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Cheesy au Gratin Potatoes

Few foods seem as all-American as potatoes. But what you actually get from au gratin potatoes can range from curdled cream and unevenly cooked potatoes to cheese that's barely there and slices that fall into sloppy heaps. This American classic needed perfecting.
The choice of potato was critical for our Cheesy au Gratin Potatoes. We settled on starchy russets cut to an even, near-translucent thinness with an inexpensive mandoline slicer. If you don’t have a mandoline, the slicing disk on a food processor would also work.
We tripled the amount of cheese traditionally used to intensify flavor. Looking for better melting, we used a mixture of Monterey Jack, cheddar, and Parmesan. For extra insurance, we tossed the shredded cheeses with a bit of cornstarch to prevent clumps when melting.
Many recipes called for both milk and cream, but the proteins in the milk caused the gratin to curdle in the oven. We decided to make our Cheesy au Gratin Potatoes with heavy cream, cutting the cream with some chicken broth.
Servings: 6
Author: America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1¼ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1¼ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 3 pounds russet potatoes peeled and slice 1/8 inch thick
  • salt
  • pepper
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

Instructions

Combine the cheeses:

  • Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Toss cheeses and cornstarch in large bowl until evenly coated.

Assemble the gratin:

  • Shingle half of the potatoes in a large gratin dish.
  • Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the cheese mixture, ¾ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.
  • Top with the remaining potatoes, additional ¾ teaspoon of salt, and an additional ¼ teaspoon of pepper.

Bake:

  • Combine the cream and broth in a large measuring cup and pour over the potatoes.
  • Top with the remaining cheese mixture and bake until golden brown and a fork inserted into the center meets little resistance, 75 to 90 minutes.
  • Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • You do not need to grease the baking dish. You will need a 2- to 3-quart gratin dish.