Even though she was raised on a vegan diet, my daughter E. doesn’t give her “Kid-Friendly Seal of Approval” to many dishes, particularly those that try to imitate the taste of cheese. Though she’s never eaten real cheese, she fell in love years ago with “Chreese,” a dry mix made by Road’s End Organics. Her tastes are so finely attuned to Chreese that she can detect my attempts at counterfeiting it just using her sense of smell. If it’s not Chreese, a fake cheese sauce doesn’t stand a chance with her.
Until now. Creamy Scalloped Potatoes has passed the ultimate kid-friendly test–The Cheezy, Unfamiliar, Gross-Looking Potato Dish Challenge. It has succeed even though it breaks three of E.’s rules: (1) All Cheezy Sauces Must Use Chreese; (2) No New Foods; and (3) All Potatoes Must be Baked, Mashed, or Oven-Fried. (All kids have rules. And we parents appreciate their long lists of food aversions as signs of their nascent individuality and quirky personalities . . . when we’re not fantasizing about shipping them off to some raw foodist boot-camp in Idaho!)
As I brought E.’s plate to the table, I was greeted with the words, “I’m not eating that!” I returned with the parental standard, “You have to at least try it.” This was followed by much grumbling, which was followed by much eating of the other foods on her plate. Finally, she reached the Cheezy, Unfamiliar, Gross-Looking, Un-baked-mashed-or-fried Potato Dish. She took a bite, then another, then another. “Hey,” she exclaimed, “you have got to put this on your kid-friendly list! I love it!”
So there you have it: a ringing endorsement for a cheezy-sauced recipe. And a list of rules that just got a little shorter.
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
Usually scalloped potatoes have to bake for an hour or so. I’ve cut the baking time by pre-cooking the sliced potatoes. But be careful–sliced potatoes can become over-cooked quickly.
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (I used 8 medium)
water, to cover
Paprika or white pepper
Salt (optional)
Sauce ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup plain soymilk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
1 teaspoon white miso
Place a large pot, half-filled with water, to boil while you prepare the potatoes. Using a mandolin, food processor, or a very steady hand, slice the scrubbed potatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices. They need to be a uniform size, so a mandolin is preferred.
When the water is boiling, add the potato slices and make sure they are covered with water. If not, add just enough to cover. Boil for 5-8 minutes, just until barely tender. Be very careful–they go from raw to falling apart in seconds. You do not want them to fall apart!
As soon as the potatoes are tender, remove them from the heat, pour them into a colander to remove the water, and rinse them with cold water.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Prepare the sauce by blending the sauce ingredients together, either in a blender or with a hand blender, until smooth.
Place the potato slices into an oiled casserole dish one layer at a time. Sprinkle each layer with a little salt and paprika or white pepper before adding the next layer. Stir the sauce, and pour it over all the potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes, or until sauce has thickened throughout. Serve warm. Make your kids taste it!
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
The sauce was so good but didn't thicken up for me! It reminded me a lot of this Peruvian dish called papa a la huancaina.
Made these without the cashew butter (didn't have it) and contemplated the tahini substitution, but hubby said try peanut butter–so I did. I went a little too light on the salt, but these will be delicious (once they are cool enough to eat without burning my mouth).
Thank you for this recipe! I am a vegan for health and environmental reasons, but I come from a family of dedicated meat eaters. I was asked to bring scalloped potatoes to Easter this year, and though I often cook things I can't eat for my family, I dreaded cooking this dish that I love and not being able to eat it. So, I did a little surfing and your recipe sounded the most promising, though it took a bit of creative shopping for the nutritional yeast and miso. The only substitution I made was tahini for the cashew butter, and I doubled the recipe. It came out tasting pretty fantastic to me, but I realize that my taste isn't the same as other people's at this point. I decided not to say anything to anybody, and just threw it into the buffet with everything else, secretly hoping there would be some leftover for me to take home. No such luck. The fam polished the whole dish, and my cousin John, self-proclaimed cheese fanatic, came back for seconds. Everybody complimented, and when I filled them in on my little secret, they were quite surprised. Can't wait to try another recipe out on them. Thanks again!
I didnt use cashew butter or tahini, so it took longer to thicken, but in the end-it was still amazing, as always
My three year old loves this dish! My husband loved it also! Fabulous job on the recipe.
This was DELICIOUS! You should post this on the member center of Dr. Fuhrman’s website- they would love it there too!
Thanks!
This was a great low fat version of traditional scalloped potatoes! I made the following modifications: I used half a cup of water and 1.5 cups of plain soymilk. Instead of cornstarch I used 3 heaping tablespoons of flour. I used a little extra salt, and instead of garlic powder I used one close of fresh garlic. Similarly, instead of onion powder, I used one whole green onion. I used vegan margarine instead of cashew butter and skipped the miso because I didn’t have it. I baked it at 400 for 25 minutes and then put the heat up to 450 until the top browned nicely. Delicious! My husband loved it
Thanks for this one, I keep using it over and over! I add fresh onion and garlic delicious!
I tried a recipe very similar to this made with the addition of a small jar of pimentos pureed / blended into the sauce. Gives it a nice golden color like cheddar.
I made this tonight and SCORE! you are so savvy at putting together ‘cheezy’ like facsmiles…wow! I think next time I will add onions….just cause that’s what I had as a kid! 5* from me!! thanks!
Steph
I made this for dinner – and we both enjoyed it so much. I should have halved the recipe – if we don’t finish it in the next day or so, do you think I could freeze it?
Glad you liked it! I haven’t frozen it before, so I’m really not sure. You may have to try it as an experiment!
My son is allergic to tree nuts so could you tell me what I can use as a substitution for cashew butter?
I would use tahini or sesame seed butter.
Just posted on your fb page but wanted to leave something for other reviewers or lukers. This recipe is the BOMB!!! I made some changes, nothing big. First off I did use my mandolin! Helped a lot! I have a borner vslicer from amazon! Second, I didn’t have cashew butter but not to worry…trusty ole vita mix will make anything! I threw in 3/4 cup soaked raw cashews. I also used veggie broth for one cup of the water. I don’t use soy products so I used so delicious original coconut milk instead of soy milk. I also don’t have miso. Didn’t replace that one. I didn’t feel like doing multi steps today, vegan cooking is so time consuming as it is! So I omitted the boiling stage. I used a 9×13 glass dish. I also only used 4 med-large potato. Could of used more but hubby already cleaned the mandolin, darn men! I poured some sauce on bottom then started the layering. Potatoes, sauce, potatoes, sauce. Then I covered with tin foil and baked for 45 min @350 degrees. Then I took of tin foil and cooked for 20 min longer or till slightly brown. My only warning is don’t burn your tongue from eating it before cool. Its that stinking good! This recipe is pretty flexible as you can see! My toddler who is beyond picky actually ate a couple bites without me telling him to! Taste like cheesey potatoe goodness!
Hey! Not ‘Printer Friendly’ button for this recipe?
Love your site, btw.
Thanks! Just added a print option for you.
Wow! You ROCK!! Thanks!!!
Great looking recipe!
But, I’m not sure if noticed .. but google adchoices displayed Eagle Boy pizza’s prawn skewers for me. I’ve made a complaint to them about how stupid this is – for the viewer & their client.
All the best
Cheers,
Andrea
This recipe has been a family favorite for many years. I like adding “browned” fake meat crumbles (veg broth, bbq and other spices cooked until the broth disappears) into the layers. My (carnivore) husband craves this version! Thank you SO much for it.
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