Vegan Scalloped Potatoes (Potatoes Au Gratin)

Last Updated on August 3, 2023

This gluten-free Vegan Scalloped Potatoes (Potatoes Au Gratin) is a French classic that no one can resist!

Thinly sliced potatoes are simmered in the vegan creamy garlicky sauce and then loaded with vegan cheese. The taste is…simply amazing!

Surprise for you, such a comfort food is also made-ahead friendly. You will want to have it on your dining table on a regular basis!

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes (Potatoes Au Gratin) also known as Gratin Dauphinois( in French) or Potato Bake– is a French dish from the Dauphiné region in South-Eastern France.

It’s finely sliced potatoes baked in flavored milk or cream, using the gratin method (Gratin means a dish that is topped with a browned crust, usually made by grated cheese or breadcrumbs.

For our vegan version, we use raw cashew nuts and coconut milk, blending with aromatics and seasonings to make a cashew cream-like white sauce.

If you don’t have vegan grated cheese at home, you can simply omit it. (I’ve made both, they all taste very delicious!)

Perfect to pair with other holiday recipes, like Epic Holiday Vegan Roast (gluten-free), Vegan Gravy (gluten-free), and Balsamic-glazed Brussels Sprouts.

The potatoes are sliced around 0.15 inches (approx. 3-4mm) thick to allow the creamy white sauce to soak into the potatoes.

You can slice them by using a knife or use a slicer or mandoline to make the job easier.

Here I slice the potatoes by hand but I always use a mandoline when making a large amount.

Ingredients for Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

For making the vegan cream sauce, you will need a powerful food processor. The essential ingredients for this recipe are in the picture down below:

• Potatoes– This is a potato dish where we want the potatoes to break down during baking, so as long as you don’t use waxy potatoes then it’s going to work great. Australia: Use Sebago (brushed potatoes), US: Russet, UK: King Edward or Maris Piper.

• Coconut Milk (unsweetened)– I’ve made this dish a few times with different types of plant-based milk( like almond, soy, oat milk…etc.) Coconut milk gives it the whitest creamy color whereas other milk gives the dish darker yellowish color.

• Raw Cashews– soaked in hot boiling water for at least 5 minutes before blending.

• Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)– give our Potatoes Au Gratin the umami flavor and extra nutrients.

• Seasonings– vegetable stock powder (vegetable bouillon powder), fresh garlic cloves, salt, and ground Nutmeg (or you can use mace spice, which has a similar flavor profile to nutmeg). P.S: The reason why I use vegetable bouillon powder instead of vegetable broth, is because vegetable broth will make our potatoes au gratin look darker in color.

• Vegan Cheese– It will taste good still without vegan cheese, don’t worry.

How to make

The whole process is pretty straightforward and easy. The overall steps are in the picture below:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Soaked cashew nuts in hot boil water for at least 5 minutes then drain. Meanwhile, we gonna peel potatoes and then thinly slice them into 0.15 inches (approx. 4mm) thick slices.

2. Place the softened cashew nuts, water, unsweetened coconut milk, garlic, nutritional yeast (nooch), vegetable stock powder, salt, and ground nutmeg into the blender. Blending them into a smooth creamy sauce.

3. Pour a bit of white sauce into the baking dish, then spread a layer of sliced potatoes across the top of the sauce. Repeat this process until finishing the rest of the potatoes and the sauce.

4. Sprinkle grated vegan cheese on the top. Covered the dish with alfoil then go into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes, take out the dish and remove the alfoil. Put the dish back in the oven for a further 40 minutes.

6. After 40 minutes, take it out of the oven and use a fork to poke the potatoes to see if they are cooked through. (If not, cover it with al foil then back to the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes) until done. Served hot with chopped parsley or chives. Enjoy!

Hope you like this vegan French classic!

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