Pump up your scalloped potatoes with this cabbage and potato version. A creamy sauce made with non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, and a little mustard mixed in makes this dish ultra comforting.
This Scalloped Potato and Cabbage Casserole would be great for any holiday meal, and most certainly will please and delight a crowd at a potluck.
Slices of russet potatoes and crunchy green cabbage meld together with the flavors of the herbs and cream sauce, making this such a rich and grounding dish to enjoy. You can even add in your favorite little additions like fresh sprigs of thyme or sage.
Try adding these potato recipes to your plant-based diet:
- Sweet Potato Veggie Lasagna
- Cauliflower Sweet Potato Mash
- Mashed Potato Pancakes
- Irish Cabbage Potato Soup with Dumplings
- Potato Gratin with Jalapeño & Tempeh Bacon
The nutritional yeast in the cream sauce is what gives it a cheesy flavor. And, it also offers a dose of B12, a vitamin which is needed to monitor for those of us who choose to not eat meat.
Some people think its necessary to eat meat to get this important vitamin, which is important for the production of red blood cells, supports brain function and maintaining healthy nerve cells and our body’s genetic makeup.
B12 is actually made from bacteria, not meat, and if you are a vegan or eat only plants, you should take a supplement. Very few plant foods have vitamin B12 with natto being the exception. It’s a fermented Asian dish that most westerners do not find palatable.
Are potatoes healthy?
Potatoes are not usually thought of as a superfood and are sometimes avoided because of its starch content and complex carbohydrates, but potatoes really do offer so much. Potatoes are:
- low in calories
- contain virtually no fat, sodium or cholesterol
- contain half our daily value of vitamin C & B6,
- offers more potassium than a banana, fiber, magnesium, and antioxidants.
Let’s clear up the “starch is bad” myth
Potatoes contain a resistant starch, which means that rather than being broken down and absorbed, its turned into short-chain fatty acids, or a beneficial fiber which lowers blood sugar, reduces appetite, and offers digestive support, feeding the friendly bacteria in your gut.
And, don’t forget how nutritious cabbage is, too!
So now you can feel good about adding potatoes to your diet. You will absolutely love this dish!
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Scalloped Potato and Cabbage Casserole Recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Instagram page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!
This recipe is Certified Plantricious because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- Sodium (mg) to Calories ratio, 1 ≤ 1
- Total Fiber to Calories, 2g ≥ 100 calories
Scalloped Potato and Cabbage Casserole
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 4 large baking potatoes peeled if not organic and thinly sliced
- 1 head cabbage savoy or green quartered and cored
- 1 large yellow onion peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp paprika (or smoky paprika)
Cheese Sauce
- 1/2 cup raw cashews OR
- 1 (15-oz.) can cannellini beans drained and rinsed (as a substitute to the cashews for lower fat)
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 1/2 cups filtered water
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and rough chopped (a roasted pepper works, too)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp yellow mustard
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/3 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
Instructions
Cheese Sauce
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Soak cashews in boiling water to cover for 15 minutes, drain.
- Place the cashews (or cannellini beans), oats, non-dairy milk, water nutritional yeast, bell pepper, lemon juice, mustard, spices, and salt in a blender and blend a few minutes until smooth. If the sauce seems too thick, add a little more non-dairy milk or water. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. Set aside.
- NOTE: this makes a large amount of cheese sauce and you may not need to use it all. Save for topping steamed vegetables or to serve over pasta.
Filling
- Peel the potatoes if not organic and slice thinly. Place in cold water if you're not going to use them soon.
- Thinly slice the onion and set aside.
- Slice the cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Then slice the cabbage crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide pieces.
To Assemble & Bake
- In a large skillet or dutch oven, add a little water and saute the cabbage and onion for about 10 minutes or until they wilt. Turn off the heat and add the drained sliced potatoes. Stir carefully.
- Cover the bottom of a large baking dish with a little cooking spray.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce in the bottom. Top with a layer of potatoes, sliced onions, and cabbage. Top with more cheese sauce and repeat the layers once or twice depending, ending with a layer of sauce.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the sides are bubbling and the top is a light golden brown, for another 25 minutes. Check the potatoes for doneness and return to bake another 10 minutes if they are not tender
- Sprinkle paprika over the top.
Notes
1. If you want a light cheese sauce, you can substitute cannellini beans for the cashews.
2. Potatoes usually take quite a bit of salt unless your taste buds are used to low salt. You can adjust accordingly.
I made this today and was pretty disappointed.
Hey Deb, I’m sorry to hear that. It would help to know in what way… Was it bland, not spicy enough, not “cheesy” enough? Are you just starting a plant-based diet or have you been a vegan for a while?
So many factors go into something like this, as well as your expectations. If you’re new to a plant-based diet, often a plant-based cheese sauce doesn’t taste right or near the same as a real cheese sauce. In addition, in a plant-based diet, we use very little salt and, unfortunately, potatoes usually take quite a bit of salt for most people’s taste.
While it was a disappointment, I do appreciate your feedback because that helps me improve recipes. Any more detail about what it was would help.
I’m about to make a third cheese sauce recipe for the site so maybe this new one would be a better substitute than the one that’s on the scalloped potato recipe. I’ve been wanting to make nachos, corn chips topped with black olives, roasted corn, green onions, cilantro and jalapeño peppers (optional), guacamole and the cheese sauce.
All the best and Happy 4th of July.
Hi Diane,
I notice in your description above the recipe you mention using Dijon mustard, but in the ingredient list, it specifies yellow mustard. We are in the process of making this now, and will use 1 tsp of each, but would like to hear what you use. Thanks!
Hi, I’ll update that soon, but wanted to get back to you. Yellow mustard would be preferred, but you could use either so your solution is good. I’m actually going to update that recipe with some changes such as adding more liquid. I just retested it and am eating it now. 🙂 The cheese sauce is so delicious. One thing about potatoes, though is that they can take a lot of salt. I have just 1/3 tsp so you could up that for your particular taste.
We will be sure to make it again, and glad you decided to try it out once more and update. Thanks!
I don’t see where the 1/2 of oats goes. Do you only use to thicken sauce?
Hey Elena, Yep, the oats go into the blender with the other cheese sauce ingredients. I updated the instructions to include that. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 15 oz can cannellini beans drained and rinsed. (as a substitute to the cashews for lower fat)
As I don’t see an “or” I wonder if both the cashews and beans are used or does one make a choice?
Hey Nick, It is an “or” so I’ll update that in the ingredients to make it clearer. Thanks.
Hi, this sounds lovely, what would you recommend having with this? It seems more like a side dish than complete meal if that makes sense. Thank you 🙂
Hi Kelsey, I do know what you mean. It often feels that way with no meat as the main. For this dish, I might serve a large salad, some crusty whole-grain bread, or even a soup. Or, you could have a plant-based meatloaf or burger, a baked or sauteed tofu recipe, vegan sausage, or a marinated tempeh dish as the main. I hope that helps. 🙂
I am going to try this for Easter! It looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Mary. I hope you enjoy the recipe. Happy Easter!
How do you think this dish would do frozen? I’m trying to find recipes that I can batch cook -eat one meal now and freeze one for later.
Good idea! Yes, you can freeze the dish after’s it’s cooked. The best method for reheating large portions is in a low-temperature oven (300-325 °F) for about 60-90 minutes, depending on the size.