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Cheesy Potato Cups

posted by Liz Berg on February 2, 2021 (updated 3/22/23)

Cheesy Potato Cups were a hit with my spud-loving family. The individual portions are ideal for dinner parties, holidays, or even weeknights!

This Cheesy Potato Recipe got these rave reviews at a recent family dinner. “How many can we have?” and “These are really good!” were some of their unsolicited reactions.

Cheesy Potato Cups on a white serving tray

Table of Contents hide

5 Frequently Asked Questions

6 You May Also Like:

7 Cheesy Potato Cups

Why You Must Make

I left my Cook’s Country magazine on the counter folded open to the photo of this recipe for Cheesy Potato Cups. Bill walked by and said, “I’d eat those.” Yeah, this I knew.
Baked in muffin tins, these are like individual portions of cheesy scalloped potatoes. I served these for Christmas Eve and they were definitely a crowd-pleaser.

Ingredient Notes

Kitchen Staples – Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, Cornstarch
Panko Bread Crumbs – Grind in your food processor. AKA Japanese Bread Crumbs
Butter – at room temperature
Russet Potatoes – Peeled. Russets work better than waxy potatoes.
Half and Half – A mixture of equal parts of milk and cream; 10-12% milk fat.
Shredded Sharp Cheddar – Yellow or White Cheddar work well. You can shred your own or buy preshredded cheese.
Grated Parmesan – Look for real Parmesano Reggiano, never the green can that you can find on the store shelves.

Close view of cheesy potato cups on a ceramic platter with a spig of oregano.

How to Make

Like many Cook’s Illustrated or Cook’s Country recipes, there is a little more work put into making the recipe. There is the pan prep, the microwaving step, then the filling of the tin and baking. But the pan can be prepped ahead of time, the potatoes peeled and left in water so they don’t brown, and the cheese mixture can be combined and parked in the fridge.

First, Prep the pan. Grease the muffin tin and dust it with ground Panko (Japanese) bread crumbs. Set aside.
Microwave the sliced potato pieces with the half and half and seasonings.
Mix together the cheeses and cornstarch and mix most of it into the potatoes.
Divide the potatoes between the muffin tin openings. Level out the tops as best as possible.
Top each with some of the reserved cheese mixture.
Bake, cool for 5 minutes, then Remove cups from the tin.
Cool a few more minutes and serve.

Cheesy Potato Cup on a square white plate with a sprig of herbs to garnish.

Recipe Tips

Use Russet Potatoes for the best results.
Prep your pan ahead of time. It can sit on the counter all day if you like!
Remove each of the cheesy potato bakes from the tin after 5 minutes of cooling time. From experience, I know they’ll sweat and be harder to remove if you forget!!

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s a Russet Potato?

Russet potatoes are the classic baking potatoes. The flesh is drier and almost mealy compared with waxy potatoes like fingerlings and red-skinned potatoes.

What Are the Advantages of Cooking these Potatoes in a Muffin Tin?

First, everyone loves individual servings. These are especially nice for company or holidays. Plus, more surface area touching each potato cup as it cooks allows the edges to get nice and crispy.