Potato Boulangere is a French potato & onion bake that is very easy to make and a lighter alternative to creamy dauphinoise potatoes. It complements perfectly most meat, chicken or fish dishes, especially succulent roast lamb.
This rustic French dish Boulangere Potatoes is made of thinly sliced potatoes, sautéed onions, garlic, and butter. It is then covered in homemade stock and baked in the oven for a soft buttery potato inside, with a little crunch on the top.
If you love French food, you might want to have a look at my other delicious French recipes such as Traditional French Onion Soup, Ratatouille Nicoise, and Mousse au Chocolat - French Chocolate Mousse.
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Origins of Potato Boulangere
The meaning of Potato Boulangere is "potatoes from the bakers" in French and it is because the dish was cooked by bakers when people in rural areas didn't have their own ovens.
The tradition was taking a casserole of potatoes to the local baker at the end of the day to cook the dish in the baker's cooling oven overnight.
It is very similar to a tradition in Turkey of cooking a ceremonial dish called "Keşkek". This tradition is still ongoing in some rural areas.
Why This Recipe Works?
- It is a great alternative to potato dauphinoise or Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes when you need something healthier and lighter. It has only 185 kcal per portion!
- This recipe is straightforward to make with step-by-step pictures and instructions.
- You only need a few basic fridge ingredients that you might already have in hand.
- It complements most grilled or roasted meat & fish dishes.
- Potato Boulangere is the perfect side dish for special occasions such as Easter and Christmas as well as for a Sunday roast.
Ingredients and Substitutes
Best Potatoes for Potato Boulangere Recipe
Allrounder or floury potatoes such as desire, russet, or Maris piper are perfect for this dish. They take on a rich golden color when they bake and taste very rich in flavor.
The potato & onion bake would slip and slide apart when you serve if you use waxy potatoes.
- Garlic - Use fresh garlic or omit it if you don't have any. You can turn it into a paste with a mortar and pestle or grate it with a Microplane.
- Butter - A good quality salted or unsalted butter is perfect for this dish but you can use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for the vegetarian/vegan version.
- Stock - For the best results, you should use Easy Homemade Chicken Stock. However, if you want to make this dish vegetarian/vegan friendly, you can use Basic Homemade Vegetable Stock. You can also use good quality store-bought stock or stock cubes. Just make sure you check the saltiness of the stock you are using before adding any seasoning to your dish.
How to Make the Perfect Potato Boulangere?
This rustic French potato dish is very easy to make with a little preparation. To achieve the best results, you need to follow a few tips and simple steps:
Sauté the Onions
Preheat the oven to 180° C - 360° F (fan oven). Peel and slice the onions and garlic.
Melt 25 grams of butter in a pan and gently saute the onions along with the garlic and thyme on medium to low heat. This should take around 15 minutes until they are soft and slightly golden.
Although some of the recipes layer raw onions, cooking them in advance is necessary. When you layer raw onions between the potatoes, they don't always have enough time to fully cook.
Slice the Potatoes
While sautéing the onions, peel and slice the potatoes. Use a mandolin or the slicer attachment on your food processor to slice the potatoes. You can cut by hand using a sharp knife if you have enough time and patience. Don't wash your potatoes after slicing them as they would lose the starch necessary to thicken the stock.
Build Your Dish
Once you have sliced your potatoes, brush an oven-safe baking dish (approximately 21 cm / 8.25" diameter) with soft butter and start building the boulangere potatoes. Arrange about ⅓ of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish and sprinkle on half of the onions. Season with salt and pepper then arrange another ⅓ of the potatoes. Sprinkle the rest of the onions, and add more seasoning.
Nicely arrange the rest of the potatoes and scatter small cubes of 25 grams of butter on top of the potatoes and pour over the Chicken Stock. Add just enough to reach about a third of the depth of the dish. It will bubble up as the potatoes cook and slowly be absorbed.
Cover the dish with a lid or tin foil and cook in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove the lid or tin foil and cook for another 30 minutes until the stock is absorbed by the potatoes and the top layer is crisp.
Serving Suggestions
This healthy yet delicious potato side dish is the perfect accompaniment to roast meat or chicken dishes such as Rice Stuffed Chicken, Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder, and Dutch Oven Roast Chicken. They are the perfect alternative to Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes when you need something different.
They go also well with richer dishes like Aubergine Meatball Wraps (Islim Kebabi), Turkish Moussaka, or Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon.
Top Tips From the Chef
- Don't wash the potatoes after slicing as they will lose their starch and they won't stick together.
