Lighter gratin dauphinois
95 min · 8 g protein · 218 cals / serving
The French classic of thin-sliced potatoes baked slowly in garlicky, nutmeg-scented milk until they melt together into soft, creamy layers under a golden, bubbling top. The trick is to simmer the slices in the milk first, so their starch thickens it into a sauce that tastes of cream, with only a splash of the real thing and a little Gruyère for the crust.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 lb gold potatoes, peeled, sliced 3 mm (1/8 inch) thin, not rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups 1% milk
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 3 cloves garlic, 2 crushed, 1 halved
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp butter, for the dish
- 1/4 cup grated gruyere, or a vegetarian alpine-style cheese
Steps
- Put the potato slices in a wide pan with the milk, cream, crushed garlic, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring carefully so the slices do not stick, and simmer 8–10 minutes until the milk has thickened from the potato starch and the slices are just starting to soften. Fish out the thyme stalks.
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Rub a 20 x 28 cm (8 x 11-inch) baking dish with the cut garlic clove, then with the butter.
- Spoon the potatoes into the dish, flattening them into even layers, and pour over every drop of the milk. Scatter the Gruyère over the top.
- Bake uncovered 60–65 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling at the edges and a knife slides through all the layers with no resistance.
- Rest 10–15 minutes before serving; the sauce settles from runny to creamy as it cools a little.
Good to know
Why not rinse the slices?
The starch on the cut potato is what thickens the milk into a creamy sauce. Rinse it away and you are back to needing a lot of cream to get the same texture.
Is there cheese in a real dauphinois?
In the strictest Dauphiné version, no: just potatoes, milk or cream, garlic and nutmeg. Most home cooks finish it with Gruyère or Comté for the golden crust, and a little goes a long way. Leave it out for the purist version, at about 54 instead of 51.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. Bake it a day ahead, cool and refrigerate, then reheat covered at 350°F for 25 minutes and uncovered for 10 to re-crisp the top. It slices more neatly the second day.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 94
- Protein
- (15%)
- 3 g
- Fat
- (26%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (59%)
- 14 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 230 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1308 kcal goes into the pot and 1695 g of ingredients comes out as about 1390 g of food: 94 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.