Enjoy this creamy, cheesy potato bake layered with onion and garlic that will have everyone fighting to be the first to dig in! Serve up a big batch at your next BBQ for guaranteed smiles.
Why We Love This
This easy cheesy potato bake or potato casserole is our go-to side dish for family gatherings and BBQs. It’s always a hit and there are almost never any leftovers.
It’s the kind of side dish you can prep before everyone gets there, and have cooking in the background while everything else is going on. That’s our kind of cooking!
Related: Cauliflower Cheese / Spinach & Feta Triangles / Tuna Mornay
Microwave to save time!
Need a potato bake but don’t have over an hour for it to cook? While your oven is pre-heating, pop the potato bake in the microwave on high for 10-15 minutes. This will help soften up the potatoes slightly to par-cook them, so you can reduce the time in the oven to just 30-45 minutes!
What is Aussie style Potato Bake?
Australian potato bake or potato casserole is one dish you’ll usually find alongside freshly grilled snags and lamb chops at a family BBQ. Depending on where you’re from, there are many variations of this classic potato dish.
You may have seen it called potatoes au gratin, the traditional French name for a dish consisting of sliced potatoes covered in cheese and breadcrumbs, which is baked until the top is golden brown. With origins in the Dauphiné region of southern France, where it’s also known as potatoes dauphinoise.
Scalloped potatoes is another variation where the origins may be from England. These days, whatever name you know it by, it’s just as popular across Australia, Europe and beyond.
What You’ll Need
- Potatoes – Floury / starchy potatoes are the best choice to give you that lovely soft and fluffy texture once baked. Great options are desiree or sebago (aka brushed potatoes in Australia) or Yukon Gold (America). Though when we make this at home, we’ll use any potatoes we have on hand and still get a yummy result. Try to avoid waxy potatoes if you can, as you’ll be waiting forever for them to soften in the oven. Sub with half sweet potato or all sweet potato.
- Cream – We use thickened cream / heavy cream to give the dish a lovely creamy texture. Sub with sour cream or leftover white sauce if you have some on hand. Traditional potatoes au gratin uses milk, so you can use that in a pinch, although the texture of the finished bake will be a bit looser.
- Cheese – Shredded cheddar cheese (known as tasty cheese in Australia) is the best choice. It has a lovely sharp flavour and turns the topping that magic golden brown colour you know and love on potato bake! If you’re feeling extra naughty, throw in a handful of parmesan cheese.
- Garlic & Onion – We love using fresh garlic and onion here. Sub with garlic powder and onion powder for a shortcut if you don’t feel like chopping the real stuff.
How to make Potato Bake:
First, gather your ingredients! See recipe card below for full measurements.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.
- In a large baking dish, line and layer half the potato slices.
- Sprinkle half the chopped garlic and onion slices over the top then give a generous crack of salt and pepper over the top. Evenly pour over half the cream.
- Now repeat the steps, layering the remaining potato slices and sprinkling over the remaining garlic and onion on top. Pour over the remaining cream, then top with the shredded cheese. Garnish with an extra crack of salt and pepper if you like.
- Pop it in the oven and bake for around 1 – 1.5 hours. If your oven browns your cheesy top quickly, add a layer of aluminium foil over the top. Test with a fork or chopstick and remove from the oven when potato is soft.
- Top tip: If you’re dishing this up alongside a bbq, and the meat isn’t quite ready, top with aluminium foil to stop it over cooking and drying out then switch the oven to off or “keep warm” until everything is ready to be dished up.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Cover with Foil – Covering the tray with foil for the first part of baking will help to steam and soften the potatoes more quickly. Taking it off after that will ensure a deliciously golden cheesy topping.
- Baking Dish – A large, shallow baking dish works best to ensure you maximise your cheesy topping.
- Double the Recipe – If you’re feeding a crowd, double the recipe and make a huge batch!
- Use a Mandoline Slicer – These will give you even, thin slices that will help everything cook through. It will also you loads of time!
- Storage – Leftover potato bake will last around 3-5 days in the fridge (although with our hungry families, there’s hardly ever any leftovers to be found!).
FAQs
If you’ve used waxy potatoes instead of starchy potatoes, don’t stress! You’ll still end up with a delicious potato bake, you just may need to cook it for longer to reach the soft and fluffy texture you’re looking for. Cover with foil to stop the cheesy topping from browning too fast, then remove towards the end to brown it up perfectly once the potatoes are close to being cooked through.
We love it alongside BBQ sausages, steak or cevapi with a refreshing side salad of tomato and cucumber shopska. It’s delicious alongside a serving of curried sausages.
