The best Tartiflette Recipes

What is tartiflette?

It is a deliciously creamy oven baked gratin with layers of soft potatoes and cheese in a creamy sauce with the addition of chicken and bacon and a good dose of freshly ground black pepper the perfect comfort food serve bubbling and hot on a cold winters night. Our top 3 enticing variations on the dish are 

a traditional chicken tartiflette with the addition of spinach

a Spanish Tartiflette with chorizo and manchego cheese

a veggie spinach and mushroom tartiflette made with smoked cheese 

a wholesome vegetarian tartiflette with lentil and spinach  

Tartiflette History

This dish is originally from the western Alps and was made with layers of potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons and onions. In the northern alps the name for potatoes was tartifles which is where the name for this dish is believed to have come. The dish was invented in the 1980s by the makers of reblochon cheese to promote their product and is based on a more traditional potato and cheese dish pela from the southern France.

The main ingredients for this bake are sliced potatoes, cheese, onions, cream and bacon lardons but over time the dish has been altered to add different ingredients to create similar dishes, the two closest related dishes also from the region are

1. Croziflette made with similar ingredients but the potatoes are replaced with a local pasta called crozets de savoie,
2. Morbiflette also made with similar ingredients but the reblochon cheese is replaced with Morbier cheese

tartiflette Ingredients

1. bacon lardons - bacon chopped into match sticks, use smoked bacon and if already sliced cut into squares
2. potatoes - pre cooked and sliced an all purpose or baking potato works well for this
3. Reblochon cheese - if you can get this swap for a strong tasting continental cheese that melts well 
4. chicken - if your using fresh chicken use chicken breasts and poach them, or use left over roast chicken 
5. cream  - double or single cream 

Which cheese to use for tartiflette

The traditional cheese to use for tartiflette is reblochon cheese but you can use other cheeses our suggestions are 

• Fortina 
• Gruyere
• Cheddar - white and for vegetarian tartiflettes use a hard smoked cheese

For a richer dish use 

• a creamy brie
• camembert
• taleggio
• Brie

Our favourite cheese for the dish is gruyere

How to make a Tartiflette

To make this dish prepare the different layers first, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water, cook the potatoes till they are still hard  (par boil) drain and then slice the potatoes, fry the bacon till crisp and onions till soft. If using raw chicken poach it in stock till cooked and then shred. Preheat the oven Mix the cream and stock and grate the cheese. Layer the bake in an ovenproof baking dish or gratin dish starting with a potato layer, then a bacon mixture layer then a shredded chicken layer then a cheese layer and then season with salt and pepper, repeat the layers and finish with a potato layer. 

When the layers are complete pour over the cream and sprinkle with cheese on top. Cook in a preheated oven for 20 -30 minutes and serve piping hot 

Freezing and reheating Tartiflette

If you use precooked chicken for the dish then you should make sure all the layered elements are cold before layering and then it is ok to freeze this dish, freeze uncooked in a freezer proof container with a tight lid, allow to fully defrost before cooking, to cook follow the recipe instructions as if you had just made it . The vegetarian bakes can be frozen cooked or uncooked, if fully defrosted the veggie tartiflette should reheat in the oven in about 20 minutes, So the veggie versions are an ideal make-ahead dish 

What to serve with tartiflette

This creamy French tartiflette is best served piping hot, it is perfect served on, or with fresh green vegetables or salad.  To cut through the richness we usually serve it with

• a simple green salad and fresh cherry tomatoes 
• Spring greens 
• Freshly cooked broccoli or spinach
• A green salad with strong flavoured leaves such as watercress, radicchio etc
• A peppery rocket salad

Serve with a crisp white wine like a chardonnay

If you are a meat eater and you have never had tartiflette than I can guarantee you will be a convert to this dish.

Chicken Tartiflette

Layers of soft sliced potato, crispy onions and bacon, spinach and gruyere cheese baked together in a creamy sauce makes the perfect tartiflette . We add spinach to our chicken tartiflette just to cut through the creaminess and add that extra dimension. Our recipe uses freshly cooked chicken so the dish can be frozen, it should be layered up and frozen without cooking. If you don't intend to freeze the dish then use up your leftover cooked chicken from your Sunday roast, in this ideal Monday night dinner idea.

This is our Spanish version of tartiflette with layers of sliced potatoes covered by broccoli chunks and a brie cream sauce, sliced chorizo and manchego cheese, seasoned well and baked in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and topped with melted cheese. This delicious dish is served with a dressed salad

Chorizo Tartiflette 

We took the traditional recipe and swapped out some of the ingredients to create a delicious Spanish version. The bacon mixture was swapped for slices of crispy chorizo, the onion mixture was swapped for crisp broccoli and the cream sauce had the addition of brie to give it extra flavour

This dish is so delicious that as a vegetarian you just don't want to miss out on this heavenly dish, so we put our thinking caps on and came up with a spinach and mushroom tartiflette.

Veggie Spinach and Mushroom Tartiflette

We took our traditional version and looked at what we needed to replace in the recipe to make it veggie friendly. The items that are not veggie friendly are the chicken, smoked bacon and the gruyere cheese. So we decided to go for mushrooms,  a smoked cheese and traditional cheddar cheese and our veggie tartiflette came out absolutely delicious, giving us the perfect veggie replacement

The dish is made with lightly boiled slice potatoes, creating the first layer, followed by wilted spinach. The next layer is fried onions and garlic followed by caramelised sliced mushrooms and then grated cheese. The dish is completed with a final layer of potatoes and a sprinkle of cheese and then baked in the oven for about 20 minutes till golden brown. We would serve this delicious bake with a fresh tomato and green salad. This dish is perfect for freezing, layer the dish up and freeze without cooking.

Spinach and Lentil Tartiflette or Cheesy Lentil Bake Recipe

This is a very earthy and wholesome version, we can't exactly call it healthy with the amount of cheese and cream in it, but it is probably the closest you will get to a healthy tartiflette. 

Veggie Lentil and Spinach Tartiflette

We wanted to recreate the dish with a hit of veggie protein so we replaced the chicken with lentils and to ensure it was vegetarian swapped out the gruyere cheese for a mixture of cheddar and smoked Applewood. This dish although following the main principles, the strength of the green lentils meant it is probably closer to a delicious cheesy lentil bake. 

The bake is made the same as the others with a layer of sliced cooked potatoes, a layer of crispy onions and garlic, a layer of lentils and grated cheese, the dish is completed with a final layer of potatoes and a sprinkle of cheese. To freeze this layer it up and freeze uncooked. 

These are our top creations, why not create your own version and let us know how it goes