French Onion Potato Gratin
By Matthew Fairman & Mark HuxsollPublished on October 31, 2023
Time
2 hours, plus 30 minutes cooling
Yield
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We prefer to slice the onions and potatoes using the slicing blade of a food processor; cut peeled onions and potatoes into halves or quarters, as needed, to fit through the feed tube. You can also slice the potatoes and onions by hand. Do not rinse or soak the sliced potatoes in water before cooking. You can substitute dry vermouth or dry white wine for the dry sherry.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine panko and 3 tablespoons melted butter in bowl. Stir in Gruyère, thyme leaves, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; set aside. Brush 13 by 9-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter.
- Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, water, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and thyme sprigs. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until water has evaporated and onions are softened, 12 to 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring often and scraping up any browned bits, until onions are well browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, discard thyme sprigs.
- Stir in broth, sherry, Worcestershire, mustard, remaining ½ teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer over high heat. Off heat, stir in potatoes until well combined. Transfer potato mixture to prepared dish and press potatoes into even layer.
- Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil, transfer to oven, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until top of potato mixture is spotty brown, potatoes are very tender when pierced with paring knife, and liquid is mostly absorbed, about 30 minutes longer. Remove dish from oven and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère mixture. Return dish to oven and bake until Gruyère mixture is bubbly and spotty brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. Serve.
Time
2 hours, plus 30 minutes coolingYield
Serves 8 to 10Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
To take a delicious potato gratin over the top, we added elements found in French onion soup. We started by caramelizing onions, cooking them with water, salt, and butter in a covered pan to speed up the process; the steam helped break down the onions efficiently so that when we uncovered them to finish cooking, they browned evenly. For big hits of flavor, we boosted the caramelized onions with beef broth, dry sherry, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard before tossing them with thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes. We baked the potato and onion mixture until the potatoes were tender and then topped them with a mixture of Gruyère, thyme, and panko. We returned the gratin to the oven to allow the topping to bubble and brown, just like the topping on a bowl of French onion soup.
Before You Begin
We prefer to slice the onions and potatoes using the slicing blade of a food processor; cut peeled onions and potatoes into halves or quarters, as needed, to fit through the feed tube. You can also slice the potatoes and onions by hand. Do not rinse or soak the sliced potatoes in water before cooking. You can substitute dry vermouth or dry white wine for the dry sherry.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine panko and 3 tablespoons melted butter in bowl. Stir in Gruyère, thyme leaves, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; set aside. Brush 13 by 9-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter.
- Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, water, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and thyme sprigs. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until water has evaporated and onions are softened, 12 to 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring often and scraping up any browned bits, until onions are well browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, discard thyme sprigs.
- Stir in broth, sherry, Worcestershire, mustard, remaining ½ teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer over high heat. Off heat, stir in potatoes until well combined. Transfer potato mixture to prepared dish and press potatoes into even layer.
- Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil, transfer to oven, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until top of potato mixture is spotty brown, potatoes are very tender when pierced with paring knife, and liquid is mostly absorbed, about 30 minutes longer. Remove dish from oven and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère mixture. Return dish to oven and bake until Gruyère mixture is bubbly and spotty brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. Serve.
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