This Easy Creamy Cheesy Potato Bake is true to its name – easy and creamy and cheesy! Made with cubes of potato which are cooked with the sauce so there’s no need to par boil the potatoes or make the sauce separately. Plus, it’s a whole lot faster to chop potatoes than slice them thinly – and you get more sauce in every bite!
Easy Creamy Cheesy Potato Bake. How’s that for a tongue twister, eh? Try saying that 3 times real fast (even harder, after a couple of glasses of wine).
I keep getting myself confused, and I’ve probably gotten it wrong a few times in this post even though I’ve gone back to check several times!
When you think of potato bakes, you probably think of sliced potatoes. Otherwise known as Potato Gratin, Potato Dauphinoise and Scalloped Potatoes to those in the States. And here’s my recipe (well, Julia Child’s!) for Potato Dauphinoise, if that’s what you’re after. But hear me out on this chunky style before you go running off!
Not only is this easier and faster to put together – i.e. no need to thinly slice mounds of potato then layer them in the baking dish – with this “chunky style” creamy potato bake, you get soft pieces of potato bathed in creamy cheesy sauce. Whereas with potato gratin, the sliced potatoes tends to be packed more closely together so there’s less creamy cheesy goodness with every bite. Some might even say it’s packed too densely for their taste (gasp!).
I wasn’t actually planning to share this recipe. A couple of weeks ago, I had an Easter Taste Testing Lunch at my place, primarily to get feedback on the Salmon Gravlax that I shared last week (resounding success! Almost unanimously Top Pick of the Day). I called upon a group of my mother’s golfing friends who are always willing and able taste testers. Ahhh the luxury of retirement. A leisurely game of golf then a 3 course lunch!
I enjoy these Taste Testing sessions because they bring both years of years of experience and complete honesty to the table. No one holds back providing very constructive feedback, as well as useful suggestions. Suffice to say a number of recipes have never made this blog because of the feedback from this group of Taste Testers! 😂
Anyway, I made this Easy Creamy Cheesy Potato Bake (well, my mother did, under my instruction) because I had so many other things to prepare, I wanted to put something together quickly. And it was a topic of hot discussion that it was an afterthought-side-dish that I really didn’t think was that special but everyone loved it! So I had to share it!
I’m not going to lie to you. This ain’t the healthiest recipe on this blog. It’s basically made up of all things that are the first to go when trying to be “healthy” – potatoes, cream and cheese.
And that, my friends, is why it is so darn good. OK, so it’s not the sort of thing I’d make on for a usual midweek meal. But weekends and feasting occasions? Heck yes! Especially when I want to steal the show. 😉 – Nagi x
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Easy Creamy Cheesy Potato Bake
Ingredients
- 1.25kg/ 2.5lb potatoes (any, other than waxy potatoes, see Note 1)
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) milk (full or low fat)
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) thickened cream (heavy cream) (heavy cream)
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise , preferably whole egg (or 1/4 cup cream) (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves , plus more for garnish (or 1 tsp dried)
- 2 large garlic cloves , minced
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 cups (200g) shredded cheese , for mixing (Note 3)
- 1 cup (100g) shredded mozzarella cheese (or sub with another cheese, Note 3)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all types).
- Peel and cut the potatoes into 1 3/4 cm / 2/3″ cubes. Place in a large bowl.
- Add all remaining ingredients except mozzarella. Mix.
- Pour into a 3 litre / quart baking dish (mine is 22cm / 9″ square x 6 cm / 2.3″ high).
- Cover with foil. Bake 60 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
- Remove foil, sprinkle over mozzarella cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden.
- Rest for 5 – 10 minutes before serving, garnished with extra theme leaves if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Easy Creamy Cheesy Potato Bake recipe video! Maybe have a napkin handy? 😉
LIFE OF DOZER
Snap photo of dish, then swing camera 30 cm / 1 foot to the left and photograph Dozer. Efficiency of motion. 🙌🏼
I forgot to give 5 stars!
Another excellent recipe – elderly and young loved it for our Christmas meal- thank you
I was asked to bring a potato bake to a Christmas break up. It was a hit. No leftovers to bring home.
Between four of us – I thought there would be leftovers for tomorrow – we scoffed the lot. Definitely making this again. But it did need a bit longer in the oven, well worth it!
