This holiday season I’m all about veganized versions of classic holiday classics — you know, dishes like green bean casserole, pecan pie, and candied yams. And today I’m adding vegan scalloped potatoes to my classics list. This side dish turned out to a pretty easy recipe to create. Regular old scalloped potatoes are pretty simple — they’re basically sliced potatoes baked up in creamy sauce. I went with a blend of cashews and non-dairy milk, thickened up with a bit of flour for the creamy sauce. Super simple! Let’s talk about how it’s done!
What You’ll Need
Raw cashews. They absolutely need to be raw. Roasted cashews have a much stronger flavor and will make your sauce taste like cashew butter. We’re going to be blending our cashews, so you’ll need to soak them in water for a few hours before getting started.Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor.Olive oil. Another type of high-heat oil can be substituted if you’d like, such as peanut, canola, or avocado oil.Onion.Garlic.Flour. We’re using regular all-purpose wheat flour. Other varieties such as gluten-free blends might work, but I haven’t tested any.Non-dairy milk. Just about any variety that’s unflavored and unsweetened should work, such as soy milk, almond milk, or cashew milk.Salt & pepper.Potatoes. We’re using regular old russet potatoes, but feel free to substitute another variety such as red potatoes or yukon golds.Fresh chives. These are for sprinkling over your vegan scalloped potatoes and are totally optional.
How to Make Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Drain and rinse your cashews, then place them into a blender with your vegetable broth.Blend the mixture until smooth. Be patient! This can take a few minutes.
Heat up your olive oil in a skillet and add diced onion. Cook the onion for a few minutes until it begins to soften up and brown, then add minced garlic and cook it with the onion very briefly.Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and give it a good stir so that it forms a coating on the onion and garlic.
Slowly being stirring in your non-dairy milk, followed by the blended cashew mixture. Once both have been added, raise the heat and let your sauce simmer for a few minutes. It will thicken up as it cooks.
Once the sauce is finished simmering, ladle a bit into the bottom of a baking dish, then top it with a layer of sliced potatoes. Keep layering sauce and potatoes until both have been totally used up, finishing with a layer of sauce.
Tip: It’s a good idea to peel and slice your potatoes before getting started so they’re ready to go when you need them, but they tend to turn brown as they sit. My solution is to submerge the sliced potatoes in cold water. This will prevent browning.
Pop your baking dish into the oven and bake your non-dairy scalloped potatoes the casserole is lightly browed on top and the sauce is bubbly. The potatoes should be fork tender at this point.
Tip: If you’d like a little extra browning on top of your potatoes, pop them under a broiler for a few minutes towards the end of baking. Keep an eye on them though — they can burn quickly!
The sauce will seem pretty runny when you first take the potatoes out of the oven. Let them sit for a few minutes and it will thicken up.Serve your vegan scalloped potatoes with a sprinkle of fresh chives.
Variations
For scalloped sweet potatoes, simply substitute sweet potatoes for russets.For extra umami flavor, season your sauce with miso paste to taste instead of salt.For cheesy vegan scalloped potatoes, add ¼ cup of nutritional yeast and 2 tablespoons of hot sauce to your sauce. Sounds weird, I know! But it works. You can optionally also add a sprinkle shredded vegan cheese on top during the last 10 minutes of cooking.For herbed scalloped potatoes, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried thyme, sage, rosemary, or any combination of the three to your sauce.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan scalloped potatoes will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing them, as this often changes the texture of cooked potatoes.
More Vegan Potato Side-Dishes
Creamy Vegan Mashed PotatoesClassic Vegan Potato SaladGarlic Smashed PotatoesCrispy Vegan Potato LakesChipotle Lime Roasted Potatoes
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