Layers of Yukon potatoes are stuffed with a mixture of soy chorizo and my much-loved cashew cheez sauce — making a vegan, tasty, cheezy, and slightly spicy version of au gratin potatoes.
Recently, I was enjoying a more traditional version of some potatoes gratin (more traditional, but still vegan, of course) and I thought, “How can I make these even tastier?” Answer: To stuff them with Soyrizo and my cheez sauce, uh yum!
It can be difficult for some to come up with vegan breakfast ideas. Though, not necessarily a breakfast item, these potatoes, are something I much enjoy as a breakfast dish. When I was an omnivore, I only ate chorizo as a breakfast meat, but if you go through my blog you’ll see I now enjoy it with any meal, and though these Chorizo n’ Cheez Vegan Potatoes Gratin are amazing served next to some JUST vegan eggs, they are just as tasty at any meal.
Regardless of what time of day you chow down on these potatoes, they aren’t difficult to make. They can be ready in less than an hour, so long as you have all your mise en place. For example, my cashew cheez sauce is required for this dish, which is super simple, all the items get blended until smooth, but you must remember to first soak the cashews!
After the cheez sauce is made, you can cook diced onion in a skillet with the soy chorizo. This doesn’t take long. Once the onions are soft, and the soy chorizo is browned, turn off the heat and stir in the cheez sauce.
Now, spread layers of thinly sliced Yukon potatoes in an eight-by-eight-inch baking dish with the chorizo n’ cheez mixture in between each layer. Cover this with foil and bake it for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the foil and spread a little more cheez sauce, without the chorizo, on top. The last step is to simply pop it under the broiler for a few minutes until the top is browned.
My first time making this, instead of broiling, I tried baking it for about five more minutes after putting the cheez sauce on top. Though, incredibly tasty, it didn’t have that browned top as au gratin potatoes should. The broiler did the trick!
To enjoy these potatoes, they’re more than delicious simply as is, but you may also choose to top them with a number of ingredients such as salsa, green onions, cilantro, avocado, or vegan sour cream.
Let me know which meal you enjoy these potatoes with, and of course the items you serve them with as well. Leave me a comment below, or take a pic and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.
Chorizo n’ Cheez Vegan Potatoes Gratin
Ingredients
- 1 lb (approx.) Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced about 1/8 of an inch slices— I use a mondolin
- 6 oz soy chorizo half of a standard sized package
- 1 1/2 cups white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
- oil of choice, for cooking
- 3/4 – 1 cup Cashew Cheez Sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450° F.
- Heat a skillet to medium heat and drizzle with oil. Once hot, add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
- Add the chorizo to the skillet with the onion and garlic. Cook until onion is soft and chorizo is slightly browned. Turn off heat and stir in 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp of the Cashew Cheez Sauce.
- Grease an 8″ x 8″ baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with slightly overlapping potato slices. Take half of the chorizo and cheez mixture and evenly spread it over the potatoes. Now do another layer of potatoes and top them with the remaining chorizo and cheez mixture. Top it off with a final layer of potatoes and cover the dish with foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes on the middle oven rack.
- Remove dish from the oven and remove foil. The potatoes should be thoroughly cooked. Spread 2 – 4 tablespoons of the remaining cheez sauce across the top layer of potatoes. Broil on high in the upper third of the oven for about 3 minutes, or until browned. Let sit 5 minutes before cutting.