Parsnip Gratin with Gruyere and Thyme- a deliciously decadent vegetarian side dish, perfect for special gatherings or the holiday table! Video.
This is the Best Recipe for Parsnips
Parsnip Gratin will become your new favorite parsnip recipe. Decadent, earthy, sweet, and lovely, the flavors are wonderfully surprising! As a chef, I love taking humble ingredients and helping them shine -and this parsnip gratin recipe does just that!
Parnips are so soulful to me. You would never know that their rough and tumble exterior would house such sweetness, earthiness, and depth, kind of like my favorite people! 😉 I hope you give parsnips a try and experience their goodness for yourself. You’ll love this side dish – the recipe comes straight from my catering business and was always a huge hit. The aroma wafting from the oven alone will win you over -it’s just heavenly.
Ingredients in Parsnip Gratin
- Parsnips- similar in size.
- Onion and Garlic- for savory depth.
- Heavy whipping cream – do not sub half and half or milk
- Fresh thyme– for savory complexity, or substitute fresh sage.
- Butter– for greasing the pan
- Spices: fresh nutmeg (or ground), white pepper, salt and pepper
- Flour (or sub rice flour)
- Gruyere cheese
How to Make Parsnip Gratin With Gruyere and Thyme
Step one: Prep the parsnips. It starts with peeling the parsnips.
Slice them very thinly– a mandoline makes this easy.
Step two: Thinly slice an onion.
Step three: Generously butter a 6×9 baking dish.
Step four: Assemble. Begin layering parsnips, onion, gruyere and a little thyme.
TIP: It’s OK if the bottom and middle parts are a little messy. Reserve some of the larger more uniform pieces of parsnip for the top and arrange in nice, even, overlapping rows.
Step five: Cream Sauce. Heat heavy cream and whisk in minced garlic, salt, fresh nutmeg, white pepper, flour and thyme.
Pour cream mixture over the layered parsnips, tilting and shaking the pan so liquid coats all the nooks and crannies.
Step six: Top with the remaining gruyere, a sprinkling of thyme and a pinch of nutmeg.
TIP: Freshly ground nutmeg is more aromatic than the pre-ground spice. Buy whole nutmeg (often sold in jars in the spice section of supermarkets) and scrape it against the finest holes of a box grater, or use a micro-plane grater. It’s totally OK to use ground nutmeg, but whole will give the dish that extra special flavor.
Step seven. Bake: Cover tightly with foil and place in a 400°F oven. Bake 50 minutes or until fork-tender. Remove foil and bake 15-20 minutes uncovered, until golden and bubbly. Let it stand for 15-20 minutes before serving so it has a chance to thicken and set up.
What to Serve With The Best Parsnip Recipe
Serve this as a side dish with Chicken Pot Pie or Chicken Marsala, or Pan-Roasted Chicken with Grapes. It’s a delcious addition to the holiday table with Oven Roasted Turkey and Homemade Green Bean Casserole.
Storing Parsnip Gratin With Gruyere and Thyme
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in a warm 350°F oven or microwave.
Parsnip Gratin Recipe Tips
Normally, with recipes, I recommend playing around with them. For this recipe, however, there are a few tips that will help ensure a successful outcome.
- Firstly, do not substitute whole milk or half & half for the heavy cream, or the gratin will end up watery.
- Pecorino or Manchego cheese can be substituted for the gruyere.
- Feel free to substitute Yukon gold potatoes or peeled russets for half of the parsnips.
- Using a mandolin makes this so much easier to make. If you don’t have a mandolin, slice parsnips as thinly as humanly possible.
- Lastly, it’s imperative to let this sit 15-20 minutes before serving, to ensure it sets up nicely and thickens.
- This can be made ahead, baked ahead and reheated before serving. It’s actually quite good reheated.
Faq
Parsnips are a root vegetable that looks like a white carrot and belongs to the Apiaceae family. You’ll recognize them by their cream-colored skin and flesh.
Parsnips taste sweet, earthy, with a hint of spice and nuttiness.
Parsnips have a lot of health benefits – high in fiber, vitamins C, K, and folate.
On the home front: Getting to know parsnips means looking beyond their rough skin to find their surprising sweetness. Have you ever met someone who seemed a bit rough at first, someone you didn’t expect to get close to, but after spending time with them, you began to understand their tough exterior and see their hidden kindness? These are the parsnips of the world. The ones who nourish us in their own special way.
