🥔 Easy Shredded Potato Gratin
This Shredded Potato Gratin turns a bag of frozen hash browns into a creamy, cheesy side dish with golden, crispy edges in under an hour. There’s no peeling, thinly slicing, or carefully layering potatoes.
- 30 oz. bag frozen shredded hash browns (thawed and dried (I use a bag of Ore-Ida Shredded Hash Brown Frozen Potatoes)*)
- 1 small sweet onion (finely diced, (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla))
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2½ cups freshly shredded Swiss cheese (preferably Gruyère)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp pepper
- fresh chopped chives or parsley (for garnish)
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Dump the shredded potatoes and onions in a large mixing bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Slowly add in the flour and cook until no white streaks remain, stirring the entire time. Slowly whisk in the milk until well combined and smooth. Simmer for a couple minutes until it just starts to thicken a bit.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, salt, garlic powder, and pepper until the cheese has melted.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes and onions. Thoroughly toss to coat. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread to an even layer.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 40 minutes until bubbling and edges are crispy. If it's not golden brown on top, pop it under the broiler for a couple minutes (but watch it carefully so it doesn't burn!)
- Let rest 5 minutes so the sauce thickens and it's easier to scoop, garnish with fresh chopped chives or parsley, then scoop and serve.
An Easier Way to Make Potato Gratin
This shredded potato gratin recipe takes some of my favorite parts of au gratin potatoes and hashbrown casserole and meets right in the middle. You still get the rich, creamy cheese sauce of the classic gratin, but I use frozen shredded hash browns to keep prep time low, and all those little potato shreds give the sauce plenty of places to settle in as they bake. Every scoop is soft and creamy underneath with plenty of browned, crispy, cheesy bits on top. I make sure to dry the thawed potatoes really well first, since getting rid of that excess moisture helps keep the gratin creamy rather than watery. It’s simple enough to make without fuss, but it lands on the table like you tried much harder than you did.
Helpful Tips
- Thaw and dry the hash browns well! Frozen hash browns can hang onto quite a bit of moisture, so I dry them thoroughly before they go anywhere near the cheese sauce. Otherwise, that water ends up in the casserole and will thin the sauce and make those crispy edges harder to achieve.
- Cook the flour before adding the milk. Stir it into the melted butter for about 2 minutes, until smooth, to get rid of that raw flour taste and give the sauce a proper thickening base.
- Start with a block of cheese. I wouldn’t take the pre-shredded shortcut here. Freshly grated Swiss melts more smoothly, and Gruyère in particular gives the gratin the nutty, savory flavor that I associate with a really good potato gratin.
- Add the milk gradually. A slow pour and steady whisking help it blend smoothly into the roux. Then I take the pan off the heat before stirring in the cheese so it melts into the sauce without clumping.
- Save the broiler for last. After about 40 minutes, the sauce should be bubbling and the edges crisp. If the top is still looking pale, that’s when I give it a quick minute or two under the broiler to brown the top some more. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
- Give it 10 minutes before serving. The sauce will be looser straight from the oven, but it thickens as the gratin rests.
- 9×13-inch Baking Dish
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Medium Saucepan
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
