Potato And Onion Bake

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the potato and onion gratin recipe in the points below:

• Everyday ingredients: you will be able to purchase everything you need to make the cheesy scalloped potatoes from your local grocery store. They are all year round available simple ingredients that will be easy to get your hands on.
• Easy recipe: we peel some potatoes, slice some onions, layer them in a baking dish, season with thyme, salt and pepper, add cream, bake then top with cheese. It is a straightforward process that enables a winning flavor combination. The resulting dish is perfect for a weeknight dinner or to pair with the Sunday roast 😁👍.
• Versatile: this potato side dish is one of those great recipes that is versatile and lends itself to being served in a wide variety of scenarios. Think Easter, Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinners, family dinners, the Sunday supper or for a special occasion.
• Crowding please: everyone loves a potato side dish. Adding onions takes the flavor and texture up a notch or too. This recipe will appeal to young and old and will be one that everyone wants a scoop of on their plate. The sweetness of the onions being the reason they will likely going back for seconds too 😁👌.
• Vegetarian: it can be great when feeding a crowd to have a variety of options up your sleeve that work for many types of people. This vegetarian potato casserole will appeal to a wide range of people and allows them to have a meatless option to pop on their plate.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make this easy potato and onion bake recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper to season the potatoes prior to cooking them.
• Thyme: we also use dried thyme for a flavor boost.
• Colby cheese: once we have baked the potatoes until they are soft and cooked through, we add a cheese layer and let this topping complete the dish in style.
• Cream: we want to use heavy cream for the recipe. This gets poured into the baking dish before we cook the potatoes, making a creamy sauce.
• Onions: these add so much flavor to the potato bake! We need 2 x large onions which we peel and thinly slice. Onion powder is great for potato recipes but using real onions also gives us the texture that takes the dish up a notch or 2!
• Potatoes: the star of the show! We want to use washed potatoes that we peel and thinly slice using a mandolin.

Top Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the onion potato bake which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by preparing the potatoes. You will need a vegetable peeler and cutting board for this initial step, followed by a large baking dish.

• Peel the potatoes (Photo 1)
• Slice the potatoes (Photo 2)
• Peel and slice the onions (Photo 3)
• Start with a potato layer (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Potato And Onion Bake

Start to make the recipe by using a vegetable peeler to peel the potatoes. Discard the potato skins as you do. Once done use a mandolin or food processor with potato slicing blade to cut the potatoes into thin slices.

Next peel and thinly slice the onions.

Then spray a large oven proof dish (or casserole dish) with cooking oil and create one layer of the potato slices on the bottom of the dish as you see me having done in the photos above.

• Season the potatoes (Photo 5)
• Add an onion layer (Photo 6)
• Then add a potato layer (Photo 7)
• Season again (Photo 8)

Next season the potato layer with a pinch of the dried thyme, salt and pepper. Once done add an onion layer on top of the seasoned potatoes like you see in the photos above.

Then add another potato layer and season it also.

• Add another onion layer (Photo 9)
• Pour in the cream (Photo 10)
• Add another potato layer (Photo 11)
• Season (Photo 12)

Next add another onion layer, then pour in the cream across the width of the baking dish.

Then add another potato layer on top of the cream and also season.

Once all of the layers are complete, we want to put the potatoes into the oven and let it cook for 50 minutes baking time.

When this time is up, we want to use oven mitts to remove the baking dish, place it onto a heatproof surface and use a skewer to test if the potatoes are cooked. (You can use a fork too if needed 😉👌). Pierce it straight into the middle of the dish and it should go straight to the bottom without resistance. If it does, it means the potatoes have had enough time to cook and we can grate the cheese over the top.

If however, there are still firm bits of sliced potato, pop it back into the oven to cook a little longer.

• Bake then add cheese and bake (Photo 13)

Once you have added the cheese, pop the potato bake back into the oven and let it cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes or until the cheese melts and turns a shade of golden brown.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

One of the best things about this potato bake is that you can serve it with practically anything or everything 🥰!

It will work well with meat recipes like the BBQ Lamb Ribs, Beef Back Ribs, Mexican Ribs or Sticky Pork Ribs.

Or try it as an alternative to mashed potatoes or polenta and serve it with the Italian Short Ribs, Pulled Beef Brisket, Osso Bucco, Pork Osso Bucco or the Greek Lamb Shanks 😉👌.

