Golden baked parmesan cheese and soft potatoes make these Easy Au Gratin Potatoes absolutely irresistible. With a creamy sauce mixture, sautéed leeks, and fresh herbs, this potato gratin is full of flavor. It’s the perfect simple dish for these chilly nights and is made with lightened up ingredients to be healthier but you’d never guess it!
These gluten free au gratin potatoes will satisfy all your comfort food cravings and are so easy to make. Simply enjoy as is, add your favorite protein, or serve as a side, you can’t go wrong with potatoes + cheese!
For more lightened up classics to satisfy your comfort food cravings, be sure to check out my Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie or my Vegetarian French Onion Soup. Both are warming and easy for a quick weeknight meal or weekend meal prep. Comfort food made healthy!
Ingredients
Butter – Unsalted butter is great for adding flavor to the gratin but olive oil would work too.
Leeks – Add a boost of flavor to this potato leek gratin. You could also leave them out entirely or sub for something like scallions or chopped red onion.
Fingerling Potatoes – These have a fun shape but if you want a more traditional shape, use a mix of baby red and yellow potatoes cut into ~1/4″ slices.
Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves give the best flavor but you can also use garlic powder. Simply swap three teaspoons garlic powder for the six cloves of fresh garlic.
Herbs – The fresh rosemary and thyme help elevate the flavors while not overpowering the dish. If you don’t have fresh herbs, substitute one-third the amount of dried which is about ½ teaspoon each for rosemary and thyme
Cream – I like using nutpods vegan creamer because it’s lighter yet still makes this easy potato gratin nice and creamy. Make sure to use the unsweetened version or sub for regular heavy whipping cream. Another option would be to substitute it with ⅞ cup sour cream thinned out with ⅛ cup water.
Blue Cheese – While this may seem like an usual add-in, it does add great salty, tangy flavor and the stronger blue cheese flavor is definitely dulled after baking. If you really don’t enjoy, you can sub for shredded cheddar cheese instead.
Salt & Pepper – Elevate the flavors of this easy au gratin potatoes recipe.
Parmesan Cheese – Topping with shredded parmesan cheese and then baking for a crisp, cheesy layer is my favorite part of these homemade au gratin potatoes . You can always sub for another cheese or do a vegan swap if needed!
How to Make Gluten Free au Gratin Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In an oven-safe (like a cast iron), 10” skillet, melt butter (or olive oil) over medium-high heat.
- Once pan and butter are hot and a piece of leek sizzles when added to a pan, add all of the leeks and saute until they take on a deep amber color – about 7-8 minutes on medium-high heat.
- While the leek is sauteing, use a whisk or a fork to combine all of the “Cream Mixture” ingredients and set aside.
- Once leeks have browned to a deep amber color, add the potatoes to the skillet and mix until the leek and potato is evenly-distributed in the pan. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes and leeks, shaking to distribute evenly. Keep the skillet on the burner until the cream begins to simmer.
- Once the cream is simmering, cover the top with shredded parmesan and transfer the skillet to the pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the parmesan is nicely-browned and potatoes are cooked all the way through.
- Once cooked all the way through, pull from the oven and let cool for 8-10 minutes before serving. Serve with lemon wedges – the lemon will cut through the richness of the rest of the dish!
Crockpot Au Gratin Potatoes
I haven’t made these homemade au gratin potatoes in a crock pot yet but I do think it’d be a great idea! For crock pot cooking, I’d start by layering everything. Starting first with 1/3 of the cream mixture on the base of the crock followed by a layer of 1/2 of the potatoes. I’d then top with another 1/3 of the cream mixture and then the remainder of potatoes. The final layer would be the last 1/3 of the cream mixture followed by a sprinkling of the cheese.
To keep the potatoes from getting mushy while cooking, place a few paper towels on top of the mixture. Cook at high for about 2-3 hours or until potatoes are softened. For a crisper top layer you can then remove the lid and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
Serve with toppings of choice and enjoy!
Scalloped Potatoes vs au Gratin Potatoes
While both dishes are absolutely delicious, there is a difference when it comes to the details. On a small scale of ‘this vs that’, scalloped potatoes are generally sliced thicker than the potato slices used for an au gratin. Now this is entirely dependent on the chef wielding the knife but is still a valid point.
