These adorable Potato Gratin Stacks are the mini version of Potatoes au Gratin (Dauphinoise). Layers of thinly sliced potato baked in a muffin tin with cream, cheese, garlic and thyme, the best bit are the crusty caramelised cheesy edges!
Serve as a potato side for dinner. Breakfast with eggs. Party food bites. So many possibilities!
Mini Potato Gratin Stacks (Dauphinoise)
All you need to know is that these Mini Potato Gratin Stacks are cheesy, creamy and ridiculously irresistible. I mean, let’s be blunt. Potatoes + cheese + cream + garlic + butter. BAM! That’s a home run right there!
Actually, they’re a mini version of French Potato Gratin / Dauphinoise. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – everything is better in mini form, not just because it’s cute. But because you get the whole thing to yourself.
Right? 🤷🏻♀️
Besides not having to share, making these in mini form means you get nice golden cheesy edges on each piece which might be my favourite part. No golden edges when you make Dauphinoise the usual way!
What you need to make Mini Potato Gratin Stacks
Here’s what you need to make these:
Potatoes – Use starchy or all-rounder ones so they become fluffy when cooked and absorb flavour. Sebago (the common dirt brushed potatoes in Australia), Russet (US), Dutch creams, King Edwards and red delight are all ideal.
If you use waxy potatoes, the layers sort of slip apart when you cut into them.
Shape – Opt for long thin ones so you have less offcuts when trimmed into a cylinder shape to cut slices that fit the muffin thin.
Cheese – Gruyere and Swiss cheese are my favourites here, for their melting quality and flavour. Any cheese that melts will work just fine – cheddar, Colby, tasty cheese. I tend not to use mozzarella because it doesn’t have as much salt / flavour as other cheese but you can if you wish.
Shredded and sliced – I find it best to use slices of cheese between the potato layers and shredded cheese on top.
Cream – Thickened / heavy cream works best because it’s thicker so it pools on the layers better.
Garlic – For flavour, to infuse the cream sauce.
Thyme – Classic herb flavouring for Dauphinoise.
How to make Mini Potato Gratin Stacks
Assembling each gratin stack does take a little more effort than making one big bubbly Dauphinoise for sharing. But it’s worth it – especially for the golden cheesy edges that you never get when you make one big gratin bake!!
1. Cutting the potato slices
Peel and trim – Peel the potatoes then cut the base so it is stable when standing upright. Then trim the potato to make a (rough!) cylinder shape. It doesn’t matter if they are not a perfect round – mine aren’t!. Once they are cooked, you can’t really tell if your potatoes are a little more hexagon-y or octogon-y, or even rectangular or triangular!!!
Check size – The cylinder should be the size of the muffin tin holes.
Potato cylinders – Repeat with remaining potato. To fill a standard 12 hoc muffin tin, you will need 3 potato cylinders cut from 1.2 kg / 2.4 lb of potato.
Slice thinly – Using either a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut the potato into 2mm / 0.1″ thin slices.
Separate slices – Use your fingers to separate the slices as they have a tendency to stick. We want to make sure the creamy sauce seeps between all the potato layers!
Cream sauce – Melt the butter in a saucepan then sauté the garlic for 20 seconds or until it smells amazing. Then add the cream and salt, and simmer for 30 seconds to bring the flavours together.
Now, we’re ready to assemble!
2. Assembling the gratin stacks
Fill halfway – Place a stack of potato slices in the muffin tin hole so they come up halfway.
Pour over cream – Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of cream over the potatoes. No need to be exact here, just use about half the cream.
Cheese slices – Top with a slice of cheese.
Potato and cream – Top each stack with another stack of potatoes so they are just higher than the rim of the muffin tin. We want to make them taller because they sink slightly once cooked.
Then drizzle the remaining cream over each stack.
3. Bake!
Thyme – Sprinkle each stack with most of the thyme. Reserve a bit to sprinkle on at the end. A hint of fresh thyme is a really nice finishing touch!
