Hachis Parmentier is a delicious French gratin made with mashed potatoes and ground beef meat with vegetables. It’s simple to make and perfect for a weeknight dinner. All the family will like it.
The Hachis parmentier is a traditional French recipe. It is a dish that all French people know and love. For the most part, they remember the hachis Parmentier as a cafeteria dish at school. This is also my case, I remember that we often ate it when I was in school. I loved the mashed potatoes on it, it was full of butter. Of course, the school cafeteria (whether primary or high school) was not always very good. I remember when we were complaining about we had on our plates. Sometimes I have to admit that the meat had a weird color and I preferred to do without it!
However, the cafeteria dishes remain in my memories. Meatballs were good as pasta dishes too greasy and sometimes French fries. My mom used to cook me delicious and healthy meals so everything I ate at the cafeteria was new to me. The hachis Parmentier however was a rather healthy and simple dish. Aside from the fact that you can put a lot of butter in the puree, it’s not too fat.
The hachis Parmentier is mainly a French dish that allowed to finish the leftovers of meat that did not taste too much. The meat was ground (it could be beef but also pork) and cooked with vegetables like carrots and onion. The mashed potatoes were a simple recipe and the potatoes cost nothing. So it was a family meal that was not too expensive and that still appealed to the whole family.
I made the recipe very simple to make with few ingredients. My husband loved it and he wanted more! So I made a big dish and I cut out portions that I frozen for another day. If you’re using glass food containers that go into the oven and freezer, that’s better. That way, you can take it out of the freezer and put it in the oven. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and to subscribe to my newsletter so you won’t miss any new recipes.
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Hachis Parmentier – French meat and potatoes gratin
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Prep Time: 30
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Cook Time: 30
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Total Time: 1 hour
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Yield: 4/6 pers 1x
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Category: Main dish
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Cuisine: French
Description
This family dish is made with not expensive ingredients and easy to find. Everyone will like it for a weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3 big potatoes
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 big carrots
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1/3 cup finely shredded cheese (Swiss cheese or mozzarella)
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- Salt and pepper
- Some parsley
Instructions
- Peel and cut the carrots into small pieces, coarsely chop the onion and crush the garlic.
- Peel and rinse the potatoes, cut them into large pieces and place them in a pot of boiling water. When they are cooked, that is to say tender inside, drain them. Return the pieces to the pot, add the butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. Crush with a mashed press or hand blender until it’s smooth.
- Preheat the oven at 350°F.
- Take a large skillet, pour in the oil and let heat. Add the garlic and onion. Sauté until the onion becomes slightly translucent. Then, add carrots and thyme and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes. Finally, add the meat and cook until cooked.
- Put the preparation with the meat and carrot in the bottom of a gratin dish and add the mashed potatoes on top. Add some shredded cheese on the top and place in the oven for 30 minutes. When the top is a little bit brown, it’s ready! You can serve it with salad and add some parsley on top.

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