Sweet Potato Dauphinoise

This sweet potato dauphinoise is one of my favorite side dishes - perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas, for instance! This Savory Sweet Potato Pie is also perfect for the holidays. This time, I tried something different: a flavorful Parmesan sweet potato gratin.

Layers of meltingly soft potatoes are spiced with cinnamon, cumin, and turmeric. This garlicky and cheesy dish is perfectly suited as a side for chicken or fish. This gratin works as a main dish, too.

I reheated the leftovers the next day and made a crisp green salad with Yogurt Dressing, and I couldn't have been happier. A satisfying, light, and super healthy lunch!

Ingredients: 10 | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 4 | Difficulty: Easy

Recipe ingredients

Dairy: I use a mix of milk and cream for this gratin. You can use only cream if you prefer, but using only milk won't work - the dish will turn out too runny.

The combination gives the gratin a creamy texture without being overly rich. Sweet potatoes used for potato gratin should be sliced very thinly and regularly.

Otherwise, it will take them ages to cook.

• It is very advisable to use a mandoline; it makes the job much better and faster than you could possibly do it yourself. I tried many times (before buying a good mandoline) to cut potatoes thinly, but it never really worked out.
• You don't need a mandoline to make these Baked Sweet Potato Slices.

Parmesan: Choose a vegetarian hard cheese if you like to keep this dish vegetarian. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to make sweet potato dauphinoise? Step #1: Slice the sweet potatoes very thinly using a mandoline or a sharp chef's knife. Step #2: Mix them with the oil and spices.

Step #3: Mix heavy cream and milk in another bowl. Step #4: Pour ⅓ of the liquid mixture into the baking dish.

Arrange ½ of the potatoes in the dish. Step #5: Sprinkle them with ½ of the Parmesan. Step #6: Add another ⅓ of the milk-cream mixture and arrange the remaining sweet potato slices on top.

Pour in the remaining liquid. Step #7: Push the sweet potatoes a little bit down so that the liquid surrounds them.

Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Step #8: Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and set.

How to season the sweet potatoes? I used a mixture of cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, and garlic, a rather Middle East-inspired spice mixture.

But this spice mixture is really optional; you can spice the dish with any kind of spices you like, something to better fit your personal taste, or something to fit the main dish you're serving this gratin with. Salt and pepper would be quite enough as well if you like to keep it simple; the tubers have enough taste on their own. Otherwise, I sometimes like to spice the dish with paprika, either sweet, hot, or smoked, dried herbs like thyme, savory, or oregano, and even herb mixtures like Herbs de Provence or Italian Herbs.

Just follow your inclination; I think you can hardly go wrong here.