These Cheese Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon are rich, decadent, and perfect for your holiday meal or Sunday dinner. They're made with thinly sliced potatoes, crispy bacon, and a creamy cheese sauce. These bacon scalloped potatoes will soon be your family's favorite potato recipe.
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Best Scalloped Potatoes Recipes
If you're looking for more of the best-scalloped potato recipes, here are a few more we really love. These classic Scalloped Potatoes are perfect for Easter, Christmas, or any 'ol Sunday dinner.
We've got those if you'd rather make them in a slow cooker. The crockpot version is an easy slow cooker scalloped potatoes recipe, and if you're looking for an easy scalloped potatoes recipe with ham, this one is our favorite. If you're looking for an easy potato casserole recipe with hashbrowns, these cheesy potatoes are everyone's favorite. Let us know in the comments what your favorite scalloped potato recipe is!
Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese
Unlike an Au gratin potato recipe, these are cheesy scalloped potatoes. They are a creamy scalloped potatoes recipe, and to kick it up a notch, they also have bacon. This recipe is decadent and loaded with flavor. They're the perfect recipe for planning your Easter or Christmas dinner ideas. Everyone loves this scalloped potatoes recipe with a creamy sauce.
Make-Ahead Scalloped Potatoes
These are also perfect for make-ahead scalloped potatoes or potatoes au gratin--with cheese. You can assemble the bacon and cheese scalloped potatoes a day or two ahead of time, cover them with plastic wrap, and store them in the fridge until you need them.
To make it a success, when making them ahead of time, there are a few things you need to know.
- Make them a day or two ahead of time but do not bake.
- Save half of the homemade bacon bits to toss on the last 10 minutes of baking. (it's best when the bacon bits are crispy--they tend to get a bit soggy if left on the casserole)
- Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.
- When you're ready to bake, take the potatoes out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you need to bake them. You want to be sure they come up to room temperature before putting them in a hot oven. (You could also put a cold casserole dish in a cold oven and then turn the oven on. If you add the cold casserole dish to a hot oven--it WILL BREAK. Trust me, it ain't pretty. It makes a gigantic mess in the oven)
- Bake the potatoes according to the instructions on the recipe card.
- Toss the remaining bacon on the potatoes during the last 10 minutes of baking to warm and re-crisp the bacon.
Ingredients in this Scalloped Potato Casserole:
- Potatoes--We like to use Yukon Gold Potatoes for this recipe (they are extra creamy and delicious) but Russett Potatoes work great too.
- Bacon- Any kind of bacon will do.
- Onion- a medium yellow or white onion works great.
- Garlic- Minced garlic
- Milk- whole milk, half and a half, or part milk, part cream--you need the extra fat to make the creamy sauce.
- Paprika- Whatever you have on hand is great.
- Dry Mustard--found in the spice aisle.
- Cheese- Use your favorite. Cheddar cheese and white cheddar, gruyere, parmesan, or Monterey Jack work great. A mixture of different cheeses is amazing.
- Salt & Pepper-
How to Make Homemade Bacon Bits
- Take the bacon out of the packaging and cut it into ¼" slices.
- In a large saucepan, on the stove, saute the bacon bits for 3-5 minutes on medium heat until the bacon bits turn a light golden color and are just a little crispy.
- Drain the bacon bits on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the grease.
How to make
- Remove about half of the bacon grease, so a couple of tablespoons are left in the pan. (I like to use a paper towel to soak some of it up. You can let that paper towel sit on a plate until it is cool enough to throw away.)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the onions to the bacon grease. If you remove too much bacon grease, you can melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in the saucepan. Saute the oni0ns on medium heat until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the garlic and saute for a couple more minutes until the garlic is also soft. (It's okay if the onion turns slightly golden. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any of the flavorful bacon bits off the bottom of the pan.) Remove from heat and set aside.
