Crispy layered potato bake

Potato bake recipe

What’s the best side dish you can make with potatoes? If your answer is potato bake, you’ve hit the jackpot with this potato bake recipe. To make a basic potato bake you need to cut potatoes into thin slices, arrange them in a baking dish with seasonings such as herbs, garlic, salt and pepper, add some liquid and bake in the oven until the potatoes are golden on top and tender throughout. The liquid ingredients might be cream, milk, chicken stock, melted butter or a combination of these, depending on whether you’re making a creamy potato bake or a crispy potato bake like this one.

Most potato bake recipes ask you to arrange the potatoes flat in the dish, slightly overlapping the slices and layering in other ingredients as you go. Then, for a crispy crust, you might sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs over the top before cooking – this is known as a gratin topping in French cuisine.  

This crispy potato bake recipe is different because the potato slices are coated with butter and seasonings and then arranged upright, hasselback style, in the dish. This gives the potato bake an eye-catching finish, helps the potatoes cook evenly and makes it easy to tuck extra ingredients in between the layers.

You only need about 15 minutes prep time for this dish, but it does take an hour to cook in the oven. You want the potatoes to be tender underneath and crispy on top so you can’t rush a potato bake, but this gives you plenty of time to create a main dish to go with it. Don’t forget to let it cool slightly for 5 minutes after you take it out of the oven before serving. This helps the potatoes stick together so it doesn’t fall apart as soon as you go to serve it.

Equipment you will need for potato bake

As well as an oven, you’ll need a baking dish with the right capacity to hold all the potatoes – about 8 cups or 2 litres. A round or oval dish looks great with the potatoes arranged in a circular pattern, but an square shaped dish will also work – you may want to use rows of potato rather than going around the edges and working your way in.

To prep the potatoes, you’ll need to slice them very thinly and evenly – about 3 to 5mm thick. You can do this carefully using a large sharp knife and chopping board. If you have a mandolin slicer, you can set it to the right thickness to quickly and evenly slice a lot of potatoes in much less time that it would take to do it by hand, but take extra care and use a safety guard to avoid cutting yourself on the sharp blade. A food processor also makes light work of slicing, but it’s harder to control the size of the slices so they may be uneven. This might not matter for a regular potato bake, but you need even-sized slices for the upright layers in this crispy potato bake recipe.

Ingredients you will need for potato bake

This easy potato bake only has 6 ingredients, starting with the potato. The best potatoes for this crispy potato bake are Red Royale potatoes because they’re great for baking and roasting and the red skin crisps up perfectly in the oven. Not having to peel the potatoes is a bonus and makes this an easy potato bake to prep for. 

Once you have sliced all your potatoes, pop them in a large bowl with 2 crushed garlic cloves, a tablespoon of fresh thyme and 1/3 cup (80ml) melted butter. Season well with salt and pepper and toss them to coat evenly – that way the flavour will be layered all the way through the bake and the butter coating will help the potatoes crisp up as they cook.

After arranging all of the potato slices upright to fill the baking dish, tuck whole sage leaves randomly among the slices for even more aromatic flavour. Then all you need to do is drizzle over the chicken stock – ¾ cup or 185ml is enough to cook the potato without adding too much liquid to the dish. The stock is absorbed into the potatoes as they bake, infusing them with flavour. When you bring the potato bake to the table, make it look fresh by topping with sprigs of fresh thyme and sage before serving.

What to serve with potato bake

This crispy, buttery potato bake serves 6 people as a side, so it’s perfect for serving as part of a lunch or dinner menu alongside grilled or roasted meats, or slow-cooked stews and casseroles. For a vegetarian meal, team it with other veggie sides such as mixed salad leaves with a vinaigrette dressing and steamed green vegetables such as green beans or baby broccoli.

Now get cooking

This crispy potato bake looks impressive but is easy to make. Follow our top tips for success every time, then enjoy this irresistible side with your favourite mains. For a simple variation you can cut into slices, try our potato, garlic and thyme torte. Looking for a creamy potato bake recipe? Check out our cheesy ham and leek potato gratin. Plus, head to our recipe collections for great-tasting meat dishes to match with potato bake – we have beef recipes, pork recipes, chicken recipes and more. While your potato bake is in the oven, you could be simmering a delicious main in your slow cooker – find great options in our slow cooker recipes collection.