Healthy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
This easy, healthy scalloped potatoes recipe is perfect for your holiday table. Add some cheese to make it potatoes au gratin!
My mom used to make this recipe for Thanksgiving. After doing some research, I have found that it’s very similar to most other recipes out there. It’s tough to be overly original with this type of recipe. But she still managed to add her own flare, and I managed to clean it up ever so slightly.
A Classic Holiday Dish
These potatoes are wonderful for Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. Just make sure you bake them in a nice looking baking dish for presentation. Keep them covered with aluminum foil or plastic wrap in the fridge. Warm them in the oven with foil over the top. It’s a simple, easy dish to add to your holiday menu!
What Makes These Healthy?
Honestly, most simple recipes for scalloped potatoes are pretty close to clean (by the classic definition). A simple switch of flour, and you’re basically there. The hiccup comes in the form of the number of calories and amount of fat. And yes, most clean eaters tend to stick to sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes for the extra nutrition as well as the lower impact on blood sugar.
But I’m no fool. I know we all splurge during the holidays. January wouldn’t be such a big diet month if we didn’t. So instead of shaming anybody for enjoying something like this, I thought I’d make a totally clean version that tastes just as great as any other recipe. It still has the fat and calories that we all love during the holidays, but with a totally clean ingredients list.
What Is The Difference Between Scalloped And Au Gratin Potatoes?
Scalloped potatoes is a simple, mild-flavored dish. It’s made with milk and some flour to thicken the sauce as the potatoes bake.
Potatoes Au Gratin is a much richer dish. While there are definitely similarities, gratin potatoes are usually made with cream and lot of cheese.
Why Are My Scalloped Potatoes Still Hard?
If you follow this recipe as written, you shouldn’t have a problem with it. People usually run into issues here when they have added something acidic, like sour cream, to the recipe. Anything acidic will keep your potatoes from getting soft. So if you plan to use something like that, add it after cooking.
What Is Good With Scalloped Potatoes?
So many things! It’s very similar to serving baked potatoes or mashed potatoes. Anything that goes with those types of dishes will work here. But just to get the wheels turning, here are a few ideas.
- Slow Cooker Pork Roast
- Whole Roasted Chicken
- Baked Garlic Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Breasts
Are Scalloped Potatoes Healthy?
That all depends on your definition of healthy. For some folks, this recipe will be perfeclty healthy. For others, not so much. However, it definitely has a clean ingredients list. So I leave the final decision to you!
Best Potatoes For Scalloped Potatoes
I have found that the best potatoes are either Yukon Gold potatoes or Russet potatoes. Red potatoes will also work in a pinch.
Can I Add Cheese To This For Extra Flavor?
You can! To make this a cheesy scalloped potatoes recipe, my suggestions are:
- Cheddar cheese
- White cheddar cheese
- Parmesan cheese
Recipe Additions
- Fresh thyme
- Ground rosemary
About The Ingredients
Yellow potatoes – Cleaned and sliced very thin with a mandolin – an ⅛-inch thick.
Butter – You can use more if you wish, but I tried not to overdo the butter. You can use vegan butter if you prefer.
Whole wheat pastry flour – If you can’t easily find this, you can also look for White Whole Wheat flour. It tends to be a bit more widely available and is the next best thing to the pastry version.
Milk – Full-fat milk works best here. If you are using plant-based milk, I recommend unsweetened, plain oat milk for it’s mild flavor. unsweetened if plant-based)
Salt – I used pink Himilayan salt, but use whatever you normally cook with.
Ground black pepper
Garlic granules – Garlic powder works too.
Onion granules – Onion powder works too.
How To Make Healthy Scalloped Poatoes
Preheat oven to 425 F. and oil a casserole dish, then cut your butter and measure out all the ingredients needed.
Using a mandolin, slice your potatoes to an ⅛-inch thick and set them aside in a bowl. If you are concerned they will turn brown while you work, simply fill your bowl with water, and the potatoes will hold their bright color. (drain well before using). But if you have everything prepared in advance, you won’t need to worry about that.
Eyeballing all your ingredients in thirds, lay down a third of the potatoes, then season with salt and pepper, a few evenly spaced cubes of butter, and a spoonful of flour sprinkled over the top. Repeat two more times.
Sprinkled the garlic and onion granules over the top, and pour the milk over everything.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the milk bubbles. Then turn down the heat to 400 and bake for another 40 minutes. If it starts to look a little dry on top, you can place a piece of foil over the potatoes in the last 20-30 minutes of baking.
Cool slightly, cut with a knife into equal portions and scoop out a serving with a spatula, onto a plate and serve.
Can You Make Healthy Scalloped Potatoes Ahead Of Time?
I would caution against it simply because the potatoes will brown when not sitting in water. If you really want to do something ahead of time, you can slice the potatoes and store them in a tub of water in the fridge for up to 3 days before assembling the casserole.
How To Store Healthy Scalloped Potatoes
Once cooked, simply put plastic wrap over the casserole dish (once it’s cooled) and store it in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days. Freezing is not recommended. You can also transfer them to an airtight container for fridge storage.
How To Reheat
You can reheat leftovers by the serving in a microwave, or place foil over the top of the casserole dish and warm it in the oven on 350 F. for about 30 minutes, give or take. You can melt butter over the top layer to refresh the potatoes so they don’t dry out.
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Easy Scalloped Potatoes
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Equipment
- 9" x 13" casserole pan
Ingredients
- 3 lb. yellow potatoes (sliced very thin with a mandolin)
- ⅓ cup butter
- ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 3 cups milk (unsweetened if plant-based)
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp. garlic granules
- 1 tbsp. onion granules
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F. and oil a casserole dish, then cut your butter and measure out all the ingredients needed.
- Using a mandolin, slice your potatoes to an ⅛-inch thick and set them aside in a bowl. If you are concerned they will turn brown while you work, simply fill your bowl with water, and the potatoes will hold their bright color. (drain well before using). But if you have everything prepared in advance, you won't need to worry about that.
- Eyeballing all your ingredients in thirds, lay down a third of the potatoes, then season with salt and pepper, a few evenly spaced cubes of butter, and a spoonful of flour sprinkled over the top. Repeat two more times.
- Sprinkled the garlic and onion granules over the top, and pour the milk over everything.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the milk bubbles. Then turn down the heat to 400 and bake for another 40 minutes. If it starts to look a little dry on top, you can place a piece of foil over the potatoes in the last 20-30 minutes of baking.
- Cool slightly, cut with a knife into equal portions and scoop out a serving with a spatula, onto a plate and serve.
