How to Make Easy Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

How to Make Easy Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

Girls, get those aprons on! We’re making potatoes and it goes fast.

This is what you can throw together as a delicious and filling side dish to almost anything. It’s so silky and salty and yummy. 

Time is usually working against me (or at least I think it is), so I often opt for the microwave version. But the oven version is good also.  I’ll explain both. 

Prep is about 10 minutes or even less for either. But cook time is 10-15 minutes vs 40 minutes. Sometimes it matters.

It’s not an exact recipe, but I’ve got a printable version for you if you want it.

You need only a few things.

A knife and a cutting board (or a food processor with a slicer attachment), a dish with a lid, and your 4 ingredients: Potatoes, heavy cream, salt, and pepper.

I usually figure about 2 small potatoes per person if I’m using the little red potatoes. 3 if they’re tiny. Larger potatoes are 1 per person. But make extra if you want! Around here, we want.

(If you’re not sure about the amount, try to picture an average sized baked potato in a restaurant. Let that be your “serving size” and then see how many little taters it takes to equal that. )

Here’s exactly what to do:

First, don’t peel your potatoes. (Unless you really, really want to. Potato peels are completely edible, tasty, and nutritious.) You wash them, and then slice them thinly. You can chop off any “eyes” or little dark places that don’t look appetizing.

Layer the slices in a dish. Go ahead and salt and pepper each layer before you start the next.

About the layers:  If you’re making the oven version, you won’t be disturbing the layers. So you can make them pretty if you want, fanning them around in a pattern. If you’re using the quicker microwave version, you’ll be stirring them. So don’t waste your time making the layers pretty.

The Microwave Version

Cook them in a covered dish in the microwave until they start to get tender. Then pour in the cream and cook a little more.

That’s it! Except for the details. I always like it when somebody tells me the details. 

What works for me is cooking them about 5 minutes initially and checking for tenderness. If they’re still firm, cook another minute or two until they begin to change from crunchy to slightly soft. That’s when a spoon will cut through a slice. At that point I add the heavy cream and replace the lid. Then continue to cook in smaller increments* until several layers can be easily cut with a spoon. Give them a big stir the last few times at the end.

*This is kind of important at the end: Just do 30-60 seconds at a time and keep an eye on the dish. Because when that cream gets hot, well, it can find a way out of the dish. You wouldn’t believe how far it can travel inside a microwave. Or maybe you would. 

The Oven Version

And guess what? This dish can also be done in the oven! If that’s your method, the texture and flavor are even better, and it’s even easier. Because you don’t have to keep checking it at the end or stirring it.

Lightly grease a dish. You won’t need a lid. Layer the sliced potatoes with salt and pepper. Pour the heavy cream over it all generously at the start, and bake about 40 minutes at 350. No stirring, no stopping and starting.