This Creamy Scalloped Potatoes recipe is made with fresh potatoes, cheese, sour cream, and herbs. These cheesy potatoes are simple to make and perfect for your family dinner or holiday meal.
The real difference in this sour cream scalloped potatoes recipe is the fresh thyme. It is really a game-changer. The thyme is perfect with the rich and creamy cheesy sauce, making for incredible homemade scalloped potatoes.
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
This is my go-to Creamy Scalloped Potatoes recipe with sour cream. I love making this potato recipe during the holidays, for Easter, and for Sunday dinners with the family.
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This recipe is really versatile. If you’re wondering what to make with scalloped potatoes, you can try our Cornflake chicken recipe, Grilled California Chicken Recipe, The best Slow Cooker Pot Roast, or Monterey Chicken, a personal favorite.
If potato recipes are your thing, we have a few others you’re gonna want to try. We have a scalloped potatoes recipe with ham, a cheesy potato casserole recipe, a slow cooker potato casserole, or a slow cooker scalloped potatoes recipe. Let me assure you, cheese and potatoes are kind of a big deal around here.
Recipe for Creamy Scalloped Potatoes {Video Tutorial}
Sour Cream Scalloped Potatoes Ingredients
- Potatoes: You can use almost any type of potato. Russet Potatoes are what I used for this recipe but you can use Yukon gold or red potatoes too.
- Broth: You’ll notice there’s chicken broth in this recipe. This will give it the moisture and flavor you love without as many calories. Win, win!
- Sour Cream: Sour cream will give it the creaminess and tart flavor you love in scalloped potatoes. Cheese and sour cream are the perfect combinations in this recipe.
- Cheese: I prefer to use on that’s already shredded because it simplifies the process a little but you can use just about any type of cheese. Some of my favorites are sharp cheddar, white cheddar, gouda cheese, or gruyere cheese. It’s also great to use some parmesan in this recipe. It has such a smooth but intense flavor and everyone loves it. Use a couple or mix your cheeses!
- Garlic: I also used garlic powder in this recipe, garlic salt to be exact. I’m all about substituting the powders to get the same flavor.
- Onion: For this recipe, I like to add onion powder. You can the onion flavor without the hassle of chopping and caramelizing the onion.
- Thyme: I used fresh thyme in this recipe. It’s my favorite fresh herb. I have it growing in a pot right outside my patio door so I can access it all year round. If you don’t have fresh thyme, dried will work in a pinch too.
How to Make Scalloped Potatoes
- Start by spraying your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. This will help with the cleanup.
- Next, you are going to prepare your potatoes. You can choose whether you’d like your potatoes peeled or not. Russet potatoes have a little thicker peel so I’d suggest peeling those but if you are using Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes, they have a peel that is a little more tender. My kids are super picky with potato peels so I usually peel them but if you’re making this for adults, the peel is super pretty and I like the chewiness of them too.
- Slice the potatoes. You will want the potatoes a thin 1/8″-1/4″, as evenly as possible.
- To make the sauce for these easy scalloped potatoes, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the chicken broth (vegetable broth can easily be substituted for the chicken broth), sour cream, half of the cheddar and parmesan cheese, garlic salt, onion powder, fresh, thyme and the pepper. Mix
- Spread half of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of your greased baking dish. Pour half of the sauce over the potatoes.
- Spread the remain potatoes in the baking dish and add the rest of the sauce and the rest of the cheese.
- Bake your scalloped potatoes in the oven, in a 350-degree oven for about 1 hour or until the edges and top of the scalloped potatoes are golden brown and the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork. If the cheese becomes too brown on top, simply cover the baking dish with aluminum foil until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.
- Serve. Take the baking dish out of the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Scalloped potatoes can definitely be made ahead of time. They can be made a day or two before you need them. Just make according to directions but don’t bake them yet. Just store it in the fridge, covered with saran wrap and then bring it to room temperature before putting it in the oven. (or you risk cracking your baking dish if you put a cold dish in a hot oven.)
If you’re wondering what the difference is between scalloped potatoes vs au gratin potatoes, well there’s not much difference. Scalloped potatoes are usually thinly sliced potatoes layer with a cream or milk mixture and scalloped potatoes, on the other hand, have cheese between the layers resulting in a more decadent dish. Also, the potatoes in scalloped potato recipes are usually cut a smidge thicker than those in au gratin potatoes.
Regardless of what you call them, we know one thing, they are the best comfort food and we all love them.
Scalloped potatoes should be fork tender when done. You should be able to prick them with a fork easily and the potatoes fall off the fork. If the potatoes are not tender yet, continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes or until tender.
Bake the scalloped potatoes in a 350-degree oven for about 1 hour or until the edges and top of the scalloped potatoes are golden brown and the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork. If the cheese becomes too brown on top, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.
Cover the potatoes with aluminum foil. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender, uncover and cook again for 10 minutes or until the edges and top of the scalloped potatoes are golden brown.
You can easily use red potatoes when making scalloped potatoes. You can use red potatoes with or without skins. The recipe will work great either way.
Tips for Making the Best Scalloped Potatoes
- Try to cut the potatoes very thinly. A mandoline slicer works great, but a sharp knife will do the trick too.
- If your potatoes are still firm after you’ve baked for the recommended time, bake longer. (Bake for another 20-30 minutes) Place aluminum foil on the potatoes, so the top doesn’t get too dark and cook longer.
- If your scalloped potatoes get done early, simply keep them in a warm oven covered with foil until you’re ready to serve them.
- If your cheese on top gets overly-brown, you can pull the top layer of cheese off, add some fresh shredded cheese and place in the oven until golden brown again.
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds potatoes, Russet, Yukon gold or red potatoes
- 1½ cups chicken broth, (can substitute vegetable broth)
- 1½ cups sour cream
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, (divided)
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Peel and slice — about 1/8"-1/4", as evenly as possible. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the chicken broth, sour cream, half of the cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic salt, onion powder, thyme, and pepper.
- Spread half of the sliced potatoes into the bottom of your greased baking dish, then pour half of the sauce over the potatoes. Layer the remaining potatoes in the baking dish and add the rest of the sauce and the rest of the cheddar cheese.
- Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake in your preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until the edges and top of the scalloped potatoes are golden brown and the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork. Remove the foil and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes until the cheese on top becomes golden brown.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
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Nutrition
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This is the Best Scalloped Potato Recipe. These creamy baked potatoes are sliced thing and made with fresh potatoes, cheese, sour cream, and herbs. If you’ve ever wondered how to make scalloped potatoes in the oven, this is is the potato recipe for you.
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Can I make this a day ahead
You bet, just don’t bake it yet. It’s best to set it out for about 15 minutes on the counter before cooking it, especially if it’s in a glass baking dish. This will keep the glass baking dish from shattering from the heat.
looks soo delish! Baking as we speak. I just lessened the sauce as my baking dish is a bit smaller. Can’t wait to try!????
I tried this recipe as directed and the potatoes were still firm and tough. What did I do wrong?
Sherry, I’d love to help you figure out what’s going on. It sounds like maybe your potatoes were on the thicker side. You can just bake for another 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
These cheesy scalloped potatoes were delicious! Our family loved it!
So happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know!
So rich and delicious. We had these tonight for our Easter dinner (we’re doing it a day early). The fresh thyme really made a difference! There’s something more aromatic and it adds a depth of flavor. SO good!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know!