Hasselback Potato Gratin (No-Peel, Make Ahead)
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Last weekend, in an effort to make use of the many pounds of potatoes gathering on my counter, I made a recipe that had caught my eye about this time of year last fall: The New York Times Cheesy Hasselback Potato Gratin, a stunning assembly of cascading crispy-tipped, herb-flecked, cheese-encrusted potatoes.
I made the mistake of not reading the recipe before beginning, and halfway through grating the Gruyère, I realized the gratin would need to cook for 90 minutes.
I hadn’t even started on the potatoes, which required peeling and slicing, but I decided to push on anyway, taking some liberties with the instructions, namely one big time-saving step: I would skip peeling the potatoes.
Friends, it was a gamble, but guess what? It didn’t matter! The gratin was just as beautiful visually and tasted heavenly, the earthy flavors of thyme and nutty notes of the cheese permeating the whole dish from the crispy potato tips to their creamy interiors. I served it aside roasted striped bass, and the whole combination filled me with excitement for the many holiday dinners in the months ahead.
I made one other small change to the recipe: in place of 1 cup of the heavy cream, I used one cup of stock, which is what I do in this favorite Alice Waters potato gratin recipe.
With that in mind: I cannot imagine a Thanksgiving without Alice’s potato gratin on the table, which has been a staple for as long as I can remember. That said, isn’t it kind of fun to switch it up? I no doubt will make both to ensure no betrayal is committed.
PS: Thanksgiving Menu 2022
PPS: 25+ Thanksgiving Side Dishes
How to Make This Potato Gratin Ahead of Time + Gear
Planning Thanksgiving dinner is about managing logistics more than anything else, and being able to make things ahead of time is essential. Here are some tips as well as a few notes about gear.
- To make this gratin ahead of time, follow the recipe removing it from the oven after it has baked for 60 minutes. Let it cool, cover it with foil, then chill. When ready to bake, bake it covered for 20 minutes, remove the foil, sprinkle with the reserved cheese, and return to the oven for another 20 minutes or until the mixture is evenly golden and bubbling.
- I would not recommend making this without a mandoline. This one works great and is very safe to use. This one also works great and, if you use the guard, is also safe.
- I can’t recommend enough investing in a very large bowl. At Thanksgiving especially, I find myself using this all the time for making double batches of things, namely stuffing.
Hasselback Potato Gratin, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients: thyme, garlic, Gruyère, parmesan, chicken stock or vegetable stock, and heavy cream.
You’ll also need 4 to 4.5 pounds of potatoes. Red potatoes work well here.
Start by grating the Gruyère and parmesan. Combine them in a bowl, then …
… set aside 2/3 cup of the mixture (bowl on the right).
In your largest bowl, stir together the cream, stock, chopped thyme, and minced garlic. I love using my microplane for garlic.
Add the grated cheese and stir to combine.
Next, you’ll slice the potatoes as thinly as possible. As noted above, I don’t recommend making this recipe without a mandoline. This one works great and is very safe to use. This one also works great and, if you use the guard, is also safe. Add the potatoes to the bowl as you slice.
Season generously with salt and pepper, then toss to coat.
I broke out the big bowl! If you have the storage space, this bowl is wonderful for these sorts of jobs.
Finally, the fun part: assembly! Transfer the potatoes by the handful to the gratin dish arranging them vertically. Pour the remaining liquid from the bowl into the baking dish.
Cover with foil; then bake for 30 minutes at 400ºF.
Uncover; then return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
Remove again and …
… sprinkle with the reserved cheese. Return to the oven one last time for another 30 minutes.
Ta-da!
Isn’t she pretty?
Hasselback Potato Gratin (No-Peel, Make Ahead)
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: Serves 10 to 12
Description
Adapted from Serious Eats & The New York Times
Notes:
- I would not recommend making this without a mandoline. This one works great and is very safe to use. This one also works great and, if you use the guard, is also safe.
- Plan ahead: this recipe takes a total of 90 minutes to bake + 30 minutes to prep.
- To make it ahead and reheat, remove the gratin from the oven after it has baked for 60 minutes. Let it cool, cover with foil, then chill. When ready to bake, bake covered for 20 minutes, remove foil, sprinkle with the reserved cheese, and return to the oven for another 20 minutes or until the mixture is evenly golden and bubbling.
- I can’t recommend enough investing in a very large bowl. At Thanksgiving especially, I find myself using this all the time for making double batches of things, namely stuffing.
