This Potato and Onion bake is a simple french potato dish (Pommes Boulangère/Boulangère Potatoes) that is big on flavor, easy to make and makes a great alternative to creamy scalloped potatoes.
Boulangère Potatoes is an amazing potato bake. Thinly sliced potatoes and onions are layered in a baking dish with butter and herbs. Then broth/stock is poured over and the layered potatoes are baked in the oven until the potatoes are soft and tender and the top has a golden crunch to it.
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What are Boulangère Potatoes?
Boulangère Potatoes is the french name for oven baked sliced potatoes and onions.
They make a lighter and healthier alternative to creamy scalloped potatoes or cheesy potatoes au gratin. Scalloped potatoes or Dauphinoise potatoes are rich and creamy and oh so delicious, but sometimes you want something equally delicious but just a little lower in calories (maybe you are making space for an extra serving of dessert?)
Think of this as a cream free scalloped potatoes or a cheese free au gratin. But being lighter doesn't mean these are any less impressive or any less delicious.
In this oven roasted potato and onion dish, thinly sliced potatoes and sweet onions are layered in a casserole or baking dish, with plenty of seasoning and fresh herbs. These are then covered in broth and dotted with butter.
The potatoes go into a medium oven and are cooked for at least an hour, until the slices of potato are buttery and tender, releasing their starch into the broth which evaporates and thickens to leave you with a delightful potato and onion bake.
Origins of Boulangère Potatoes
I'm sure from high school french that Boulangère means baker? So these are Bakers potatoes?
YES! A Boulangère is a baker, and I know what you are thinking, "bakers make bread!" But the origins of this dish come from the french bakers.
Years ago in rural french villages, people did not have their own ovens. So before church on a Sunday, they would take a leg of lamb sat on a bed of sliced potatoes and onions to the bakers to cook. The baker would place these dishes in the bread oven to cook whilst he and the rest of the families headed to church. Then on the way home, everyone would collect their legs of lamb and potatoes ready for Sunday lunch.
Slowly the name developed and the potato and onion bake became a stand-alone side dish known as Boulangère Potatoes.
Can you make these ahead of time?
Because cut potatoes discolour, this dish is hard to prepare ahead of time and then cook when needed. BUT.....
You can prepare and cook this ahead of time and then reheat when you want to serve. (This also works with leftovers)
To reheat place the cooked Boulangère Potatoes in the oven (355ºF/200ºC) for 30 minutes. I start with the dish covered with foil and remove it for the last 10 minutes so the top gets nice and crunchy again.
Recipe Tips:
- You want a good allrounder potato for this dish. Too waxy and the potato bake will slip and slide apart when you serve. Too floury and the potatoes will disintegrate whilst cooked.
- I like to choose, Desirée, Nadine or a Yukon gold.
- You can decide whether you want to peel the potatoes. If you aren't peeling them just ensure they are well washed before you peel them.
- You want to cut the potatoes to around ⅛" thickness (3-4mm). This will ensure the potatoes cook in the hour. If your potatoes are thicker than this, then you will find the bake may need an extra 15 minutes in the oven.
- You can use a mandolin or the slicer attachment on your food processor to cut the potatoes. Or use a sharp knife (and a lot of patience) to cut them by hand.
- Don't soak or wash the potatoes. This washes away the starch, and we need the starch to thicken the liquid in the finished dish.
- Once you have sliced your potatoes, get the dish preparations finished and into the oven. Peeled potatoes will discolor easily.
- If you want a perfectly pretty top then lay the last layer of potatoes in concentric circles around your dish - more effort but it does look pretty! I don't bother with this though! 😉
- You can use any onions for this recipe. I like to use the large sweet onions if I can find them. But regular brown or white onions are still great. You can use red onions but they don't melt into the bake as easily.
- Whilst rosemary is the traditional herb to use, thyme, sage or oregano are also wonderful additions.
- You want to use an 8 cup (2 litre) baking dish for this recipe.
- Placing your baking dish on a baking tray or sheet pan can make it easier to transfer the full dish to the oven.
