Coming from an Irish-American family, I can tell you that the stereotype is true, we love potatoes. The problem is that when you eat potatoes as often as my family does, you have to constantly find new and unique ways to prepare the delectable spud. Well class, today I will be teaching you one of these dishes, scalloped potatoes. It is a rather simple, and hands-off recipe because once you get comfortable with making it you find that you can whip up a batch blindfolded. I’m joking, please don’t try to use a knife blindfolded, it can cause some serious problems.
This particular recipe I am calling “old fashioned” as it is one I gained from my mom. Who in turn gained from my grandma. Because of this origin, it has always been a recipe that came with few, to no instructions on the amounts needed for certain ingredients. And after much thought, I have come to realize that there is no way to truly remedy that. That being said both my mother and my grandmother, have all found out how to make these scalloped potatoes for years with this handicap. So if you’re a competent adult then I can assure you that you’ll have no problem in making it either. But enough prep talk class, let’s get into making these scalloped potatoes.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- One of my mother’s tips for making this recipe is to heat up the milk/half & half before adding it to the dish. The reason behind this is that cold milk/half & half will take longer to eat up which will cause the dish to take much longer to cook, like an additional 30 minutes. So either heat it up in a pot or better yet just pour the milk/half & half into a microwaveable bowl and nuke it for a minute or two.
- What cheese is best for scalloped potatoes? Well, personally I have always used cheddar cheese because that’s what I’m most familiar with. That being said just about any type of cheese that melts well can be used. So feel free to add you’re own personal twist to it!
- You can easily turn these scalloped potatoes into a whole meal by adding chunks of meat to the dish. Some of our favorites include ham, breakfast sausage, or even spicy sausage.
- My family loves to serve these scalloped potatoes with either our glazed ham, marinated beef tenderloin, Salisbury steaks, or pork schnitzel.
Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
Prep time: 10 to 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
2 LBS of Russet potatoes, or about 3 large ones, peeled and cut into thin coins
½ medium onion, cut into thin slices
All-purpose flour*
Whole milk, or half and half for a creamier finish*
Butter*
Cheese, preferably cheddar, but you can use whatever you like*
Salt & pepper
*Now I know many of you will be looking at these four ingredients and thinking to yourselves, “Patrick, what are you doing, how in the world are we expected to make this recipe if you don’t provide us with amounts for these ingredients?”. Well, the truth is that there is no way I could ever quantify these ingredients for this recipe. And honestly, any person that provides you with a recipe that does is most likely just making up numbers. So, I’m sorry but I’m not going fabricate anything for you folks, I want transparency to be key in our relationship. That being said if you want a better idea about the amounts that you will roughly need for this recipe then I suggest you read through it a couple of times before attempting to make it.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- Layer the ingredients in a baking dish: Get out a baking dish and grease it with either butter or cooking spray. I used an 8×6 sized baking dish for this recipe, but you can use any size. Just understand that the larger the dish the more potatoes and onions you are going to need. Once it’s greased you will want to layer each ingredient until you have used all of the potatoes and onions. To layer them first place down some of the sliced potatoes.
Then sprinkle on some flour, let’s say a tablespoon or two, along with some salt and pepper to taste.
Then place down some of the sliced onion. If you love onion then put more, if you don’t then put less. 
Then cut up some butter into small chunks, you will probably need about 1 to 2 tablespoons for each layer. 
Finally, put some of your cheese over all of this layer. Again just like the onions, if you don’t like cheese then add a little if you love cheese then add a lot. 
Once you have the first layer complete, continue layering in this manner until you have either used up all of your potatoes, or you have reached the top of your baking dish. Make sure that the last layer is just potatoes, and salt & pepper. Now that each layer has been assembled, pour either warm milk or half and half over the layers until it reaches just below the top layer of potatoes.
As you can see the amount of flour, butter, cheese, and milk/half & half, can vary significantly. You simply will have to follow your best judgment the first couple of times. And eventually, you will feel comfortable with the amounts you need.
- Bake the dish: Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. Then after 45 minutes take the dish out and check the doneness of the potatoes. To do this simply take a fork and poke the potatoes. If it easily goes through then they are cooked if they don’t then put the foil back on and cook them a little more. If the potatoes are done then move on to the next step.
- Top with more cheese: Sprinkle the dish with another layer of cheese. As per the rest of this dish if you like it really cheesy then add a lot, if you don’t then add a little. Then return the dish to the oven without the aluminum foil covering it. Let it bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted to your liking. Lastly, take the dish out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes
- Serve and enjoy
Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 LBS of Russet potatoes or about 3 large ones, peeled and cut into thin coins
- ½ Medium onion cut into thin slices
- All purpose flour*
- Whole milk or half and half for a more creamier finish*
- Butter*
- Cheese preferably cheddar, but you can use whatever you like*
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- Layer the ingredients in a baking dish: Get out a baking dish and grease it with either butter or cooking spray. I used an 8x6 sized baking dish for this recipe, but you can use any size. Just understand that the larger the dish the more potatoes and onions you are going to need. Once it's greased you will want to layer each ingredient until you have used all of the potatoes and onions. To layer them first place down some of the sliced potatoes. Then sprinkle on some flour, let's say a tablespoon or two, along with some salt and pepper to taste. Then place down some of the sliced onion. If you love onion then put more, if you don’t then put less. Then cut up some butter into small chunks, you will probably need about 1 to 2 tablespoons for each layer. Finally put some of your cheese over all of this Again just like the onions, if you don’t like cheese then add a little if you love cheese then add a lot. Once you have the first layer complete, continue layering in this manner until you have either used up all of your potatoes, or you have reached the top of your baking dish. Make sure that the last layer is just potatoes, and salt & pepper. Now that each layer has been assembled, pour either warm milk or half and half over the layers until it reaches just below the top layer of potatoes. As you can see the amount of flour, butter, cheese, and milk/half & half, can vary significantly. You simply will have to follow your best judgment the first couple of times. And eventually, you will feel comfortable with the amounts you need.
