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Mom's Potatoes Au Gratin


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5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Stacey
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x

Description

This somewhat old-fashioned recipe of my mom's causes fights at Easter over who will get to take home the most potatoes. It's potatoey, cheesy and delightful!


Ingredients

Scale

The Potatoes

  • 6-7 med. to large yukon potatoes
  • ½ stick butter
  • 1 ½ pounds of American cheese, cubed
  • ½ onion, finely diced
  • 3 cups of whole milk, divided

Cracker Crumbs

  • 1 sleeve of Ritz-type crackers, crushed
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Instructions

NOTE: You’ll need 2 baking dishes for this. Should be 1.5-2 quarts each. Or if you have one large rectangular baking dish that could work too.   

  1. Peel the potatoes.
  2. Finely dice the onion.
  3. Cut cheese into cubes. I usually buy 1 ½ pounds of sliced American cheese and cut that stack into cubes. Then I divide the pile in two – one pile of cheese for each baking dish since I use two baking dishes for this.
  4. Cut the ½ stick of butter into pieces or cubes. My butter in the video was frozen so I had to slice it first, then break it down into smaller pieces. I also divide that into two portions – one for each baking dish.
  5. Slice all the potatoes into about ¼ inch slices. The slices should be uniform in size so they’ll cook evenly.
  6. Layer some potatoes on the bottom of the baking dish. Then add onion, cheese, butter. Repeat the layers until baking dish is full. If you’re using a second baking dish, repeat the process there too.
  7. Split the milk evenly and add to your baking dishes if using two. If you're only using one large baking dish, then all the milk will go there.
  8. Cook in a preheated over at 375 degrees for one hour.
  9. Crush a sleeve of Ritz-like crackers and toast in a pan with 3 tablespoons of butter. 
  10. After the potatoes have cooked for one hour, take out the potatoes for a fork test. Make sure tender all the way through. 
  11. Add cracker crumbs to the top of your potatoes, then bake an additional 10 minutes.
  12. Let the potatoes rest a good 10-15 minutes (or longer) before serving.

Notes

  1. Whole milk is needed for this recipe. It does not taste the same with low or no-fat milk.
  2. If you don’t need to make a big batch like this, just cut the recipe in half and make one baking dish.
  3. I don't salt and pepper between the layers because the cheese already has a lot of salt. I don't care for black pepper on my potatoes au gratin so I don't use it. If you want to use a pinch of salt and pepper between your layers go for it.