- Remember to season every layer well. That is what makes the difference to the flavor.
- If you want to make this dairy-free, then oil the bottom of the dish with olive oil and mix 1 tablespoon of oil into the broth/stock.
What to serve with Potato and Onion Bake
I love these with pretty much anything! But try serving your potato onion casserole with:
For more potato side dishes why not try:
Enjoy x
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Potato and Onion Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon butter - see note 1
- 3 onions - see note 2
- 2.6 lb washed potatoes (about 6 potatoes) - see note 3
- 2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped - see note 4
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups vegetable broth/stock
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F /180°C. (see note 5)
- Use some of the butter (about 1 tbsp) to grease the bottom and sides of a 8 cup/2litre baking dish. Place this on a baking tray for easy.
- Peel and finely slice the onions.
- Use a mandolin, food processor or sharp knife to cut the potatoes into ⅛ inch (3-4mm) thick disks.
- Arrange a layer of potatoes in your prepared baking dish, then top with onions, some of the chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper. Repeat the layers finishing with a top layer of potatoes and rosemary.
- Add any remaining herbs and seasonings to your broth and then pour it carefully over the potatoes, ensuring that it just covers the top layer.
- Dot the remaining 2 tablespoon of butter over the top of the dish, cover the dish with foil and then transfer the baking dish and tray to the oven.
- Cook for 60 minutes then remove the foil and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden and crisp. (see note 5&6)
Notes
- If you want to make this dairy-free, then oil the bottom of the dish with olive oil and mix 1 tablespoon of oil into the broth/stock.
- You can use any onions for this recipe. I like to use the large sweet onions if I can find them. But regular brown or white onions are still great. You can use red onions but they don't melt into the bake as easily.
- You want a good allrounder potato for this dish. Too waxy and the potato bake will slip and slide apart when you serve. Too floury and the potatoes will disintegrate whilst cooked. I like to choose, Desirée, Nadine or a Yukon gold.
- Whilst rosemary is the traditional herb to use, thyme, sage or oregano are also wonderful additions
- The potatoes can be cooked at a lower temperature for longer if that fits with your roast.
- Depending on the thickness of your potatoes and the depth of your baking dish, the bake may take longer to cook. If you keep them at ⅛"(3mm) then they should be tender within 75 minutes of cooking.
Matt says
What a waste of time and effort 2 hours in and potatoes are still hard
Just ordered an Indian so not all bad
Claire McEwen says
Hi Matt,
I think maybe your oven temperature was wrong, because at 350°F/180°C for 2 hours there is no way that sliced potatoes would be hard.
But Indian is never a bad idea either so 🤷🏻♀️
Cx
Bev says
Made this last night 10 / 01 / 2021 it turned out great and tasted lovely I used a oval dish and 3 lares of potatoes sliced thinly with the onions added salt , pepper and the rosemary between each lares used a chicken stock cube and poured it in so it was just touching the top lare. The only thing added was some low fat shredded cheese on the top and boom it was really good I cooked in the oven gas mark 6 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Me and my son loved it the potatoes were done to perfection and the was just enough moisture in the dish so no soggy potatoes. We normally have potatoe dishes made with cream or full fat cheese but me and my son are doing healthy eating and this dish tasted so good it’s now our go to potato dish. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us. Bev
Elaine says
My family still want creamy scalloped potatoes so I made a sauce with a roux, then add broth and cook till slightly thickened, remove from heat and let cool slightly then I add about 1/2 cup whipping cream. Then I pour the sauce over each layer, cover and bake as usual. I have then created a much lower calorie dish than traditional bake.
Halyna T says
Sounds like a great compromise. Do you still do 2 cups broth? How much flour? Thanks.
Kerry says
Absolutely delicious, thanks for posting this.
I'm vegetarian and it's great to have a dairy free alternative to creamy potato bakes.
Love it!
Pat says
My original comment disappeared. I had the same issues with there being too much liquid that did not absorb. I think my problem was the potatoes I used (Kennebec). They are all-purpose, but I don’t think they were starchy enough, plus they were harvested two days ago. My simple fix was to use a turkey baster to remove the excess liquid, and I also turned up the heat to 400 for the last 15 minutes. The potatoes were delicious, and the whole family enjoyed them! Yum!