Yes, you can freeze potato bake for up to a couple of weeks. We recommend separating leftovers into small portions to make them easier to reheat later. Always store in an airtight container.
Allow refrigerated potato bake to come up to temperature first before reheating. If frozen, allow enough time to fully defrost on the bench and come up to temperature. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes until heated through. You can also use a microwave to reheat (in short bursts) until warmed through – the texture won’t be quite the same but the speed makes up for it!
Leftover potato bake is actually super adaptable. Mash it up and form into fried patties or potato pancakes. Use as a topping on shepherd’s pie or moussaka. Or for something a little bit fancier, use a piping bag to turn them into duchess potatoes.
Variations
- Cheese – Switch out half of the regular cheddar cheese for something extra fancy, like camembert or gruyère. Or add sharpness with aged cheddar or parmesan!
- Herbs – Layer a small handful of fresh dill, chives or thyme through the potato slices or over the top before baking.
- Garnish – Top with a sprinkling of thinly sliced spring onion or fried shallots.
- Extra Flavour Variations – Think about adding extras like bacon bits, chicken stock or smoked paprika.
- Make it Spicy – Stir a little cayenne, tabasco or shichimi togarashi through the cream for a subtle spicy zing.
Serve it up along these Aussie BBQ favourites:
- Quick & Creamy Spinach Cob Loaf Dip
- Super Creamy Cauliflower Cheese
- Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake
- 5 Ingredient Australian Damper Recipe
- Australian Beef Party Pies (Mini Meat Pies)
- Easy Australian Pavlova Recipe
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5-6 potatoes sliced thinly, around 1 kg / 2 lbs, starchy potatoes are best
- 1 onion sliced in thin half moons
- 2 garlic chopped finely
- 300 g cream heavy cream or whipping cream is best, sub sour cream
- 2 cups tasty cheese grated or shredded pizza cheese mix works well
- Salt and pepper to taste, between each layer
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.
- In a large baking dish, line and layer half the potato slices.5-6 potatoes
- Sprinkle half the chopped garlic and onion slices over the top then give a generous crack of salt and pepper over the top. Evenly pour over half the cream.1 onion, 2 garlic, 300 g cream, Salt and pepper
- Now repeat the steps, layering the remaining potato slices and sprinkling over the remaining garlic and onion on top. Pour over the remaining cream, then top with the shredded cheese. . Garnish with an extra crack of salt and pepper if you like.1 onion, 2 garlic, 300 g cream, 2 cups tasty cheese, Salt and pepper
- Pop it in the oven and bake for around 1 – 1.5 hours. If your oven browns your cheesy top quickly, add a layer of aluminium foil over the top. Test with a fork or chopstick and remove from the oven when potato is soft.
- Top tip: If you’re dishing this up alongside a bbq, and the meat isn’t quite ready, top with aluminium foil to stop it over cooking and drying out then switch the oven to off or “keep warm” until everything is ready to be dished up.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Cover with Foil – Covering the tray with foil for the first part of baking will help to steam and soften the potatoes more quickly. Taking it off after that will ensure a deliciously golden cheesy topping.
- Baking Dish – A large, shallow baking dish works best to ensure you maximise your cheesy topping.
- Double the Recipe – If you’re feeding a crowd, double the recipe and make a huge batch!
- Use a Mandoline Slicer – These will give you even, thin slices that will help everything cook through. It will also you loads of time!
- Storage – Leftover potato bake will last around 3-5 days in the fridge (although with our hungry families, there’s hardly ever any leftovers to be found!).
- Cheese – Switch out half of the regular cheddar cheese for something extra fancy, like camembert or gruyère. Or add sharpness with aged cheddar or parmesan!
- Herbs – Layer a small handful of fresh dill, chives or thyme through the potato slices or over the top before baking.
- Garnish – Top with a sprinkling of thinly sliced spring onion or fried shallots.
- Extra Flavour Variations – Think about adding extras like bacon bits, chicken stock or smoked paprika.
- Make it Spicy – Stir a little cayenne, tabasco or shichimi togarashi through the cream for a subtle spicy zing.
Nutrition
30 Comments
Carla Titmarsh
14/08/2023 at 6:56 pmCooked exactly as instructed but it came out runny
Wandercooks
17/08/2023 at 6:15 pmThe good news is, a runny potato bake is the easiest to fix! Usually this just means it needs a little longer in the oven. Sometimes different cream brands or potatoes can have higher water content, so it’ll take a little longer to get that creamy finish.
