French Onion Potato Bake
Not for the feint of heart, this French Onion Potato Bake is incredibly rich and full of bold onion flavour.
A great accompaniment to a fresh, crisp green salad & BBQ meats. It’s intense, but in a good way. The overnight onions should produce plenty of leftovers. There’s ideally enough in the recipe to make two batches of this potato bake, depending on how heavy handed you are with the onions. It can be easy to overpower the whole thing though so it’s best to err on the side of being more cautious in this case.
This assembled recipe doesn’t freeze particularly well, but it can be done if you don’t mind the slight negative change in texture and consistency on defrosting. I’d say this method would be best suited for meal prep rather than for making this dish in advance to serve whole. It really is best baked fresh.
If you are using MacroFactor, this recipe has been prepared for easy import by following this link from your mobile device.
For more Side and accompaniment recipes, please head over to our archives here.
French Onion Potato Bake
Prepare the Onions ahead of time - leftovers can be frozen or stored for later use, but you want to prepare these in bulk for convenience and best results.
Add Onions, melted butter, sugar and vinegar to the pot of your slow cooker and mix until evenly coated and well combined.
Set the cooker to low for 8-10 hours (overnight). Season with salt and pepper once complete. If there is too much liquid remaining, turn up the heat to reduce until thick and syrupy - stirring frequently to ensure they don't burn.
Prepare the white sauce by melting butter and flour in a saucepan over low-medium heat and whisking to form a paste. Let the paste cook for about a minute before gradually stirring in the milk, whisking continually to ensure no lumps form. Continue whisking and cooking until the sauce thickens and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 180oC
Use the slicing disc of a food processor, mandolin or sharp knife to finely slice the potatos.
Layer the potatos, caramelized onions and white sauce in a deep baking dish - finishing with a layer of sauce and topping with grated cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for approx 45mins until the potato layers are soft and the cheese topping is golden. Allow to stand & cool at least 20mins before serving.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the Onions ahead of time - leftovers can be frozen or stored for later use, but you want to prepare these in bulk for convenience and best results.
Add Onions, melted butter, sugar and vinegar to the pot of your slow cooker and mix until evenly coated and well combined.
Set the cooker to low for 8-10 hours (overnight). Season with salt and pepper once complete. If there is too much liquid remaining, turn up the heat to reduce until thick and syrupy - stirring frequently to ensure they don't burn.
Prepare the white sauce by melting butter and flour in a saucepan over low-medium heat and whisking to form a paste. Let the paste cook for about a minute before gradually stirring in the milk, whisking continually to ensure no lumps form. Continue whisking and cooking until the sauce thickens and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 180oC
Use the slicing disc of a food processor, mandolin or sharp knife to finely slice the potatos.
Layer the potatos, caramelized onions and white sauce in a deep baking dish - finishing with a layer of sauce and topping with grated cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for approx 45mins until the potato layers are soft and the cheese topping is golden. Allow to stand & cool at least 20mins before serving.
Notes
Recipe Notes
A Starchy potato is the best choice, including desiree, sebago or Yukon Gold.
Most potatos will work fine with this recipe, even sweet potatos if that is your preference. Baking times may need adjusting slightly, so make sure to test with a fork that the bake is nice and soft before taking out of the oven. Waxy Potatos will take longer to soften.