Dauphinoise Potatoes

October 17, 2025
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Dauphinoise potatoes or pommes dauphinoise is a traditional French dish named for the region in which it was developed. The Dauphiné region of France is known for developing a wide variety of au gratin dishes. Can you imagine a town devoted to the potato? I know where I want to retire…

This cozy dish combines layers of thinly sliced potatoes baked in a rich cream sauce. Ooo la la and although the original recipe did not contain cheese, the modern version does… Gruyère to be exact and it is truly scrumptious.

This is a very simple, comforting French recipe, so do not allow the fact that it is French intimidate you one bit. You should absolutely make this. You will love it. I promise.

Let’s get started…

You will need about 3 pounds of potatoes. You can use yukon gold or russets, whatever you have on hand.

You will also need 3 cups of heavy cream, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 teaspoons of nutmeg, some fresh thyme, about 3 tablespoons of softened butter, 8 ounces of shredded Gruyère, salt and black pepper.

Begin by adding your heavy cream, garlic, nutmeg and a few sprigs of thyme into a saucepan and bring it up to a low simmer over medium heat. As soon as it begins to bubble, turn off the heat and let the garlic, nutmeg and thyme work its way into the cream while you slice your potatoes.

When it comes to slicing the potatoes, a mandolin is going to be your best friend here. We need these potatoes to be potato chip thin. Thinner than regular au gratin potatoes and most likely, thinner than you are going to be able to slice with even the sharpest knife.

Once all of your potatoes have been sliced very thin, generously butter the entire interior of a 3 quart baking dish. Today, I am using a 10″ cast iron skillet, but a deep 9″ baking dish will work great for this too.

Begin by adding a ladle of cream into the bottom of the skillet and shingle a layer of potatoes all over the base. Add a light pinch of salt and black pepper and a little bit of your shredded gruyere and then repeat this process until all of your ingredients have been used.

There is something very special about seasoning every single layer. The end results is incredible, but make sure that you are careful with the amount of cream and gruyere that you add to each layer, so you don’t run out too soon.

Don’t be nervous about adding salt and black pepper frequently as you layer the potatoes. I don’t know that seasoning every layer is necessary, but I definitely added salt to every other layer and black pepper to every third, I’d say.

Potatoes need seasoning and there is nothing quite like a well seasoned dauphinoise…

Once everything has been layered into your baking dish, cover it tightly with foil and bake in a 425 degree oven for 40 minutes the reduce the ovens heat to 350 degrees without opening the oven door and continue baking for another 30 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the top layer is beautiful golden brown.

These dauphinoise potatoes are just incredible. If you love potatoes then this is one of the best ways to enjoy them. They are tender, but maintain some wonderful potatoes texture. The garlic, nutmeg and thyme infused cream transforms the potatoes into something truly spectacular.

Dauphinoise potatoes are the perfect side dish to everything from a simple roast chicken to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. They are definitely special enough to stand up to any main course and once you make them, they will definitely be added to your list of favorite potato preparations.

Buon appetito!

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