A quick hack if you’re ever worried, or using milk instead of cream, is to add 2 tsp of cornflour / cornstarch dissolved into the milk / cream. This will help it thicken quick (and is helpful for most things you want to be thicker – like sauces, gravy etc.).
Pip
08/08/2023 at 7:01 pmI cooked it with milk instead of cream and left out the garlic and it tasted great. I just mixed a little flour in with the milk to make sure it thickens
Wandercooks
18/08/2023 at 9:36 amNice work Pip, I’m glad it still worked out great with those adjustments. Perfect work adding the flour to the milk to get that nice creamy finish still!
Alana
29/07/2023 at 10:06 pmI love potato bake and this recipe 😋 I also add bacon
Wandercooks
31/07/2023 at 9:29 amAmazing Alana, thanks for letting us know! LOVE the addition of bacon – we’re with you on that one!
Scott E
29/03/2023 at 4:41 amI tripled the recipe and did it in 3 layers as we had a big crowd. Added in a generous tablespoon of “chicken better than bouillon” to the cream and it was honestly amazing. First hour with foil on then took another 40mins or so without foil.
Just a note in case others have the same reaction, I thought there wasn’t enough liquid but I trusted the recipe and it came out perfect! Thanks for sharing
Wandercooks
29/03/2023 at 12:28 pmI’m so impressed with a triple batch, that sounds epic!! Love your addition of a little chicken stock powder too. Yum, wish we were at your dinner haha!
Shaye Arnold
25/01/2023 at 8:01 amGreat recipe, I always decrease the amount of potatoes and use whatever vegetables I have in the fridge, ie: sweet potato, capsicum, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower etc and make a veggie bake. The family love it and the grandkids even eat it without really knowing they are eating veggies.
Wandercooks
25/01/2023 at 5:32 pmGreat idea Shaye! We haven’t thought to do that before. That would be delish!
San
23/12/2022 at 10:46 amcan this recipe be prepared the day before, covered and refrigerated and popped in the oven the next day ?
Wandercooks
23/12/2022 at 12:57 pmHey San! Yep, you can prep the day before. I’d take it out the fridge maybe an hour before or do the microwave trick to cut down a little on cooking time in the oven. 😊
Eddie
15/12/2022 at 9:41 amEasy and tasty winner.
Wandercooks
15/12/2022 at 4:04 pmAwesome, cheers Eddie!
Kate
09/12/2022 at 3:38 pmEasy and flavour is there, potatoes are cooked, but mine came out dry. I used milk and yoghurt because I thought I had cream until I started cooking and realised the cream had been used. So maybe that was the problem. But the blog did say the French version used milk, so I thought it would be ok. Maybe I just needed to add more. Would try this again and play around with it.
Wandercooks
09/12/2022 at 7:17 pmHey Kate! Glad to hear the potatoes still cooked. Next time, try adding a little butter in with the milk to up the fat content and that might help. You can also try covering with foil for majority of the cook time to hold in that moisture. Then take it off the last 5-10 minutes to brown the cheese. 🙂
Patrick
08/12/2022 at 5:35 pmSuper delicious and easy to make, especially with the fantastic recipe directions here. Wife loved it +++
Wandercooks
09/12/2022 at 7:08 pmOh thanks Patrick, that’s so good to hear!
Joseph Ryan
10/11/2022 at 9:02 pmThis potato bake slaps. For someone trying to improve their cooking skills, I got it perfect the second time. So tasty thanks
Wandercooks
11/11/2022 at 11:18 amWell done! That’s awesome. Good luck with your next cooking adventure! 😀
Lee
25/10/2022 at 10:35 amGreat recipe!
Wandercooks
31/10/2022 at 11:12 amCheers for the feedback Lee!
pete
13/10/2022 at 12:08 pmit was yucky not enough cheese
Wandercooks
13/10/2022 at 1:20 pmFeel free to double the cheese Pete! We encourage adapting our recipes to your taste. 👍
Josh
03/12/2022 at 11:54 amYou sound like a spoilt child. You know it’s pretty easy to add extra cheese if you like more cheese. 🤦♂️
Naomi
26/06/2023 at 8:26 pmHa ha ha couldn’t have said it better myself 😅
liz
11/09/2022 at 8:16 pmSpuds are soft, perfect ratio of everything and easy to make thank you
Wandercooks
12/09/2022 at 4:01 pmOh awesome, thanks for the feedback Liz, so glad you enjoyed it!
Ann
10/08/2022 at 5:12 pmEasy potato bake, looks good, tastes great.
Wandercooks
12/08/2022 at 11:34 amAwesome Ann, thanks for letting us know!