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–+ servings
one square of scalloped potatoes on a small plate.
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The Best Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

Prep Time50 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 10 to 12
Calories: 214kcal
Author: Nisha Vora

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes*
  • 1 large sprig of sage (8 to 10 leaves)
  • 8 to 12 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 large sprig of rosemary
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 cups (720 mL) full-fat oat milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (or freshly cracked black pepper)
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 5 tablespoons vegan butter or extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium-large yellow onion, finely diced
  • 8 large garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ⅓ cup (42g) all-purpose flour**
  • 1/2 cup (35g) nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon white miso paste, at room temperature***
  • ½ cup to ¾ cup vegan parmesan (optional but recommended)****

For serving

  • flaky sea salt
  • 1 big handful of chopped chives

Instructions

  • Peel and wash the potatoes. Dry well. Use a mandoline to slice them ⅛” (.3 cm) thick.*****
  • Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Grease a 13x9” (33x23 cm) square baking dish with a bit of oil on the bottoms and up the sides.
  • Make a bouquet garni: tie your sage, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf in kitchen twine. If you don't have twine, leave herbs loose.
  • In a medium saucepan, add oat milk, bouquet garni, nutmeg, cayenne, peppercorns and salt. Bring to a simmer and then turn heat to low and gently simmer for 7 to 8 minutes. Once cooled, strain over a sieve and save the infused milk; discard herbs & aromatics.
  • In a deep 10 or 12-inch frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of vegan butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Once melted or hot, add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Stir fairly frequently until the onion is fully golden brown, about 15 minutes. This is key for that deep savory caramelized onion flavor!
  • Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter or oil. Once melted, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is golden and aromatic, stirring frequently.
  • Add in the flour and whisk for 1 to 2 minutes to cook the flour into a paste. Gradually pour in the infused milk, whisking as you go to prevent clumping. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, whisking often, for 3 to 5 minutes, until creamy and thick but pourable (it should coat the back of a spoon).
    Add in the nutritional yeast, mustard, and miso, and whisk until smooth. The sauce should be quite thick at this point. Take off the heat.
  • Add half of the potatoes to the bottom of the prepared baking pan in overlapping layers (it took us 3 layers to go through half of the potatoes). Season the potatoes pretty well with salt and pepper. Top with half of the sauce and smooth it out evenly to the edges with a silicone spatula.
  • Add the remaining potatoes and season again with salt and pepper. Top with the rest of the sauce. Take a silicone spatula and and scrape any sauce stuck on the sides down into the potatoes (this prevents burning). Scatter the vegan parmesan evenly over the top, if using.
  • Cover the pan with foil and bake for 1 hour, until the sauce is bubbly around the edges. Remove the foil and rotate the pan by 180º.
    Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until a fork inserted all the way to the bottom gives no resistance and the top is a bit browned. If they're not quite tender, bake for another 10 minutes.
    Note: The top should be nicely browned by now, but if not, you can briefly stick it under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes (watch closely!).
  • Sprinkle it with a bit of flaky salt and top with the chopped chives. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. It will thicken more as it rests.

Notes

*We prefer Yukon Gold potatoes for the most flavor. You can also do 2 pounds of Yukon Golds and 2 pounds of Russets, but I don't recommend doing only Russets. It'll end up dry.
**To make gluten-free, use a GF all-purpose flour blend or half the amount of cornstarch (2 TBSP + 2 tsp). 
***Keep the miso at room temp so it's more pliable and easier to incorporate into the sauce. 
**** Our favorite vegan parmesan is from Follow Your Heart. It tastes great and melts wonderfully. 
*****This is the mandoline we use. It's inexpensive and works amazingly well. It makes the job of slicing 4 pounds of potatoes rather quick. If you have a food processor slicing disc that goes down to 1/8", you could also use that.