Classic dauphinoise potatoes baked in a creamy garlic sauce and finished with Gruyere cheese. A rich and indulgent side dish that totally hits the spot!
I can totally eat this for dinner with nothing else.
Yes it makes a beautifully indulgent side dish with steak or salmon or roast lamb, but a double helping of this glorious dish, eaten whilst sat on the sofa in my PJs?
Heaven.
What are dauphinoise potatoes and how does this dish differ from potato gratin or boulangere potatoes?
Dauphinoise potatoes are thinly sliced potatoes cooked in the oven in a dish with cream and/or milk with a hint of garlic. It can be made with or without cheese. The potatoes are often layered in the dish raw. I prefer to pre-cook my potatoes in the milk and cream as this helps to thicken the sauce and prevent it from curdling.
Potato Gratin is often a term used interchangeably with dauphinoise potatoes. Any baked dish of thinly sliced vegetables cooked with cheese and butter is generally a gratin. Potato gratin can be made with a creamy sauce, sometimes with the inclusion of onions, garlic and/or breadcrumbs.
Boulangere potatoes are thinly sliced potatoes cooked in the oven in a dish with thinly sliced onions, stock, herbs (thyme, rosemary or sage) and butter.
What do we need?

Steps to make it
(Full ingredients and recipe instructions in recipe card below)
- Bring cream, milk and garlic to boil in a large saucepan,
- Peel and thinly slice potatoes (you can use a mandolin or the slicing attachment on a food processor). Add the potatoes to the heated cream mixture.
- Simmer for 6-7 mins, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are tender.
- Scoop half of the potatoes out of the pan and arrange them in the baking dish. Sprinkle over a little salt, pepper, nutmeg and grated Gruyere cheese.
- Spoon on the remaining potatoes, pour on some of the sauce, season once more and sprinkle on more Gruyere cheese.
- Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cheese is golden.
Season with a little parsley before serving.
Why to I need to par-boil the potatoes first?
- Parboiling the potatoes helps to ensure the potatoes will be fully cooked and tender after 40-45 minutes in the oven. Using raw potatoes would increase the cooking time substantially, meaning the cheese could be too brown by the time the potatoes are tender.
- As the potatoes are parboiling in the cream and milk, they release starch into the sauce. This helps to:
-
- Thicken the sauce
- Ensure the sauce doesn't curdle when the assembled dish is baked in the oven
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Pro-tips:
- Peel the potatoes, then use the slicing attachment on a food processor to slice the potatoes thinly and quickly.
A mandolin is a good alternative to consistently slice the potatoes, although it will take longer. - When par-boiling the potatoes in the sauce, use a blunt knife to separate the layers of potato. The starch in the potatoes means the potato slices will try to stick together without having any sauce in between them. Stuck together potato slices is comparable to not slicing the potatoes at all, and it means the potatoes won't cook evenly. Separate them out in the pan and ensure all of the slices get coated in the sauce and you'll have perfectly tender, creamy potatoes.
- Don't worry about arranging the potatoes neatly in the baking dish. So long as they're fairly flat on top, they'll cook evenly and you'll still see those lovely layers when you cut into the dauphinoise.
What to serve with dauphinoise potatoes
Although very rich itself, I think dauphinoise potatoes works really well with rich meats such as roast lamb, steak or beef shortribs. However, it will also go perfectly with baked salmon (you could add a little lemon zest to the salmon to cut through the creaminess of the potatoes).
How about roast leg of lamb, slow-roast shoulder of lamb or rack of lamb.
You could also serve it as part of a roast pork, roast beef or roast chicken dinner
Serve along with:
- Green Beans with Garlic and Parmesan
- Simple Butter Pepper Carrotsor
- Baked Parmesan Sprouts with Bacon
Watch how to make it:


