Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyère
59 comments » 
As you all know, I’m not much of a vegetable person. I make veggie lovers cringe and shake their heads in embarrassment. I do, however, LOVE sweet potatoes. Baked sweet potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes… pretty much however you want to prepare them, I’ll eat sweet potatoes. Unless of course you make one of those overly sweet candied sweet potato casseroles with marshmallows on top. That I have never, ever loved, but it was always a Thanksgiving staple. Last year when I set my sights on re-making the cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and a few other things, I went about looking for a new way to bring sweet potatoes to the table. I gave two recipes a test-run last year, one was the Mashed Sweet Potato Brulee, which I shared last year, and this Sweet Potato Gratin. Think scalloped potatoes, but with sweet potatoes. And lots of delicious Gruyère cheese. Which could sell me on eating pretty much anything.
I have a mandoline that I love for tasks like this. Quick, even slices at a constant thickness, in this case 1/8-inch. If you don’t have one, it’s a kitchen toy I definitely recommend! I have the OXO Good Grips V-Blade version ($40).
You build this gratin by piling on four layers of sliced sweet potatoes with salt, pepper, fresh thyme and Gruyère cheese between each layer. Then you pour garlic-infused cream over top of the whole thing, and of course top with more cheese. The result is a scalloped potato-like dish – tender and creamy, with subtle thyme and garlic undertones, and beautifully cheesy. This was another home run dish last year, and it’s going to be making an encore this year for sure.
One year ago: Fresh Green Bean Casserole
Two years ago: Cheddar and Chiles Bread
Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyère
Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1½ cups heavy cream
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/8-inch thick
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 cups shredded Gruyère cheeseDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small pot bring cream and garlic just to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside. Butter a 9x13-inch shallow casserole dish or gratin dish of similar size and set aside. Stir the cooling cream occasionally to help prevent skin from forming.
2. Build the Gratin: In the buttered casserole dish, spread one quarter of the sliced sweet potatoes out in a single, overlapping layer. Sprinkle the potatoes with 1/3 of the salt, pepper, and thyme and then about ½ cup of the grated cheese. Using another quarter of the sliced sweet potatoes, build a new overlapping layer. Again sprinkle with 1/3 of the seasonings and ½ cup of shredded cheese. Using half of the remaining sliced sweet potatoes, make another layer and sprinkle the last third of the seasonings and another ½ cup of cheese (you should have about ½ cup cheese remaining). Use the last of the sweet potatoes to make one final layer on top. Stir the garlic cream mixture then pour it evenly over the top of the gratin, being sure to cover the top layer of sweet potatoes. Shake the dish gently to distribute the cream. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
4. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, move the gratin to the top 1/3 of the oven and bake, uncovered, for an additional 20 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife. You may also place it under the broiler for a few minutes if you wish the top to be a deeper brown (but watch it closely!). Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
*Note: Make Ahead! You can slice your potatoes and completely submerge them in ice cold water, cover and refrigerate up to a couple of days. Then drain, pat dry and assemble the dish. Less to do on Thanksgiving morning, the better!
(Recipe adapted from Pinch My Salt)
print
save
email
Like you, I much prefer savoury versions of sweet potatoes and I particularly love anything with gruyère, I imagine it pairs perfectly with the sweet potatoes. Delicious!
Reply
I’ve yet to make a gratin from scratch! Looks amazing and tasty!
Reply
That’s awesome. I would be so happy to see this show up at the T-day spread.
Reply
This looks fab, I love baked sweet potato’s. How come when I make this stuff, mine never turn out like yours photos? It tastes great, but always messy looking! Sigh… I’ll get there some day!!
Reply
Gruyere makes everything better.
Reply
Oh I am making this for a holiday gathering!! Awesome. Pinned! http://pinterest.com/pin/554307094/
Reply
oh yum this looks awesome!
Reply
This looks so interesting and yummy! I’ve never actually made anything with sweet potato and thyme until this week when we made a sweet potato flatbread and I really liked it. This will definitely be a dish that I need to make soon! The combination of sweet and salty from the potatoes and cheese is so awesome!
Reply
This sounds incredible. Thanks Michelle! xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com
Reply
This is a great idea for a Thanksgiving side dish. Sounds delicious with the flavor of the cheese and a hint of the thyme. Looks so pretty too.
Reply
yummm, this looks fantastic, love sweet potatoes and love gruyere!
