A quick and easy potato casserole recipe that combines both Scalloped and Au Gratin recipes for a creamy, cheesy potato bake that comes together in minutes!
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Y’all know what a rice lover I am. I rarely cook potatoes because, well, I’d rather have rice. Husband has come to love it too… though, that might be because he hasn’t had a choice.
Either learn to love rice or you’ll go hungry at my house 😐
Every now and again, he’ll ask for potatoes. And since he rarely asks for anything special from the kitchen, I try to oblige him when he does.
This past Christmas he asked for Scalloped Potatoes. Since it was Christmas Eve and I was NOT going back out to the store, I had to work with the ingredients I had on-hand.
Which wasn’t much. I didn’t have any flour or cream to make a sauce. I only had one block of cheese that wasn’t earmarked for another recipe.
The only reason I even had potatoes in the house was because I was making my Southern-Style Green Beans & Potatoes and the 10-lb. bag was the same price as the small bag so I bought the big ‘un.
I was looking through the pantry and found a can of condensed cheddar soup which I’d picked up to make the Smothered Chicken Casserole later in the week.
The entire base of that recipe is ultimately just really easy au gratin potatoes. YASSSSS!!! So I decided to use that as a jumping off point for my work-with-what-you-got scalloped potatoes!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCALLOPED POTATOES AND POTATOES AU GRATIN?
Both dishes consist of thinly sliced potatoes, layered and baked with a creamy sauce in a large baking pan or casserole dish. The biggest difference is cheese. Scalloped Potatoes do not typically have cheese and Potatoes Au Gratin do.
Scalloped Potatoes will often have a little cheese baked on top, though it isn’t traditional or in keeping with the classic recipe. Potatoes Au Gratin will always have cheese on top as well as cooked into the casserole – either in the sauce or layered with the potatoes.
Over the years – especially in the US – the two recipes have overlapped one another and the names have gotten somewhat confused but the key defining difference in the two is cheese.
Why, then, did I name my recipe Scalloped Potatoes if they have cheese? Well, because my family is guilty of getting the two dishes mixed up. We make regular Scalloped Potatoes and CHEESY Scalloped Potatoes. I should have called this recipe Potatoes Au Gratin but I named it what we call it. Don't call the recipe police. It really will be OK.
When I pulled the short-cut potatoes out of the oven, they looked gorgeous… like, they surprised me. I wasn’t expecting anything special but Lord, they did look good.
I set up a buffet and called everyone to come eat Christmas dinner. As we were eating, everyone (even the kids) kept raving about how good the potatoes were. All the recipes I’d spent hours (some of them DAYS) making were completely overshadowed by the potatoes.
It was kind of like when you cook a huge Sunday dinner and everyone loves the bread - the one store-bought thing on the table. Ugh.
Well, when Husband asked for the Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes again for Easter Sunday, I didn’t even bust open any recipe books. I knew EXACTLY how to make them.
The really, REALLY easy way I had before! This time I decided to write it down and take pictures so I could share the recipe with you!
Feel free to add some thinly sliced onion to your layers instead of the onion powder. I use the onion powder instead in case anyone eating with us didn't like onions.
Recipe for Super Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Super Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds potatoes, peeled
- Salt and pepper
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
- 1 10.75-oz can condensed Cheddar Cheese soup
- 1 12-oz can evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup half and half or milk
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Shred cheese then set aside 1 cup for top of potatoes.
- Cut potatoes into very thin slices (between 1/8 and 1/4 inch). Add one layer of potato slices to the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle potatoes generously with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle 1/3 cup shredded cheese over potatoes. Repeat this process twice.
- Add one more layer of potatoes, salt and pepper then top with remaining cup of cheese.
- Combine condensed cheddar soup, evaporated milk, half and half and onion powder then whisk until smooth. Pour mixture over potatoes and cheese.
- Cover dish with aluminum foil then bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil, reduce temperature to 350 degrees then continue baking an additional 30-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and dish is light golden brown and bubbly.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired.
Notes
Feel free to add some thinly sliced onion to your layers instead of the onion powder.
These are more like an au gratin potato? I live in Canada so our cheese soup sucks,I use cram of mushroom instead,tastes great!
ReplyDeleteThat, it does, my friend! I learned that a few years ago when making the smothered chicken I mentioned above. I decided to call these 'scalloped' instead of 'au gratin' since it's sort of a combination of both (potatoes baked in milk/cream and potatoes baked with cheese) and since most folks in my family call them 'scalloped' no matter which kind they really are.
DeleteI thought it taste great . I cut the ingred. in half and made a smaller batch for 3 -4
ReplyDeletepeople. thanks for the recipe,
How did you cut the portion for the can of soup?
DeleteYou can pour the soup into a large measuring cup and then just use half of it
DeleteWow! Whatever you call it...sounds delish! The only thing that would improve on it is crumbled BACON!! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis was really good. I'm Canadian and used our cheese soup and it turned out fine. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am going to make this and add diced cooked ham. Yum!
ReplyDeleteFYI. When a potato casserole (such as this one) is made w/cheese, it's called "Au Gratin". When it's made without cheese, but w/sour cream, it's THEN called "Scalloped Potatoes".
ReplyDeleteCall it whatever you want it tastes amazing. "Scalloped Au Gratin Yumminess"
DeleteThese sound so good....I want to make them tonight to go with pork chops! By the way, scalloped potatoes don't have to be made with sour cream to be "scalloped" potatoes, I've. been making them for eons, and ate them growing up.....they're made with milk. Our family always did them the old fashioned way, pouring hot milk over the potatoes that have been layered with sprinklings of flour, chopped onion, salt and pepper and butter. So much better, in my humble opinion, and easier! All the recipes I see these days have you make a white sauce......that bugs me a tad because it's not necessary! It is true that the addition of cheese makes them "au gratin" potatoes. ��
ReplyDeleteDo you ever peel your potatoes the night before? Thank you. So excited to try these!
ReplyDeleteI haven't before but it's probably fine!
DeleteI made these and somehow had double the amount of potatoes I needed! Luckily I had enough of the other ingredients to just double it.. I used sharp cheddar and gouda they were yummy!
DeleteIf you slice your potatoes the night before store them in an airtight container covered with water and a few teaspoons of lemon juice. This will prevent the rust!
DeleteHave you ever doubled this recipe? And if so did you need to bake it longer?
ReplyDeleteIf the pan is twice a wide it will cook the same. If not you will need to cook longer to ensure the potatoes cook through.
DeleteI want to make this as a side for a grill/bbq night but don't want to heat up the house. I think I will try this in the slow cooker for a few hours and keep an eye on it. Any tips?
ReplyDelete