My favorite recipe for vegan scalloped potatoes- ultra creamy, cheesy, garlicky and comforting. Absolutely NO dairy!
Oh vegan scalloped potatoes, where have you been all my life?
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I nailed it with this recipe! Sometimes (ok, often…) I have complete recipe testing failures. I try, I fail, I try, I fail again, and hopefully get it after several tries. But with these scalloped potatoes, oh my word, they were amazing from the start!
These potatoes are SO creamy, garlicky, flavorful and over-the-top delicious. The epitome of comfort food, and a must have at any holiday meal! They will be gone so fast, and no one will guess they are vegan.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN SCALLOPED POTATOES?
- First, peel and slice your potatoes about 1/8 inch thick. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Make your creamy sauce in a high powered blender like a Vitamix (raw, soaked cashews, vegetable broth, unsweetened non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast and salt)
- Saute an onion, thinly sliced and some garlic.
Now, layer half the potatoes in a 9 x13 inch greased baking dish.
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Pour half of the sauce on top. It will be very watery at this point, which is fine. It will thicken up as the potatoes bake. Spread the onion/garlic mixture on top.
Add the rest of the potatoes, and pour the rest of the sauce on top. It will look like this before you put it in the oven:
Bake, uncovered for 60 minutes, then remove from the oven and check for doneness. The sauce should be bubbly and thick, and the potatoes should be fork tender. If not, bake a little longer, 10-20 more minutes. Then, sprinkle with vegan parmesan and fresh chopped chives, if desired and serve warm!
CAN I MAKE VEGAN SCALLOPED POTATOES AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, you can. Simply make the potatoes as instructed and let cool completely to room temperature. Cover tightly and refrigerate 2-3 days. I wouldn’t go longer than that. When ready to serve, bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until warmed through.
Want more vegan comfort food recipes?
Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 pounds yukon gold potatoes
For the creamy sauce
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
For the rest
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- Optional for serving: vegan parmesan, chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Peel your potatoes, and slice them into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Set aside.
- Make the creamy sauce: Drain the cashews. In a high powered blender like a Vitamix, add all the sauce ingredients (cashews, vegetable broth, non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast and salt) and blend on high for a few minutes until very smooth.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and saute for 3-4 minutes, until translucent. Now add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring constantly for another minute. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Spread half of the sliced potatoes in the baking dish. Top evenly with half of the creamy sauce, and then add the onion/garlic mixture across the top of the sauce.
- Layer the rest of the potatoes, and then the rest of the sauce. Bake for 60 minutes, then check a few potatoes to make sure they are fork tender and cooked through. If not, put back in the oven for 10-20 more minutes, until done. The sauce should be bubbly and thick.
- Sprinkle vegan parmesan and chopped fresh chives on top, if desired and serve. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- May leave out the onions and garlic if desired, but they add a lot of flavor to the dish.
- I like using yukon gold potatoes in this recipe, but russets will work as well. Or try sweet potatoes for variety!
- Try to slice your potatoes similar levels of thickness; this will help them cook more evenly. If you slice your potatoes thicker, they will take longer to cook, so keep this in mind.
Just curious if there is a way to make it nut free. My son is allergic.
Hi Susan. I haven’t tried it, but sunflower seeds might work in place of cashews.
The vegan scalloped potatoes — fabulous recipe! Easy and absolutely delicious. I made it for my vegan sister and she loved it. Now I’m thinking of going vegan myself. I can’t wait to try the cashew and coconut milk cream sauce with lasagna. Or broccoli. Or rice. Or …..
All your sauce ideas sound so good! I’m thrilled you and your sister loved the scalloped potatoes! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and review! I hope you’ll journey through my recipes and find many that you love! Happy cooking!
Made this dish for Easter dinner yesterday and it was a hit with everyone. My teenagers devoured it…which always really makes me happy! I chose to blend the sautéed garlic and onion in with the cashew cream sauce ingredients and that worked really well. All the yummy onion/garlic flavor while maintaining a super creamy scalloped potato texture. I also covered the baking dish with foil at 45 minutes into the cook time as the top was getting quite brown and I wanted to allow the potatoes to soften a bit more. That method worked well. Thanks, Nora! Yet another fabulous recipe! I will make this every Easter and whenever the scalloped potato craving strikes.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas and feedback! I’m so glad the potatoes were a hit at your Easter dinner! I wish you lots of happy cooking!