- Replace butter with olive oil and use vegetable stock to make this delicious potato bake vegan-friendly.
- Allrounder or floury potatoes are perfect for this dish. The potato & onion bake would slip and slide apart when you serve if you use waxy potatoes.
Recipe FAQs
Potatoes discolor when you cut them which makes this dish hard to prepare in advance but you can prepare and cook it in advance and then reheat it when you want to serve it.
To reheat, cover the dish and place it in a preheated oven (180° C - 360° F) fan oven) for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and leave for another 10 minutes to get the top nice and crispy.
You can keep leftover boulangere potatoes refrigerated for up to five days in an airtight container.
You can also freeze them if you want to keep them longer. However, their texture might become a little grainy after defrosting!
Both dishes are made with sliced potatoes and then baked in the oven until golden and crispy. The main difference is that Potato Boulangere is cooked in stock whereas Dauphinoise Potatoes are cooked in cream.
Related Recipes
For other great potato dishes why not try:
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this light and delicious potato & onion bake as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
Boulangere Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 peeler
Ingredients
- 50 g butter (2 x 25 grams + extra for brushing the dish)
- 2 medium onions (250 grams)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 4 medium floury potatoes such as desire, russet or maris piper (750 grams)
- 1½ cup chicken, veal or vegetable stock (350 ml)
- 1 TSP salt
- 1 TSP freshly ground black pepper
- 3-4 sprigs thyme, oregano or rosemary (leaves only, finely chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180° C - 360° F (fan oven).
- Peel and slice the onions and garlic.
- Melt 25 grams of butter in a pan and gently saute the onions along with the garlic and thyme on medium to low heat. This should take around 15 minutes until they are softened and slightly golden.
- While sautéing the onions, peel and slice the potatoes. Use a mandolin or the slicer attachment on your food processor to slice the potatoes. You can cut by hand using a sharp knife if you have enough time and patience.
- Brush an oven-safe baking dish (approximately 21 cm / 8.25" diameter) with soft butter and start building the boulangere potatoes.
- Nicely arrange about ⅓ of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish and sprinkle on half of the onions.
- Season with salt and pepper then arrange another ⅓ of the potatoes. Sprinkle the rest of the onions, season, and nicely arrange the rest of the potatoes.
- Add seasoning, stock, and scatter small cubes of 25 grams of butter on top of the potatoes.
- Cover the dish with a lid or tin foil and cook in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove the lid or tin foil and cook for another 30 minutes until the stock is absorbed by the potatoes and the top layer is crisp.
Notes
- Don't wash the potatoes after slicing as they will lose their starch and they won't stick together
- The potato & onion bake would slip and slide apart when you serve if you use waxy potatoes.
- Replace butter with olive oil and use vegetable stock to make this delicious potato bake vegan-friendly.
- Although some of the recipes layer raw onions, cooking them in advance is necessary.
- The main difference is that Potato Boulangere is cooked in stock whereas Dauphinoise Potatoes are cooked in cream.
Nutrition
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Katerina
Oh my, these look absolutely delightful, Ayla! I love how short the ingredient list is and can just imagine how amazing these would taste. What a perfect addition to any special occasion or a great Sunday dinner. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ayla Clulee
Thank you Katerina 🙂
It tastes delicious, hope you like it too when you try it!
Peter
Such a great flavour combination indeed. And only with a few ingredients. It went down well with baked chicken legs.
Leslie
How delicious, a real change to Dauphinoise which I find too rich for me. I like how you can make the dish ahead, will be trying your recipe soon.
Carla
A fantastic and hearty dish to serve to family and friends!
Ernie
I loved these potatoes and so did my family!
Simona
Excellent! I used a mandolin to slice the potatoes and it was so quick and easy to make. Everyone at our table loved it!
Ewa
For some reason I always thought this dish was really delicate to make and weirdly intimidated by it but I had a craving and of course! It was so delicious and really straightforward.
Christie
Made these a day ahead and reheated. Perfect, thank you!
Lesley
This is such a delicious recipe and one I’ll make time and again. Thanks for the really clear instructions.
Mary
This is an amazing recipe idea for potatoes. So many gorgeous flavours and perfect for a family meal.
Penelope
I served this as a side dish for a dinner party and everyone loved it. So delicious!
Lopez
I try for the first time the Boulanger Potatoes recipe and it is delicious.
Shaiya
It’s the first time I followed a recipe to the letter, Turned out great! Thanks very much for sharing the recipe.