These vegan dauphinoise potatoes are creamy, rich and the perfect side dish for a special occasion or when you feel your roast dinner needs a touch of decadence.
Cutting vegetables to a very specific thickness, poaching them in garlic-infused milk and then carefully layering them into a serving dish are not cooking techniques I regularly use. Sure, dauphinoise potatoes is a time-consuming side dish that screams indulgence, but I get so much satisfaction from a recipe like this.
Most days I’m rushing to get a quick, easy meal on the table, so the moments I have to truly enjoy the process of cooking are a bit more special.
There’s nothing like a little French cooking to make me feel like more of a chef and less like a recipe producing machine. Of course, I’m sure the French would not approve of me veganising one of their most famous dishes, but I trust you to keep this just between us!
What do you need to know before you make this recipe?
A mandolin will make light work of slicing your potatoes and shallots as long as you keep your eyes on the blade, your fingers should be safe.
Speaking of a close eye, make sure you don’t overcook the potatoes while they poach, or they’ll break apart when you transfer them to the baking dish. Once the potatoes are out of the poaching liquid, we’re going to turn it into a quick bechamel which is used to cover the potatoes instead of cream.
I’ve included the additional notes for this vegan dauphinoise potatoes recipe at the bottom of the page with the hope of improving your experience here at blue border. If you found this useful, I’d love your support on Instagram, click here to follow.
ingredients
- 1kg / 2.2lbs potatoes
- 1 shallot
- 75g / 2.65oz non-dairy butter or margarine
- 3 bay leaves
- 3-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp. flaky salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- Big pinch nutmeg
- 1L / 35.2 fl oz non-dairy milk
- 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp. gluten-free flour
- 2 Tbsp. water
process
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
Peel the potatoes and use a mandolin to cut them into 3-4mm slices. As you slice the potatoes, transfer them to a bowl of very cold water to prevent them from going brown. Mandolin the shallot into the same size slices but keep separate from the potatoes.
In a large pot, add the butter, bay leaves, garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg and place on the hob at medium heat. Once the butter has melted and the garlic is fragrant, add the milk and nutritional yeast and bring to a gentle simmer.
Drain the potatoes and transfer them to the pot of simmering milk. Simmer for 5-6mins or until the potatoes are almost cooked (do not overcook the potatoes, or they will fall apart).
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the potatoes to a serving dish and layer them with the sliced shallot and a couple of spoonfuls of the milk mixture.
Combine the gluten-free flour with the water and mix until you achieve a slurry. Add the slurry to the milk mixture and use a whisk to combine. Continue to simmer the milk mixture, stirring throughout until it’s thick, creamy and resembles a bechamel (about 10mins).
Remove the bay leaves and pour just enough of the bechamel over the potatoes to completely cover the top layer (if you have any leftover bechamel save it for a quick pasta dish).
Cover and bake the potatoes for 30mins. Remove the cover and place the potatoes under the grill for 5mins or until golden brown.
NOTES: Vegan Dauphinoise Potatoes
Potatoes
I have strong feelings about potatoes, mainly I love them very much, but potatoes also happen to be on the dirty dozen list and absorb pesticides like a sponge.
While the best potatoes to use for this recipe are all-rounder potatoes, like Maris Pipers or King Edwards, I more so recommend buying organic potatoes than a specific variety. Potatoes are usually very affordable to buy organic and often end up getting discounted.
If you can’t get organic potatoes, peeling your potatoes is a good way to reduce some of that chemical load.
Herbs
This recipe is great with fresh thyme and rosemary as well as bay if you one and not the other. Swap the bay leaves for 1-2 large stems of rosemary or 10 stems of thyme.
Other Vegetables
This recipe can be made with sweet potatoes, butternut squash or celeriac. Cut the sweet potatoes, butternut or celeriac down so you can mandolin it to the same thickness as the potatoes and reduce the poaching time to half (3-4mins approx.).
