Creamy Potato Gratin — with Cream, Milk and Gruyère, No Parboiling
Yvonne Ammann VegetarianSlice waxy potatoes 3 mm thin, do not rinse. Bring cream and milk to the boil with garlic, salt and nutmeg, simmer the potatoes in it for 5 minutes, into the dish, cheese on top, bake at 180 °C for 50 minutes. Simmering in the sauce first is the trick against hard slices and watery cream.
Potato gratin is the side that turns a meal into Sunday dinner — and at home it often ends with hard slices or in a puddle. Both have the same cause: raw potato slices take forever in the oven, and cold sauce does not bind. Five minutes' simmering in the creamy milk fixes both. Then it turns creamy, the slices soft, and the top golden.
Ingredients
- 1 kg Potatoes (waxy)
- 2½ dl Double cream
- 2½ dl Milk
- 2 pieces Garlic cloves
- 1½ tsp Salt
- Pepper
- Nutmeg
- 150 g Gruyère (grated)
- 1 tbsp Butter (for the dish)
Method
- 1
Slice the potatoes
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Peel the potatoes and slice 3 mm thin on a mandoline. Do not rinse — the starch on the slices thickens the sauce.
- 2
Simmer
Bring the cream, milk, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the boil in a wide pan. Add the potato slices and simmer gently 5 minutes, stirring carefully. The sauce visibly thickens.
- 3
Fill the dish
Butter the gratin dish. Tip in the potatoes and sauce and press the slices flat with a spoon so they are just covered with sauce.
- 4
Bake
Scatter with the cheese. Bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes until golden on top and a knife goes through the potatoes without resistance. Stand 10 minutes — then the sauce binds fully.
Tips
- As a main: a layer of diced ham or sautéed leek in the middle, or raclette cheese instead of Gruyère. A green salad alongside — nothing more needed.
- The gratin can be fully baked the day before. Reheated at 160 °C for 25 minutes it is almost better — the slices have absorbed the sauce completely.
- With 300 g celeriac, pumpkin or sweet potato replacing a third of the potatoes it becomes a vegetable gratin — slice and simmer the same way.
What can I substitute?
Lighter. With milk alone the sauce thickens less — stir the cornflour into the cold milk before it boils.
Any melting cheese works. Raclette makes the crust creamier, mountain cheese stronger. Or no cheese at all — the original gratin dauphinois has none.
Boil the onion with the sauce. Thyme likewise, removed before filling. Often the better choice for children.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Why are the potatoes in my gratin still hard?
Sliced too thick, put in raw, or the oven too hot. Slice 3 mm thin, simmer 5 minutes in the sauce, bake at 180 °C — not 220, or the top browns before the centre is soft. A knife must go through without resistance.
Why is my gratin watery?
The potatoes were rinsed, or the sauce was cold. The starch on the slices thickens it — it must not be washed off. And cold sauce over raw potatoes separates in the oven. Simmering first fixes both. Floury potatoes, on the other hand, fall apart and turn to mush.
Can I prepare potato gratin ahead?
Yes, two ways: simmered and in the dish, covered up to a day in the fridge, then bake 10 minutes longer. Or fully baked and reheated. Frozen, the cream turns grainy — best avoided.
What goes with potato gratin?
Anything roasted or fried without its own sauce: joints, escalopes, cordon bleu, oven chicken, salmon. Something green alongside — beans, broccoli or salad. The gratin supplies the cream; the meat needs none.
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