Veganization: Scalloped Potatoes

I love cooking for people; I'm not always excited about their requests. Admittedly, when my spouse requested scalloped potatoes, I was initially unenthused.

Vegan scalloped potatoes quickly transformed from a request to fulfill to an experiment to tackle! You'll notice several differences from the Betty Crocker recipe I referenced because simply substituting non-dairy ingredients wasn't enough.

Two discoveries were critical to a successful casserole:

peeling the potatoes
using insweetened plain soy or pea milk

You say, "Potato," and I say...

Peel them. The original recipe says to use any kind of potatoes and peel them only if desired. Yet while any potato flesh indeed works, not every skin does; some meld into the dish, but others turn into soggy confetti.

Starchy, waxy - didn't matter! Both ends of the spud spectrum were just as likely to yield buttery skins as they were stringy ones. (I wonder if the ripeness of the potatoes matters more than the variety?)

Non-Dairy Milk for Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

Notably, your options are limited to soy or pea milks. I tried cashew because it tastes closest to dairy milk, oat because it's trendy, and more. Only soy and pea formed the classically creamy sauce!

My results with cashew and oat milks were most disastrous. Cashew produced a school glue-like film across the top of my potatoes, and oat separated into water and starch. Though the brands I used could be to blame, my outcomes were so gross I couldn't bring myself to test others. Stick with soy or pea!

A Different Kind of Sweet Potato

Solving one problem led to another...

Though not as sweet as nut milks, soy and pea milks are sweeter than dairy milk. I craved deeper seasoning after a few tests with 1 tsp (5 mL) salt and ¼ tsp (1.25 mL) pepper as listed in the original recipe. An increase to 1 ½ tsp (7.5 mL) salt and ¾ tsp (3.75 mL) pepper counterbalanced perfectly!

Cooking Method: Baking, Boiling, Chopping, Dicing, Food Processing, Melting, Mixing, Peeling, Shredding, Slicing, Trimming, Whisking

Cuisine: British, Canadian, French, US-American

Category: Savory Meals

Description

As the inspiration for funeral potatoes, scalloped potatoes can also be a family and community symbol of comfort. This comfort can be made vegan with any kind of potato, but not any kind of non-dairy milk. Stick with unsweetened plain soy or pea milk lest the next funeral be your own.

makes 1, 2- to 2 ½-qt/L casserole

Ingredients

2 ½ cups (600 mL/g) unsweetened plain soy or pea milk
1 shallot
4 Tbsp (60 mL/56 g) dairy-free butter (I recommend Country Crock Homestyle, preferably unsalted.)
3 Tbsp (45 mL/23 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp (7.5 mL) kosher salt (Reduce to 1 ¼ tsp - 6.25 mL - if "butter" is salted; In either case, use about half as much table salt.)
¾ tsp (3.75 mL) ground black pepper
2 lbs (0.9 kg) potatoes (any variety, about 6 medium)

Instructions

1
If necessary, bring “milk” to room temperature.
2
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease a 2- to 2 ½-qt/L casserole, then trim and finely dice shallot. Set both aside.
3
In a med saucepan over med heat, melt 3 Tbsp (45 mL/42 g) “butter”. Add shallot and saute 2 min, until translucent.
4
Whisk in flour, salt, and pepper until smooth. Continue whisking while slowly pouring in “milk”, bringing mixture to a boil, and holding it there for 1 min. Remove from heat, then cover and set aside to cool.
A stagnant mixture is a burnt one! Though you don’t necessarily need to whisk vigorously, you do need to keep your ingredients moving.
5
Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice potatoes into approximately ⅛ in (3 mm) wide slices.
A food processor may help with this step, but I found a mandoline to be rather pointless as I had to take out my knife anyway to slice the last bit of each potato. Maybe it could work for you though!
6
Layer potatoes in prepared casserole (from Step 2). Pour on sauce. Cut remaining 1 Tbsp (15 mL/14 g) “butter” into small cubes, then evenly dot surface of sauced potatoes.
7
Cover dish with foil. Bake 30 min covered; 70 min, uncovered, until middle is fork-tender.

Note

Read why I recommend Country Crock plant butter.

And if you can't find it, checkout this reverse-engineered recipe!

Lastly, while the shallot scraps can be saved for Zero-Waste Vegetable Stock, the potato peelings are best discarded.

Keywords: scalloped potatoes, vegan scalloped potatoes, funeral potatoes, vegan funeral potatoes