Reply
I luv sweet potatoes and am always happy to discover a new recipe for them! Thank you for the tip on the mandolin, too. I’ve always wanted to purchase one.
Reply
Yum! Definitely trying this. And not a marshmallow in sight!
Reply
Yum! I love scalloped potatoes. I love sweet potatoes. This recipe looks perfect! This will be made!
Reply
Would it be wrong to eat these potatoes for breakfast? I didn’t get any breakfast today and these look deadly! YUM!
Reply
So funny, I just created a recipe for my cookbook that is pretty similar to this one. I used the white fleshed sweet potatoes though. I never know the difference between the two… the orange ones always seem like Yams to me. Maybe it’s a regional thing?
Reply
Michelle on November 18th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Oh that’s so funny, maybe it is regional. I’ve never seen a white fleshed sweet potato! Now I’m curious
Reply
Erin on November 18th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
I had an “aha moment” a couple years ago at my grocery store when they had orange yams, yellow/white sweet potatoes, and orange sweet potatoes all next to each other. I finally realized they were all different! Haha
Reply
Although I AM a huge fan of sweet potato casseroles topped with marshmallows, this also looks pretty amazing!
Reply
Once again, I’m totally giving this to my dad to make for Thxgiving. LOL.
Reply
holy crap these sound amazing! why haven’t i ever thought of making a gratin with sweet potatoes? oh that’s right, because i’m not awesome like michelle!!
yum yum yummmmm!
Reply
Love the sweet potato version of this dish!! Will add this to my thanksgiving list
Reply
Mmmmm, gruyere would be perfect with this! Sooo trying this.
Reply
Oh my gosh this looks DELICIOUS! I’m a huge fan of classic scalloped potatoes, but this looks like a fantastic new twist. Can’t wait to try it!
Reply
Oh my goodness! I just put this dish in the oven thirty minutes ago and while looking at my regular blogs I see this on your site! How weird! This was super easy and i used some regular potatoes in place of some sweet to switch things up.
Reply
Beautiful! Seasonal! And I just love the addition of Gruyere – that was a very sophisticated and exciting touch. Wonderful recipe and photography.
Reply
I’m addicted to sweet potatoes and have never thought of a gratin. I usually make them into wedges, or bake them and stuff them with tuna mayo. May try this as an alternative to roast potatoes this Sunday.
Reply
Hi! This looks scrumptious…question: do you think the sweet and savory is well-balanced here or does one outshine the other? I’m looking for more of a sweet flavor and am trying to figure out if the sweetness from the potatoes comes through strongly enough in spite of all the cheese…any thoughts? Thanks for posting this!
Reply
Michelle on November 20th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
If you want a sweet dish, then this is probably too much of a sweet/savory balance. I think it’s a perfect balance, but not so if you want something sweeter.
Reply
I adore sweet potatoes too but I am a veggie eater. Certain ones I can’t stand but otherwise I’ll eat them. This looks so good. I guess you could use a different swiss cheee if you can’t afford Gruyere, which is $13 a pound around here.
Reply
Sweet potatoes and gruyere are so fabulous together… This looks amazing!
Reply
Girl, I had never even heard of you (sorry), but this recipe is legit..!!!!
OMG, I printing this in my teeny tiny blog and sharing it with everyone I know. This is outrageous…
Lisa
Reply
This is a wonderful change from the standard sweet potato dishes and even the cheesey potato type of dishes. Sounds yummy. I rarely remember gruyere but it is a great cheese. Sounds like this is a winning dish. Maybe a nice add-on for Thanksgiving.
Reply
These look amazing, and I absolutely LOVE Gruyere. I will have to try this soon
Reply
Is there another cheese that could be substituted while making this?
Reply
Michelle on November 20th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Hi Brianna, You could use any type of Swiss cheese, or even a white cheddar.
Reply
OMG! I made a recipe very similar to this in a cooking class I took while I was in college. Only we used half sweet potatoes and half yukon gold potatoes, and nutmeg instead of thyme. I’m sure everything else was the same. The results were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.! I think about this dish all the time, but I had lost the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m very excited to make it again. You totally made my day;)
Reply
Im going to have to try this one out. Our family is anti sweet potato and it makes me sad! I love the flavor.
Reply
Several years ago I began hosting Thanksgiving for our large extended family. I replaced my grandmothers baked sweet pototes and marshmallow topping for a gratin and it was a hit. I just kind of improvised using a compilation of various recipes. This year I think I will stick to a plan, and try out yours. It looks great, and I love the fact your recipe calls for Gruyere cheese. Many of the others I looked at called for cheddar, (boring) or parmesan (not cheesy enough).
