When Daniel and I moved out of our apartment recently and I was cleaning out the cabinets I found a box of Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes. I asked Daniel about it and he said he bought a package at the grocery store because his mom used to make it for him as a kid. He never ate it but he liked seeing it in the cupboard. Something about potatoes in a box didn’t sit right with me but he was adamant about how great they were. He insisted we make the package so I could taste the greatness. Truthfully, they weren’t all that bad, but I told him I knew I could do better and decided to make some of my own.
These scalloped potatoes are a little lighter than typical but still make for a rich dish. I decided to put them in individual ramekins which is a great trick to limit portions (so you get a side dish instead of a second entree). They would be perfect for an Easter dinner or any time you were challenged to outdo Betty Crocker. Daniel gave them a big stamp of approval but I sense he still preferred the box mix. Sometimes there is just no replacement for nostalgia :)
Enjoy!
Individual Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ pounds small Yukon gold potatoes unpeeled and sliced paper thin (⅛-inch thick)
- 1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese 4 ounces
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, whisk the milk, cornstarch, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer until slightly thickened, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese until smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 6 8-ounce ramekins with cooking spray and place them on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Divide half of the potato slices among the ramekins, laying them flat and making sure that they are spread out to the edges of the ramekin (not all in one single stack). Pour half of the Parmesan sauce evenly over the potatoes, sprinkle half of the cheddar among the ramekins, then repeat with the remaining half of the potatoes, sauce, and finish with the cheddar.
- Cover each ramekin with foil and bake until the potatoes are beginning to soften and the sauce is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F, sprinkle the tops evenly with the remaining cheddar and bake until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Use a butter knife and run it around the inner edge of each ramekin and let them cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the tops evenly with the fresh chives and serve.
Notes
Calories 173.6, Total Fat 7.5g, Sat Fat 4.7g, Cholesterol 24.4mg, Carb 17.8g, Fiber 2g, Sugars 2.5g, Protein 8.7g
Nutrition
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin Photography
Definitely saving this one! When our daughter is sick, she craves Easy Mac n Cheese. The mere thought of that neon orange stuff makes me gag…..but, go figure! We all have our “comfort” food memories!
Looks yummy! I’m with you on the boxed potatoes. They’ve never measured up, in my opinion. But I also grew up on my dad’s amazing scalloped cheesy potatoes, and his mashed potatoes, so I was spoiled. :) I will confess to still enjoying Kraft Mac & Cheese, though, and I think that’s equal parts taste and nostalgia. In fact, I’ve almost always got some in my cabinet, and still enjoy it when I make it. :)
Looks perfect! Making this for Easter:)
I can’t wait to try these! Thanks for sharing!
Scollaped potatoes are life! Especially boxed. Mostly especially hamburger helper potato stroganoff. But like, only for nostalgia really. I would put em in the same category as lucky charms. Not exactly fitting into my current plan. Could be replaced or uneaten for years but…you know :) the Pratt snacks link from the other day was amaze:) hope you are well my love
Is pretty easy to see why people buy and use the boxed potatoes. I looked over the recipe and figured it would cost me around $12-$13 for the ingredients to make this. And does it really only make 2 servings or is it 6? Even at 6 servings that’s $2 – $2.50 just for the one side dish. I have never made these from scratch, but we’ve also cut down drastically on processed foods. It’s very rare that I make these and hubby absolutely loves them. Hubby’s parents and brother just packed up and moved from Florida to Alabama and in the process they gave us many bags of frozen strawberries. I don’t really like these kinds of frozen berries, because just being in the freezer does not stop their juice from coming out, so when you thaw them, you have to use immediately and if there are any left, you pretty much have to throw away. He mentioned to me that this summer he’d like to use a few bags of them to make ice cream, so he got the recipe for making a gallon of homemade ice cream from his mom.. I knew he wasn’t going to like it, but I stood there with the ingredient list in hand, and proceeded to calculate the cost of this recipe. Now mind you, this is minus the price you would normally have to pay for the fruit, but nonetheless, it came to a whopping $9.00. I think he was very surprised when I told him it would only cost $9 to make his gallon of homemade ice cream. This knowledge makes me REALLY appreciate all the homemade ice cream that my in-laws have made over the years. It makes me wonder about all the articles I’ve read about how much money you can save by making all your meals from scratch?! Of course the nutritional value has to be much higher and better from cooked from fresh, but I even wonder about that. I read article after article about how our soil is depleted on many farms making even fresh foods not nearly as nutrtious as say like when my mother cooked (and I’m almost 62) or especially when her mother cooked. Truthfully I don’t even know if I could trust that organic foods are much more nutritionally superior?! I don’t buy organic, unless the store is completely out of something that I really, really need. Just recently I read several articles questioning whether it’s really healthier to buy and cook organic. To me it’s absolutely maddening…….who can you believe to tell you the honest truth?
Ok, so sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox. I’m just reminded of the cooking shows on tv, or the beautiful cookbooks you can buy, but you think to yourself…….I can’t buy the ingredients to make this recipe. I can either make this one meal or I can feed my family for a week? And you think unless I make this recipe many many times, I’m going to be left with ingredients that I don’t ordinarily use, and I certainly don’t want them to go bad.
It’s enough to make a person’s head explode, lol. Or maybe it’s just me. But I can’t be the only person that has my same budget for food.
Ok, I did just see that it makes 6-8 servings, so that changes it to $1.50 per person if it serves 8.
Very tasty! I used 3 potatoes for 4 oblong ramekins. Needed more salt, but flavorful. Could almost double sauce too if you wanted extra decodence. Very inexpensive but impressive side dish.
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