide pot until steaming, then fish out the garlic and thyme.
-
Add the unrinsed potato slices and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring carefully with a spatula, until the liquid thickens noticeably and the slices bend without snapping.
-
Spoon half the potatoes into the dish in an even layer, scatter with 1 cup Gruyere, then add the remaining potatoes and pour over any cream left in the pot.
-
Press the top flat, sprinkle with the rest of the Gruyere and the Parmesan, and cover loosely with foil.
-
Bake for 40 minutes, remove the foil, and bake 25 to 30 minutes more until the top is deeply browned and a knife meets no resistance.
-
Let the gratin rest for 15 minutes so the sauce firms up before serving.
Zest note from the test kitchen
Do not rinse the potato slices; the surface starch is precisely what thickens the cream into a velvety sauce instead of a curdled puddle.
