Boursin and Bacon Scalloped Potatoes

Last weekend was a momentous occasion: Pete and I hosted our first sit-down dinner party! We had awesome food...we made a couple things, our friends brought things, there was wine - it was a legit dinner party. We set up a big long table for 15 people and let me tell you, I felt like such a grown-up! (I guess technically we are grown-ups, but shhh.)

But of course, on to the food and one of the dishes we made for our fancy dinner party! Enter: Boursin and Bacon Scalloped Potatoes.

Ok, you've had Boursin cheese before...right? The creamy, garlicky, herby, oh-so-flavorful and amazing culinary masterpiece? If you haven't, you need to walk - no, RUN - to the nearest store and get some. It's amazing right out of the package spread on a cracker, but melted into a creamy cheese sauce and baked with thinly sliced potatoes and bacon? That just takes it to a whole 'nother level. 

I'm not kidding you, we could not stop eating the sauce. We kept "taste-testing" it (ha!). Which led us to thinking of other ways we could eat it...like in MACARONI & CHEESE, or you know...in a bowl with a spoon.

Magical Boursin sauce...mmmmmm.

I give all the credit for this recipe to my wonderful mother. She loaded me up with a stack of recipe cards before our wedding last year, and it has been SO awesome making some of our family favorites myself. 🙂

Gather your ingredients!

First step is to cook your bacon, or you could buy precooked bacon. Given the way it's used it really won't change the final outcome. (But come on, cooking bacon smells soooo good.)

Next prep step is to slice your potatoes. You can definitely just slice them thinly with a knife, but holy crap have you ever used the slicing blade on a food processor? IT'S AMAZING. It was so fast, I swear it went from a whole potato to a bowl full of slices in under a second. It was especially helpful for this recipe because there are so many potatoes to slice.

So freaking fast!

After you slice the potatoes, lay them out on some paper towels and make sure you pat them dry before you start to layer them in the dish, they give off a lot of water and if they're too wet your dish will get runny.

Time for the sauce! Make the roux, and then whisk in the milk, garlic and Boursin. Keep whisking and cook until bubbly and thickened, about 10 minutes. The mixture should be the consistency of cheese sauce - or warm queso. Add in the spices and herbs.

Place a layer of potato slices slightly overlapping in a buttered 9x13 baking dish (you should use about ¼ of your potatoes). Top with a little bit of salt, pepper, and grated parmesan.

Spoon over about ¼ of the cream sauce, spread it out and top with crumbled bacon.

Repeat layers until you have used all your ingredients, making sure that you have enough cream sauce to cover the top layer.

Then it's baking time!

The holidays NEED THIS RECIPE. And that sauce, all day. Yummy Noises await you!

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Boursin and Bacon Scalloped Potatoes

Cheesy scalloped potatoes flavored with Boursin cheese and crumbled bacon.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Resting Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Calories 345kcal

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoon butter
• 5 tablespoon flour
• 3 cups 1% milk
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 5.2 oz packages Boursin cheese, crumbled
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced and patted dry
• 2 oz grated parmesan
• 6 strips bacon, cooked and chopped

Instructions

• In a small sauce pan, make your roux: Melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook mixture over low heat for a few minutes, so the raw flour taste is gone but the roux is still a pale yellow.
• Slowly whisk in the milk, and add the garlic and Boursin. Keep whisking until bubbly and thickened, about 10 minutes. The mixture should be the consistency of cheese sauce or warm queso. Add nutmeg, thyme, cayenne, parsley and salt & pepper to taste. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. In a buttered 9x13 baking dish, layer about ¼ of the potato slices slightly overlapping one another. Top with a pinch of salt, pepper, and ¼ of the grated parmesan. Ladle over about ¼ of the cream sauce & spread evenly over potatoes, top with ¼ of the crumbled bacon. Repeat layers until you have used all your ingredients, making sure that you have enough cream sauce to cover the top layer. Finish with the last of the parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon.
• Bake for 45-60 minutes, until potatoes are tender and top is brown and bubbly. Allow pan to sit for about 15 minutes to set up, so you can cut the potatoes into pieces.

Notes

For a vegetarian option, you can easily leave out the bacon. It will still be delicious!