Creamy potato gratin
Thin potato slices in a creamy sauce with golden cheese on top. Asterix becomes tender while the slices hold together. Soften the onion in the pan first; it makes a difference to the flavour.
Jump to the recipe ↓AI-generated illustration.
Ingredients now shown for 4 people as a side dish.
Optional: keep the screen awake while following the recipe. Uses more battery.
Favourites are saved in this browser, without signing in.
SAPIDUS · Flavour. Curiosity. Joy of food.
Creamy potato gratin
4 people · About 80–95 minutes, including resting
Equipment: Wide saucepan and ovenproof dish suited to the quantity
Quantities follow your selection; time and temperature do not scale automatically.
Ingredients
For the dish
- 733 g Asterix potatoes
- approx. 2.3 dl double cream
- 1 dl whole milk
- ⅔ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fine salt
- ⅓ tsp ground black pepper
- ⅙ tsp grated nutmeg
- 83–100 g grated Jarlsberg or Gruyère
- ⅔ tbsp butter for the onion, plus a little extra for the dish
Allergens: Milk from cream, milk, butter and cheese.
Method
Heat the oven and prepare the dish
Set the oven to 180 °C conventional. Butter a medium-sized ovenproof dish. A very deep dish needs a long baking time; a potato layer about 4–5 cm deep is a useful starting point.
Cut even slices
Wash and peel the potatoes. Slice 2–3 mm thick with a knife or a mandoline with a finger guard. Do not rinse or soak the slices afterwards: surface starch helps thicken the sauce. Continue immediately.
Soften the onion
Melt the onion butter in a wide saucepan. Cook onion over medium-low heat for 5–7 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic for the last minute. It should smell good without becoming dark.
Give the potatoes a head start
Pour cream and milk over the onion, add salt, pepper and nutmeg, and heat. Fold in potato slices. Simmer gently for 7–9 minutes. Turn carefully along the bottom occasionally to prevent scorching and bring slices into contact with liquid. They should begin softening but need not be fully cooked.
Bake the gratin
Pour everything into the dish and spread potatoes evenly. Sauce should come well up between slices but need not cover the top potato. Sprinkle cheese over. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 40–50 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if the cheese has enough colour before the potatoes are tender.
Check the centre and rest
Push a thin knife through the layers in the centre. It should slide through without hard resistance. If potatoes need longer, continue until tender. Rest for 10–15 minutes before serving so the sauce can settle.
https://sapidus.no/en/oppskrifter/flotegratinerte-poteter
About portions and timing
Cuisine: International
Estimated timing: about 15 min preparation · about 60 min cooking · about 15 min resting. These times are estimates for the basic method and have not been measured in the kitchen. Follow the method and any time ranges above.
Tick ingredients as you prepare them and steps as you finish them.
0 items checkedMethod
Set the oven to 180 °C conventional. Butter a medium-sized ovenproof dish. A very deep dish needs a long baking time; a potato layer about 4–5 cm deep is a useful starting point.
Wash and peel the potatoes. Slice 2–3 mm thick with a knife or a mandoline with a finger guard. Do not rinse or soak the slices afterwards: surface starch helps thicken the sauce. Continue immediately.
Melt the onion butter in a wide saucepan. Cook onion over medium-low heat for 5–7 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic for the last minute. It should smell good without becoming dark.
Pour cream and milk over the onion, add salt, pepper and nutmeg, and heat. Fold in potato slices. Simmer gently for 7–9 minutes. Turn carefully along the bottom occasionally to prevent scorching and bring slices into contact with liquid. They should begin softening but need not be fully cooked.
Pour everything into the dish and spread potatoes evenly. Sauce should come well up between slices but need not cover the top potato. Sprinkle cheese over. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 40–50 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if the cheese has enough colour before the potatoes are tender.
Push a thin knife through the layers in the centre. It should slide through without hard resistance. If potatoes need longer, continue until tender. Rest for 10–15 minutes before serving so the sauce can settle.
Get to know the spices in this dish
Good to know before you cook
Choose the right potato
We prefer Asterix here, but Beate works well too. For a softer gratin where the slices merge more, use a floury variety. Turn them gently during precooking. The potato guide has more on the varieties.
A little less cream?
Replace part of the cream with the same quantity of whole milk. Retain the total liquid quantity from the ingredient list; the sauce will be slightly less rich. Do not add extra liquid just because the potato tops are visible.
Thin sauce or hard potatoes?
Hard potatoes need more time and heat – dark cheese says little about the centre. If potatoes are tender but sauce is loose, let the dish rest first. Next time check slice thickness, use a shallower dish and avoid rinsing the slices.
Onion is intentional
Onion adds sweetness and body. Leave it out if you want the potato and garlic flavours to stand on their own. We use cheese on top in our version. Classic gratin dauphinois is usually made without it.