Cover and bake – Cover loosely with foil then bake for 40 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until the potato is cooked. Check by inserting a knife all the way to the bottom – there should be no resistance.
Cheese then oven – Top with the shredded cheese and return to the oven uncovered for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and there are some lovely golden spots on the surface.
Garnish with thyme & serve! Sprinkle the top with the remaining thyme, then serve immediately!
What to serve with Mini Potato Gratin Stacks
You will want to eat them straight out of the oven, and they are certainly tasty enough to do so! But actually, they are intended to be a side dish.
I tend to pull these out for special occasions when we want a side dish that’s a bit special. Think, holidays and celebratory gatherings, alongside things such as:
the most glorious buttery, herby, garlicky roast chicken
the roast pork of your dreams (because it’s completely encased in crackling)
a grand Thanksgiving Turkey (brined is the only way!)
a big juicy steakhouse steak
If you make these for just-a-usual-midweek-dinner, I wish I was you. I could eat these everyday and never tire of them. There’s a reason my nickname was Potato Girl when I was growing up!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Cheesy Potato Gratin Stacks (Muffin Tin)
Ingredients
- Oil spray
- 1.2 kg / 2.4 lb starchy potatoes , large long ones (Note 1)
- 30g /2 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1/2 cup heavy / thickened cream
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 3/4 tsp dried)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 75g / 2.5 oz gruyere cheese sliced into 12 squares to fit into muffin tin (or other melting cheese, Note 2)
- 3/4 cup gruyere cheese (or other melting cheese), shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C (all oven types).
- Brush muffin tin with butter: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat then use what you need to lightly brush the muffin tin holes with butter. (Remaining butter is for the cream sauce)
- Cream sauce: Into the remaining butter, add garlic and cook for 20 seconds. Add cream and salt then bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 seconds, then remove from stove and keep warm.
- Slice potato: Peel potatoes. Trim base so it stands upright. Then cut into cylinder shapes that fit the muffin tin. Cut into 2mm/ 1/10" slices using a mandolin or sharp knife.
- Assemble stacks: Place potato slices into the muffin tin so they go halfway up the muffin tin holes. Try to match by size to make them into neat stacks.
- Cream: Drizzle each potato stack with 1 tsp of cream mixture – use 1/2 of the mixture.
- Cheese slice: Top with cheese slice.
- Top with potato, cream then thyme: Top each stack with remaining potato slices so the height is about 1cm / 1/3" above the rim of the muffin tin (they sink once baked). Drizzle with remaining cream mixture and sprinkle with most of the thyme (reserve some for topping).
- Baked 40 minutes: Cover loosely with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until potato is cooked through. A small sharp knife should go through without any resistance.
- Top with cheese, bake 10 minutes: Remove from oven, sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake without foil for 10 minutes or until golden.
- Garnish with thyme: Sprinkle with remaining thyme.
- Stand 5 minutes then remove to serve. Use a tablespoon or butter knife to help scope them out. (Note 3)
- To Serve: Dinner – serve as a side. Finger food – serve warm as is. Breakfast – serve with eggs and bacon.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Updated November 2021 with improved recipe, new instructional photos and better video.
Life of Dozer
Happy to help with the washing up….!
This is how I deal with dishes on big recipe development days for the cookbook – pile them into tubs to keep them out of the way then do giant loads at a time. The amount of dirty pots and pans we generate on big cook days is pretty phenomenal…!!!
Susie says
I’ve made these a few times and boy are they good! A little time consuming but so worth it! If your family are onion freaks like mine, add some diced onion to the cream mixture….yum!
Rhona Heer says
Do you reheat in the muffin tins or will they hold their shape well enough to reheat on a cookie sheet? I need to make 18 and I only have muffin tins for 12.
Rebecca Clarke says
Hi Nagi- I can’t wait to make these for Easter Sunday lunch- to go with your slow roasted leg of lamb! How far ahead can I make these?
