Scalloped Potatoes

Michael Eisenwasser

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Thin-sliced potatoes baked in heavy cream with Gruyère, thyme, and garlic-infused oil. No onion, no raw garlic.

Prep 20 min

Cook 1 hr 15 min

Serves 8

Gluten-free

Ingredients

• 3 lb (1.35 kg) Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, peeled
• 2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing), optional
• 4 cups (960 ml) heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs for the top
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 11 oz (320 g) Gruyère or sharp cheddar, grated (about 3 cups loosely packed)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, for greasing the dish

Instructions

Prep the Dish and Potatoes

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Rub a 9x13-inch (3-quart) baking dish generously with the butter, getting the corners and up the sides.
2. Slice the peeled potatoes into rounds about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. A mandoline gives the most even slices. A sharp knife works if you keep a steady hand. Don't rinse the slices. The starch helps the sauce thicken and cling.

Infuse the Cream

1. In a large saucepan, warm the garlic-infused oil over medium-low heat for 30 seconds. Sprinkle in the asafoetida if using and let it bloom for 10 seconds until fragrant.
2. Pour in the heavy cream. Add the thyme leaves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Bring to a bare simmer, then turn off the heat. Don't let it boil or the cream can break.
3. Add the potato slices to the warm cream, stirring gently to separate any stuck-together rounds and coat each slice. Let them sit in the cream for 5 minutes.

Layer and Bake

1. Transfer about a third of the potatoes to the buttered dish with a slotted spoon, shingling them in overlapping rows. Spoon over enough cream to come halfway up the layer. Scatter with about a third of the cheese.
2. Repeat for a second layer: potatoes, cream, cheese. Add the final layer of potatoes and pour any remaining cream evenly over the top. The cream should come up to just under the top layer of potatoes; press the potatoes down so they're mostly submerged.
3. Finish with the last of the cheese and tuck a few thyme sprigs into the top for color.
4. Cover the dish tightly with foil (butter the underside if it'll touch cheese) and bake for 45 minutes.

Brown and Rest

1. Remove the foil. Bake uncovered for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is deeply golden and a paring knife slides through the center with no resistance. The cream should be bubbling thickly around the edges.
2. If the top hasn't browned to your liking, run it under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes — watch it constantly.
3. Let the gratin rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving so it sets up. The cream thickens as it cools and the slices hold together cleanly. Cut too early and you get a soupy puddle on the plate.

Tips & Substitutions

• Use heavy cream here, not lighter dairy. Monash lists heavy (thickened) cream as low-FODMAP in moderate serves because most of the lactose is in the watery part, and heavy cream is mostly fat. At 8 servings, this comes out to about 1/2 cup (125 ml) of cream per serving. Don't swap in light cream or half-and-half; those have more lactose by volume and can get high-FODMAP quickly.
• If lactose bothers you, use lactose-free heavy cream (if you can find it) or switch to the lactose-free milk + butter version below. Even within low-FODMAP limits, regular cream can still bother a sensitive gut.
• Lighter dairy version. Replace the heavy cream with 2 1/2 cups lactose-free whole milk plus 1/2 cup melted butter whisked together. It won't be quite as rich or thick, but it's easier on digestion and still bakes up well. Check the pan at the 45-minute mark; the thinner sauce can reduce faster.
• Gruyère vs. sharp cheddar. Gruyère melts smoother and tastes a bit nuttier. Sharp cheddar tastes stronger and is more familiar on an American dinner table. Both are well-aged and low-lactose, with Monash listing 40 g per serve as low-FODMAP. At 8 servings, this recipe provides about 40 g per serving; if you're sensitive, keep your portion to 1/8 of the pan. Parmesan works as a top-layer accent but is too dry to carry the whole dish. Start with 1 1/4 teaspoons salt in the cream if you use cheddar, since it runs saltier than Gruyère.
• Asafoetida adds an onion-like flavor. A small pinch bloomed in the oil gives the savory depth that scalloped potatoes normally get from sliced onion layers. Start with 1/8 teaspoon if you're sensitive, since hing is potent. Use a gluten-free hing brand if you have celiac; many versions are cut with wheat flour.
• Use garlic-infused oil that's been strained of all garlic pieces — no solids in the bake. The fructans are only safely left behind when the garlic is removed after steeping.
• Make-ahead. Assemble the whole dish up to a day ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Add 15 minutes to the covered baking time straight from cold. The rest is identical.
• Slice thickness matters more than anything else. 1/8 inch is the sweet spot: thin enough to cook through in the covered phase, thick enough to hold shape when you serve. Thicker slices stay chalky in the middle; thinner ones fall apart.

Why This Works

Potatoes carry the whole dish. Monash lists yellow and red potatoes as low-FODMAP in typical serving sizes, and they're generally very well tolerated. That reliability is what makes potatoes such a strong holiday anchor.

Heavy cream sneaks in under the lactose limit. Regular cow's milk is high-FODMAP because of the lactose. Heavy cream flips the ratio: it's about 36 percent fat and only a few percent lactose, which is why Monash lists it as low-FODMAP at moderate serves while milk is restricted. Keep each serving at or under 1/2 cup of cream and you're on target.

Aged cheeses are effectively lactose-free. During the aging of Gruyère and sharp cheddar, bacteria eat almost all the lactose. Monash rates 40 g per serve as low-FODMAP for both, and the nutty, savory flavor does a lot of the work onion and garlic would normally do.

Garlic-infused oil plus asafoetida replace the alliums. Garlic's fructans don't dissolve in oil, so garlic-infused oil delivers the flavor with none of the FODMAPs. Asafoetida adds the onion-adjacent savory note that a classic gratin usually gets from sliced onion. Together they cover the aromatic base without using a single onion or clove of raw garlic.

Storage

Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container for up to 3 to 4 days at 40°F (4°C) or below. Reheat individual portions in the microwave covered, or rewarm a full pan covered with foil in a 325°F (165°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. A splash of extra cream or lactose-free milk over the top before reheating keeps it from drying out. Scalloped potatoes don't freeze well — the cream separates and the potato texture turns grainy on thaw — so plan to eat within the week.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.