I added broccoli florets and topped with chopped fresh tomatoes for the initial bake. Then when you remove the tin foil I topped with some cheese and a “breadcrumb” layer – almond meal, Italian mixed herbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper. My peeps loved it. Thanks
I have made this recipe several times, even made a number of them for different social functions. It’s absolutely delicious & always gets scooped up quickly. I’ve grown too many potatoes this year, so I’d like to freeze some. Can it be frozen?
I made this recipe for my local soup kitchen- they were planning on serving ham today, and this looked delicious. We live in a fairly small town, so we needed to make about 40 servings. Our local food kitchen supplies the meat, but our team is in charge of everything else. We split the job into two- 20 servings each team member (others were making the rest). The base cook time on the potatoes is about 2 hours when you are making it for 20. The mozzarella is perfect at 30 minutes. But please be aware of the additional cooking time when cooking for larger quantities. Just to say – this is a small town. The soup kitchen guests applauded our cooking because this was so good! Nagi, thank you so much for sharing this!
I find an hour isn’t long enough? Do others cook it for longer?
Great recipe BUT, the cooking time at 180c (not fan forced)should have 20 minutes added to get the potatoes cooked perfectly or cook at 190 fan forced and add 10 minutes.
can this be frozen or how long does it keep in fridge without freezing
This is the best potato bake recipe I’ve ever made! Make sure you add the mustard and onion powder. My only change was pure cream instead of thickened because that’s what I had
How do recipe tin eats publish 4.8 to 5 star ratings. When you
make up to 15 recipes and they are average at best.
I’m not sure how in the world that you can say that, especially as you don’t back it up with actual facts. I’ve made over 50 of Nagi’s recipes, from palek paneer to easy cheesy potatoes. EVERY SINGLE RECIPE has turned out well, even when I replaced ingredients.
Today I had an entire group of people applauding because they loved the Recipetin recipe that I made.
So sorry for your negative attitude- but please actually try Nagi’s recipes, because they are so amazing- and because she has tested them, they all actually turn out amazing.
Wow how rude! I have been following Nagi for years and I have never cooked any of her recipes without complete resounding success. I think she is brilliant. and the best cook/chef around, and I am no spring chicken by any means. Thank you Nagi and Dozer for your excellent recipes, fund posts and information.
I must have missed the part about mustard and onion powder. I made it following Nagi’s recipe and it turned out amazing.
I forgot to select 5 stars in my review!
Absolute winner as I don’t really make potato bake because of the prep. Had this as a side on our table for a BBQ and Grand final yesterday and it was cleaned up! This will definitely become a regular on our table. Thank you Qween Nagi 🙌🏻
As someone who avoids potato bake because of the prep, this was epic! Had people over for a BBQ and Grand final yesterday and it was an absolute hit. Will definitely become a regular on our table. Thank you Qween Nagi.
your review was so kind! however i would like to bring your attention to the fact that “queen” is spelt q u e e n not qween. This is for future regards.
A QWEEN is someone who is too fabulous to be called queen or princess, you know a QWEEN when you see one, they are fierce, FABULOUS, as in Yaaas Qween!
I am very aware of the correct spelling 🙂
Loved this, I added some fresh chilli, delish.
A winner! I followed the recipe but added the mustard and Onion salt as per note even though I used mayo. I had to send the recipe to everyone at the dinner table 🙂
Loved this. super tasty quick and easy
Made this last night for a special dinner: so much easier than dauphinoise! And my special guest went for seconds, so it’s a winner! Note my kids thought it was superb, while my husband felt like it was too much cheese for him. Also, I added a touch of blue cheese and spinach into the sauce, which worked nicely.
Looked at this recipe several times but today was the first time of trying it out. Why has it taken me this long! Followed the recipe as is and it was superb. Will be a regular in future.
Such a delicious potato bake! I halved it and it was still perfect.
I’m assuming this recipe is for 6-8 servings (or maybe more as a side dish) but without the serving size the “tap or hover to scale” function doesn’t work and I would love to make this for myself (only me at home). Any chance of fixing this? Please ?
I need to scale up for may bi-weekly charity cook but the tap to hover still not available so have to make some assumptions based on the comment in Notes – 6.Nutrition assumes 10 servings.