- The original recipe calls for using 2 cups of heavy cream, but I find it just as tasty when made with 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of stock.
- The original recipe also calls for peeled potatoes, but I don’t think peeling is necessary.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) grated Gruyère or comté cheese
- 2 ounces (about 2/3 cups) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4 to 4½ pounds red potatoes, unpeeled and sliced ⅛-inch thick on a mandoline slicer
- softened butter for greasing
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400ºF.
- Combine the cheeses in your largest bowl, see notes above. Transfer ⅓ of the cheese mixture (roughly 2/3 cup) to a separate bowl and set aside. Add the cream, stock, garlic, and thyme to the large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper — I season with 1 tablespoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal brand), and I do not find it to be too salty but use less if you are worried. Honestly, I think it could use even more salt — it’s a lot of potatoes.
- Add potato slices and toss with your hands until every slice is coated with the cream mixture, making sure to separate any slices that are sticking together to get the cream mixture in between them.
- Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with the softened butter. Pick up a handful of potatoes, then transfer them to the baking dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue placing potatoes in the dish, until all the potatoes have been added. The potatoes should be tightly packed. If necessary, slice an additional potato, coat with the cream mixture, and add to the baking dish. Pour the excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over the potatoes.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil and transfer it to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the top is pale golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and return to oven. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp on top, about 30 minutes longer.
- Remove from oven, let rest for a few minutes, and serve.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
36 Comments on “Hasselback Potato Gratin (No-Peel, Make Ahead)”
I like the changes you made to this recipe, instead of being gummy it become more delicate like a potato tian. And kudos to you for pushing through, I laughed at that. You are the best at parsing down a recipe eliminating the waste and fine tuning the process and ingredients used. Thank you for that.
Thanks so much, Frank 🙂 🙂 🙂 Means a lot. You are so right about the tian-like texture — the slices are so delicate and at the same time creamy, flavorful, and crispy. Thanks for writing!
Really delicious!! It was lighter than most au gratin potatoes and flavorful. I will definitely be making this again.. I made a half portion and it was perfect for 4 servings.
Great to hear, Denise! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Someone just asked about halving it, so this is super helpful.
These look amazing! Is it possible to reduce the recipe in order to make a smaller quantity to fit in a 2-qt casserole dish or a 9×9 pan? Many thanks, can’t wait to try this.
Yes, absolutely! I would simply halve the quantities but keep the cooking times the same.
Do you think slicing with mandolin is better than the slicing disc on Cuisinart?
Hi! I can’t believe this, but I’ve never used the slicing disc on the Cuisinart. I should try because I bet it would be faster. If you’ve used it in the past, and if it makes thin slices, go for it!
When making ahead, do you cook for 30 minutes, remove foil and cook for 30 more? Or cook 60 minutes with foil on?
Remove the foil! Good luck.
Wow! Loved this recipe – I used a 3lb bag of red potatoes from Trader Joe’s and scaled liquid to 3/4 cup each to fit my oval Pyrex…kept everything else the same pretty much..I used Himalayan salt, 3/4 T would be perfect (I used 1T but no one complained) unpeeled potatoes give it the perfect texture imho…Thank you for sharing and giving me another “go to” recipe!
Great to hear, Melodie! Nice work scaling the recipe as needed. And thanks so much for sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m making this for a dinner party in a couple days. I know its risky to try a new recipe for a group but I trust you!! There will be 10 people there and there aren’t any other sides except salad. Do you think I need to scale this up? I know it says serves 10-12 but I’m nervous only having one 13 x 9 pan.
Nope! No need to scale. It will serve 10-12 people comfortably.
Alex, I am wondering if a pause in prep is possible, maybe you have tried. I am doing a test run today and realize a pause would suit my schedule better than the reheat option. What do you think of getting through step 3 and leaving the potatoes in bowl coated with cream mixture. Is it possible this would keep them from discoloring while waiting for next steps to place in pan and bake. Since I only plan on this one test run I thought if you already know that this idea is a no no I’d move on to the bake, reheat option. Thank you for any thoughts you might have on this.
So sorry just seeing this! Crazy weekend over here… away hockey tournament, and I’m just catching up. I do think the cream mixture will prevent the potatoes from browning. I’m not sure for how long. Did you test this out before your recent experiment?
