Potato Gratin With Cream and Cheese
Potato gratin gives you a split sauce and raw potato for two reasons: slices that are too thick, and cream added cold. Cut to 3 mm, and simmer the slices in the cream for 10 minutes on the hob before the dish goes into the oven.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 80 min
- Calories
- 390
Photo: Ludovic Péron — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Potato gratin is a French classic served alongside meat, and one of the richest and best ways to serve potatoes. Its two most common problems share a single solution.
Method
-
1
Slice thin
Peel the potatoes and slice them 3 mm thick on a mandoline or with a sharp knife. Thick slices will not cook through, and uneven ones cook unevenly.
⏱ 15 min -
2
Do not rinse
Do not rinse the slices after cutting. The surface starch is what thickens the cream and stops it splitting — rinsing washes it away.
⏱ 2 min -
3
Simmer in the cream
Heat the cream, milk, garlic, bay, salt, pepper and nutmeg, add the potato slices and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring gently.
⏱ 13 min -
4
Test a slice
Try one — it should be tender at the edges with slight resistance in the middle. It finishes in the oven; fully soft slices will collapse.
⏱ 3 min -
5
Layer
Butter a dish, spread half the potatoes with their cream, scatter half the cheese, then the rest of the potatoes, and pour the remaining cream over.
⏱ 8 min -
6
Bake covered
Cover with foil and bake at 170°C for 30 minutes. The cover lets the steam finish cooking the potato without burning the top.
⏱ 32 min -
7
Brown uncovered
Remove the foil, scatter the Parmesan and remaining cheese, and give it 20 minutes uncovered until golden and crusted.
⏱ 22 min -
8
Rest
Leave it 15 minutes before cutting. A hot gratin is liquid; resting lets the cream set so it cuts cleanly.
⏱ 16 min
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Tips that actually matter
- Do not rinse the potato slices — the starch is what thickens the cream.
- Even 3 mm slices; a mandoline saves time and guarantees consistency.
- Covered for 30 minutes then uncovered for 20 — that order gives both tenderness and crust.
- 15 minutes of rest before cutting so the cream can set.
People also ask
Why is my potato still raw?
The slices were too thick, or the cream went in cold. Cut them to 3 mm and simmer them in the cream for 10 minutes on the hob first, so they enter the oven half-cooked.
Why did the cream split?
Either you rinsed the slices and removed the starch, or the heat was too high. Leave the starch on the potato and bake at 170°C only — higher heat splits the fat out of the cream.
Which potatoes are best?
Starchy potatoes (the sort sold for boiling and mashing), because their starch thickens the cream. Waxy ones hold their shape better but give a thinner sauce — starchy is the traditional French choice.
Cook mode
Potato Gratin With Cream and Cheese
-
1
Slice thin
Peel the potatoes and slice them 3 mm thick on a mandoline or with a sharp knife. Thick slices will not cook through, and uneven ones cook unevenly.
-
2
Do not rinse
Do not rinse the slices after cutting. The surface starch is what thickens the cream and stops it splitting — rinsing washes it away.
-
3
Simmer in the cream
Heat the cream, milk, garlic, bay, salt, pepper and nutmeg, add the potato slices and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring gently.
-
4
Test a slice
Try one — it should be tender at the edges with slight resistance in the middle. It finishes in the oven; fully soft slices will collapse.
-
5
Layer
Butter a dish, spread half the potatoes with their cream, scatter half the cheese, then the rest of the potatoes, and pour the remaining cream over.
-
6
Bake covered
Cover with foil and bake at 170°C for 30 minutes. The cover lets the steam finish cooking the potato without burning the top.
-
7
Brown uncovered
Remove the foil, scatter the Parmesan and remaining cheese, and give it 20 minutes uncovered until golden and crusted.
-
8
Rest
Leave it 15 minutes before cutting. A hot gratin is liquid; resting lets the cream set so it cuts cleanly.
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