Easy cheese and Onion Potato Bake Recipe – Creamy, Cheesy and Delicious

Potatoes are great! Roasted, chipped, fried, boiled, mashed, there are endless ways to serve them. Sometimes though, it’s nice to have a change and this recipe for our so simple Cheese & Onion Potato Bake is a tasty way to give potatoes a twist.

Simple flavours of cheese and onion are a classic combination and work so well with the meltingly tender potatoes.

There aren’t many ingredients and as it’s baked in the oven, it requires very little attention once the initial assembly is done!

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Cheese & Onion Potato Bake Recipe

Ingredients

650g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

40g butter (plus a little extra for greasing)

1 rounded tablespoon plain flour

400ml milk

75g strong cheddar cheese, grated

salt & pepper

You will also need a baking dish – I used a 250mm (10″) round enamel dish but any ovenproof dish will do as long as it is deep enough to accommodate the layers.

Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry people!)

Making Cheese and Onion Potato Bake

Turn on the oven to Gas 5 / 190°c / Fan 170°c

First, the potatoes and onions both need to be thinly sliced. You can do this carefully with a knife or if you have a stand mixer with a suitable attachment, then they do a great job. We use a mandoline, which does a superb job of slicing the potatoes nice and thin!

Place the potatoes (not the onions!) in a bowl of cold water to remove excess starch & stop them discolouring while you next make the cheese sauce.

In a saucepan gently melt the butter (do not allow it to brown) then add the plain flour, stirring to make a smooth paste (called a roux).

Allow the roux to cook very gently for about 1 minute then start to add the milk slowly, stirring well between each addition. Keep adding small amounts of milk and stirring well until all of the milk has been incorporated and you have a smooth sauce.

Next stir the grated cheese into the sauce, stirring well until it has all melted. The consistency we are looking for is slightly thicker than milk but not as thick as double cream so if the sauce is still a little thick, add some more milk.

Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.

Take the dish you wish to use and grease it quite generously with butter.

Drain the potatoes and pat dry with a clean tea towel or spinning them in a salad spinner is a great way to get them dry

Layer 1/3rd of the potatoes into the bottom of the dish and add 1/2 of the onions.

Sprinkle over a little salt to season the potatoes then spoon over slightly less than 1/4 of the cheese sauce.

On top of this add another layer of potatoes, using half of the remaining potatoes, followed by the rest of the onions and a little more of the cheese sauce. Don’t forget to sprinkle over a little salt to season.

Finally add the rest of the potatoes (and a little salt!) then pour over the remaining cheese sauce, making sure that all of the potato is coated.

Bake in the middle of the oven for around 1 – 1½ hours or until cooked through. Test with a fork to make sure that the potatoes are cooked all the way through and that they are nice and soft!

If the top is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil.

This is easy to scale up to make a large batch to feed a lot of people and can be baked in a large dish or separate smaller ones.

I love to serve this with garden peas, sausages and Homemade Crusty Bread but it will happily be a side dish to almost anything.

Once you’ve seen how easy this is to make, there are many variations you can try…some crumbled cooked bacon in the middle layer is especially nice!

If you need to make a larger amount to feed more people, use a much larger dish to avoid making the layer too deep. The deeper the layers, the longer it will take to bake. Or bake in two dishes so that the potatoes cook evenly.

Try These Recipes Too…

Easy Cheese and Onion Potato Bake Recipe

This easy cheese and onion potato bake is made by layering sliced potatoes and onions in a rich homemade cheese sauce before baking until golden and bubbling. A traditional British comfort food recipe that's perfect as a hearty family dinner or a delicious side dish.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Servings 4 people

Calories 650 kcal

Equipment

• 1 oven safe serving dish
• 1 potato peeler
• 1 vegetable slicer or sharp knife
• 1 grater
• 1 Wooden spoon
• 1 Scales
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 measuring jug
• 1 medium saucepan

Ingredients

  

• 1.25 kg White Potatoes
• 1 large Onion
• 75 grams Butter – plus a little extra for buttering the dish
• 75 grams Plain Flour
• 1 litre Whole Milk
• 75 grams Strong Cheddar Cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Peel the potatoes and slice thinly using a vegetable slicer of a sharp knife. The slices should be around 2-3mm thick
• Peel the onion and slice to 2-3mm using the vegetable slicer or a sharp knife.
• Melt the butter in a medium size saucepan, add the flour and stir together to make a roux. Cook over a low heat for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
• Add a small amount of milk to the roux and keep stirring until the milk is incorporated. Add a little more milk and keep stirring the roux. Keep adding small amounts of milk and stirring until the roux is thinner and now becomes a sauce. Keep adding the milk, stirring all the time until it's all incorporated and the sauce is smooth.
• Stir the grated cheese into the sauce, add a little salt and pepper then taste the sauce. If necessary add in more seasoning.
• Butter the baking dish and layer ⅓rd of the sliced potatoes with ½ of the sliced onion and sprinkle over a little salt.
• Spoon over ⅓rd of the cheese sauce then add another ⅓ of potatoes and the rest of the onions, sprinkle with a little salt and top with another ⅓rd of the cheese sauce. Layer the rest of the potatoes neatly over the top and pour over the remaining cheese sauce making sure that all of the potato is covered.
• Bake in the centre of the oven at 160℃ Fan / 180℃ / 320℉ / Gas 4 for 1½ hours or until the potatoes are perfectly tender
• If it browns too quickly, cover with buttered foil and continue baking until tender

Keyword cheese and onion potato bake, cheesy potatoes, potato bake