Muffin Tin Potatoes

If you’re a fan of potato dishes like we are, be sure to check out our other easy potato recipes like Smashed Fingerlings—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and perfect for dipping—or our creamy and comforting Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes. These dishes are just as delicious and easy to prepare as this muffin tin potatoes gratin recipe, offering more ways to enjoy this versatile vegetable!

Ingredients You’ll Need for Muffin Pan Potatoes

Baking potatoes in a muffin pan is easy and quick. Plus, this recipe is made with a short list of simple ingredients readily available at the grocery store. We will need the following:

• Potatoes: You can use a few types of white potatoes to cook in muffin cups. Go for Russet potatoes if you prefer a fluffy and light texture (similar to french fries) or use yellow potatoes, like Yukon gold potatoes, for a creamy, tender bite. If both are unavailable, red potatoes are the next best substitute.
• Butter: We need unsalted butter to grease the muffin tins, but olive oil or avocado oil cooking spray can also be used.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic offers a delicious savory punch, but garlic powder is a good substitute for a milder garlic taste.
• Cheese: Parmesan cheese has a rich, slightly nutty flavor that works beautifully with scalloped potatoes in a muffin tin. Gruyere cheese or cheddar cheese would be just as delicious.
• Seasonings: A simple seasoning of Kosher salt and black pepper makes the cheesy potatoes to shine. But depending on your preference and serving accompaniments, you can try additional seasonings, such as chili powder, ground cumin, or Italian seasoning.
• Fresh herbs: Fresh thyme offers a delicate and subtle earthy flavor, but you can substitute with dried thyme if fresh isn’t available, using about 1 teaspoon. Alternatively, you can other herbs like fresh rosemary, fresh parsley, dill, or chives, based on what you have on hand.
• Cream: Heavy cream will provide a rich, buttery flavor, but whole milk can also be used.

How to Make Muffin Tin Potatoes?

Making scalloped potatoes in a muffin tin is straightforward and rewarding. The potato mixture can be prepped and ready in 15 minutes, with the oven doing the rest. Follow the below step-by-step instructions to create delicious, individual muffin tin potato stacks that are guaranteed to impress.

1. Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/204 degrees C.

2. Prepare potato slices: Slice each into 1/4-inch thin slices using a mandolin slicer. If you do not own a mandoline, you can use a sharp knife to slice them as thin and evenly as possible.
3. Grease muffin tray: Generously coat each muffin cup with the melted butter using a pastry brush.
4. Begin stacking potatoes: Stack 3-4 slices of potatoes in each muffin cup of the prepared muffin tin. Then, sprinkle one-third of the garlic, parmesan cheese, Kosher salt, pepper, and thyme over each stack.

5. Add a second layer of potatoes: Top each stack with 3-4 more slices of potatoes, then sprinkle with more garlic, cheese, salt, pepper, and thyme. Repeat this step until the muffin cup is fully filled with sliced potatoes. Continue to fill the rest of the muffin cups following the same order of ingredients.
6. Add heavy cream: Gently pour one tablespoon of the heavy cream over each potato stack.
7. Bake: Transfer it to the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until tender and golden brown.
8. Cool and serve: Cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges, remove the potatoes, and serve. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves, if desired.

What to Serve It With?

You can serve muffin pan scalloped potatoes as a side dish or an appetizer. They are perfect when served with eggs for breakfast or your favorite meat dishes. Some of my favorite dishes to serve them with are:

• Meat: Whether serving these potatoes as part of a casual weeknight dinner or an elevated side dish for special occasions and Christmas dinners, meat and potatoes are a match made in heaven. The crispy cheesy potato stacks go especially well with Prime Rib or Beef Tenderloin and a fresh salad.
• Turkey: You can’t have Thanksgiving without potatoes, and what better way to impress your guests than with a platter of scalloped potatoes in a muffin tin. These are best served to a crowd with a classic Thanksgiving Turkey. Or, you could try Baked Turkey Wings or Baked Turkey Breasts when serving a small crowd.
• Breakfast: Don’t save these potatoes just for the holidays. Think of them as a year-round recipe that can be served as part of your breakfast with eggs and bacon or alongside Feta and Spinach Frittata. If you are inspired, make cheesy bacon potato stacks by tossing in some cooked and crumbled bacon (or turkey bacon) between the slices.
• Snack: There’s nothing more comforting than potatoes when you need something to munch on. Dollop the tops with sour cream or with Guacamole for a fun and delicious appetizer.

Aysegul’s Expert Tips

While the recipe is straightforward, there are a few things to remember to succeed on your first try. Here are some of my expert tips for the best muffin tin potatoes recipe:

• Check for doneness: The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the potato slices. If you can easily pierce the center of the potato stacks with a knife and they appear to have crispy edges, they are ready.
• Pay attention to the size of the potatoes: No matter what potato you choose, muffin tin scalloped potatoes are best made with long and narrow-sized potatoes. As you shop for this recipe, take a few extra minutes to look for potatoes roughly the same size and diameter as your muffin tin.
• Peel the potatoes: Peeling the potato skin is optional, but during our recipe testing, we found potatoes without the skins provided the best texture.
• Mandoline will create the most uniform slices: A mandoline is a handy kitchen tool that will give you even slices. A sharp knife and a steady hand will suffice if you do not own a mandoline.
• Brush the muffin cups generously with butter: Butter is potatoes’ best friend. We want to be generous when brushing the muffin tins with butter, as this will create crispier potatoes and easy removal. We do not recommend using parchment paper liners for this recipe.
• Layer or toss with the seasonings: We found it easier to stack the potatoes, and then layer with the seasonings. However, you also have the option to toss the potato slices with the garlic, cheese, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large mixing bowl, then stack as directed.

More Potato Recipes

Vegetable Side Dishes

Sweet Potato Stacks

Salads

Red Skin Potato Salad

Vegetarian Meals

Sweet Potato Noodles

If you make this Muffin Tin Potatoes recipe, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a minute to rate it and leave a comment below. It is a great way to support this website and help those planning to make it. Also, if you took pictures, I’d love to see them. Share your creations on Instagram using #foolproofeats so I can share them with the Foolproof Living community.