For chicken pairings, try it with the Chicken Ribs, Marinated Chicken Thighs, Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs or the Air Fryer Roast Chicken.

If you want a salad on the side of the potatoes try the Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad, Panzanella Salad or the Herb Salad.

It is the perfect side dish for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas or the Sunday roast! A leg of lamb practically begs for a potato side and this one is the perfect match.

A scattering of fresh herbs like chopped chives as you see below is the perfect finishing touch 😉👌.

Creamy, cheesy and with a distinct onion flavor and texture, it is sure to become a favorite side dish that the family asks you again and again to make!

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftovers of the potato bake in the baking dish with a layer of cling wrap over the top. Or transfer leftovers into a sealed, airtight container. The leftovers can be refrigerated for 3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

I don't recommend freezing potato bake or leftovers. This is because the creamy sauce can become watery and no longer creamy and thick.

How to Reheat

You can reheat the leftovers in the oven if they are still in the baking dish. Ensure that the oven is preheated and give them around 15 - 20 minutes to heat through.

Or you can reheat portions in bowls or plates covered with cling wrap in the microwave on high for 1 minute increments until heated through.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• Colby cheese is great as it grates well and melts easily. You can also use tasty cheese, cheddar cheese or a store bought cheese blend that you can simply sprinkle over the top.
• Or for extra flavor from the cheese topping using a combination of 2 cheeses like mozzarealla and cheddar or cheddar and parmesan.
• If you want to add some of the cream over the top of the potatoes as well as in the layers you can. The thing to keep in mind here is that they layers need to be under the height of the rim of the baking dish. This is because we don't want the potato bake to overflow liquid as it cooks.
• In place of the dried thyme you can use dried rosemary. Or you can omit a dried herb altogether.
• You can use yellow onions, white onions or red onions, each will work well for the recipe.
• In place of the fresh chives for garnish, you can use some fresh thyme, chopped parsley or fresh rosemary.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• We do want to spray the baking dish with cooking spray or olive oil before adding the potatoes. This ensures that they don't stick and will also make the dish easier to clean up.
• If you don't have a mandolin or food processor that slices potatoes, you can use a knife and cutting board. The key is to make the slices thin. Too thickly cut slices of potatoes will take too long (testing our patience 😂, for most of us!).
• If you want to add some sour cream to the potato bake, reduce the amount of cream by the amount of sour cream you add. ie Adding ½ cup of sour cream reduces the cream to 1 ½ cups.
• We bake the potatoes and onions uncovered. This allows some of the top layer of potatoes to turn golden and brown. If you want to cover the potatoes with foil you can also do this.
• We need to test the potatoes to ensure that they are fully cooked through before adding the cheese. To do so, use oven mitts to remove the baking dish from the oven and place it onto a heatproof surface. Then use a skewer and insert it directly down into the potatoes. If it slides straight through easily all the way to the base of the baking dish, you are ready to add the cheese. If it hits some thick potato and doesn't slide easily you are best to cook it for a little bit longer before adding the cheese. This will ensure no one gets a mouthful of under cooked chewy potatoes 😉👍.
• When you add the cheese, we only need for it to melt and crisp a little, also turning slightly golden brown. This process will take 10 to 15 minutes and again the baking dish is uncovered during this time.
• If you love roast potato sides, you might also like the Potato And Broccoli Bake, Potato And Ham Bake or the Horseradish Mashed Potatoes.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

Should you cook potatoes before baking?

For a simple potato bake that uses thin slices of potato it is not necessary to cook the potatoes before oven baking them.

Why are my potatoes not getting soft in the oven?

Thicker slices of potatoes will take longer to cook in the oven. If you use very thin slices of potatoes, you will find that they cook a lot faster.

Do you add cream to a potato bake?

Yes, cream is great to add to a potato bake. It helps to form a sauce and allows the potatoes and onions to melt in this creamy sauce.

😍 More Easy Side Dish Recipes

If your favorite thing is the side dishes and not the main meal, then I have some more recipes that I hope you you will love. Here are some ideas:

• Crumbed Mushrooms
• Quick Caramelised Onions
• Tortilla Garlic Bread
• Air Fryer Red Peppers
• Ciabatta Garlic Bread
• Air Fryer Onions
• Roasted Capsicums
• Brown Rice Fried Rice

You can also find all of my sides dishes or potato recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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