I will note that with this recipe, I chose to half or quarter the fingerling potatoes to make it easier for myself! If you want to go with the traditional scalloped potatoes, feel free to just cut them into thin slices and continue with the recipe as suggested.
The other major difference is in the cheese factor, aka my favorite part. Traditionally, au gratin potatoes do have the cheese layer while scalloped potatoes do not. Both dishes are made with milk and cream but the cheese is specific to au gratin potatoes!
Best Cheese for Gluten Free Au Gratin Potatoes
Now that we all know the importance of cheese for authentic au gratin potatoes, let’s discuss which is best!
For baking into the potato leek gratin I used blue cheese and while it may sound weird, I promise it’s delicious. As someone who is personally just not a huge fan of blue cheese, I will say that it goes very well with this recipe. The strong blue cheese flavor mostly gets baked off and you’re just left with a nice tang after baking.
That being said, if you really do not like blue cheese, feel free to sub with another cheese. Shredded cheddar or a vegan substitute could work as well!
For topping the potato gratin, I really do love the salty bite of shredded parmesan but once again, feel free to experiment with whatever cheese suits you best.
Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
As I said above, these really are a better-for-you version of a classic comfort food. But if you want to take it one step further and make these entirely vegan au gratin potatoes, it’s simple to do!
- Use olive oil or a vegan butter instead of regular butter for step one.
- Make sure to use the nutpods original vegan creamer or make a swap of your own.
- Leave out the blue cheese or sub for a dairy free version such as shredded Violife cheddar.
- Top with your favorite dairy free cheese option or leave off the cheese entirely. Since these are au gratin potatoes though, I suggest finding some sort of vegan cheese to really complete this recipe!
For any leftovers of this Easy Au Gratin Potatoes, simply store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze this gluten free au gratin for a quick meal later on. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge or heat up in the oven for better texture!
If easy and cheesy comfort food with a healthy twist sounds good to you then you’d love my 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo or this Broccoli and “Cheese” Soup. Both are “cheesy” thanks to a nutritional yeast cashew cream that’s also vegan!
And if you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you and it helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Easy Au Gratin Potatoes 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil
- 3 cups thinly-sliced leeks* white part only, cut in half, washed and separated, then cut into thin slices (~ 2 leeks)
- 1.5 lbs fingerling potatoes halved (or quartered if large, >1 oz)
Cream Mixture
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 sprigs rosemary minced
- 3 sprigs thyme**** thyme leaves separated from stem
- 1 cup nut pods original creamer**
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese***
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Topping and Accompaniment
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- lemon wedges for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In an oven-safe (like a cast iron), 10” skillet, melt butter (or olive oil) over medium-high heat.
- Once pan and butter are hot and a piece of leek sizzles when added to a pan, add all of the leeks and saute until they take on a deep amber color – about 7-8 minutes on medium-high heat.
- While the leek is sauteing, use a whisk or a fork to combine all of the “Cream Mixture” ingredients and set aside.
- Once leeks have browned to a deep amber color, add the potatoes to the skillet and mix until the leek and potato is evenly-distributed in the pan. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes and leeks, shaking to distribute evenly. Keep the skillet on the burner until the cream begins to simmer.
- Once the cream is simmering, cover the top with shredded parmesan and transfer the skillet to the pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the parmesan is nicely-browned and potatoes are cooked all the way through.
- Once cooked all the way through, pull from the oven and let cool for 8-10 minutes before serving. Serve with lemon wedges – the lemon will cut through the richness of the rest of the dish!
Notes
**Feel free to sub heavy cream if desired, I prefer nut pods for a less heavy option! Another option to swap with nut pods creamer would be ⅞ cup sour cream thinned out with ⅛ cup water. ***You can substitute the ½ cup of blue cheese with shredded cheddar cheese if you’d like. ****If you don’t have fresh herbs, substitute one-third the amount of dried – about ½ teaspoon each rosemary and thyme
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I love potatoes and I couldn’t believe how good this is, even the cold leftovers. The blue cheese really makes it unique and delicious.
Yess!! The blue cheese + leek combo is definitely my favorite part!!