Gruyere and Thyme Stacked Potatoes (2024)

Potatoes, gruyere, and thyme… oh my! It’s only the ULTIMATE trifecta of savory food. Whether you’re looking for an easy yet delicious side dish recipe for a weeknight meal, a special date night dinner, or a Thanksgiving side dish, this combination hits the spot.

I’ve been semi–obsessed with ultimate comfort a lot lately. It’s no secret that when the temperature drops in Minnesota, we reach for cheese, carbs, and more cheese and carbs for comfort.

And these potato stacks are no exception in the ultimate comfort category. We’re talking carbs, and cheese, and herbs, and crispy edges and cheesy centers and helloooo, love, come to mama!

There’s truly nothing better than crispy potatoes.

You’ll love how elegant and unique these potato stacks are to make, and even more so you’ll love how EASY they are to make, too. There truly is nothing better. So, what do you say, let’s get to cooking!

The Ingredients

There are just a few simple ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. Simple yet elegant and impressive, that’s what we’re after! Here’s what you’ll need:

• Yukon Gold Potatoes: also known as yellow potatoes, they are smaller in size than Russets or sweet potatoes, and are the perfect size to fit in our muffin tin. They have a thin, waxy skin that crisps up in this recipe, and their starchy, creamy interior melts in your mouth.
• Gruyere and Parmesan: a cheese combination that’s irresistible! Gruyere is complex in flavors, a mix of nutty, slightly fruity, and earthy, with a delicious finish. And parmesan is our salty must-have.
• Thyme: earthy, fragrant, herb-tastic thyme pairs so well with the cheeses and is the ultimate comfort herb of the season!
• Garlic: you really can’t have this combination of flavors without garlic!
• Butter: it helps the potatoes crisp up and adds loads of indulgent flavor!

Tips for Making Potato Stacks

Stacked potatoes just might be my new favorite way to enjoy potatoes. The thinly sliced potatoes are piled high into muffin tins, layered between a cheesy mixture with fresh herbs and garlic. Resulting in crispy edges and a creamy interior.

Those crisp edges are key, too, and the best way to achieve them is by making sure you have very thinly sliced potatoes.

A thin slice also ensures that the potatoes cook through to their tender, creamy selves.

I recommend using a mandoline to slice the potatoes. It ensures that each slice is the same thickness and makes cutting them a breeze (just be careful of the blade!). I use a hand-held mandoline that’s easy to store, use, and clean.

Once you’ve sliced the potatoes, you’ll toss them in melted butter until coated, which helps create both the crispy edges and keeps the centers of the potatoes moist. Plus, butter and potatoes are meant to be!

Because there is butter on the potato slices, there’s not really a need to grease the muffin tin. If you want to lightly spray it, be my guest, I just recommend doing so lightly as to prevent too much grease in the tin.

How to Assemble the Stacks

Ok, now that we have some tips and tricks down, it’s time to get to stacking! First things first, mix up the cheese layer.

For the cheese filling, you’ll combine a mixture of thinly shredded gruyere and parmesan cheeses, with fresh garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper for flavor. Toss it together until it’s completely combined.

As mentioned in the tips, you will have very thinly sliced potatoes. Toss the potato slices in the melted butter until they’re completely coated. I find this easiest to do with (clean!) hands to rub the butter all around the potatoes.

Now that the potatoes are coated in butter, it’s time to get stacking. Start with a regular-sized muffin tin.

In each muffin tin, you will stack the potatoes and cheese picture. I recommend layering about 4 potato slices for each potato layer. In each muffin tin, you will alternate the potato slices and cheese. It will go like this:

• potatoes (about 4 slices or so)
• cheese mixture
• potatoes (again, about 4 slices or so)
• cheese mixture
• potatoes (again, about 4 slices or so)
• cheese mixture

You’ll repeat the layers about 4 times until the potato stacks are above the muffin tin quite a bit. The stacks will shrink as they bake, so making sure they start out higher than the pan ensures you have enough potato and cheese goodness in each stack once they’ve baked.

Before you pop them in the oven, be sure each stack is topped with the cheese mixture. Then, bake away until perfectly golden brown, bubbly, crispy, and cheesy!

They’ll cook for about 45 minutes total, and I recommend covering for the first part to ensure the cheese doesn’t burn and the potatoes are cooked through before getting too golden.

What to Serve with Stacked Potatoes

There’s really no wrong answer to the infamous question: “what should I serve with that?”.

And if you know me at all you know I’d consider these cheesy stacks of deliciousness as a meal in themselves. There is no shame in my potato and cheese game – at all. 😂

But I know I may be alone in that, so if you’re looking for the best things to pair with these stacks of cheesy goodness, might I recommend:

• Whole Roasted Cauliflower
• Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
• Thanksgiving dinner
• Naturally, a meat-and-potatoes type dinner. Try them with chicken (skillet chicken with white wine and garlic is a winner) or a perfectly cooked steak
• A hearty salad (like this Simple Dijon Salad, or a Spinach Salad with Tangy Red Wine Vinaigrette)
• Parmesan Crusted Rosemary Fish

More Cheesy Potato Recipes to Love

Not only do stacked potatoes make an excellent side, but you can totally pass them off as an appetizer, too. Who’s going to turn these cuties down?! No one, I’d say!

• Cheesy Potato Croquettes
• Gruyere Scalloped Potatoes
• Winter Breakfast Strata
• Twice Baked Potatoes

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!

This recipe was originally published in October of 2017; the text and process photos were updated in November of 2020; any changes to the recipe were noted in the recipe card.