- Wash and peel your potatoes. Slice the potatoes into thin slices and add to a baking dish. A 9 by 13" casserole dish works great. Cover your layers of potatoes with 1 ½ cups of shredded cheddar cheese --or your favorite cheese, and sprinkle on half of the cooked bacon.
- To make the creamy sauce, combine the milk, dry mustard, and paprika in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper too. Whisk. Pour over the thinly sliced potatoes and cheese. Use a fork to lightly toss the potatoes so all the potatoes are covered in the milk mixture. Cover the layers of potatoes with the remaining cheese.
- Cover tightly the scalloped potatoes with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Take the foil off. The edges of the baking dish should be bubbly. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown.
- Check the doneness of the potatoes by checking with a fork. (Your fork should easily be inserted, and the potato should break apart easily and have no resistance when pulling the fork out. If potatoes aren't quite done, bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked. The potatoes should still hold their shape but also be soft. Cover with foil again if necessary so your cheese isn't overdone.
- Take the potatoes out of the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb Potatoes Yukon Gold if possible, Russett potatoes will do in a pinch
- 1 lb Bacon
- 1 med Onion White or yellow onions work great
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic minced
- 2 cups whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard powder, found in the spice section of the supermarket
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 3 cups Cheese shredded-cheddar, gruyere, white cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
How to Make Homemade Bacon Bits
- Take the bacon out of the packaging and cut into ¼" slices.
- In a large saucepan, on the stove, saute the bacon bits for 3-5 minutes on medium heat until the bacon bits turn a light golden color and are just a little crispy.
- Drain the bacon bits on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the grease.
How to Make Cheesy Scalloped Poatoes
- Remove about half of the bacon grease so there are a couple of tablspoons left in the pan. (I like to use a paper towel to soak some of it up. You can let that paper towel sit on a plate until it is cool enough to throw away.)
- Add the onions to the bacon grease. If you removed too much of the bacon grease, you can melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in the saucepan. Saute the oni0ns on medium heat until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the garlic and saute for a couple more minutes until the garlic is also soft. (It's okay if the onion turns slightly golden. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any of the flavorful bacon bits off the bottom of the pan.) Remove from heat and set aside.
- Wash and peel your potatoes. Slice the potatoes into thin slices and add to a baking dish. A 9 by 13" casserole dish works great. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with 1 ½ cups of shredded cheddar cheese --or your favorite cheese, and sprinkle on half of the cooked bacon.
- In a large bowl, to make the creamy cheese sauce, combine the milk, dry mustard, and paprika. Whisk. Pour over the thinly sliced potatoes and cheese. Use a fork to lightly toss the potatoes so all the potatoes are covered in the milk mixture. Cover the layers of potatoes with the remaining cheese.
- Cover tightly, the scalloped potatoes with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 55 minutes. The Take the foil off. The edges of the baking dish should be bubbly. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown.
- Check the doneness of the potatoes by checking with a fork. (Your fork should easily be inserted and the potato should break apart easily and have no resistance when pulling the fork out. If potatoes aren't quite done, bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked. Cover with foil again if necessary so your cheese isn't overdone.
- Take the potatoes out of the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Cheesy Potato Recipes
- Breakfast Cheesy Potatoes With Bacon and Ham
- Smashed Potatoes
- Gruyere Mashed Potatoes
- Cheesy Ranch Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Casserole
More Potato Recipes
- Oven Baked Potatoes
- Herb Roasted Potatoes
- Holiday Mashed Potatoes
- Air Fryer Baked Potato
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato
- Fingerling Potatoes
- Best Potato Recipes
- All of our Potato Recipes
Be sure also to check out our Best Dessert Recipes, Main Dishes and Salads too.
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These Bacon and Cheese Scalloped Potatoes are rich, decadent, and perfect for your holiday, Easter, or Sunday dinner. They're made with thinly sliced potatoes, crispy bacon, and a creamy cheese sauce. These scalloped potatoes can be made ahead of time. These cheesy scalloped potatoes with cheese and bacon will soon be your family's favorite potato recipe.
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