Slow Cooker Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
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This crockpot version of scalloped potatoes is so EASY, creamy, tender and cheesy! And it frees up your oven space!
In an ideal world, we would all have double ovens in our kitchen for the holidays.
Because cooking 8 different dishes that require 4 varying oven temps would be near impossible without any of the food getting cold.
That’s why your slow cooker becomes another type of “oven” for you.
An even better oven, really. Because now, you don’t have to babysit what’s in it the entire time.
Like with these scalloped potatoes. All you have to do is layer your potatoes between the homemade cream sauce and Gruyere cheese.
You can certainly serve this as is, but if you really want to impress your guests, you can go the extra mile in two ways.
- If your slow cooker has an oven-safe insert, you can pop that right in the oven for a 2-3 minute broil just to give it some color. That’s what I did here.
- If you happen to have a handy dandy creme brûlée torch, you can also use that to add a little bit of browning.
Either option works so choose wisely. I mean, at the end of the day, you can’t go wrong here – it’s potatoes layered with cheese!
Slow Cooker Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together heavy cream, garlic, thyme and nutmeg over medium heat until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add a layer of potatoes to a 4-qt slow cooker in an overlapping pattern; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour 1/3 cup cream mixture over potatoes; sprinkle with Gruyere. Repeat with remaining potato slices, cream mixture and Gruyere to create 2 more layers.
- Cover and cook on high heat for 4-5 hours, or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover and cook until melted, about 5 minutes.
- Remove lid and let potatoes rest for 15 minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken as it sits.
- Serve, garnished with thyme, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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I need 12-14 servings for this recipe, so I’d like to double it. I have a 6 qt slow cooker, what modifications should I make?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I read all the reviews on this recipe before making this and to be honest I was so worried about the curdling issue everyone discussed. I followed the recipe exactly as stated except I sued mozzarella instead of Gruyere and everything came out perfect. I actually cooked the dish the day before for 4 hours on high and then reheated the next day in the same crock pot and it was delicious!
I’ve had this before. Darn good. What temp and time would you do in a regular oven.?
You can try this recipe instead:
https://damndelicious.net/2013/11/23/parmesan-crusted-scalloped-potatoes/. 🙂
Hello Chungah! First of all I want to say that I have made and loved so many of your recipes! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. This recipe tasted great but curdled on me. Do you know what causes this and how I can avoid it in the future? Thank you.
Can you make sauce night ahead layer everything in crockpot then cook it the next day?
Would you have an instant pot version of this? Thanks!
I usually make my scallop ed potatoes in the oven. Layers of potatoes, butter pats, green pepper, onions and ham, flour , onion, salt and pepper. Top off with milk also pieces of ham. Going to try this in crock pot.
The sauce probably curdled for the people who prepared the potatoes in advance and used vinegar or lemon juice to stop them from browning. Vinegar and/or lemon juice would cause cream to curdle.
I made these once before. They were DELISH!!! I took them to a potluck and everyone asked for the recipe. Going to end of summer party today and they were requested by the host.
Does anyone have problems with the heavy cream curdling? Sorry. Just read the rest of the posts
These were tasty and easy! I didn’t have any Gruyere cheese, but I had mozzarella and I think it worked great. Definitely will make this again, thanks!
I’m not sure what the difference was between what we did and what everyone who got curdled cream did, but we followed the recipe and it was one of the best potato recipes we’ve ever had. And we’ve done a lot of scalloped and au gratin in the oven. We doubled it and it was in our 6 quart and it was delicious. This is going to be in the recipes round now.
Made these potatoes today with our Easter ham. The potatoes were delicious, but were ready a lot sooner than they were supposed to be. I had the setting on my crockpot set to four hours. Only took about two. I guess it depends on the strength of your crockpot. Thanks for a great recipe!
Can i use Yukon gold instead?
I am anxious to try this recipe. After reading all the comments regarding curdled sauce, I decided to Google what causes this problem. They say high heat and simply laying cheese and cream is the culprit. The suggestion offered is to make a simple white sauce first. Fully incorporate the cheeses into the sauce, and then proceed to layer potatoes and sauce. I’m hoping this little trick will be a solution to this problem.
Are you considering making an app for your recipes?
I was searching for Christmas dinner ideas on Pinterest and came across this recipe. I’m always excited at the idea of freeing up some oven space for the rest of the things I’m making. Can’t wait to try it, thanks for sharing!
Transfer to OVEN that is;)
At what point did you transfer to over to brown? Does it matter? Thanks, I’m excited to make these for a Christmas!
I’m making this recipe tonight for a church potluck tomorrow morning. I hope it will endure being on the low setting for a lot longer than 4 hours. I’m hoping I can cook this late tonight then let it sit off, on the counter overnight and start to reheat it in the morning. I’m leary of the comments about the cream curdling. I am using half and half. Maybe that will fare better than cream. I’ve made a scalloped potatoes in the crockpot before (a different recipe) and it was too wet and the potatoes were not cooked as much as I had expected. SO….I may reduce the liquid in this recipe and play it by ear. I love my french oven scalloped recipes, so I have high expectations. I’ll get back and let you all know how they turned out.
I make a great scalloped potato and have used the same recipe forever but was intrigued by the “crock pot” idea. That was until I noticed so much Thyme is in this recipe. I have noticed every recipe you have has thyme in it and it’s one of my least favorite spices and I find it takes over. Is there another spice you recommend? I personally use just kosher salt and pepper for scalloped potatoes
You can omit if you are not a fan of thyme and substitute with an herb of your choice.