Easy vegan potato gratin

5 Sep 2020

When I made this recipe I actually used celeriac instead of potatoes, which also worked brilliantly. I came up with this recipe quite a while ago, but I thought I wanted to wait for the weather to cool down a bit before making it again. This vegan gratin is super easy to make, using only ingredients you would find in any supermarket and therefore keeping it as unprocessed and nutritious as possible. To replace the cheese in this recipe I actually used blended sunflower seeds to create a sauce that kinda behaves a bit like cheese and tastes incredible (I didn't even add nutritional yeast to it because I wanted to keep it as simple as possible).

I know, it sounds crazy, but blend them with a few other ingredients they turn into a delicious cheese-like sauce. I then poured it over the potatoes and baked in the oven for 45-50min. As easy as that. It's actually a mix between a gratin and dauphinoise potatoes - the gratin version is where you actually used precooked potatoes and then bake in the oven until you get a crispy top, whereas with dauphinoise potatoes you used uncooked and thinly sliced potatoes (like in my recipe), but then you often don't get the crispy top. So you can call this recipe vegan gratin potatoes or vegan dauphinoise potatoes, it's a melange of both (to stick with French).

For more delicious vegan recipe ideas, also check out my other videos on my youtube channel and subscribe here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/exceedinglyvegan

This isn't just a side dish, for me this is a proper main meail. Have it with some salad on the side and you will be satisfied and happy. Sunflower seeds are also healthy and full of goodness, which makes this quite a healthy dish in my opinion.

You can add an extra layer of deliciousness by serving the vegan potatoes au gratin with some fried onions. So good!

vegan gratin potatoes fresh from the oven

Crispy on top and soft on the inside, a perfect combination.

crispy vegan gratin potatoes with sunflower cheese topping

I was surprised myself how much the top looked like a cheese topping. By the way, traditionally you can also add nutmeg to gratin, but I actually prefer it without.

lifting vegan potatoes au gratin from a baking dish

Look at this delicious layer of potatoes and the sunflower seed cheese. It's so good! Let me know what you think of this dish in the comments!

INGREDIENTS (3 portions):

Step 1:

1kg large potatoes (like Russet)
1 onion (optional)

Step 2:

100g sunflower seeds
250ml water
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:

Fried onion

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METHOD:

Step 1:

Start with slicing 1kg potatoes very finely (e.g. 2mm thick). I didn't add them to the video but you can also add 1 onion to the gratin as well for extra flavour. Slice it very finely as well. Depending on the potatoes you are using you may have to peel them first as well.

Note: Don't use salad potatoes (or small dense potatoes in general), because they will take double or triple the time to bake in the oven!

Layer the potatoes in a baking dish (and the onion if you want to add them as well).

Step 2:

To make the 'cheese' sauce add all ingredients from step 2 to a blender cup and then blend until you get a smooth sauce. You can also add nutritional yeast to the sauce but it's very optional and still tastes amazing without. The blending process should only take about 2 min if you have a half decent blender (there is no need to soak the sunflower seeds).

Then pour the sauce over the layered potatoes.

Bake for 45-50min in the preheated oven at 180C/360F.

Take out of the oven, optionally garnish with fried onions and enjoy!

And if you like potato dishes as much as I do then definitely also check out my parsley potatoes with sunflower seed cream, they are delightful!