This Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin recipe might be one of my absolute favorites for This Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin recipe might be one of my absolute favorites for fall and winter. It’s a great variation from the typical vegetable gratin. Usually vegetable gratins are made with a mixture of zucchini, tomato slices, and yellow squash, with some bread crumbs, cheese, and heavy cream mixed in. For our version we choose to focus on root vegetables, so beets, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. All of which are beautiful together because of the different colors! I know it’s a lot of peeling and slicing, but if you have a mandoline it’s makes the process so much easier. Plus, after you’re done slicing the vegetables, the rest of the dish is very easy to put together.
I love the subtly sweet and earthy flavors of this combination of root vegetables mixed together with the savory and salty shredded gruyère cheese, garlic, thyme, and heavy cream. It’s the perfect side dish to any thanksgiving, holiday or any cozy meal .
How to Make Our Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin
Ingredients
Process
- Preheat oven.
- Grease baking dish with butter.
- Slice sweet potato, parsnips and beets into very thin rounds (using a mandoline is easiest) and transfer each vegetable to its own bowl.
- Pour heavy cream over each sweet potatoes and parsnips, and beets.
- Top each bowl of sliced vegetables with some grated Parmesan cheese and some minced thyme. Season each bowl generously with salt and black pepper and toss together until all vegetable slices are well coated.
- Pour remaining heavy cream into the greased baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan and garlic.
- Grab a stack of sweet potatoes and line them standing up on a bias, at the top of the casserole dish.
- Follow the sweet potatoes with a row of parsnips, followed by a row of beets.
- Repeat with the remaining sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets, creating 6 rows of root vegetables.
- Season top of gratin with salt, black pepper and sprinkle of remaining Parmesan.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake until vegetables are soft.
- Uncover gratin and top with shredded gruyère.
- Place gratin back into oven, uncovered, and continue to bake until vegetables are fork tender, cheese has melted and the top has lightly browned.
- Finish cheesy root vegetable gratin with a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves. Serve.
Tools You Will Need
- sharp knife
- cutting board
- mixing bowls
- vegetable peeler
- measuring spoons
- liquid measuring cup
- dry measuring cup
- cheese grater
- mandoline (optional, but preferred)
- 3 quart baking dish
Tips and Tricks for Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin Success
- Ensure all the vegetables are coated in cream so they don’t dry out. The beets should just be barely coated in cream because too much cream coating will result in them bleeding through the dish.
- The aluminum foil should be tightly wrapped around the baking dish to allow the dish to steam a little and for the vegetables to get tender before uncovering it.
- Wear gloves when handling beets to prevent them from staining your hands. If you do stain your hands, wash them with a blend of baking soda and warm water and vigorous rub them together. You may need a couple rounds of this process to completely remove the stains.
- Keeping the slices as uniform in thickness as possible will greatly help even cooking throughout the gratin.
- Using a mandoline will not only ensure even thickness, but will also reduce the prep time. If you don’t have a mandoline a very sharp knife is the next best thing we recommend.
FAQs
Covering this dish in the beginning will allow the vegetables to soften without drying the dish out. Once the vegetables get to a good point, uncovering them will allow the top of the gratin brown and crisp up, while allowing some of the excess liquid to thicken/evaporate.
Yes! This dish can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated, tightly wrapped in foil. When ready to bake, just place the covered gratin in the oven, adding about an extra 5-7 minutes of baking time to the dish (covered).
Just know that if you prep this dish ahead of time, you run the risk of the beets bleeding from sitting in the cream. This won’t effect the flavor at all, but it’ll change the look of this dish.
The culprit was most likely the amount of cream/liquid used. We made sure to scale back on the amount of cream used to toss with the beets as well as the cream that sits in the bottom of the baking dish.
You really want to make sure the sliced beets are just barely coated in liquid to ensure they don’t dry out while baking. You also want to make sure the bottom layer of your baking dish is just coated with a thin layer of cream and sprinkled with Parmesan. The amount of cream used may vary just a little bit, depending on the surface area of the baking dish you’re using, so it’s best to eyeball this.
We add a small range for each vegetable because not all 3 quart baking dishes are oval and we encourage you to use what you have on hand (which would change the amount of surface area there is).
This plus the fact that the thickness of the sliced vegetables, the size of each vegetable themselves, and the degree of the bias in which the sliced vegetables are placed into the baking dish will all vary slightly from person to person, effecting the number of vegetables needed.
The nutrition facts are based on the lowest number vegetables in each range in the ingredient list.
Variations for Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin
- Chives, green onion, sage, and rosemary or a combination of herbs make a great alternative to the fresh thyme.