More Favorite Parsnip recipes
- Roasted Parsnips with Romesco Sauce
- Parsnip Soup with Toasted Hazelnuts
- Butternut Squash Gratin with Leeks, Sage and Walnuts
- Cauliflower Gratin with Garlic and Sage
⭐️ Don’t forget to rate it, and please let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments below! xoxo Sylvia
Watch How to Make It
Parsnip Gratin with Gruyere and Thyme
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Side dish, vegetarian
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Pacific Northwest
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 –2 1/2 lbs Parsnips
- 1 medium onion- yellow or white
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream (do not sub half and half or milk)
- butter for greasing the pan
- 1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg ( or ground), more for the top
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon tresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon flour or Rice Flour
- 3–4 large minced cloves of garlic
- 6–8 ounces, grated gruyère cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Peel the parsnips and, using a mandolin, slice the parsnips into 1/8 thin slices. The thinner the slices the faster this will bake. If you don’t have a mandolin, slice them as thinly as humanly possible! 😉 Thinly slice the onion and grate the cheese.
- Generously grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter. Place a sheet pan on the lower rack to catch any overflow.
- Layer the parsnips and onion with 2/3 of the cheese and ⅔ of the thyme -saving the rest for the top- and reserving the more perfect pieces of parsnips for the final top layer. Press down and make sure layers are even. It’s OK if the inside layers are messy. Place the last layer of parsnip slices in nice-looking overlapping rows.
- In a sauce pan, heat 3 cups heavy whipping cream. Whisk in salt, nutmeg, the remaining thyme, white pepper, flour and the garlic and when it just comes to a simmer, pour over the layered parsnips, slanting the baking dish to get the cream in all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, a few more leaves of thyme, and a little sprinkling of nutmeg.
- Cover tightly with parchment and foil (you want a good seal) and bake for 45-60 minutes (depending on thickness) on the middle rack until parsnips are fork-tender. (If your parsnips were perhaps cut thicker than 1/8 of an inch, you will need to cook longer with the foil on.) Also, don’t worry if it seems watery at this point.
- Once fork-tender, remove foil and bake another 15 minutes uncovered, or until golden and bubbly. It is important to let it sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes before serving, so it sets up and thickens.
- You can also make this all ahead, and reheat before serving.
Notes
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator, or can be frozen for up to 3 months. You can also substitute half of the parsnips with potatoes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 524
- Sugar: 9.1 g
- Sodium: 481.9 mg
- Fat: 42.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 25.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.5 g
- Fiber: 6.8 g
- Protein: 10.8 g
- Cholesterol: 128.1 mg
We made this recipe and it was very delicious! We had one issue though. We needed to set the temperature to 375 deg. because we were concerned about our glass 9X13 casserole dish (deep-dish). Despite the lower temperature, after 35 minutes we noticed smoke coming out of the stove vent. We immediately turned the stove off and waited for the oven to clear. It turned out that the liquid was boiling over past the foil covering, falling to the stove bottom and burning. The parsnips were completely cooked even after the shorter time and lower temperature. We’re questioning the need for the high temperature and long bake time given the parsnips and onion are sliced thin and the cream is already hot.
Thanks John, appreciate the feedback and I will note the recipe. Timing depends on the thickness of the parsnips. Most people cut them to about 1/4th inch, then they underdone. Mandolin makes this cook much faster. 😉
We did cut the parsnips to 1/8 inch. We were questioning why the casserole boiled over after 35 minutes. Is the temperature too high at 400 (we did it at 375)? Especially considering that the casserole is supposed to cook another 15 minutes uncovered. We tested our oven temperature and it is accurate.
Shoot. I’m not sure- maybe my oven wasn’t accurate? I’ll have to to retest with my newer oven. 😉
Hi Sylvia, might I sub sweet potatoes for part?
Yes! Sounds fun!
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
We made this exactly, sliced the parsnips paper thin with our mandoline slicer. The flavours are so delicate and rich! We could not get enough. Thank you! Keep sharing your amazing recipes!
Great to hear Raadhiya and thanks so much for reviewing!
this is amazing. made plenty of times and goes get positive feedback
Great to hear Lucy!
