Gluten Free and Easy Potato and Thyme Stacks

These Gluten Free and Easy Potato and Thyme Stacks are cream free and full of flavor. Essentially roasted stacked potato slices, these bites make a perfect side or appetizer.

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These Gluten Free and Easy Potato and Thyme Stacks are incredible! I didn’t know what to call them at first. Originally, I called them gratin cups, but I I didn’t want to make the cream sauce for a true gratin. I also haven’t ever loved potato au gratin. It is good, but I prefer mashed potatoes, so I wasn’t sure about gratin because it didn’t have the sauce. Then I thought potato chip cups because, well they are sliced as thin as potato chips and then layered on top of one another. But I decided to go with potato stacks because well that is what they are. Stacked potatoes and stacked with flavor.

The layering and stacking is where the magic happens. Just make the butter and oil sauce with thyme and garlic. The nutmeg and mustard add a beautiful depth to the flavor. Nutmeg works so well with anything that is a little creamy, cheesy or baked (like creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese). Whereas the mustard as some beautiful acidity to the potatoes that helps cut through the richness of the oiled potatoes. Trust me the mustard is so good in this! If you don’t like mustard you can use some lemon juice, but I like the extra mustard flavor. These Gluten Free and Easy Potato and Thyme Stacks make the perfect side dish. Plus they look fancy, but are so easy to make!

They are a bit annoying with layering the potatoes. At first I used a pastry brush to brush the oil mixture on the potatoes, but found it took longer than just throwing the potatoes into the sauce and mixing them around. Then they were easy to stack into the muffin tin. Feel free to use a pastry brush, but if you are impatient like I can be, just toss them like a salad. This also helps get a more even coating of everything in the cups. If you stacked them somewhat uneven where various edges are out further those parts will get crispy. This adds a nice texture contrast because the middle potatoes will be soft.

If you serve this as an appetizer, be sure to serve it with the Elderflower, Pear and Thyme Martini, it works so well together. These two recipes will impress any guest.

Gluten Free and Easy Potato and Thyme Stacks Recipe Notes & Substitutions

Potatoes– I used russet potatoes for this recipe. Feel free to use any other kind of potato for these. Be mindful that sweet potatoes won’t get crispy on the sides or top, but they will taste real good! Truthfully the middle of the cups doesn’t get very crispy so it would be perfectly fine. Also, make sure you wash off the excess starch from the potatoes this helps lighten the potatoes and get some crispy. Of course using potatoes keeps this recipe gluten free! Just make sure to cut them thin, and they they fit in the muffin tin.

Butter/Oil– Feel free to use all butter, all oil, ghee or chicken or duck fat. All will be amazing (especially the chicken or duck fat!). All will also still work with the cocktail pairing.

Garlic– Use how much you want, feel free to increase the number of cloves, you can’t go wrong.

Thyme– This recipe uses fresh thyme. If you are using dried reduce in half because dried can be a little more potent. You could also substitute sage or rosemary here, both with work so well! Or try Herbes de Provence for an extra special layered flavor. All these will work with the drink pairing too!

Lemon Zest– Potatoes can be a bit heavy, so this helps brighten up the dish. It is not a lot, but it really does make a difference to cut through the oil and butter. If you’d prefer leave it out. However I’d say give it a shot and if you don’t love lemon, just reduce it a bit.

Dijon Mustard– Trust me on this one. Like the lemon zest, it makes a difference. It helps cut through the oil and freshens up the potato. This is where the acid is in the recipe, so it is best to not skip this. Use dijon mustard, do not use yellow mustard and expect the same results. Leave the yellow mustard for game day pretzels and hot dogs. You could also use a whole grain or spicy mustard. Honey mustard would also work here, just omit the honey in the recipe and add a little lemon juice to bring more acidity.

Honey– The honey helps cut through the butter and brings a nice subtle sweetness. It also rounds off the acidity of the mustard really well and helps the other flavors pop! Honey also helps the food bite pair with the cocktail. You can omit this if you want, it will still be real tasty.

Gruyere cheese– I like the tanginess that gruyere brings to this food bite. If you do not like gruyere or can not find gruyere cheese use swiss, parmesan, asiago or romano cheese instead. All these will work well, but gruyere is the best one.

Paleo Substitutions– Use ghee instead of butter, replace the white potatoes with sweet potatoes and use paleo parmesan instead of the gruyere. The paleo parmesan won’t melt but it will add nice flavor and salt.

Dairy-Free/Vegan Substitutions– Use vegan butter or avocado oil in place of the butter. Instead of the gruyere cheese use a sharp vegan cheese like shredded parmesan or omit entirely. Also, omit the honey or use date syrup or vegan honey instead.

Suggested Drink Pairing– The Elderflower, Pear and Thyme Martini is my first choice. I also like white wine with this like a Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay or even a less sweet Gewurztraminer. If you want red wine try a Pinot Noir.