Updated September 2026, clarified peeling and slice thickness.
Potato slices, stuffed with herbs and cheese.
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There’s something totally delicious about potatoes. Baked potatoes are great. Potato chips are great too. Fortunately, we live in a world where we can have the best of both worlds.
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We can thank the Swedes, and the chefs at Restaurant Hasselbacken in particular, for the invention of this particular style of potato, they discovered that slicing your potato into thin segments before baking can yield crispy edges, and a soft potato center. Once you try a Hasselback style sliced potato, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to try it, and it looks like a very fancy side dish, but is actually very easy to do.
Okay, let’s move on to today’s recipe.
There’s something totally delicious about THESE Hasselback style sliced potatoes.
It’s called CHEESE.
We know cheese makes everything better, and it totally does in this recipe. Not that these potatoes wouldn’t be delicious on their own, aka no cheese, but cheese brings a whole new flavor dimension. To anything.
I know, right? It’s totally rocking! So just embrace these potato slices, my friends, stuffed with herbs and cheese.
These were a huge dinner success at my house. You can customize the toppings to what each person in your family likes (great way to use up any leftover ham or bacon from the holidays!).
Should You Peel the Potatoes First?
No, the potatoes keep their skin on for this recipe. The instructions call for scrubbing, rinsing, and drying the potatoes whole, never peeling them. The skin does two jobs here: it holds each thin slice attached to the base while the potato fans open in the oven, and it crisps up around the edges the same way the cut sides do. Peeled slices at an eighth to a quarter inch thick are fragile, and they are more likely to snap off the base while you fan them or brush on the butter. This is also how hasselback potatoes are made everywhere else, skin on is the standard, not an exception made for this recipe.
Why Won’t My Potato Slices Fan Open?
Slices that stay stuck together are almost always cut too thick or never separated by hand before baking. At a full quarter inch, the slices near the center of the potato are heavy enough to stay pressed closed, especially if the butter runs across the top instead of down between the cuts. Cutting closer to an eighth of an inch, about the width of a chopstick, gives each slice less weight to hold up and lets it fall open more easily as the potato cooks. The wooden spoon handle under the potato only controls how deep the knife goes, it does not fan anything by itself, so after you cut, gently push the slices apart with your fingers, working from one end of the potato to the other, before the butter goes on.
Can You Add Bacon or Onion Between the Slices?
Yes, thin bacon pieces and onion slices tucked between the cuts are a popular way to dress this up beyond cheese. Add them at the same step as the herbs, before the first bake, so they cook alongside the potato instead of going in raw at the end.
READER TIP
“I put bacon and onion slices between my slices, so good!” Charlie
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you peel the potatoes before baking them? No. Scrub and dry them well, but leave the skin on, it holds the slices together and crisps along with the cut edges.
Why won’t my potato slices fan open like in the photos? The slices are usually cut too thick or never separated by hand. Cut closer to an eighth of an inch thick, then gently fan them apart with your fingers before adding the butter.
Can I use a different cheese than cheddar or parmigiano-reggiano? Yes. Any cheese that slices thin and melts well works, the recipe calls for cheddar or parmigiano-reggiano because both hold their shape between the slices instead of pooling.
A Note on This Recipe
I went through the comments on this recipe and found two real gaps that had been sitting unanswered for years. One reader wasn’t sure whether the potatoes should be peeled. They should not, the skin stays on, and that’s now spelled out in the ingredient list and the instructions. Another reader’s slices never fanned open the way they do in the photos. That almost always comes down to slices cut too thick or never separated by hand, so the instructions now call for thinner cuts, about an eighth of an inch, plus a step to gently fan them apart before the butter goes on.
The recipe itself is unchanged otherwise. If your slices still won’t separate, tell me in the comments, that’s exactly how this update happened.
If you try the thinner slice cut or add bacon between the layers, let me know in the comments how it turns out.
Pin This for Later
Save this pin to your holiday side dish board so these potatoes are easy to find when you plan dinner.
Sliced Baked Potatoes with Cheese
Rate this RecipeIngredients
- 4 large baking potatoes, scrubbed (not peeled)
- salt and pepper
- 4 tbs melted butter
- 8 oz Cheddar Cheese or Parmigiano-Reggiano sliced thinly.
- 1/8 teaspoons Garlic Powder.
- 2-3 Tbs chopped fresh herbs or 2-3 tsp dried:
- try basil thyme, ground red pepper, oregano, chives, or Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Scrub, rinse and dry the potatoes well. Leave the skin on, it holds the slices together while baking.
- Keeping the potato in one piece, cut it into slices about 1/8 inch thick, almost all the way through to the bottom. Thinner slices fan open more easily than thick ones. To avoid cutting all the way through, place the handle of a wooden spoon on each side of the potato to stop the knife before it reaches the board.
- Put the potatoes in a baking dish, then gently fan the slices open with your fingers, working from one end to the other so each cut separates a little.
- Brush or drizzle the melted butter evenly over the potato and let it run all the way down to the base of each slice, without breaking any off.
- Gently sprinkle herbs in between slices and on top of potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake potatoes for about 40 minutes or until tender.
- To test tenderness, pierce a portion of a potato with the tip of a pointed knife or tines of a fork.
- Remove dish from oven and insert cheese into slices, being careful not to bust the potatoes.
- Return to oven for another 10 minutes.
- Remove and serve!
The potato in the photos is peeled and yet in the instructions you do not ask us to peel. What was your intention?
Good catch, and thanks for asking. The skin stays on for this recipe, the potatoes are scrubbed clean, not peeled. I’ve clarified that directly in the ingredient list and the instructions, and added a short section above the recipe that explains why unpeeled potatoes work better for this cut. If a photo reads as peeled, that’s on the photo, not the method, I’ll take a closer look at it.
No peeling needed for this one, you just scrub, rinse and dry the potatoes and leave the skin on, that’s what holds the slices together as they bake. I’m not sure why the photo reads as peeled, possibly just the lighting, but the recipe itself never calls for peeling.
great recipes
kinda confused…melted butter vs thin butter slices? Which is it?
Go with melted butter, brushed or drizzled evenly over the potatoes so it runs down between the slices. That’s the easier, more standard technique and it’s what the instructions call for, no need to fuss with slicing cold butter into the gaps.
I put bacon and onion slices between my slices, so good!