French Onion Potato Bake

5 from 1 vote

French Onion Potato Bake is a creamy, cheese side dish. With layers of tender potatoes, an easy sauce topped with gruyere and oven baked.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 20

Total Time1 30

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: french onion potato bake

Servings:

Calories: 115kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Cream Sauce

2 cups/500ml heavy cream Note 1
1 packet French onion seasoning Note 2
½ teaspoon black pepper

Potatoes

2 kg/ 4.4 pounds potatoes Note 3

Cheese Topping

1 cup colby cheese grated, Note 4
150 grams/1 ½ cups gruyere cheese grated, Note 5

Instructions

Preheat the oven: preheat the oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
Sauce: add the cream, French onion soup mix and black pepper to a large jug, whisk to combine then set aside.
Potatoes: use a vegetable peeler and chopping board to peel each potato. Then use a mandolin (thin vegetable slicer) or sharp knife to slice each potato into thin peices.
Baking dish: liberally spray a large baking dish with cooking spray. Cover the base and spray up the sides.
Potato slices: next place the slices of potatoes into the greased baking dish. Spread them out so that the slices don't stick together and are layered on top of each other across the baking dish.
Sauce and bake: now pour the combined sauce over the potato slices and then cover the dish with aluminum foil. Place the covered potato bake into the oven (middle shelf) and let the potatoes cook for 55 minutes to 1 hour.
Cheese topping: once the initial cook time is up, use oven mitts to remove the baking dish from the oven, set it on a heatproof surface and discard the foil. Sprinkle the colby cheese over the top to form a layer. Then sprinkle the gruyere cheese over that layer of cheese. Return the dish to the oven (uncovered, middle shelf) and let the cheese melt for 15 to 20 minutes.
To serve: once the cheese has melted with some golden brown spots visible, use the oven mitts to remove the baking dish and set it on a heatproof surface. Let it rest for 10 minutes then garnish with thyme leaves and serve.

Video

Notes

Note 1 - Cream: most supermarkets will sell a 600ml bottle of heavy cream. This is just a little over 2 cups. You can simply use this amount if you get that size and not worry about having 100ml leftover with no purpose for it.
Note 2: French onion soup mix: this will be in the supermarket aisle where the dried beans and pulses are. It is around $1.50 for a packet which is 40 grams. It is excellent as a way to add flavor to recipes and is so convenient that you simply tear open the packet and pour it into the cream.
Note 3 - Potatoes: I use a large 2kg bag of white washed potatoes. I find that with a large baking dish I can fit the full 2kg or 4.4 pounds into it (with a tiny room on top to spare).
Note 4 - Cheese: you don't have to use 'colby cheese'. You can use your favorite type of grated cheese be it tasty, cheddar cheese or a cheese blend with parmesan, mozzarella and pecorino.
Note 5 - Gruyere cheese: I buy this from my local supermarket. There is it sold as a 150 gram block. This is expensive as it costs around $10.50 for that however, I really think it delivers when it comes to flavor. It can be crumbly and a little tricky to grate with a box grater so I put it through my food processor with the shred blade. That way there is very little of the block that doesn't get finely shredded.

Nutrition