Reply
great use of sweet potatoes. sounds yummy!
Reply
I have already started prepping this for Thursday! The sweet potatoes are sliced, sitting in water in the fridge, and the Gruyere is shredded. Do you think it would be okay if I put this together Wednesday night and baked it off Thursday afternoon?
Reply
There wasn’t nearly enough cream to cover the potatoes – in fact, I added nearly another 3/4 cup of half-and-half, and it still only came halfway up the dish. However, it still cooked up beautifully. (In fact, the potatoes gave off enough liquid that I think if I HAD covered them, the pan would have overflowed.)
Reply
Michelle on November 26th, 2011 at 11:22 am
Ahh, my apologies if the directions weren’t written clearly – you don’t want to actually submerge the entire casserole in liquid; I just meant that you want to make sure that some cream touches all of the potatoes on top as you pour it over, so that they don’t dry out.
Reply
Made this as a side for Thanksgiving…I believe I’ve converted those who were not so sure about sweet potatoes. YUM.
Reply
Another note – when I reheated the leftovers, it broke and got greasy. Any idea how to prevent this? (Add a touch of flour to the cream, perhaps, or toss the shredded Gruyere in a bit of flour before layering?)
Reply
Michelle on November 26th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Hi Randy, My guess is that it is due to all of the extra liquid that you added (per your comment above).
Reply
Made this for thanksgiving and was a HUGE HIT!!!! Thanks
Reply
I just made this tonight for my annual holiday dinner with two other families, and it was a hit! I doubled the cheese because I bought an 8 oz block of gruyere cheese, which when shredded came to about 3 1/2 cups. I then added 4 oz of shredded cheddar cheese because when I made a different potatoes au gratin recipe, there wasn’t nearly enough cheese. I didn’t want that problem this time, and boy did it come out awesome. It was delicious! One guest told me 4 times how great everything tasted. I served this dish with a spiral ham from Costco, lima beans, and dinner rolls.
Reply
I made this over the weekend and it is easily in the top 5 best things I have ever made. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!
Reply
I have made this for thanksgiving and my husband and I loved it, he requested that I make and take it to our Christmas gathering. It was a hit there also. It will be on our must have holiday dishes. The cheese was excellant in this dish. Thanks!
Reply
How do you think this dish would turn out if I did the 30 minute foil covered baking part of this dish and then the next day do the 20 minute broiling part? I’m trying to streamline Thanksgiving day!
Reply
Michelle on November 10th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
Hi Cindy, I think you’ll need to bake it a bit to re-warm it before broiling the next day, to ensure that it’s heated through.
Reply
I made this last year and it was very yummy! But, to save some time this year I am trying to pre-make more items. Could I make this dish and only cook for half of the time the day prior, then refrigerate, and bake the additional time the next day? Or do you think it will taste better making it the day of? What do you suggest?
Reply
Michelle on November 13th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
Hi Maria, I think for the most part, everything tastes the best freshly baked. But to save time, you could bake this the whole way through the day before, then rewarm (and maybe a quick broil) the day of.
Reply
This was a huge hit at our house last year! Making again this year but would like to try making them as individual muffin tin sizes. Do you think this would work? Any suggestions?
Reply
Michelle on November 20th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Hi Taylor, I have not made these in muffin tins; you could certainly try, but I’m not sure how much layering and crispness you would get. If you do try it, I’d love to know how it turned out!
Reply
Made this yesterday and it is seriously one of the most delicious things I have ever made! Thanks for a new favorite! LOVE it! p.s. made it with Trader Joe’s cheddar/gruyere and that made it even that much more delish!
Reply
I made these to pair with fillet mignon (and brussel sprouts, bacon and caramelized onions) and it was the clear favorite of the whole meal. I followed your recipe exactly, except for the addition of one layer of white potatoes), and it came out perfectly. Thank you for sharing!!
Reply
I made this on Thanksgiving and it was so good that I’m making it again tomorrow for company with some steaks. I also added some dried Herbes de Provence and a little nutmeg to the cream, and sprinkled the Herbes throughout the layers too.
Also, I meant to use gruyere, just like you did, but then Publix had a Morel Mushroom and Leek Monterey Jack cheese, so I used that and mixed it with some baby swiss. So good! Thanks for the recipe!
Reply