Wonderful recipe! Highly recommend it! I made it ahead of time for Easter dinner, but only one suggestion. I wouldn’t make it ahead of time. I made it yesterday for today and the sauce had thickened up and dried up enough where it was pasty rather than creamy when I warmed it up in the oven. When I make this next time and I need to do some work ahead of time, I will prep the dish and just not bake it. Then come time to eat, I will bake it and serve immediately. Thank you for another home run!
I have made this a few times and it is always a huge hit! So creamy and flavourful…those of my family who normally eat the original style scalloped potatoes didn’t know there was no wheat or dairy and actually preferred this recipe. I had some fresh dill on hand and threw that in with the sauce…very yummy!
One of our family favorites as well! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and review1 The fresh dill sounds amazing!
Hi Nora,
I’ve sent this question before, but I didn’t receive an answer; maybe you didn’t get it? Anyway, I’d like to make this dish for Easter dinner, so I hope you can answer my question within a day or two! One of your ingredients is coconut milk; do you mean coconut milk in a carton or CANNED coconut milk? They’re very different from each other (milk in a carton has water mixed with it), so it seems like an important question! Thank you!
Hi Kathy. Coconut milk in a carton is preferred but canned coconut milk also works and will make the sauce even creamier. In fact, any unsweetened non-dairy milk will work. Hope this helps!
This is a new family favorite for sure. I totally forgot to saute the onions & garlic – my family was shocked that they couldn’t taste them (1 full onion & 9 garlic cloves ?). Everything blended together so well, it tasted like a creamy baked potato. This recipe will be added to our biweekly meal plan. It’s delicious, filling, and easy to make. My Hubby even went back for seconds and thirds, woohoo!
Is there any other substitute to make this nut free?
I haven’t tried it, but sunflower seeds might work in place of cashews. I may work on developing a recipe without nuts, that’s a very good idea!
I made these for our Christmas dinner. So delicious. The only item I added was some nutmeg to the mixture to give the potatoes a little sweetness.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and idea! I’m so glad you love the potatoes!
Hi! I’ve made this a couple times and loved it! Just wondering if it could be made in advance and frozen?
Hi Kathryn! I’m so glad you are loving the scalloped potatoes! Yes, they freeze pretty well. Potatoes always tend to get mushier once frozen, but it works. Happy cooking!
Added t thyme, garlic, onion. Really great. Although mine took way more time to cook.
I am new to this way of eating and following a strict WFPB with no oil, sugar or salt. No nuts or seeds. Could this be made without the cashews? Possibly substitute oat milk or almond milk? This recipe looks so good. I love reading all the very positive reviews.
Creamy and delicious. My sister in law made these for Christmas and I thought they were tasty. We should have cut the potatoes a tiny bit thinner bc the middle wasn’t totally cooked.
The recipe is huge, if you’re not feeding a crowd maybe halve it.
Thanks for sharing your review! I’m glad you loved the potatoes! We had them at our house as well!
I tried this recipe over the weekend it’s just yummy. I plan on making it again this weekend! I’m just wondering which is best use, nutritional yeast flakes or powder? Thank you very much Nora for such amazing recipes.
I almost always use the flakes, but powder is fine too! Thank you!
I substituted halved Brussels sprouts and topped with Follow Your Heart shredded cheese. Also, I used raw onion and garlic – it gave the dish a great flavor! This recipe was the hands down favorite at Thanksgiving. **I can ALWAYS count on you, Nora. Thank you!!!
What a fabulous idea! Yum! I am thrilled that the dish was a favorite at your Thanksgiving gathering! Thank you for your confidence in my recipes, and for using them! I appreciate your sharing your fantastic review and comments! Happy cooking!
I love this recipe! I’ve been using it for 3 years now, and my family is always shocked that it’s vegan.
I am so glad you and your family are loving this recipe! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments! (I never get tired of scalloped potatoes!)
Wow, This was extremely delicious, I halved the recipe (with the print function which makes it so easy) and it filled the 2 qt/ 7″x11″casserole pan to the top, it was maybe too small of a pan, for that much food but the 9X13 was doing another task.
Thanks Nora for a delicious side dish that everyone can eat!
