These vegan scalloped potatoes are made with a creamy, cheesy sauce thickened with chickpeas and containing no flour, starch, gluten, or soy.
I almost let January slip away without a blog post. Christmas vacation for me extended from December 19, when my daughter E came home from college, until January 23, when she went back. During that time, I did a lot of cooking but absolutely no creating of new recipes because I was busy making E all of her old favorites. Apparently, even with a college dining hall with a dedicated vegan station, the food choices get old, and she came home craving home cooking.
I was prepared for her to ask for lasagna, pasta with white sauce, and macaroni and cheese, but I wasn’t expecting her to want so many mashed potatoes. I made them for our substitute “Thanksgiving meal” with baked tofu and pumpkin cheesecake and again the night before she flew back to school–she ate the leftovers in the car on the way to the airport, determined to enjoy them right up until the last minute. Whatever mistakes I’ve made as a parent, instilling an unhealthy fear of carbs is not one of them!
I kept intending to make vegan scalloped potatoes while she was here, and this recipe was brewing in the back of my mind for a few weeks, but any time I suggested it, E preferred mashed. So it wasn’t until today that I finally got around to trying out my idea for a scalloped potato dish with a sauce made from chickpeas and no starch or flour as thickener.
Actually, I’ve been making the sauce for a couple of months now, heating it on the stove and serving it over baked potatoes, so putting it all into a casserole dish together is really only being practical. It saves me from having to bake the potatoes and sauce separately and dirtying a saucepan.
It’s probably the easiest cheesy sauce I’ve ever made, but it’s not highly seasoned, so if you want to kick it up a notch or two, add some hot smoked paprika or chipotle powder.
Vegan Scalloped Potatoes with Chickpea Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup chickpeas canned or home cooked with liquid
- 3/4 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk plain and unsweetened
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 clove large garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives snipped
- 2 pounds potatoes Yukon gold or red (see note above)
- additional snipped chives for garnish
Instructions
- Open a can of chickpeas. Pour the liquid into a 2-cup measuring cup and add enough non-dairy milk to reach the 1 1/2 cup mark. (If using home-cooked chickpeas, use 3/4 cup cooking liquid.) Pour into blender. Add 3/4 cup of chickpeas, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, turmeric, and pepper. Blend on high speed until completely smooth. Add the chives without blending and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400F and lightly oil a medium-sized casserole dish. (The oil prevents sticking; leave it out at your own risk.)
- Wash the potatoes and peel them if you like. Slice them about 1/4-inch thick (a mandolin speeds up the process and ensures that they are all the same thickness.) Place about a third of them overlapping to cover the bottom of the dish. Pour about 1/2 cup of the sauce over them. Add another layer and cover with another 1/2 cup of sauce. Repeat with remaining potatoes and sauce.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. If the top starts to brown too much, loosely cover with foil until potatoes are done.
- Sprinkle with additional chives and serve hot.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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I promise to be back with a new post in less than a month this time. Maybe I’ll make something for the Super Bowl. Any requests?
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apami
September 16, 2016 at 2:56 pmWould this work with sweet potatoes? Or would a different recipe work better for a sweet potato side dish?
Angel Mason
September 26, 2016 at 12:10 pmI tried this for lunch today, thank you. “chickpea vegan cheese sauce” it is absolutely amazing and now will now be my go to vegan cheese for so many different things. I made this for a potluck dinner I have with my friends every month, no one knew it was vegan!!
lillian
November 26, 2016 at 1:27 amThanks for the recipe. I made it for Thanksgiving yesterday and all the carnivores loved it. It was so tasty!
SkinnyMe
December 1, 2016 at 9:32 amI made this for my extended family (I’m the only one who eats vegan) over the holidays, and everyone loved it! It has been hard for me to find vegan recipes that are similar in taste and texture to their non-vegan counterparts, but this recipe is WAY BETTER than traditional scalloped potatoes. It will become an addition to my entertaining menu.
Diana
December 31, 2016 at 11:33 pmThank you Susan, this recipe is delicious and is now one of my ‘go to’ dishes. Simple and quick. I made it today and served it with a leafy salad and Ann Esselstyn’s 321 dressing. Yum yum.
Deb
March 14, 2017 at 2:31 pmJust wanted to let you know I made your scalloped potatoes last night and we loved it!! This recipe is an absolute make again…and again…and again…
Leah
March 19, 2017 at 8:22 pmOk so confession- I had cooked potatoes already made but I just felt like having chips so I made the cheese sauce and heated it up with taco chips! It was still delicious- and I added one tablespoon of cumin into the sauce as well. It really made it. Thanks!
Maria
April 25, 2017 at 8:04 pmI made this dish tonight and it’s my new favorite!!! I ousted the oil and lined my dish with parchment- worked out great. Thanks for such a warm, comforting recipe!
Mel
April 28, 2017 at 6:34 pmThank you for this wonderful recipe! We made a batch last night and it was terrific! We are making it again today. I can see is lots of opportunity for variations, such as adding onions or mushrooms. I bet this same sauce would be great for a vegan baked macaroni and cheese dish!
Michelle J
May 6, 2017 at 6:07 pmCould the potatoes be replaced with cauliflower or broccoli? Use the same amount as the potatoes?
Love your site. I just made your mac and cheese recipe today. Delish!