- Shredded fontina, Swiss, comté, gouda, and mild cheddar cheese all make great cheese alternatives for gruyere.
- Whole milk or half and half can be used in place of cream, although there will be more liquid pooled in the bottom of the gratin after it’s baked.
- Turnips and rutabaga make great root vegetable alternatives for any of the three used in this recipe.
What to Serve with Our Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin
- Citrus Dry Brine Turkey
- Spatchcock Chicken
- Standing Rib Roast
- Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Garlic Butter Lamb Chops
- Pork Belly Porchetta
If you’re looking for other delicious thanksgiving or holiday side dishes, you can head on over to our Holiday Headquarters for some of our favorite ones! Enjoy!
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Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 1-2 long sweet potatoes (about 2 inches thick), peeled
- 3-4 large parsnips, ends trimmed and peeled
- 3-5 small beets, peeled
- 14 tablespoons heavy cream, divided (whole milk is fine, but mixture won't thicken as much or be as creamy)
- 4 ounces grated Parmesan, divided
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced thyme, divided plus more for garnish
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 ounce shredded gruyere
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Grease a 3 quart baking dish with butter.
- Slice sweet potato, parsnips and beets into very thin rounds (using a mandoline is easiest) and transfer each vegetable to its own bowl.
- Pour 4 tablespoons cream over each sweet potatoes and parsnips, and 2 tablespoons cream over beets. Top each bowl of sliced vegetables with ½ ounce grated Parmesan and 1 teaspoon minced thyme. Season each bowl generously with salt and pepper and toss together until all vegetable slices are well coated.
- Pour remaining 1/4 cup cream into the bottom of a 3 quart (oval) baking dish and sprinkle with ½ ounce of Parmesan and minced garlic.
- Grab a stack of sweet potatoes and line them standing up on a bias, at the top of the baking dish. Follow the sweet potato with a row of parsnips, followed by a row of beets. Repeat with the remaining sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets, creating 6 rows of root vegetables.
- Season top of gratin with salt, pepper and sprinkle of remaining Parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
- Uncover gratin and top with shredded gruyere.
- Place gratin back into oven, uncovered, and continue to bake for an additional 18 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender, cheese has melted and the top has lightly browned.
- Finish with a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves. Serve.
NOTES
- This dish can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated, tightly wrapped in foil. When ready to bake, just place the covered gratin in the oven, adding about an extra 5-7 minutes of baking time to the dish (covered).
**Just know that if you prep this dish ahead of time, you run the risk of the beets bleeding from sitting in the cream. This won’t effect the flavor at all, but it’ll change the look of this dish.** - To prevent the beets from bleeding:
- Make sure the peeled and sliced beets are just barely coated in cream to ensure they don’t dry out while baking.
- You also want to make sure the bottom layer of your baking dish is just coated with a thin layer of cream and sprinkled with Parmesan. The amount of cream used may vary just a little bit, depending on the surface area of the baking dish you’re using, so it’s best to eyeball this.
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Amazing recipe, thank you! Can I use a dairy free cream/milk in place of the heavy cream and if so do you have any recommendations on what would be the best substitute? I would love to make this for my family but need a dairy free alternative to the heavy cream if possible. Thank you so much, I love your website!
Hi Scott, I am sure you can successfully substitute a dairy free milk in place. We just don’t test our recipes that way because as you can imagine if we tested our recipes for a variety of substitutions it would take a very long time! A quick google search led to a lot of promising substitutions that seem like that would work fine. Any substitute you prefer for milk would work, and as for the cream it seems like coconut cream might work, or a blend up silken tofu, or vegan yogurt. Those might all be worth trying!
Had this for Easter as a side with spiral ham and twice baked potatoes…it was delicious! It’s going in my forever recipes
That makes me so happy!
Made this for thanksgiving and it was very tasty. We had kohlrabi on hand from our CSA and used that instead of parsnips. I haven’t tried the original, but I can report that kohlrabi worked well and tasted great alongside the beets and sweet potato.
So happy to hear this!
Can I half bake the dish a day ahead with the foil cover to prevent the beet bleeding? Then bake uncover before served? Also, can I drizzle some olive oil on top?
Hi! The beets may still bleed a bit. It’s not about them being covered, but more about them sitting cooked. If you don’t mind some bleeding, it can definitely be made ahead of time. Olive oil on top would be great!
If I have enamel casserole dish with lid, could I just use a lid instead a foil on the top?
As long as it’s airtight, yes!
I would skip covering them and let the liquid evaporate during cooking…it’s more roasted that way. But awesome!