I’m so glad you loved the scalloped potatoes! I really LOVE this recipe! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments!
The scalloped potatoes look good but the recipe left out the potatoes!
How many and what kind?
The potatoes are the very first ingredient listed! 4 pounds yukon gold potatoes
Has anyone left the peels on the Yukon gold potatoes?
This recipe is so delicious!!
I have made this recipe so many times. I have made it with Yukon potatoes and yellow potatoes (honestly, it’s whatever type I I happen to have) and I don’t peel them. It turns out just fine, in my opinion, but the thinly sliced skins may separate from the potatoes while serving and may be appear a little stringy if you are judging it on looks. On taste and texture, I thinks it’s delicious and the skins do not cause an issue.
I love your wonderful review and comments, Mary! Thank you for taking the time to share them! I am so glad you are loving the scalloped potatoes! Happy cooking!
This was amazing as is. But, I am wondering if I could make it with a green veggie? I am trying to recreate a broccoli dish we had with mushroom soup and tons of cheese and mayo. Should I try the Green bean Casserole (but without the onions – we never had it like that.) Or, should I modify this recipe with broccoli? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you NORA!!!!
I’m really not sure, but it sounds yummy! It will probably work, but the potatoes do soak up the cashew mixture in a way that broccoli won’t.
If you are looking for ideas for creamy vegetable casserole — I use Nora’s cashew cheese sauce from her mac and cheese recipe to pour over a 9×13 casserole of (mostly) pre-cooked broccoli and cauliflower florettes. I top it with vegan buttered bread crumbs. I bake it just long enough to get everything heated through and breadcrumbs browned on top. Maybe 20-30 mins @ 350. It is elegant and delicious! I highly recommend it!
My favourite – I’ve made this 3-4 times now and everyone I share it with absolutely loves it! I enjoy having this alongside vegan “ham” and roasted veggies, but it would go well with lentil loaf too, or anything that could benefit from a creamy side. It’s one of the only slightly time-consuming dishes I’m willing to make again and again. Simply perfect – thank you for this! I use unsweetened almond milk to keep the calories a little bit lower & it works just fine.
I loved scalloped before I went plant-based so I am so excited to try this vegan version, thank you!
You are welcome, Lea! I hope you enjoy the scalloped potatoes! Let me know how it goes for you!
I’ve made this 6 or 7 times now. My father isn’t vegan, like me, but he was recently diagnosed with Crohns, celiac disease, and lactose intolerance. The combo sent him to the hospital for weeks and when he got out, he was desperate for his favorite comfort food – scalloped potatoes! He’s in his 70s and doesn’t trust things that imitate dairy so I wasn’t sure if he would go for this.
Long story short, he loves it! I cried when he called and asked me to make it again – eating anything at that point seemed like a miracle!
I follow the recipe exactly and portion it into individual ramekins. Today, though, I blended some CHAO creamy original cheese slices into the sauce and it was just as great – add it if you have it, but its fine as is!
Thank you for this great, beautiful, recipe! It browns up and crisps at the edges in a way that always impresses everyone I make it for!
Hi Julia. Thank you for sharing your story about your dad. I am glad he is able to enjoy his favorite food! It sounds like he has had some challenges. Thank you for taking your time to share your wonderful and heartfelt review and comments.
Hi Nora! This looks so delicious. I am making this dish for Canadian vegan thanksgiving tomorrow. Would you know if I could make this dish in advance and bake just before dinner?
Yes, you can prepare it ahead of time, store it covered in the refrigerator and then bake it. If it’s cold though it will take some extra time to cook, so plan for that. Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much Nora! And for the extra time tip. Your recipes are always amazing. Can’t wait to try this.
Thank you! Enjoy!
Made as written; delicious! Three tips for others trying it the first time: 1) unless you’re an absolute whiz with the mandoline slicer, give yourself more prep time. 2) make sure your blender is not only high performance, but also high capacity. This makes a lot of sauce. Mine is a professional grade, but normal capacity… looked like a tight fit but okay. Then I turned it on (eek!). Lesson learned. 3) unless you’re feeding family or bottomless teenagers, a half recipe will still go a long way–it’s both hearty and flavorful. Also save some $$ in cashews and nooch, both of which have become so expensive lately. But absolutely making this again!
I’m glad you loved the scalloped potatoes! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments!