Pommes Anna Layered Potatoes with Garlic Herb Butter
Pommes Anna (or Potato Anna) is a classic French dish of buttery sliced potatoes stacked into a cake-like form that is baked until crisp on the edges and tender on the inside. The signature presentation of a Pommes Anna is flipped over onto a serving dish where the golden brown bottom becomes the top. Pommes Anna is a dish made known to me by Julia Child who famously said the dish is considered by some to be “the supreme potato recipe of all time.” In The French Chef Cookbook (a book of recipes Julia made on her tv show The French Chef), it is called Pommes de Terre Anna, mold of sliced potatoes baked in butter. I kinda really like that description of it.
A Pommes Anna involves very few ingredients (the traditional version is just butter, potatoes, s&p) and is relatively easy to prepare albeit requires a bit of time to shingle the layers into the pan. The trick is to be able to flip the potato onto a serving dish intact, without any potatoes sticking to the pan. Therefore, you must have a really good non-stick pan or a really really well-seasoned cast iron pan to pull it off. Do practice this dish before serving it to guests at a dinner party. Once you can comfortably pull this off, it is a rather satisfying culinary triumph!
If you’ve seen my recent viral Crispy Potato Stacks with Garlic Herb Butter (the mini version of this), than you already know my feelings about the mandolin. It is like a guillotine for fingertips 😮 I’ll share the same advice again that a mandolin really is the best tool for getting evenly thin slices out of 3 lbs of potatoes quickly. But be very careful with it - use the finger guard it comes with and consider additional protection in the form of a cut-resistant kitchen work glove. And no matter what, do NOT be a hero when it comes to that last little nub of potato. Just when you think you can get one last slice out of it, you will be proven terribly wrong. Based on the resounding response from readers on every channel I posted this to, way too many of us have learned this lesson the hard (painful) way!
Eat well + be well (with fingertips intact),
Sonia x
You May Also Be Interested in these other Side Dish recipes!
》crispy potato stacks with garlic herb butter (mini pommes Anna)
》green beans with miso butter onions
》Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dried Cherries
Arrangement: Place one potato slice in the centre. Then arrange slices like overlapping shingles, in concentric circles around the pan. Repeat with next layers until all potato slices are used up — likely 3 layers. (Note: these images were taken in an earlier round of recipe testing where less clarified butter was used in the bottom of the pan.)
Recipe Note - pommes anna layered potatoes with garlic herb butter
1. What is clarified butter?
Clarified butter is butter that has been separated from the milk solids, yielding a clear golden butter that is pure butterfat with a higher smoke point and is non-sticking. Do I have to clarify the butter or can I just use melted butter? You absolutely can use melted butter in this recipe but here are two advantages of using clarified butter. One, clarified butter is non-sticking (to the same extent as oil) because the milk solids have been removed. Since we are flipping the Pommes Anna to serve, it’s a worthwhile step against sticking. Two, the process of clarifying butter also evaporates some of the water content in it. The less water (moisture), the crispier the potatoes. The process takes about 10-15 minutes.
2. What is the best way to cut potatoes into 1/8” thin slices?
Even though it is indeed the evillest kitchen implement, a mandolin really is the best tool for getting even, paper-thin slices out of 3 lbs of potatoes in relatively little time. If you don’t have a mandolin, you will need a sharp knife and really good knife skill. If you are using a mandolin, be very careful with it (you may consider finger protection in the form of a cut-resistant kitchen glove) and no matter what, do NOT be a hero when it comes to that last little nub of potato if you wish to keep your fingertips unharmed. Speaking from multiple experiences, unfortunately.
3. I want to make this for a party. What can I prepare in advance?
Fresh out of oven is the best but there are options for front-loading the prep, see below. (A word of unsolicited advice: practice making this dish at least once before making for guests to test out your non-stick pan, exact cooking timing and practice flipping it over).
Option 1: Prepare Pommes Anna fully and flip it onto an oven-safe serving plate. Keep it at room temperature. Before serving, warm in a 350f (176c) oven for 20 minutes or whenever it is hot in the center, then broil for 4-5 minutes to crisp the edges. Keep an eye when broiling. Finish with flaky salt.
Option 2: Technically pre-sliced potatoes go brown/grey from oxidization if left out too long. In this case, the buttery sauce seems coat them sufficiently to prevent oxidization so make sure to coat the potatoes well. Discard the liquid that has collected at the bottom of the bowl and follow the recipe directions for assembly. If slicing in advance, omit the salt (which draws water out of the potatoes) and toss in salt just before assembly.
4. I don’t have a non-stick pan. Can I still make this recipe?
Yes! Pommes Anna is flipped upside down onto a plate to serve, therefore a good non-stick pan (or a really well-seasoned cast iron pan) is a must otherwise the potatoes will stick and not flip out in one piece. That said, if you don’t have a non-stick pan but still want to make this recipe, there is a workaround. Serve it straight out of whatever you bake it in without flipping – I suggest a parchment-lined cake pan or other oven-safe dish. This won’t have the classic upside-down presentation of a Pommes Anna but it will be just as delicious. In this case, make sure to reserve the pretty potato slices for the top instead of the bottom. Alternatively, if you have a muffin tin, you can make mini versions using my Crispy Potato Stacks with Garlic Herb Butter recipe.
5. Your crispy potato stacks recipe has cheese in it. Can I add cheese to this too?
Yes, but with a caveat. I have tested this recipe twice with grated parmesan cheese. Even though the cheese is sprinkled in between the layers of potatoes, it melts and pools in spots to create darkened patches on the potatoes at the bottom of the pan (which becomes the top side after flipping), making the presentation less clean and pretty. Since a classic Pommes Anna is all about showing off the shingled potato layers, I decided to omit cheese from this recipe. If you don’t care about that, use ½ C (50g) grated parmesan cheese between potato layers but not on the very bottom or top.
6. How do I store and reheat pommes anna?
Cool fully, cover and store in the fridge for a day or two. To reheat, place in preheated 350f (180c) oven for 20 minutes or whenever warm through the center. Optionally broil a few minutes at the end to crisp up the top.
Pommes Anna Layered Potatoes with Garlic Herb Butter
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment below to let me know or tag me on Instagram @saltnpepperhere so I can see. Or drop a note if you have any questions. I’m happy to help!