Hi Robert! Yes, the roasted quality in this dish is really great. We start the gratin covered, before removing the foil, so that the liquid doesn’t evaporate too quickly and dry the dish out before the vegetables are tender. You can also finish this dish in the broiler for a minute or two for an extra browned top!
My daughter served this today at our tiny, simple pandemic Thanksgiving. It was incredibly DELICIOUS! It turned a simple meal into a luxurious experience. Also reminded me of mother using parsnips in her pasties. A wonderful new memory.
Aw, so glad you enjoyed this! Parsnips in pasties sound delicious!
I’m confused as to why you specify ‘grated’ Parmesan and then use ‘shredded’ Parmesan in your videos. Am I misunderstanding these terms?
No either will work!
I haven’t tried this yet but it sounds amazing. I would just like to point out though that Parmesan is not vegetarian. In the uk you can get vegetarian hard cheese as an alternative but if your making this for a vegetarian you need to check the cheese your buying if it’s real Parmesan it is made with calf rennet
I really want the 3q baking dish to make this recipe…do you have a link for purchase? I can’t wait to try this dish!
Jenny
where is the baking dish from???
It is an ebay find. Sorry! I wish I could give you a link!
A keeper! Family loved it. Made it twice now.
Absolutely delicious! It took me about 30 minutes to prep everything but it was totally worth it. This is definitely a new favorite side dish, thanks!
I made this for my dad’s birthday dinner (swapping with only potatoes due to picky eaters) a few weeks back and noticed the recipe was changed/updated since then. I used the original recipe which I believe called for more heavy cream but since I don’t have the original I’m not 100% sure. In any case, this turned out extremely delicious and was a huge hit. I made it again yesterday night to use up some potatoes before they went bad. I used more heavy cream (like the prior recipe) because I feel like this helps the potatoes cook better and softer. I can’t wait to try this with the original root vegetables in the recipe. It’s an easy recipe I will continue to make. Thank you!
Hey there, do you pour the left over liquid from each bowl into the casserole dish? Or just the 1/2 cup of cream? Just want to make sure I do t make it runny! Thanks :)
Hi! Just the 1/2 cup that’s added to the bottom of the dish
Wow! Incredible flavors! I made this almost exactly per recipe, put in a copper square pan. Amazing!
Made this twice and going to make again tomorrow.. we just love it.
I’ve made this twice now. Tips- the day before…to minimize beet bleed, first slice the beets, put in a bath of ice cold water, then spread them out on a rack on top of a baking sheet to dry for several hours. Mix the spices, cheese & cream altogether. After slicing the veggies & separated into individual bowls, pour over the cream mix, toss and let marinate overnight in the fridge. Assemble the day of baking, pour remaining cream from each bowl over the arranged veggies. Sprinkle a little more parmigiana on top. Cover and follow the recipe as directed. Make sure they’re cooked through! Mine took almost 2x as long before a fork would easily pierce the hardest veggies. Came out beautifully. I’ll post pics on Pinterest when I have a chance! Guests love love it ❤️
Can I prep and cook the next day or should I cook and place in fridge?
You can definitely prep this the day before and store it in the fridge, then bake it off the next day
Hey this look awesome and I’m going to make it for a dinner party tomorrow and this maybe a stupid question but about how much cups woud the 4 oz of parm be and the 2 oz of gruyere? 1 cup and 1/2 cup? or maybe 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup?
This dish was a huge success for thanksgiving dinner!!!!
So glad to hear that!
Absolutely delicious and looks fantastic! I used Golden and Chioggia beets so I had no issue with bleeding. Unfortunately I packed in too many vegetables into the roasting pan and it took around 50 minutes to cook(before broiling). Using a mandoline is a must. So good, I will definitely make this again. I included butternut squash and it did not disappoint.
The recipe turned out good but it came out very liquidy. The sauce was not thick at all. I followed the recipse to the tee. Any advice?
Hm, i haven’t had a problem with the thickness of the ‘sauce’ before! When i make it the sauce usually thickens up and almost evaporates into the vegetables. Sorry you had issues with this one. :/
Hello! I don’t see the size dish or how many servings this makes – could you advise? i’m looking to make this for Thanksgiving. Thanks!
Hi! Depending on how upright or flat the pieces are laid down, this works in an 8”x8”, a shallow 9”x13” or about a 2 1/2 quart baking dish!
I make a similar dish, using the mandolin on thin slicing Yukons, Russets (some get melty, some crisp up) a few onion sticks and soaking in cream/garlic while I load the pan. I wedge in Gryure cheese and rosemary. I bake slow at 325 in a convection over uncovered. No need to broil. Salt and pepper as desired. (let me know if you try it. It goes fast here!)