I have to post this while we are still swooning over this recipe. I did a test run half recipe, made yesterday, reheated per Alex directions. These potatoes are knockout! The textures, crispy tops, creamy bottoms and the perfect make ahead option…can’t beat these. My husband is saying these will be the highlight of the Christmas meal, who cares about the beef tenderloin roast and bearnaise sauce!!! Thank you Alex for posting and improving with your your alterations, adding the stock, leaving the peels.
Wonderful to hear this, Denise! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your experience. Happy holidays to you and your family!
What about the possibility of using a combination of russets and gold potatoes instead of the red? I’m excited about trying out this recipe!
Absolutely! Go for it.
I plan to make this for Xmas dinner and love the plan ahead instructions. Can it be frozen (instead of just refrigerated ) after that first baking time. I need to transport it in a cooler for a 5 hr drive. Please let me know. I’ll report back if you say “yes” to freezing.
Hi Alice,
I think freezing the gratin after the first hour should work just fine. The key with freezing any kind of potato dish is to freeze it after you’ve cooked or parcooked them, which will remove a lot of their water content. I haven’t tried freezing this, so I hate to give you the completely confident green light, but my gut is that freezing should work just fine.
Hi Alice! Did you try freeing this? I am a new mom and hoping to do all of my side dishes ahead of time, as time permits, and then taking them out and finishing them up day of! Let me know please 🙂
I didn’t make them ahead – made them day before at my sister’s house and refrigerated. It was an incredible amount of work – slicing the potatoes on a mandolin. Didn’t think it was worth it. This year I’m just doing regular potatoes au gratin – just as good and much easier.
I’d recommend saving this recipe for a time when you don’t have alot of other dishes to prepare.
Alex, I am curious re: what grater you use. My grater ends up more of a powdery cheese and the box grater is large shreds. I like the size and usefulness of your grated cheese. Merry Christmas. I am treating our guests to these luscious potatoes and you will be toasted for this recipe. Thank you.
Hi Denise! I have a 4-sided box grater something like this one, and I use the finer grate for cheese.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy those potatoes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Such a delicious recipe, thank you! Was fairly easy to make, followed instructions exactly except used a truffle sea salt instead. 🤯 soooo yummy. Will be making them again and again for the holidays! I did have a question though, when making ahead of time how long can the taters last in the fridge before needing to cook the remainder 30 mins? Also, do you let them come to room temp before the 30 mins or take em out and pop them in still cold?
Thank you again for sharing this delicious recipe.
Hi! That sounds amazing! I think the potatoes could last at least 24 hours in the fridge. And I think you could pop them straight in the fridge when you are ready to finish them off. Good luck!
Omgggggggg. These were to die for. I love how they were crispy on top and tender on bottom. I made them for Easter and everyone loved them. I also totally forgot to put the cheese layer on before the final bake and I dont think anyone missed it. Totally worth getting out the mandolin.
Great to hear, Erin! Thanks so much for writing. So glad they were a hit 🙂
Quick question
I’m doing a test run prior to Thanksgiving and looked at the NYT recipe compared to this one. Quantities of ingredients match but number of serving and baking dish size vary significantly. Is that down to the type of potato? Or maybe the cream/broth swap..which I prefer to all heavy cream
Thanks!
Hi! I see on the Serious Eats site that the serving size is 4 to 6?? Does the NYT say the same thing? Those have to be enormous portions. I might be being a little generous with “10-12” but not on Thanksgiving when there is so much other food. I also use 4 to 4.5 lbs potatoes as opposed to 3 to 3.5 lbs. Hope the test run goes well!
Thanks!
I think the times recipe must be off on serving sizes though it also calls for 4-4/12 lbs of potatoes and only 6 servings which seems incorrect to me. Both call for a 2 quart baking dish..maybe the potatoes are packed tighter?
I will post the results of my test run!
OK, got it! I am not home at the moment, but my Pyrex I am using in this post does look larger than the dish they use on both Serious Eats and NYT. My notes from last year on this one said it needed more salt… but that could be me… I love salt. I wish I had a magic ratio like: 1 teaspoon kosher salt per pound of potato or something like that … I will report back after Thanksgiving if I find an amount that worked well.
I veganized this and it was amazing. I used plant-based heavy cream, chickenless stock (veg prolly would have been fine too) and vegan parm – Follow Your Heart shreds is my favorite. Came out picture perfect!
Amazing! Thanks so much for writing and sharing these notes… so helpful for others 🙂