If you’re looking for a hearty meal, this Slow Cooker Beef and Potato Au Gratin is the perfect recipe to try. Packed with hearty Russet potatoes, ground beef, and simple flavors, your family will love this dinner choice.
I love a hearty one-pot meal in the slow cooker like this one and my Seasoned Chicken and Veggies Recipe or Homestyle Pot Roast Dinner.
What is potato au gratin?
Au gratin potatoes are often confused with scalloped potatoes because they look similar. While scalloped potatoes typically call for a mix of milk and heavy cream, potato au gratin ingredients include lots of shredded cheese between its layers.
For this particular recipe, a combination of ground beef, white onion, and shredded sharp cheese are layered before slowly being cooked to perfection. Who knew you could make potatoes au gratin with ground beef?
Recipe Ingredients
- Potatoes: The potatoes go in the slow cooker peeled; though I don’t mind skin on for most recipes, this one tastes great without. Be sure the potatoes are thinly sliced.
- Ground Beef: Adding beef to the recipe makes this au gratin potato dish a complete meal.
- Seasonings: These potatoes need heavy seasoning, so I went heavy with salt and pepper and added garlic powder, paprika, and parsley.
- Onion: White onion adds flavor and heartiness to this delicious casserole recipe.
- Beef broth: Evenly poured over all the layers to help everything cook evenly. Chicken broth works in a pinch!
- Cheese: It’s best to use a block of sharp cheddar cheese for shredding as it melts the best in meals like this.
Step One – Brown ground beef on the stovetop in a large skillet; add salt and pepper to taste.
Step Two – Mix the paprika, garlic powder, parsley, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Step Three – Peel and slice russet potatoes thinly and lay them on the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Add half of the potatoes to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over half of the onions and half of the seasonings.
Step Four – Add half of the meat.
Step Five – Sprinkle over half of the cheese.
Step Six – Add the remaining potato slices, seasoning, and onion.
Step Seven – Add the remaining beef.
Step Eight – Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and drizzle over the beef broth.
How to serve
- Since this is a one-pot meal, you can serve it as-is by scooping a nice serving into a bowl. If anything, garnish the top with fresh parsley.
- You can’t go wrong with sour cream and extra cheese for additional tasty topping suggestions.
- This is a proper comfort food, so garlic bread, garlic sticks, or homemade rolls also complement this casserole perfectly.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Brown one package (12-16 ounces) of bacon, crumble and use it in place of the beef in this recipe. You can also use ground turkey.
Use any potatoes (red, gold, or white potatoes). Just be sure they are thinly sliced. You can even use sweet potatoes for an entirely different meal.
You can stir together a can of mushroom soup with the beef broth before pouring it over the finished layers.
Add any remaining beef and potatoes to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat the leftovers on the stove top over medium heat.
You can leave the skin on the potatoes if desired; it’s a personal preference.
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Slow Cooker Beef and Potatoes Au Gratin
Equipment Needed:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef plus a touch of salt and pepper to season
- 3 lbs. peeled russet potatoes sliced a ¼ inch thick (about 7 cups total after being sliced)
- 1 cup thinly sliced white onion
- 1 tsp. paprika
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheese
- ½ cup beef broth or chicken broth
Instructions:
- Brown the ground beef on the stove top, drain fat. Add a touch of salt and pepper to season.
- In a small bowl combine the paprika, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper.
- Add half of the potatoes in the slow cooker. Sprinkle over half of the onions, half of the seasonings, half of the meat, and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers again.
- Drizzle over the broth evenly over the layers.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Do not open the lid during the cooking time or the potatoes will not get soft.
- Serve and enjoy!
How to Video:
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Need an Instant Pot Version of this? Try this version:
Instant Pot Beef and Potato Au Gratin from The Centsable Shoppin’
I wanted to love this but without the cream, it’s not a true Au Gratin, so the name of the recipe is really misleading. The flavor was one-dimensional and really would have benefitted from a simple bechamel sauce.
Can you freeze this?
Potatoes don’t freeze well, they turn grainy.
Did not have a lot of flavor- needs something more. Good way to use up potatoes though.
How about the dehydrated sliced potatoes that you get from au gratin box kits.
I have not tested with those, let me know if it works for you!
Yes, it worked very well. Much less labor!
DIce THE potatoes IN STAD SLICES POPATOES
Can I use ground turkey instead of ground beef?
Yes, that will work great.
Can I bake this in the oven if I don’t have a crockpot big enough? And if so for how long?
I have not tested in the oven, I apologize. Though I’m sure it would work.
I had a ton of ground beef and a bag of potatoes to use up. So happy I found this recipe. The onion is essential!
Would this work with less cheese and vegetable broth instead? I’m trying to use up the rest of some stuff in my fridge 🙂
I don’t see why not!
If I do 2lb of ground bison how long do I have to cook for ? Will it still be 4 hours?
Yes, I would cook for the same amount of time, 4 hours.
Can I use thin round steak instead of ground beef? And Do I need to brown it first before I put it into the crock pot?
I don’t see why not, since it will cook up fine with the potatoes. You do not need to brown it.
So I can just cut the thin round steak into thin strips and put it in place of the hamburger without browning it, is that correct? I love this dish,and I make it all the time
So I can just cut the thin round steak into thin strips and put it in place of the hamburger in the crock pot and I do not have to precook it,?is that correct?We love this dish and I make it all the time just the way you do.
Can this be cooked on low instead of high in the slow cooker? I wanted to make it tomorrow, but I go to work at 9:30 and it would get done too early if cooked on high.
Casserole-type recipes in the slow cooker can’t go too long. They tend to burn on the edges. You may be able to get away with 6 hours on low though.
My question is from my experience potatoes take so long to cook well done in the slow cooker even when cut small. I’m going to try this in my slow cooker tonight and hopefully it will be done for tomorrow afternoon to eat. I will report back with my findings
Keep the lid on the entire time for sure!
I was afraid this wasn’t going to be good. But it WAS GOOD!! I’m making it again tomorrow night. Going to experiment a bit and add some cream of mushroom soup. It was really good, I just think it was missing that tiny “something”.
Looks good
Making this tonight, I’m using Ground Bison. I also went with smoked paprika,and added a 1/2 cup of red wine