This oven baked 3-ingredient scalloped potato bake is straight from my grandma’s Sunday dinner playbook. She made it for every big family get-together, and it always disappeared before anything else on the table. It’s unbelievably creamy, has that gorgeous golden-bubbly top, and the best part is it only uses three basic ingredients you probably already have. No fancy gadgets, no roux, no long list of spices—just simple, cozy, Midwest comfort food you can throw together on a busy weeknight or for a holiday spread.
Serve this scalloped potato bake alongside roasted chicken, meatloaf, ham, or a simple pan-seared pork chop. It’s also great with a crisp green salad or steamed green beans to balance out the richness. For a more casual dinner, I’ll pair it with grilled sausages and a big bowl of roasted vegetables. It reheats well, so it’s perfect for meal prep—pack leftovers with some rotisserie chicken and a side of frozen peas for an easy desk lunch.
Oven Baked 3-Ingredient Scalloped Potato BakeServings: 6
Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
3 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons kosher salt (plus more to taste)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch glass baking dish so the potatoes don’t stick.
Peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly, about 1/8 inch thick. If you have a mandoline, this is a great time to use it for even slices, but a sharp knife and a little patience work just fine.
Pour about 1/2 cup of the heavy cream into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and tilt the dish so the cream lightly coats the base.
Layer a single, slightly overlapping layer of potato slices over the cream. Sprinkle a pinch of the salt evenly over the potatoes.
Repeat layering: pour a little cream over the potatoes (just enough to lightly coat), then add another layer of potatoes and a pinch of salt. Continue this process—potatoes, salt, cream—until you’ve used all the potatoes. Finish by pouring any remaining cream evenly over the top so the potatoes are mostly submerged but not swimming; gently press down on the layers with your hands or a spatula to settle them.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 45–55 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife and the cream is bubbling around the edges.
Remove the foil and continue baking for another 20–30 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and the cream is thick, bubbly, and slightly caramelized around the edges. If the top is browning too quickly, you can loosely tent with foil for the last 5–10 minutes.
Take the dish out of the oven and let the potatoes rest for at least 10–15 minutes before serving. This rest time helps the creamy sauce thicken and the layers set, so you get those pretty slices when you scoop it out.
Taste a small bite and sprinkle on a tiny bit more salt if needed right before serving. Serve warm straight from the glass baking dish, letting everyone dig into the bubbly, golden top.
Variations & Tips
If you want to keep the strict 3-ingredient magic but tweak things slightly, you can swap the type of potato or cream. Yukon Gold potatoes will give a slightly more buttery flavor and hold their shape nicely. For a slightly lighter version, use half-and-half instead of heavy cream, but know it won’t be quite as rich or thick; bake covered a bit longer so it reduces. You can also adjust the salt to your taste—my grandma always said to salt lightly between layers, then taste at the end and add a tiny sprinkle if needed. If you’re not worried about the 3-ingredient rule, you can rub a cut garlic clove around the dish before greasing, add a little black pepper between layers, or sprinkle a handful of shredded cheese on top for the last 10 minutes of baking. For make-ahead prep, assemble the dish up to the point of baking, cover tightly, and refrigerate up to 8 hours, then bake straight from the fridge, adding 10–15 minutes to the covered bake time. Leftovers reheat well in the oven at 350°F, covered, until warmed through, and the top will crisp back up a bit if you uncover it for the last few minutes.
