Skillet Cheese Potatoes

I needed a quick meal, so I picked up a rotisserie chicken at the store and then had to decide what to serve with it. That's when Grandma's recipe for Cheese Potatoes came to mind. She wrote it up for me in 1993, and I'd made it a few times since, but it was time to put it to the test. I needed to decide for sure if it belonged in my digital box. 

How to Make Skillet Cheese Potatoes

I’ve never seen another recipe quite like this one. It’s similar to au gratin potatoes, but instead of baking in the oven for an hour or more, this dish is cooked in a skillet on the stove. 

The recipe calls for six large potatoes. A couple of mine were less than large, but I was at the end of the sack and had to use what I had on hand. First, I peeled them. 

 I then cut them into thin slices. Not super thin, mind you. I wanted to keep them sturdy enough so that they wouldn't break apart as I was sauteeing them. 

I melted butter in a skillet and let it heat up until it was bubbling.

I wanted the butter to be hot enough that the potatoes would sizzle when I dumped them in, and I wasn’t disappointed.

 I added the called-for teaspoon of salt (which seemed like a lot), sprinkled on some pepper, and let them crackle away for several minutes, occasionally stirring so that all the potatoes had their turn at the bottom of the pan. They went from raw-looking to translucent to brown at the edges. 

The browning was a sign that it was time to add the milk. I poured it in and reduced the heat, adding a lid as the milk bubbled and frothed. 

Eventually, the potatoes absorbed most of the milk,  and the rest thickened and transformed into a creamy sauce. 

I sprinkled on the finishing touches–some parsley for color . . . 

  . . . and some cheese. A lot of cheese. Two cups to be exact. I put the lid back on and let the cheese melt while I set the table. 

The total cooking time was less than thirty minutes, much shorter than if I had baked the dish in the oven. I placed the skillet on the table, knowing as I did that Grandma was turning over in her grave. Using serving dishes was a must for her, but this skillet full of cheesy potatoes was too pretty to mess up.  

The Verdict

This dish has a lot going for it. As a side, it can accompany almost anything. It’s relatively fast and easy to make. And it’s hard to go wrong with tender potatoes dripping with cheese. If I were to fiddle, I might try a sharper cheese than the Cheddar Jack I used. A sprinkle of parmesan or bacon bits might also be nice. Next time, I intend to pop it under the broiler and brown it up before serving.   

To my surprise, the amount of salt was just right for us, but you might want to adjust it to your tastes. You could also play with the quantity of cheese. Two cups was more than enough, I might try one and a half next time. This one's a keeper, and I like that it's versatile enough to adapt to our tastes. Into the digital box it goes!   

I've changed the name of the recipe to Skillet Cheese Potatoes. Hopefully, this will differentiate it from a million other cheesy potato recipes on the interwebs. Click on the link below the card to download and print it out. Enjoy!