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.

Stack of potatoes with thyme on top and on the side.

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.

Overhead stack of potatoes with thyme sprig.

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:

Potato slices on a plate next to gruyere and parmesan cheese, thyme, and garlic.
  • 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.

Bowl of shredded cheese and thyme.

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.

Side by side photos of stacked potatoes in muffin tin before and after baking.

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.

Muffin tin with potato stacks before and after baking.

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:

Side view of gruyere and thyme stacked potatoes on cooling rack.

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!

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!

Gruyere and Thyme Stacked Potatoes - a recipe perfect for a Thanksgiving side or appetizer! | Fork in the Kitchen
4.94 (47 ratings)

Get the Recipe Gruyere and Thyme Stacked Potatoes

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 1 hour
Servings: 12 potato stacks
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Gruyere and Thyme Stacked Potatoes are so easy to make in a muffin tin. They have layers upon layers of thinly sliced potatoes, gruyere and parmesan cheese, fresh thyme, and of course garlic. Their edges are crispy while the inside melts in your mouth. A must make for the holidays, and easy enough for a side to a weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups (60 g) gruyere cheese*, thinly shredded,
  • ⅔ cup (30 g) parmesan cheese*, thinly shredded
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped, or 1 ¼ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 to 1 ¼ tsp coarse sea salt, halve for fine salt
  • 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 pounds (608 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, about 4-5, thinly sliced and unpeeled
  • 4 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Optional: lightly grease 12 muffin tins.
  •  In a medium bowl, mix together gruyere, parmesan, thyme, salt, and garlic.
    1 ½ cups gruyere cheese*, ⅔ cup parmesan cheese*, 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, 1 to 1 ¼ tsp coarse sea salt, 2-4 garlic cloves
  • In a second large bowl, coat the sliced potatoes with melted butter (I usually just use my clean hands to make sure all the potato slices are coated as evenly as possible).
    1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, 4 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • In a regular-sized (12) muffin tin, layer 4 potato slices and then approximately 1/2 teaspoon of the cheese mixture. Continue this pattern of 4 potato slices, then cheese, until the potatoes are taller than the tin (they will shrink when they cook). You’ll have 3-4 layers total, ending with cheese on top.
  • Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. How thinly you sliced your potatoes and how high you stacked will affect the bake time, you want them to be fork-tender with the tops and sides golden brown. Remove potato stacks with a spoon (I “scoop” them out) and serve with additional thyme as desired.

Notes

  • Use a mandoline to slice the potatoes really thin. I use the 1.5 or 2.5mm setting on my handheld mandoline (or 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch).
  • The potatoes themselves generally release enough oil from the butter and cheese to not require any greasing of a non-stick muffin tin. If you know your pan likes to stick, I’d recommend lightly greasing it.
  • *Look for cheese specifically labeled vegetarian, if needed.
  • Press the cheese down a bit when measuring, or have “heaping” measurements. 🙂 
  • The recipe card was updated 11/2020; the cooking time was reduced by 5-10 minutes after further testing and feedback. The cook time will depend on the thickness of your potato slices and how high you stack them, as noted. Please keep this in mind and check for doneness as the tops and sides become golden brown and bubbly. 
Calories: 168kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 32mg, Sodium: 453mg, Potassium: 264mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 345IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 244mg, Iron: 1mg
Course: Side Dish
Author: Becca Mills
Cuisine: American
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.