This post is sponsored by Kettle Brand, who I love for making classic, delicious kettle chips with nice, normal ingredients – and for helping me create the best cheesy potatoes that have ever ever EVER touched my lips.
B-E-S-T. You guys I haaaaave toooo. These are just plain old the best.
The first time I made these, I took them out of the oven and took a few pictures and tasted a bite and screamed inside my head a little bit. Happy happy joy joy these are my new favorite thing ev-er.
Except surprise! They’re not really new.
My mom has been making the ultimate cheesy potatoes for many moons. As a family, we’ve been pounding whole casserole pans of them at every holiday gathering since I was a little stinker wearing stretch pants with stirrups (is there really any other way?) and a massively large bow nestled in just over my square bangs. Cheesy potatoes are rooted deep in my heritage.
And then in an unexpected turn of cheesy potato events, we went over to our kitchen contractor’s house for dinner and his wife made this potato gratin that was all bubbling and awesome and swimming with caramelized onions and bacon? I think there was bacon – either way, it might have been a top ten highlight of 2014. It was like she KNEW me.
Back up the train, though. Yes, we did go to our kitchen contractor’s house for dinner. Maybe something about watching a person living out of a basement in their pajamas “blogging” day in and day out for a few weeks is enough to prompt an invite for dinner. So now, not only is our contractor the person I have on speed dial to help me be an adult about all kitchen construction related stuffs, but he and his wife are also the nicest people ever who I will always cherish as my cheesy potato gratin friends. Kindred spirits, some might say.
So like usual, I can’t really take credit for the genius of anything here.
These are just like our classic family holiday cheesy potatoes except with a sauteed garlic, fresh herb, grown up (hi Gruyère) cheese update, annnnd they are just like our friends’ cheesy potato gratin – bubbly and golden brown on top – except without the ambition of the caramelized onions because sometimes that is just too much for a regular person.
I’ll end with a story about potato magic.
Once upon a time, you tossed the sliced sweet potatoes and Russet potatoes with a little cream, a generous pinch of salt, and a scoop of sauteed garlic and herbs. You arranged them in a baking dish, layering them with fancy and SUPERDELICIOUS Gruyère cheese. You stole a few bites of cheese because you’re you, and because cheese that costs that much must be enjoyed straight from cutting board to mouth. You sprinkled everything with crushed Kettle Brand chips because Kettle Brand chips are delicious and mom’s cheesy potatoes have crunchies on top. It’s called heritage.
You were sitting on the couch in the other room when you started to smell the cheese bubbling and browning from the kitchen, and you said Oh My Goodness Gracious I Love Cheesy Potatoes. You ran to the kitchen to look through the little window on the oven. You wondered if you died and went to heaven. You took it out, served it to your people, and became everyone’s favorite best friend.
It’s a really happy story, you guys. It’s time to live this destiny.
The Best Garlic Herb Cheesy Potatoes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: 10–12 as a side 1x
Description
These Garlic Herb Cheesy Potatoes feature sauteed garlic and herbs, two types of potatoes, Gruyère cheese, and a crispy topping.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup minced fresh herbs – I used sage and thyme
- 2–3 sweet potatoes (about 3 cups thinly sliced)
- 2–3 Russet potatoes (about 3 cups thinly sliced)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese
- 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups Kettle Brand chips (any flavor), crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small skillet over medium low heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and herbs and saute until fragrant, 3-5 minutes.
- Slice the sweet potatoes and Russet potatoes into very thin slices (1/4 inch thickness or less). Toss the potatoes with the cream, salt, and herb garlic mixture.
- Arrange half of the potatoes evenly in a 9×13 baking dish. Top with one cup of the cheese and 1/4 cup chicken broth. Arrange the remaining potato slices evenly over the top and cover with the remaining broth, cheese, and crushed chips.
- Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, turning the heat up to 425 for extra browning. There will be some liquid in the bottom of the pan – that is THE MOST DELICIOUS sauce so try to get a little bit of that on each individual serving.
Notes
I’ve used both sea salt and roasted garlic Kettle Brand chips for this recipe – I loved the roasted garlic flavor but the sea salt has a more traditional look and taste.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cheesy potatoes, garlic herb potatoes, scalloped potatoes
Thanks again to Kettle Brand for sponsoring this beloved holiday cheesy potato post! Yummm.