Dauphinoise Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480ml) double (heavy) cream
- 2 cups (480ml) full-fat milk
- 3 garlic cloves - peeled and lightly crushed (so they’re flatter, but stay in one piece)
- 2 ¾ lbs (1 ¼ kg) King Edward or Maris Piper potatoes – use medium-sized potatoes
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Pinch of nutmeg
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 ½ cups (150g) grated gruyere cheese
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F
- Lightly grease a large, shallow ovenproof dish. I use a 32cmx18cm dish (see *note 1 for conversion).
- Place the cream, milk, garlic into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat.
- Peel the potatoes and slice thinly using the slicing attachment on your food processor or a mandolin. They need to be around 2mm thick.
- Add the potatoes to the cream and stir to coat.
- Bring back to the boil, then simmer gently for 6-7 mins, stirring occasionally (to ensure the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan) until the potatoes are tender and just cooked. Don’t worry if they break apart a little.
- While the potatoes are cooking, mix together the salt, black pepper, nutmeg and white pepper in a small dish.
- Scoop half of the potatoes out of the pan and arrange them in the baking dish, being sure to separate any potatoes that have stuck together. Discard the garlic.
- Sprinkle over half of the salt/pepper/nutmeg mixture and â…“ of the gruyere cheese.
- Spoon on the remaining potatoes and pour over enough sauce so the potatoes are coated in sauce, but not drowning in it. The sauce should be quite thick, so there won't be much left in the pan anyway.
- Sprinkle on the remaining seasoning and the remaining cheese.
- Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cheese is golden.
- Top with fresh parsley before serving
Video

✎ Notes
Remove from the refrigerator an hour before you want to reheat it (to take the chill off the centre) and cover in foil. Place in the oven at 190C/375F for 30-35 minutes, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes, until piping hot throughout. Gruyere cheese I like to use Gruyere cheese for dauphinoise for its delicate nutty flavour. You can swap it out for mozzarella or cheddar if you prefer. Nutritional information is per serving.
Nutrition
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P. Nicholson says
Tasty, but next time I’ll salt the cream/milk before boiling the potatoes.
Kyra says
I made this today. For the milk I used a can of evaporated milk and Fairlife skim milk to get 2 cups. I used 4 frozen garlic cubes so it stayed in there. I had shredded Swiss and double cheddar for cheese. Lastly I did not have white pepper so used turmeric and a pinch of all spice since did not have nutmeg. I put all the sauce in. I baked it first and then the rest of dinner and it set beautifully while I made everything else. Family loved it! So delicious. So glad I found this recipe.
Emily says
I made this a few months ago and it really was delicious! The only thing is, it took well over an hour and a half to cook. I want to make this for Christmas Day so was going to make this the day before. I know you say to cook it for only 20 minutes when cooking the day before, but should I cook mine for longer as I know it will take longer? Oh also just realised I’ve changed my oven since then so it may all be different anyway!
Julian Such says
Lovely, used crushed garlic though.
Nona says
Hello.. I plan to make these tomorrow night for a dinner. They look sinful and delicious! But needed to check one thing.. Don't you add any salt to the milk and cream mixture when you cook the potatoes in that? i know you sprinkle salt later but isn't that too little for the dish? Thanks
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Nona, I don't add salt to the milk and cream. We're using salt in the dish on the potatoes, and also the cheese adds a fair bit of salty flavour too. The saltiness in those components will meld with the sauce when the dish is baking in the oven.
Fiona says
Wow! Best gratin recipe I’ve ever tried. I added some onion quarters to the sauce and removed along with the garlic for extra flavour. Will definitely be using this recipe in the future.
Lianne says
I love this! But my sauce is never thick am I not simmering it enough there's usually loads left and runny like milk
Richard Blackett says
Thanks Nicky - made this twice now and perfect each time. A treat during a cold, eternal lockdown!
Georgina says
Hi I’ve made the dauphinois a few times when I have all the family around. We just love them! But I’m wondering can you freeze any left overs?
Ginnene says
Easy recipe to follow turned out perfect
Shari says
I've made this dish a few times now and it is simply amazing!!!! First time, I followed it to the tee - some family members found the gruyere overpowering and others loved it, next round I made it with grated cheddar and that went down well with EVERYBODY!
Its a family favourite now and our go-to comfort food!! Thank you so much for this recipe and many others! Love to you both!
Chris Corbishley says
Thanks Shari,
Really glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
Kath says
Such a gorgeous, indulgent potato side dish. Made our Easter dinner extra special, thank you 😋