Is it ever too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving side dishes? Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday when it comes to food, and I always make my cornbread sausage dressing, twice-baked mashed potatoes, and orange cinnamon cranberry sauce. I definitely also serve rolls and a green vegetable. I actually didn’t grow up having sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, although my dad makes a mean sweet potato pecan casserole for Christmas. Instead we had mashed potatoes and squash as side dish options. Whether you have sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, or both, potatoes have certainly earned their place on the Thanksgiving table. This pumpkin bacon potato gratin is the perfect side dish to add to your holiday table!
Gratins are a fairly simple concept: thinly sliced potatoes baked in a creamy, cheesy sauce. Adding pumpkin to the sauce makes it even creamier and more delicious and blends with the cheddar cheese for a flavor that screams fall. The first time I made this, I didn’t add the bacon. Lleyton, my older son, said that I needed to put bacon in it and I couldn’t argue with that 3-year-old logic. What can I say? He was right! Adding bacon to the dish made it even better, like adding bacon to just about anything does.
The most time consuming part of the preparation of this dish is the slicing of the potatoes. After that, as long as you have 90 minutes for this delicious dish to bake in the oven, this gratin could be on your table. It’s easy to make in advance, making it a breeze for busy holiday dinners. I hope that you love it as much as we do!
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 cup milk
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- ½ tsp. salt + more to taste
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper + more to taste
- 4 large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large pot, melt butter. Whisk in flour, then add half-and-half and milk and whisk again. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally to ensure it doesn't stick.
- Whisk in pumpkin puree, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired.
- Place ⅓ of the sliced potatoes in the baking dish, topped with half of the sliced onions and half of the bacon. Top with ⅓ of the sauce.
- Place another ⅓ of the potatoes on top of the sauce, the remaining onions and bacon, and another ⅓ of the sauce.
- Finally, place the remaining potatoes on top, topped with the remaining sauce.
- Bake for 1½ hours until potatoes are tender. Top with the remaining cheddar cheese for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
- Enjoy!
[…] love of pumpkin runs deep. Pumpkin desserts, pumpkin in savory dishes, pumpkin-scented candles, the works. This fall has been even more fun for our family. Lleyton is in […]