Square pieces of Scalloped White and Sweet Potatoes

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Try these Scalloped White and Sweet Potatoes next time you need a decadent and impressive side dish. These make-ahead potatoes are thickened with whipping cream and cheese so there’s no flour at all. That makes them naturally gluten free but no one will care about that. They’ll just ask for more so don’t bother serving small polite squares.

Organize For Success

More than one of my followers have told me they make a double recipe of these Scalloped Potatoes. I call that smart planning for holiday dinners and entertaining all winter long! They also tell me they make them in advance and freeze them. I’ve never done it but excellent sources tell me it works.

I love the idea of choosing a tried-and-true recipe for a special occasion by making the presentation special. So go ahead and make it now, just like any scalloped potato dish. If you think it’s as fabulous as I do then you’ll want to take it to that next special occasion.

You never know, you just might start a new holiday tradition.

Get The Tools for Scalloped Potatoes

If you’ve ever wanted to buy a mandoline, this is the reason to buy it. You can make uniformly thin slices of any vegetable with a few different tools but my pick is the mandoline.

Sweet Potatoes vs Yams

The contrast of the orange and white coloured flesh of the potatoes is what makes this dish special. (And the whipping cream in my opinion). When you go to the store that’s what you need to buy.

With the popularity of sweet potato fries you would think sweet potatoes have orange flesh. Wouldn’t you?

Being a foodie I always thought yams had orange flesh and sweet potatoes had white flesh. I don’t keep information like that in my head so I did a bit of research. It turns out that’s actually true but it’s more complicated than that.

Sweet potatoes come in varieties (of course they do!) and the colour varies depending on the variety. The flesh can range from white to orange and even purple. 

Yams are a white tuber not commonly available. According to my research because of a labelling law some sweet potatoes are labelled as yams. Apparently when sweet potatoes came to North America shippers and produce suppliers needed to distinguish them from potatoes. They simply called them yams and the rest is history.

For food history buffs you can read more here, Sweet Potatoes 101.

For everyday cooks there’s an excellent chance you’ll easily find something orange and something white.

If you made this dish I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Originally published in October 2015, updated November 2021

More Recipes – Special Occasions and Everyday Meals

Click on the text on each image to go to the recipe/blog post.

I’d serve these Scalloped White and Sweet Potatoes with any of these meals and even:

Ingredients

2 medium orange fleshed potatoes, 1-1½ lbs
3 medium white or yellow fleshed potatoes, 1-1½ lbs
2 cups whipping cream
1 egg
½ tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp dried thyme (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz Gruyere or Swiss cheese, shredded
GARNISH – fresh thyme

Directions

1
Preheat oven to 350°F.
2
Peel sweet potatoes and white potatoes then slice using a mandoline with the 1.5 mm blade.
3
In a large measuring cup combine whipping cream, egg, garlic powder, nutmeg and thyme, if using. Stir until combined. Set aside.
4
Brush an 8-inch square, glass baking pan (or two loaf pans) with oil and line with parchment paper leaving some hanging over two sides.
5
Make 3 layers each, alternating sweet and white potatoes, slightly overlapping the slices of each layer.
6
Top each layer with salt and pepper, a generous sprinkling of cheese and some of the cream mixture.
7
Repeat with the white potato slices, salt and pepper, cheese and cream mixture.
8
Repeat layering until you have 6 layers; 3 of sweet potatoes and 3 of white potatoes.
9
Finish top layer with remaining cheese and cream mixture.
10
Fold the parchment over the potatoes and cover with foil.
11
Bake in 350°F oven for 90 minutes.
12
Serve hot or cool and refrigerate overnight, to serve with an impressive presentation.
13
Using the excess parchment paper remove potatoes from baking pan.
14
Cut the potatoes into serving size squares. Put back into the dish, or a slightly larger dish, to maintain their shape while reheating.
15
Reheat in 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

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Ingredients

Directions
  • 2 medium orange fleshed potatoes, 1-1½ lbs
  • 3 medium white or yellow fleshed potatoes, 1-1½ lbs
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ⅛ tsp nutmeg
  • ⅛ tsp dried thyme (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 oz Gruyere or Swiss cheese, shredded
  • GARNISH – fresh thyme
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Peel sweet potatoes and white potatoes then slice using a mandoline with the 1.5 mm blade.
  3. In a large measuring cup combine whipping cream, egg, garlic powder, nutmeg and thyme, if using. Stir until combined. Set aside.
  4. Brush an 8-inch square, glass baking pan (or two loaf pans) with oil and line with parchment paper leaving some hanging over two sides.
  5. Make 3 layers each, alternating sweet and white potatoes, slightly overlapping the slices of each layer.
  6. Top each layer with salt and pepper, a generous sprinkling of cheese and some of the cream mixture.
  7. Repeat with the white potato slices, salt and pepper, cheese and cream mixture.
  8. Repeat layering until you have 6 layers; 3 of sweet potatoes and 3 of white potatoes.
  9. Finish top layer with remaining cheese and cream mixture.
  10. Fold the parchment over the potatoes and cover with foil.
  11. Bake in 350°F oven for 90 minutes.
  12. Serve hot or cool and refrigerate overnight, to serve with an impressive presentation.
  13. Using the excess parchment paper remove potatoes from baking pan.
  14. Cut the potatoes into serving size squares. Put back into the dish, or a slightly larger dish, to maintain their shape while reheating.
  15. Reheat in 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Serve warm.