Tartiflette
Prep Time 30 minutes 
Cook Time 45 minutes 
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes 
Servings 4 peopleIngredients
- 1 kg waxy firm potatoes Charlotte, Roseval, or Waitrose Essential Red Potatoes
- 250 gr smoked plant-based lardons
- 1 onion
- 450 gr Reblochon cheese
- 250 ml double cream or plant based double cream
- 125 ml dry white wine optional, traditionally from Savoie
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- salt and black pepper
Equipment
Instructions
1. Cook the potatoes
- Wash the potatoes and cook them whole, skin on, in a large pot of salted water for about 20 minutes, until just tender but not falling apart as they will finish cooking in the oven. Drain, let cool slightly, then peel and cut into thin slices.
2. Prepare onions and lardons
- Peel and finely slice the onions. Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the onions and cook gently until translucent. Add the vegetarian smoked lardons and fry together until both are golden and fragrant.
3. Deglaze (optional)
- Pour in the white wine and let it bubble for a minute to deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat and stir in the double cream. Season with pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Taste before adding salt, as vegetarian smoked lardons and cheese are already salty.
4. Layer the tartiflette
- In your ovenproof baking dish, layer potatoes, then some of the onion-lardons-cream mixture. Repeat as many times as you like, making sure each layer is well distributed.If you want it extra cheesy, you can buy a second Reblochon and add slices of cheese in the layers as well as on top. This guarantees gooey cheese throughout the whole dish.
5. Add the Reblochon
- Slice the Reblochon in half horizontally to make two thinner rounds. Place the halves rind side up over the top of the dish (or cut into thick slices and distribute evenly).
6. Bake
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 45–50 minutes, until the cheese is melted, golden, and bubbling, and the potatoes are tender all the way through.
Notes
- Reblochon is essential for authenticity. If you can’t find it, a strong, creamy cheese like raclette or a robust brie will do, but it just won’t be quite the same.
- Some French cooks skip the cream, letting the cheese do all the work, but most traditional recipes include it for extra richness.
- Tartiflette is pure winter comfort, don’t even think about calories!
About this recipe
Come winter, tartiflette is the first dish I make to celebrate cosy evenings. I taught it to my husband at the beginning of our relationship, he loved it so much that now I’m not allowed to make it anymore. When it’s on the menu, he’s got it covered and I just sit back and wait for that moment when the Reblochon starts to melt and the kitchen smells just incredible!
Where tartiflette comes from
Tartiflette has a funny background story: it was invented in the 1980s by a cheese marketing board trying to sell more Reblochon. It worked so well that within a decade the dish had become a symbol of Savoyard cooking, made in home kitchens across all of France. Not bad for a marketing campaign.
The name comes from “tartifla,” the Savoyard word for potato, which gives you the Alpine roots. The Savoie region has always built its cooking around what was available in a mountain environment: potatoes, onions, cured pork, and the rich washed-rind cheeses the region makes so well.
Tartiflette draws direct inspiration from a much older local recipe called péla, a simple gratin of potatoes, onions, and cheese cooked in a long-handled pan over an open fire. Péla existed long before Reblochon was part of it. The Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Reblochon took that tradition, formalised a recipe around their cheese, named it tartiflette, and pushed it through ski resorts in the 1980s. Après-ski culture was growing, people wanted hearty food after a day on the slopes, and potato tartiflette was exactly that.
Reblochon: Tartiflette cheese
Reblochon is a semi-soft washed-rind cheese from the Savoie, made from raw cow’s milk and aged for at least two weeks. It has a pale orange rind, a creamy interior, and a flavour that is mild, slightly nutty, and very savoury. I find myself tempted every time to have a piece cold before it goes on the tartiflette, but I’m always a little disappointed. It’s fine, but a bit bland compared to the rich, fragrant flavour you get when it melts. Completely unique, and absolutely delicious.
If you’re outside France and can’t find Reblochon easily, nothing replicates it exactly, but a good Brie or Camembert gives you a similar melting quality and a comparable flavour. Some people use Raclette, which is firmer and less aromatic but melts beautifully. Make it with a substitute rather than not making it at all.
The lardons
As all my recipes are vegetarian, I use vegetarian lardons for this French tartiflette, which works better than you might expect. The smoky, salty bite they provide is what matters in a potato tartiflette, and good vegetarian versions deliver exactly that without the dish losing its character. Cook them properly before the dish goes into the oven, giving them enough time in the pan for the edges to colour and the smokiness to develop. Vegetarian lardons can release less fat than traditional ones, so a small knob of butter in the pan helps with browning and adds the richness the dish needs.
What to bake Tartiflette in
When my husband makes Tartiflette, he takes the Staub cast iron cocotte out of the larder. This dish holds the layers securely, distributes heat evenly across the base, and goes from oven to table when we have guests. The stoneware retains heat brilliantly, which means the tartiflette stays bubbling and hot at the table long after it comes out of the oven. The size is right for four portions, the depth holds the layers of potato and cheese without overflowing. For a dish this rustic and generous, bringing the whole thing to the table and letting people serve themselves just feels right to me.
How to eat tartiflette
In the Savoie, tartiflette is après-ski food, eaten after a day on the slopes with cold hands and a big appetite. It needs nothing alongside it except a green salad with a sharp mustard vinaigrette to cut through the richness, and a glass of Savoie white wine, something crisp and mineral.
It reheats well the next day, though the cheese firms up a little and the texture changes. Still very good, just different. Some people say the second-day version is better. They’re not wrong.
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If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out! Leave a ★★★★★ rating and your thoughts in the comments, it helps fellow French foodies discover this recipe too. Snap a photo and tag @obviously.french on Instagram. Come talk about it in our Facebook group. And don’t forget to save this recipe to Pinterest so you’ll always have it handy for your next French-inspired meal!
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