Claire McEwen says
I think the type of potato could be an issue, also depending on the size of the dish the squid absorbs and evaporates at different rates. Glad you found a fix for it 🙂
Cx
Mother Love says
I am confused! Your recipe says to cover with foil while baking, and then you tell the reviewers that THIS is the reason it was swimming in liquid! I want to make it now….should I cover it with foil, or not?
Claire McEwen says
Hi there,
You cover the dish with foil for the first section of cooking and then remove the foil to make sure the liquid evaporates and the top browns.
I hope that helps.
Cx
Pat says
The same thing is happening to me. I ended up increasing the heat and taking out a lot of the liquid to see if that would help. Perhaps the starchy potatoes are not starchy enough, or too freshly harvested? They smell delicious though. Hopefully they will take just as good. 🙂
Moozie says
Awesome recipe,
Thanks for sharing. ☺☺☺
I made it with long life chicken stock, and added lots of garlic.
Perfect for a non dairy dish.
☺☺☺☺
Claire McEwen says
Oh I am so pleased you enjoyed the recipe!
Cx
Teresa says
Adding another idea of why mine went wrong like yours. After I sliced the potatoes I rinced them twice to remove starch. Was that a mistake?
Claire McEwen says
Hi Teresa, rinsing the potatoes will have reduced the starch which does help to thicken the liquid, but 3 cups poured off seems like an awful lot!
Sorry the recipe didn't work for you.
I am going to try this it again in all my different sized dishes (as I used the same dish each time for recipe testing) and see if I can get a better idea of what ratio to use if the dish is bigger or small than suggested.
Cx
Marimer Rivera Maysonet says
I make today this dish for my family it was delicious very light no greasy perfect with steak.
Claire McEwen says
Oh I am so pleased you enjoyed the boulangere potatoes!
I totally agree they are a great light potato side!
Cx
MaryEllen says
This turned out really good. I cannot have dairy or gluten do potato options are limited. This was delicious. I had a mixture of red and yellow potatoes. I did put the oven on 400 and it still took an hour.
Claire McEwen says
Oh I am so pleased you enjoyed it and that it was easy to switch out the butter and make it work with your diet. So many potato bakes are dairy based aren't they?
It does take a while to cook, I think it is just the dense layers of potato. I have tried hotter ovens and like you it still takes a good hour to cook.
Thank you for coming back to comment
Cx
Theresa says
We followed the recipe to the T and barely covered the top layer of potatoes. When the cook time was done, we were left with potatoes swimming in liquid. Not something we would ever make again.
Claire McEwen says
Oh I am really sorry to hear this Theresa. The liquid should almost all evaporate, and what is left should thicken due to the potato starch.
My first thoughts on why this might not have happened: Perhaps your dish was too small and deep, meaning the liquid had a smaller surface to evaporate from or did you cover the dish (maybe with foil for the whole cooking time)? This would have stopped the liquid evaporating.
Again sorry you didn't enjoy the dish.
Cx
Teresa says
I had the same problem. I used a good sized baking dish. If you modify this recipe to say how many layers of potatoes you recommend, since the liquid to cover the potatoes required a lot of liquid, and was too much . I did 5 or 6 layers. After an hour I ladled out 3 cups of liquid (yikes). I used 6 large potatoes. Should gave used a bigger pan but 9 x 12 seemed perfect.
Fiona says
Can this be made ahead of time
Claire McEwen says
Hi Fiona,
You can make this ahead of time and then reheat it in the oven (also great for leftovers)
I usually reheat for around 30 minutes at 355ºF/200ºC. I will start with the dish covered in foil and then remove it for the last 5-10 minutes to get the top crispy again.
If you want to prepare it but not cook it, then you can pour over the stock and let it sit until you are ready to cook. This works if you want to prep it say an hour ahead. But any more than that and the potatoes can start to discolour.
Hope that helps 🙂