Scalloped Potatoes With Tarragon Recipe (2024)

Little tiny town...no cippolinis, used regular sweet yellow onion. No leeks, used green onions. No fresh tarragon, used fresh thyme and chives. Added good parmesan, couple handfuls, to the top . OH my gosh....if it was this good after I boogered the recipe up, what must it be like using the original and authentic? Thank you, sir, for a wonderful recipe...we will have it once a year, at Christmas, I think.

I am a bit confused: the Step 3 directions say to drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of cream from the pan (after transferring potatoes to a pie plate. Does this mean that the rest of the 3 cup of heavy cream is to be discarded? I poured the rest of the cream over the potatoes and it turned out great.....creamy and rich yes, but delicious.

Hi Carol - did you prepare the entire casserole in advance and pop it in the oven? I too would like to prepare for a large dinner party in advance...did you cook the potatoes in the cream mixture in advance or pre-cook potatoes in water and then add to the cream and other ingredients when ready? How big a pan did you use for 5 pounds? I'd like to get everything ready 24 hours in advance of when it will be needed. I'm not much of a cook so your advise would be appreciated.

Can you make the whole thing in advance, then rewarm?

It looks like you’re throwing away most of the cream used for cooking the potatoes, along with some of the leeks, onions and tarragon. Only using 2-3 T to drizzle...?

Great recipe. I only used 1/2 cup cream and then milk with 2 tbs butter. This dish was originally cooked in France in the back of the baker’s oven after the bread was baked for the day. Thus, it is important to simmer on stove top for the allotted 15 minutes otherwise it takes a long time to cook. Also microplaned a garlic to ensure a robust flavor. BTW the starch in the potatoes thickens the recipe considerably so if you don’t want all the richness of the cream...it works with milk.

i like this recipe. it allowed me to get the potatoes ready in increments. I made the sauce, pre-cooked the potatoes, etc., the night before I baked them. also, since I was cooking for a large dinner party I used a 5 lb bag of potatoes, 2 regular onions, 2 leeks, a whole stick of butter and a quart of cream. delicious!

Yes, up to 2 days in advance. Reheat at about 250 degrees.

Besides the cream & butter, the richness comes from simmering the potatoes first, something I have never done before. Used half/half - just enough to cover mixture; no need to use cream because the starch in the potatoes thickens the mixture. I used fresh rosemary and parsley for flavoring. Delicious. Also spread potatoes in two layers, adding grated Gruyere to each one. This is an extremely rich and yummy dish, so served with lean lamb, green beans and chutney to add contrast.

Yes, this is very good; don't forget the salt and pepper before baking! Definitely needs it. But what to do with all that luscious leftover cream? I'm going to wing it and make a potato-leek soup and add the leftover cream at the end. I just don't like wasting 2 cups of really nice cream with tarragon...

Sweet Jesus. Five stars. I made it in one big cast iron skillet, no transfer needed. Added ham. Left in all the cream sauce. Did not cover. Half an hour or so in the oven and it was heaven.

I added some pared sliced parsnips to the potatoes, and they added a nice peppery flavor to the creamy mixture. I also substituted whole milk for 2 cups of the cream, and simmered the mixture with a bay leaf.

I use 1/2 half and half and 1/2 chicken broth and it is delicious and less fatty. Try it.

These are AMAZING! Not low fat, so we will only cook them on special occasions (unfortunately!) I couldn't find cipollini onions, so I substituted shallots.

Sally, I haven't made this recipe yet, but you might consider substituting fat-free evaporated milk for the cream. I've used it in a lot of French recipes and it has the desired thickness without the fat.

Delicious! Don’t be a dummy like me and preheat the oven at the start!! The instructions clearly say min of 30 minutes before it goes in. Waste of energy and money. Sad face. Next time I’ll preheat once the potatoes are in the dish and just wait a bit.

This was wonderful! So rich and luscious. As others have mentioned, there was a lot of that delicious cream left. I saved it and used it as a sauce for some pan-seared chicken thighs the next day. It would probably go well with some salmon, too.

This is a great method for scalloped potatoes in Colorado (at altitude). I have to triple the time I spend with potatoes. In this recipe, I simmered for 45 minutes until the potatoes were soft. This allowed most of the cream to thicken, and they baked perfectly. Minor adjustments based on preference and availability: 1/2 & 1/2 instead of cream, sage instead of tarragon, and spices in the simmer: salt (~ 1 tsp), pepper, dash of cayenne, nutmeg, and sweet paprika.

Just a note for the recipe writers: the ingredients say black pepper but the instructions for making it say white pepper.

We make this dish every thanksgiving. However my husband and I don’t like tarragon so we sub oregano, thyme and rosemary. Every few layers we sprinkle some Gruyère cheese and top it with the cheese. The left over cream is always frozen and pulled out a few weeks later to make the base of a seafood chowder sans potatoes (because a lot of starch gets into the creamy broth). Love this recipe

Made using these proportions in a 12" cast iron skillet. Beautiful and tasty and sized right. If you want cheese, go au gratin.

This recipe is fantastic and has become an annual tradition to accompany glazed ham. You can use half as much cream as indicated. A fun mod I do is grate a bunch of Gruyère on top for a crust, adds another layer of flavour and richness.

So very good!! Also very rich if you make it with the cream and butter in the recipe (I did, and I will again) Super popular with my guests and went very well with roast pork with fruit. I didn't have the large amount of cream left over that others mentioned--I did increase the recipe by 50% but left the amount of cream as written, so that might be the reason, but in any case they soaked up the liquid to the point that I didn't even consider drizzling cream over them at the end.

Don't bother with the precooking of the potatoes, just layer everything, whipping cream just above the potatoe layer, cover with foil and bake for an hour. Uncover and bake until the whipping cream evaporates to your desired consistency. Can take a couple hours total.

I found that 3 cups of cream was too much for this recipe!

It’s delicious, as directed! Well, i did temper the cream with hot water, using closer to 2 cups liquid overall and turned / stirred often. The leftover cream mixture i used to dip crusty italian bread like a fondue, wow so good, as a snack.

Amazingly Good. Even with my simplifications. Doubled recipe, skipped mushrooms, put it in a 9X13” baking dish and used about 1/2 the cream sauce.

I sliced the potatoes thin with a food processor - definitely the way to go! Use a regular yellow onion. Do NOT leave anything behind when transferring to a baking dish. It all goes in and continues to thicken while it bakes. And ignore the blasphemy you see from others about substituting milk for the cream. This is an amazing dish!!

What's not to love? Okay, lots of grumpy comments about wasting cream, so I used 1.5 cups milk and 1.5 cups cream. Turned out, though, that since the potatoes were already soaked/covered in in the cream I didn't really waste much. I saved the rest anyway for a soup experiment. I love what the tarragon added, it's not an herb I usually use but it gave a good depth of flavor here. Yum!

As many have noted, this is fine when made with half-and-half and yellow onion. The important thing is the stovetop cooking before baking, which ensures the potatoes are evenly cooked and saturated with flavor.