Susan Voisin
May 6, 2017 at 7:09 pmThank you! 😀 I think either would work. I would just cook them covered for 15 minutes before removing the foil. And then just play it by ear until the veggies look done and the cheese sauce is thick.
Claudia
June 27, 2017 at 11:03 pmInstead of making scalloped potatoes, could I roughly dice potatoes (like breakfast potatoes or hashbrowns) and make a breakfast casserole? I think this would go great with tofu scramble. Thank you
Susan Voisin
June 28, 2017 at 8:34 amI think that will work. Or you could follow my hash brown casserole recipe and replace the kale and chickpeas with more potatoes: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2013/02/healthy-hash-brown-casserole.html
Beth Williams
July 28, 2017 at 7:45 amLooks amazing side, most dishes like this I’ve seen are dairy heavy. But for smaller households, I wondered if the dish would be freezable after the first 45 minutes baking? I’m unsure how the ‘cream’ would react when defrost for re-baking.
Susan Voisin
July 28, 2017 at 9:04 amI think it would be all right, but I haven’t tried it so I can’t be absolutely sure.
Marla Danielson
September 11, 2017 at 3:54 pmThanks for this great recipe! I added a little more salt and onion powder and 1/4 cup raw cashews, some vegetarian chicken seasoning and cooked it and mixed it with pasta and veggies. It was so good, thanks again!
Liz
September 14, 2017 at 4:33 pmI just made this for dinner. I paired it with veggie balls from High Carb Hannah. I really like this sauce. I used canned light coconut milk. It tastes fantastic! I will be able to serve this to non plant based friends and family. I really appreciate your hard work on these recipes. I can’t wait to try more!
Barbara
October 4, 2017 at 9:44 pmAbsolutely delicious!! Thank you
Jasmine
October 25, 2017 at 9:49 pmWhat are the dimensions for the casserole dish?
Susan Voisin
October 26, 2017 at 9:01 amAbout 8×8-inches. It doesn’t have to be exact, but you don’t want it spread much thinner than that.
Jo-Anne Lowe
December 25, 2017 at 8:23 amThis recipe is one of the best! My daughter made this for Christmas dinner and everyone loved it (as well as my husband, who will eat nothing I cook!) Hubby even said “it’s better than boxed” which is a great compliment from him. I made the Applesauce Ginger Cake with Maple Glaze and that too was a hit. Thanks again!
Susan M.
January 31, 2018 at 8:45 amThank you! This looks fantastic!
As far as a request recipe, what about something chocolate?????
Joyce Chukwuma Otu
February 18, 2018 at 11:43 pmNew Vegan and find yourpage very helpful
Lara
May 6, 2018 at 12:18 amHello!
I plan on making this yummy dish for a date night this Wednesday! What would go well with it, as a side? I will be cooking for a non-vegan who claims he has never had vegan food before, so the pressure is on to impress!
Thanks heaps!
Lara
Jenn
October 21, 2018 at 7:56 pmHi ~
Super Duper Yummy!!!!! Made it today ~ just wonderful!!!
Jennifer
April 8, 2019 at 7:07 pmJust made the sauce as I was looking for a nut free, oil free cheese sauce. The flavor was amazing, but too runny. How can I thicken it up without messing with the flavor? Do you think tapioca flour or agar-agar would work or something else entirely?
Susan Voisin
April 8, 2019 at 7:18 pmIt’s runny because the potatoes help thicken it, but tapioca, potato starch, or cornstarch will thicken it. I would avoid agar.
Patricia Giannelia
January 3, 2020 at 3:07 pmGreat recipe, and I have made it a few times. This last time, however, even though I used a salt-free herb mixture in all my layers, it ended up tasting bland – any thoughts of what more to add without altering the recipe too much – horseradish, perhaps?
Susan Voisin
January 3, 2020 at 3:53 pmI’m not good with salt-free; I can never get food to taste right without salt. A little red pepper or horseradish might help or a squirt of lemon juice right before serving.
PatriciaG
January 3, 2020 at 3:16 pmAlso, is there a way to reverse the order on your comments, so that the newest ones are at the top – it takes quite a while to scroll all the way down to make a comment.
Thx.
Susan Voisin
January 3, 2020 at 3:52 pmI’ll have to look into that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Cheryl
February 2, 2020 at 8:48 amThis looks great and using chickpeas and aquafaba to thicken and add creaminess is something I’d like to try. Adds protein too. My hubby loves mushrooms and our go to scalloped potatoes used cream of mushroom soup before we became vegan. I haven’t had much success subbing almond milk for cream. Sometimes coconut milk works for creaminess but can seem a bit sweet depending on the other flavours. If I cook some diced mushrooms and add to the sauce, should I reduce the nutritional yeast? Use mushroom broth instead of almond milk? Any other spice suggestions? Although your recipe probably tastes great, it won’t taste “familiar” to him and scalloped potatoes was one of his favourites.
Susan Voisin
February 2, 2020 at 9:59 amI would definitely add some cooked diced mushrooms and perhaps substitute mushroom broth for part of the milk. I assume your old version contained cheese? If so, I’d keep the nutritional yeast the same and maybe add onion powder to taste.
Cheryl
February 8, 2020 at 8:07 pmGave it a try and both my husband and non-vegan son enjoyed it!