Nagi says
Hi Rebecca, up to 2 days in the fridge will be fine or up to 3 months in the freezer. N x
Beth Davis says
Could I do this with Cauliflower instead of potatoes? I love potatoes, but they spike my blood sugar. =(
Nick says
Hi Beth, use sweet potatoes, they worked wonders for me! I had the same issue but not with sweet potato! 😃
Nagi says
Hi Beth, I feel like the water content in cauliflower won’t quite work here – something I’d need to test! N x
Kathryn says
Wow Nagi, this is a wonderful recipe! Thanks
Phyllis says
Easter: here we come!! Thank you so much for this different potato recipe.
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Phyllis – I hope you have a great Easter! N x
Julie says
I’m just about to try making these in our pie maker. I have made them previously in the muffin tin and we loved them.
Maggie says
Absolutely delicious. Love them .thank you Nagi
May says
I really love your recipe, simple & very delicious. It tastes exactly what I used to have at one of my favorite restaurant. Thanks for sharing 😊😊
Sally Fumich says
I made a vessel error and stacked my potatoes etc in jumbo sized muffin tins. I actually think the mistaken size might be good as a side. They’re more substantial! The only difference is that I used up the gruyere, cream mix quicker as instead of 12, I got 6. I had to add a little more bake time and turned on the broiler a couple of minutes to add more color to the tops. I’m testing these for an upcoming dinner with friends, I will see how they reheat and will go from there. Straight out of the oven, 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Jessica Hwang says
My parents and grandpa loved this as a delicious change from the typical mashed potatoes for christmas dinner, thank you!
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Jilly says
I made these for a trial run together with your Christmas glazed chicken, what a feast! I used the side of my box grater to thinly slice the potatoes, although not as neat as yours Nagi, they still looked and tasted truly delicious. These will definitely go down a storm with your Turkey recipe on Christmas Day and so easy when they can be made ahead! Thx as always Nagi 🌟🎄
Jane says
I made these as a side with your brown sugar glazed carrots and slow cooked leg of lamb. Absolutely perfect and so easy to do. This was a mid week meal. I’ll admit we had 3 each so have some left overs for lunch tomorrow. Thanks again Nagi, you are making me look so good at meal times x
Molly Pisula says
Wow, these look fantastic! So perfect for a holiday side dish, and love that they are individual serving size!
Nagi says
Yes, they are so handy – although I wouldn’t judge if you had 4 or 5 for a serving 🙊 N x
Nancy warren says
I’m thinking about making this in a casserole dish, when cooked, cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter, put on a tray and heat to crisp edges. The remainder of potatoes can be ‘mushed’ together in a smaller pan and frozen for later!
Patricia Larrainne Wood says
Absolutely scrumptious. Thankyou so much. Patricia
Chris says
As always a magnificent dish! I also made this with Tilapia in the lemon butter sauce. I am not sure I followed the correct order of potatoes, sauce, and cheese but they turned out wonderfully. Thanks for all the tips on this one.
Debbie says
Oh my goodness these look sooo scrummy!
I’d love to have a go at making them, but I don’t understand the “cup”measuring system. Could you tell me in grams how much cream and cheese to use please. Thank you.
Lynda says
Try switching to “metric”. There is a toggle switch under the word “Ingredients” labeled “Cups/Metric”. Makes converting so much simpler
Susan says
“Cups” refers to measuring cups used as standards in cooking. You can google “convert 1/2 cup cream to mls (it’s liquid so mls not grams)” and you will find the equivalent, same with grated cheese or any other food. I did it for you but you can figure it out yourself for future recipes: 1/2 cup cream = 125ml (or 120g if you must), 1 cup grated cheese = 83g. Hope this helps 🙂
Rebecca says
Omg Nagi, these are delicious so simple to make but full of flavour and presentation is very eloquent.
Thank you
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Rebecca, I’m so glad you love them!!! N x
Cheryl says
Sensational. We had these with eye fillet steak, cafe de paris butter and veggies & my husband said they were so good we could’ve left the steak off the plate. 12/10