Another delicious recipe, Sylvia! Your parsnip gratin was easy to put together and tastes amazing. I will definitely be making this again.
Thanks Ann, really appreciate you letting us know!
I made this for Thanksgiving and WOW! Everyone raved about it. I did it in 2 layers like others suggested to get the sauce more evenly spread. Love your site, thanks so much for all your wonderful recipes.
Thanks Maura, happy to hear you are enjoying!
Lovely dish! I made it without the onion on account of an allergy in our family. It was still delicious.
Great to hear! Thanks so much for circling back and leaving a review, very appreciated!
I discovered this recipe maybe 8 years ago. I had never had parsnips but was looking for a new vegetarian dish for Thanksgiving. My husband and I went crazy for this and it’s now a Thanksgiving tradition! I could eat the whole pan of it myself it’s so delicious! It’s been a hit with friends and family too. I’m so glad I found this; thanks for the recipe!
I really love this one too- and this makes me so happy! Happy Thanksgiving Stephanie and thanks for coming back and reviewing! Always appreciated.
I made this last year to great acclaim as my contribution to the Christmas table. I can’t make it Christmas this year because my niece now makes it regularly.
So I’ll have to find something else on this wonderful site, which won’t be a difficult exercise, tbh.
Still I’m about to make this wonderful dish for Friday night’s thanksgiving dinner at an American friend’s here in York, England. 🥰
I’m so glad you and your niece have been enjoying it!
Very nice low carb recipe. Better than potatoes.
So glad you enjoyed Vincent!
Made this with Christmas dinner. While slicing the parsnip took a lot of time, it was delicious. Well worth the effort. Everyone had seconds!
Awesome Lynn!
Made this for Christmas Day, mostly with Gruyere but also with some Jarlsberg cheese. Bought myself a mandoline for the job as I’ll need it for the very many times I’ll be making this in the future. Totally awesome, like everything else on FeastingatHome. (Btw, today I typed in “fasting at home” in error, which might well be what’s required 🙂
Haha, I feel the same. Glad you liked this one!
This was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. It was the hit for Thanksgiving! Have to admit the expectations were low for a parsnip dish from the others—-but, all were raving over it! So gooood!
Yay Tad! Great to hear and hope you guys had a lovely Thanksgiving. x
This did in fact become a new favorite dish that I’ve since made a couple of times, and passed on to people who also loved it when they tried it. Followed the recipe to the letter, and everything was perfect. Another vegetarian dish that you can serve devoted carnivores without annoying them (or really even raising their suspicions).
Well played.
Glad you have enjoyed this and thanks for your comment. 😉
I am very excited about making my first parsnip dish, but am only cooking for 1.5. Is there a way to halve the recipe?
Yes Jordan, feel free to halve the recipe!
This is the third or fourth time I have made this recipe and people just Rave about it it is so good but it’s so so bad for your arteries but what the hell it’s only once a year and I’m still alive with no artery problems.
Thanks
Haha, yes, I hear you. It’s pretty decadent. I recently made it with a bechamel sauce using nut milk trying to do a lower fat version. It just wasn’t quite as good.
The recipe states to not replace heavy cream. Would a thicker bechamel with reduced fat milk not work here though? Really want to make this for the holidays but would like to make it a bit lighter if possible.
Hi Daniel- this might work! I havent tried it, but seems like it should be OK? I’ll try to give it a test run this week. 🙂
Love all your recipes! Want to try making this for Thxgiving but want it a bit lighter.. it says to not substitute milk for heavy cream. What about making a thicker bechamel with lower fat milk, would that not work?
Hi Derek, I haven’t tried, but seems like it should work fine!
As the principal cook in a household of three twenty-somethings, two of whom are vegetarian, it can be difficult to find things that all three of us enjoy equally. I can happily say that this recipe has made the list. It was delicious!
I used applewood smoked gruyere (about twice as much as the recipe intended if I’m honest). Will definitely be using this to show off at thanksgiving!
Yum! Sounds tasty!
Very tasty. However, I wouldn’t recommend the method of pouring the sauce on last thing. It doesn’t filter through to the bottom layer properly. I would recommend pouring a small amount of sauce over each layer before adding the second half at the end.
I see your point here Ryan. Thanks for the feedback!