- Bake the dish: Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. Then after 45 minutes take the dish out and check the doneness of the potatoes. To do this simply take a fork and poke the potatoes. If it easily goes through then they are cooked if they don’t then put the foil back on and cook them a little more. If the potatoes are done then move on to the next step.
- Top with more cheese: Sprinkle the dish with another layer of cheese. As per the rest of this dish if you like it really cheesy then add a lot, if you don’t then add a little. Then return the dish to the oven without the aluminum foil covering it. Let it bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted to your liking. Lastly, take the dish out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes
Notes
Inspiration from other blogs
From Gimme Some Oven
This is the first Scallop Potato Recipe I ever made. I still use it today! You are so correct if you use this recipe you kind of have to eye ball the ingredients. I have taken this recipe to the next level and I cut up Ekrich Smokey Links and layer them on top of the potatoes. It is delicious and one of my Husband’s favorite meals. The aroma when cooking is awesome. I would suggest putting your prepared dish into a larger pan to prevent boil over in your oven. The Smokey Links will emit some liquid as they cook.
Hi Robyn!
I’m glad you liked the recipe and I love your idea for including smokey links! it would definitely add some additional smokey flavor and transform it into a whole meal. I agree that you would need a bigger dish to cook all of those ingredients in. However, one tip my mother always used to solve boil over in the oven is to place the dish on a wide baking sheet. It’s much easier to clean that than an oven 🙂
Made this in a 9×9 With 2.5 Lbs of potatoes & heavy cream & shredded gruyere cheese. Took about 1 1/2 hours to bake. Added some pancetta also. Turned out GREAT! Simple to make!!! Very filling & delicious.
Hi Heidi,
Gruyere and pancetta sound like lovely additions to the dish. I’m glad you liked it!
This recipe turned out great. I used a cheddar/jack mix for the cheese and added hickory smoked bacon on the top at the last 5 min of cooking.
Hi Tin,
Cheddar/Jack along with hickory smoked bacon sounds like a great combo. I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
Ok what did i do wrong? Came out very liquidy!
I’m sorry to hear that Sue. There are two possible reasons why that might have happened. First, you might be adding just a little too much milk. The milk needs to be poured to just below the top layer, not over it. So next time try to reduce the amounts a little. Also if you are happened to use skim milk instead of whole milk that will definitely cause it to become too liquidy. The second reason might be due to not baking the dish long enough before adding the cheese. So next time you might want to bake it for another 10 to 15 minutes. I hope that helps.
Can this recipe be made a day ahead ?
Hi, Debbie, that’s a great question! Yes, you definitely can make & bake it the day before, all you need to do is simply microwave it the day you planning on eating it. I’d suggest about 5 minutes in the microwave should get it reheated. I hope that answers your question 🙂
Yes,,, during the holidays I make it the night before put it in the fridge and bake the next day… just make sure it comes to room temp before putting in the oven and it takes longer to bake…
I love that you used pics for a step by step guide. I also do not measure when cooking, or if I do, it is very rare 😉 Baking is another story, I almost always measure, although there are a few things that I just whip up w/o measuring when baking. Anyway, your scalloped potatoes look scrumptious. Can’t wait to make them 🙂
Thank you so much Julie! 🙂 Yes, I like adding photos to the steps because a visual aid can really help show how things should look. Anyways, I can’t wait for you to try our scalloped potatoes recipe, I sure you will love them!
Patrick, this recipe is amazing! I keep this in it’s own Pinterest folder so I never misplace it. I have this in the oven right now for at least the 15th time & my family is so excited. I love using red potatoes and mixing in some gruyere cheese
Hi Brittany, I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed this recipe so much! And I love the use of red potatoes and gruyere, it sounds like a winning combo.
Thanks for the recipe. This is exactly how my mom used to make them. Delicious
You’re welcome Sue! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
This recipe is so close to my grandma’s. The only difference is that she used Kraft singles. Believe it or not, it was delicious!
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Patrick I have been making scalloped potatoes like this for years. Found the recipe in Mary Meades Country Cookbook. She wrote for the Chicago Tribune. I use green ions. Thanks for turning others on to it.
I can’t believe it! I’ve been using this basic recipe for years…just like my Mom made it. I didn’t think anyone else made scalloped potatoes like this. I always look for a new recipe, but fall back on this every time. No canned soup for me!!
My grandmother taught me this recipe when I was 17. It is the only recipe I have used and I just turned 72! I’ve always gotten rave reviews.
This sounds like the recipe my aunt always used. Making it will bring back good memories. If you leave out the cheese all together, outdoor you have to add more liquid?
Hi Adele, I’ve never made it without the cheese so I’m not certain, but it shouldn’t be an issue. If anything that would make it less thick and more liquidy. So maybe tone down the milk/half & half at the beginning then add additional milk/half & half as it’s cooking if it appears too dry.
Let it cook for over an still hard would never do them again box was better then this
I’m sorry to hear that Gary. Are you sure you used Russet potatoes? Because they shouldn’t still be hard after over an hour of cooking.
So fun to read your description of this recipe! It’s the same as my mom and my grandma made it! I’ve passed the tradition on to my daughter … no written recipe necessary! Can’t wait until my granddaughter does the same! Oh, it’s classic deliciousness, btw! It’s on our Easter menu!
This is the way my mum would make them. A little of this and some of that. Love it. Thank you
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