Potatoes are side dish heroes. Thanks to their versatility, they can be cut and cooked in an epic number of ways, making them the perfect sidekick to almost any main dish. One of the most delicious uses is potatoes au gratin, a creamy-cheesy layered side that’s basically comfort in a casserole dish.
Making this dish is fairly simple, but it can take a lot of time and labor—unless, of course, you borrow some tips from Bobby Flay. The Food Network chef and restaurateur recently shared his recipe for 12-Layer Potato Gratin with Caramelized Shallots, and we’re totally smitten.
Flay shared his gratin recipe on a recent Instagram post with Misfits Market. It’s one of many recipes in his newest cookbook, Chapter One, which came out October 2024. The recipe only requires seven ingredients: butter, russet potatoes, heavy whipping cream, fresh thyme, truffle oil, shallots and sugar—plus salt and pepper, which is probably already in your spice cabinet.
Flay begins the recipe with peeling and thinly slicing potatoes on a mandoline. The paper-thin slices are key to the dish, he says, because they “melt” into the other ingredients as they bake, creating the dish’s ultra-rich and creamy texture.
If you’re a little intimidated by using a mandoline—they are awfully sharp, after all—follow Flay’s No. 1 tip for easy mandoline slicing: use a towel. When gliding the potato up and down the slicer, hold onto the end of the potato with a towel, which can help you keep a grip on a slippery peeled veggie *and* keep your fingers from getting sliced.
Next, he butters his baking dish to keep the potatoes from sticking, then layers the thin slices of potatoes with a drizzle of cream, salt and pepper until he reaches the top of a 10-by-10-inch casserole dish. This process can take a while, so you might want to pop on a favorite movie (or recruit the whole family) to get the thin potatoes quickly layered.
Flay presses the potato mixture down so that the potatoes are fully submerged before covering with foil and baking for 30 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. After the initial bake, he takes the foil off and bakes until the top is golden brown, which takes about 30 to 45 minutes.
While that’s baking, he makes a quick batch of caramelized shallots. In a saute pan, he melts butter and then adds the shallots along with some salt, pepper, sugar and dried thyme. Those cook until golden and softened, about 15 minutes. When everything’s ready, he tops the potatoes with the caramelized shallots and adds an optional drizzle of truffle oil over everything.
If you want to simplify things a little, you could leave the sugar out when caramelizing the shallots—as long as you cook them over a low, slow heat, they should still develop a lovely flavor.
This richly flavorful, creamy dish would work great in a big holiday spread, since it’s by no means a light bite. There’s plenty of cream and butter, but those ingredients are necessary to create the beautiful flavor and texture Flay is after. If you’re looking for some simple ways to slash some of the saturated fat (from the cream and butter), try swapping in some milk for the cream or use extra virgin olive oil in place of the butter when making the caramelized shallots.
If you make it, consider pairing it with fresher, vibrant veggie side dishes like some buttery roasted carrots, crisp and herbaceous charred cabbage or quick and zesty steamed asparagus. Just be aware—no matter what you serve it up with, this potato dish is bound to steal the show.
Comments are closed.