Thin slices of Yukon Gold potato baked slowly in garlicky milk and cream until tender inside and golden on top. The classic side from the Dauphiné, in the French Alps: no cheese, just potatoes, cream and a low oven.
Gratin dauphinois is potatoes sliced thin and baked slowly in garlicky milk and cream, until the top turns golden and the inside is soft enough to cut with a spoon. It's the side I'd put next to a roast chicken at any French table, Thanksgiving included. This is the gratin I grew up with in France, and it's still the one I make here.
The dish doesn't change in Canada, but the shopping does. French potato bags tell you what each potato is for; here you go by variety, and Yukon Gold is the one that behaves like a French gratin potato. The cream is no trouble: 35% whipping cream has the same fat as French crème entière, so the sauce thickens the same way in the oven.
Why there's no cheese
The dish comes from the Dauphiné, the region around Grenoble, and it's seasoned with nothing more than garlic and a little nutmeg. There's no cheese in it: the cream browns on its own. Put cheese on top and people from the Dauphiné will tell you it's a different dish.
Which potato and cream to buy
Yukon Gold. Their starch thickens the cream and the slices stay whole. Russets taste fine but crumble at the edges, and red or baby potatoes are too waxy to thicken the sauce.
Low heat, long bake
At 160°C (325°F) the potatoes cook through before the top burns, and the cream reduces slowly into a thick sauce. A hotter oven gives you a brown top over firm slices, and the cream can split and turn oily.
Making it in Canada
The 2 French ingredients, and what to buy for them in Canada.
Pommes de terre à chair fondante→Yukon Gold potatoes
French potatoes are sold by use. Yukon Gold sits between waxy and floury, which is what a gratin needs: slices that hold and enough starch to thicken the cream. Russets work in a pinch, but the edges break up.
Crème liquide entière (30–35%)→35% whipping cream or 35% cooking cream
Same fat content as French crème entière, and it doesn't split during the long bake. 35% cooking cream (crème à cuisson) is made for heat and works the same way here. Don't use 15% cooking cream or 10% cream: with the milk, the sauce comes out thin.
🛒 Lactantia 35% Whipping Cream is listed at Voilà (Sobeys), and Sealtest 35% at Walmart. Lactantia also makes a 35% cooking cream in 237 mL and 1 L cartons, listed at Voilà.
Good to know: Buy loose Yukon Golds of a similar size, so they slice into even rounds and cook at the same rate.
Ready to cook?
Gratin Dauphinois
Thin slices of Yukon Gold potato baked slowly in garlicky milk and cream until tender inside and golden on top. The classic side from the Dauphiné, in the French Alps: no cheese, just potatoes, cream and a low oven.
Prep time
25 min
Cook time
1 hr 25 min
Resting time
15 min
Total time
2 hr 5 min
Servings
6
Rest the gratin so the cream sets around the slices.
Ingredients
Original recipe: 6 servings.
Instructions
Prepare the dish. Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Rub a 2.5–3 L baking dish (about 20 × 30 cm) with the cut sides of the halved garlic clove, then butter it.
Slice the potatoes. Peel the potatoes and slice them 3 mm thick. Don't rinse the slices: their starch is what thickens the cream.
Simmer in the milk. Put the slices in a large pot with the milk, cream, crushed garlic, salt, nutmeg and some pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring carefully from the bottom so nothing sticks, and cook 10 minutes, until the liquid thickens slightly.
Fill the dish. Pour everything into the dish and level the slices with a spatula. The liquid should come almost to the top layer.
Bake. Bake 60–75 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife slides through the potatoes without resistance. If the top browns before the potatoes are tender, cover loosely with foil.
Rest. Let it rest 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Make it a few hours ahead: cover with foil and reheat at 160°C (325°F) for 20–25 minutes. It firms up enough to cut into neat squares.
Keeps 3 days in the fridge.
If it still looks soupy after baking, give it the full 15-minute rest: the sauce thickens as it cools. If it stays liquid, the slices were rinsed or the potatoes were too waxy.
It's the classic side for roast chicken and pork roast.
Course: Mains · Cuisine: French · Adapted for Canadian kitchens
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For a quiche or a hot sauce, use 35% whipping cream; for a cold dollop or a dip, 14% sour cream. Liberté's 40% crème fraîche is the real thing when your store has it, and you can make your own overnight.
Lait entier is 3.25% milk, labelled homo or lait 3,25 %. Demi-écrémé is closest to 2%. What changes in crêpes and custards when you only have 2%, plus lait ribot, babeurre and lait concentré on Canadian shelves.
