Make-Ahead Scalloped Potatoes

Spring break. The pandemic version of spring break, which is no trip and no pool and no Livestock Expo, just a week at home with four children and the slow emergence of spring — crocuses in Gayle's yard, the lilac bush budding (Larry's lilac bush, thirty-six years old, still blooming, still alive, still not caring that the man who planted it is gone). The kids are home and the house is loud and the loudness is life, and life during a pandemic is still life, even when it is loud and messy and the grocery bill is four hundred dollars a week and someone is always hungry.

I took the kids to Gayle's house — all four of them, the first time all four kids have been inside Gayle's house since March 2020. Gayle is vaccinated. The kids are young and healthy. The risk is low enough that I have decided the risk of not going — the risk of Gayle not seeing her grandchildren's faces up close, not hearing their voices without the barrier of a screen door — is higher than the risk of the virus. The math says: go.

Gayle fed them. She made lunch — grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, the lunch she has been making since 1972, the lunch that has not changed because Gayle does not change lunch the way Gayle does not change opinions. The kids ate it at her table and Josie sat in Larry's chair and Tyler knocked over his soup and Gayle said, 'That table has survived worse,' and the worse she meant was forty years of living, and the table survived it, and Gayle survived it, and the soup was cleaned up and replaced and the meal continued. The meal always continues.

I made pot roast for Sunday dinner — the full Sunday dinner, the one I make when the family deserves the full treatment: pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green beans. The pot roast simmered all afternoon and the house smelled like Sunday and Sunday smelled like recovery and recovery smelled like beef and onions and thyme and the slow, patient return of something we almost lost.

The pot roast had been doing its slow, unhurried work all afternoon, and the house smelled the way houses are supposed to smell on Sundays — like something worth coming home to. I wanted every side dish to match that same energy: patient, generous, already done by the time it mattered. These make-ahead scalloped potatoes are exactly that kind of recipe. I prepped them in the morning while the kids were still noisy and the day was still full of possibility, slid them into the oven when the afternoon light went golden, and by the time we sat down, the whole meal felt like the Sunday dinners we had almost forgotten how to have.

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8-inch thick
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk, warmed
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

Instructions

Make the sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute, then gradually whisk in warm milk and heavy cream. Stir continuously until the sauce thickens, about 5–7 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the cheddar and all of the Gruyere until melted and smooth.
Layer the potatoes. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange one-third of the potato slices in an overlapping layer. Pour one-third of the cheese sauce over the top. Repeat the layering two more times, finishing with sauce. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar and the thyme over the top.
Refrigerate (make-ahead step). Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before going into the oven so the dish comes closer to room temperature.
Bake covered. Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes, until the potatoes are beginning to soften when pierced with a knife.
Bake uncovered. Remove the foil and continue baking for 30–35 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling and the potatoes are completely tender throughout.
Rest before serving. Let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving. This allows the sauce to set so it portions cleanly onto the plate.

Nutrition (per serving)

Make-Ahead Scalloped Potatoes — The Sunday Dinner That Brought Us Back