Forget baked potatoes, this potato gratin is the recipe you want to make! The top recipe of all potato recipes! You can make this French classic by mixing layers of potatoes with garlic, milk, butter, and Emmentaler cheese. And because you use milk instead of whipped cream, it is a slim version!
When you are going to make a dinner, it is of course always a challenge to put everything on the table at the same time. And then this potato gratin is really a godsend! Because you can prepare this recipe very well and, just before you are going to serve the main course, you slide the dish in the oven.
An easy potato gratin recipe that everyone likes. For a dinner without stress!
Gratin recipe for an easy dinner
My dinner recently consisted of a delicious dear steak with bacon (could well be prepared in advance, just grilled), with haricots verts rolled in bacon (just had to put them into the oven) and red cabbage from the slow cooker. And then the potato dish.
Because the haricots verts were also in the oven, I decided to make a gratin, which I "pre-baked" for an hour in the afternoon so that I just had to bake it in the oven for 30 minutes in the evening.
Fortunately, in retrospect, I can say that it worked. Everything was on the table at the same time and warm. So another challenge completed. And if you also have a dinner party soon? Perhaps this potato gratin (or one of the other recipes) works great for you too.

- Butter and garlic - The inside of the oven dish is rubbed first with butter and then with garlic. This gives a delicious taste. When it's baking in the oven, the flavors will mix with the potato gratin. You also add some butter cubes as a topping. These will melt and mix with the milk (which will give that creamy flavor) and also give a crunchy top.
- Potatoes - Use floury potatoes, preferably pre-cooked, sliced. Choose floury potatoes such as Russet, Doré, King Edward, and Maris Piper for the best results. If you haven't got pre-cooked potatoes? Peel and slice the potatoes. Bring a pan of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Then cook them for ten minutes. Drain and cool so that you can handle them easily.
- Emmentaler - A cheese from Switzerland that tastes slightly sweet and very full. Delicious to combine with this potato gratin. Can't you gain weight from Emmental? Then you can also use Gruyère or Mozzarella (although the latter has a lot less flavor).
- Milk - You use the milk to cook the potatoes. Cream is often used which gives a very creamy taste, but also a lot of calories. And I found out that the recipe doesn't really need that because of the cheese and butter. But I do use a whole milk in this recipe.

Step 1 - Butter the baking dish and brush with garlic
- Let the butter soften and brush the oven dish with it (nice and thick).
- Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the bottom. Use half a clove for half of the baking dish and then continue with the other half.

Step 2 - Divide the potato slices and sprinkle with Emmentaler
- Take ⅓ part of the potato slices and spread over the bottom of the oven dish.
- Sprinkle ⅓ of the cheese over the potatoes. Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper.

Step 3 Apply a second layer of potatoes and cheese.
- Spread another ⅓ part of the potatoes on the first layer.
- Sprinkle with ⅓ part of the Emmentaler.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Divide the rest of the potatoes over the baking dish.

Step 4 - Cover with cheese and butter, add milk and bake in the oven.
- Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the oven dish.
- Pour the milk into the oven dish.
- Spread cubes of butter over the top of the baking dish.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour at 390 °F (200 °C). Remove the aluminum foil and bake the potato gratin for another 15 minutes, so that the cheese turns golden yellow.
What is the difference between potato gratin and gratin Dauphinois?
The difference is that you make a potato gratin with cheese and a Dauphinois gratin is ALWAYS made without cheese.

Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!
📖 Recipe
RECIPE CARD
Equipment
- A conventional oven is used. When using a convection oven (with air fan) decrease the temperature with 30 °F / 20 °C
- aluminum foil
- casserole pan 13 x 9 inch
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter, to grease the oven dish
- 1 clove garlic
- 2½ pounds potato , slices pre-cooked
- 2 cups milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt , to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 oz. Emmental cheese , grated
Topping
- 2 tablespoons butter , room temperature
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390 °F (200 °C).
- Butter an oven dish with one tablespoon of butter.
- Peel the garlic clove and cut it in half. Rub the baking dish with the sliced clove of garlic.
- Divide ⅓ of the potato slices over the bottom.
- Sprinkle with ⅓ of the cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Repeat this 2 more times (first a potato layer and then top with the cheese).
- Carefully pour the milk into the oven dish.
- Slice 2 tablespoons of butter into small cubes and place them on the top.
- Put an aluminum foil over the baking dish and bake it in the oven for one hour.
- Remove the foil from the dish and let it bake for another 15 minutes, so that the cheese becomes nicely golden brown.
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