This hearty vegan potato bake (potatoes au gratin) with pumpkin and lentils is a great fall recipe. It’s a wonderful comfort meal and perfect for dinner or lunch. The potato casserole is furthermore gluten-free, and easy to make.
Vegan Potato Bake – The Perfect Comfort Food
Fall calls for comfort meals and comfort meals call for potatoes! You guys, this potato bake is a must-try, especially if you love casserole recipes as much as I do. This hearty potato gratin is not only plant-based, but it’s also gluten-free, easy to make and rich in protein.
Vegan Potato Casserole With Pumpkin And Lentils
Since pumpkin is in season right now, I decided to make this vegan potato bake with pumpkin. Potatoes and pumpkin go so well together, so I thought it would be a nice addition. And because I love to add healthy protein to my vegan recipes, I included lentils as well. Lentils are packed with healthy plant-based protein and cook fast, which is a big bonus.
Hearty Vegan Potato Gratin
I love hearty recipes and comfort food so much, especially when it gets colder outside. To make this potato bake creamy I’ve added vegan cheese (I used my easy vegan cheese sauce) and vegan cream cheese. I also added various spices and herbs for an amazing flavor because nobody likes recipes that taste bland.
Simple Ingredients
This recipe doesn’t contain many ingredients. Furthermore, the few ingredients can be bought in every supermarket. Nothing fancy or special. This potato bake is ready in less than 45 minutes.
This Vegan Potato Bake Is:
- Gluten-free
- Plant-based (dairy-free, egg-free)
- Hearty
- Rich in protein
- Satisfying
- Cheesy
- Easy to make
- A delicious comfort meal
- Perfect for lunch or dinner
Variations
As mentioned before, this delicious vegan potato casserole can be made with fresh pumpkin, however, you can also use sweet potato or carrot instead. All variations taste delicious and are healthy.
If you give this recipe a try, please leave a comment below and don’t forget to tag @elavegan #elavegan on Instagram or Facebook if you take a picture of your dish.
Also, if you love casseroles, you should definitely check out my healthy vegan pasta bake as well. It’s hearty, creamy and furthermore low in fat!
How To Make A Vegan Potato Bake?
This vegan potato gratin is very easy to make with simple ingredients. Check the recipe below for more easy instructions!
Vegan Potato Bake
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900 g) potatoes peeled and sliced
- 3 cups (400 g) pumpkin chopped into 1-inch cubes
- 1 heaping cup (200 g) dry lentils (I used brown ones)
- 2 cups (480 ml) vegetable broth or water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil divided
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 batch of (200 g) vegan cheese sauce or 7 oz vegan cheese of choice
- 2/3 cup (150 g) vegan cream cheese
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- Sea salt & black pepper to taste
- Fresh herbs to garnish (e.g. parsley or thyme)
- Fried onion rings to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse lentils under running water. I prefer to soak the lentils for about 10-15 minutes in lukewarm water because they are better digested this way (this step is optional). Drain the water afterward.
- Meanwhile, peel and slice potatoes about 0.25 inches thick (0,6 cm). Cook in salted water for 12 minutes or until fork-tender (but not too soft).
- Chop the pumpkin, onion, and garlic.
- Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pot, stir in the onion and fry for about 3-4 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic, all spices, the lentils and 2 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until there is no water left in the pot.
- Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- While the lentils cook, you can prepare the vegan cheese sauce (or use store-bought vegan queso instead). Next, add the vegan cream cheese to the vegan cheese sauce and stir with a whisk.
- Toss the pumpkin with the other half tbsp of oil and fry in a pan for 3-5 minutes.
- Add a layer of the cooked potato slices into a greased baking dish.
- Then add the cooked lentil mixture.
- Now pour about half of the vegan cheese sauce/cream cheese mixture on top.
- Add the pumpkin cubes and the remaining potato slices.
- Finally, pour the other half of the vegan cheese sauce/cream cheese mixture on top.
- Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes. Garnish with fresh herbs (e.g. parsley). Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe serves 6. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Hi Ela! I am going to use sweet potatoes in this instead of pumpkin,. It’s what I have on hand. When would the sweet potatoes be added? boiled in water with regular potatoes? or cubed and fried like the pumpkin? Thanks! Can’t wait to try this! I’m in love with your cheese sauce…truly is a life changer 🙂
Hi Susan, I think I would boil them in water with the regular potatoes.
So glad you like my vegan cheese sauce. 🙂
Hello, what could I use instead of vegan cream cheese as this is not very ready available and quite expensive in my country. Maybe half a cup of soaked and blended cashews? Thank you x
Yes, cashews would be totally fine, Sarah. 🙂
Great dish & full of flavor. But what size casserole dish did you use? I started with an 8 x 8 and it was too small for all the ingredients. So I took everything apart and used 8×16 and this was a bit too large.
So glad you liked the recipe, Marley! My oval casserole dish measures 11 × 8 🙂
I really enjoyed this and it was a filling meal. It took me an hour to get it ready for the oven, though. Luckily from reading the recipe ahead of time I realized there’s no way it would only take 15 mins. I don’t know that it actually needed to be cooked in the oven, so next time I think I may skip it. I really liked the cheese sauce and look forward to using it for other meals.
Thanks for your feedback, Liz! Happy holidays! 🙂
Do you have a recipe for the vegan cream cheese as well? I am staying away from processed food so I don’t want to buy it in a store.
You could blend soaked cashews with water in a blender and add salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic and spices to taste! 🙂 Check this recipe for the dip: https://elavegan.com/polenta-fries-crispy-gluten-free/
Soooooooooooooo good , this is delicious!!!! Baked it yesterday, first of many 🙂 Thank you Ela!!
Wonderful! So happy you liked this recipe! 🙂
Thank you
I want to ask how I can make home made cream cheese. Because its not available in the market where I live.
I never made it myself, so I don’t have a recipe. You could actually leave it out or use vegan yogurt or made more of the vegan cheese sauce. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hello Ela,
I’ve tried this recipe, and it’s amazingly delicious, an interesting mixture of flavours. You are very talented.
Thanks for the compliment, Cristina! I am glad you liked my recipe. 🙂
I make this dish often for our whole family and it really delicious! Also easy to exchange the vegetables in case you don’t have pumpkin at home. I have used carrots, chickpeas, zucchini and each time it is a hit! Thank you for all your yummy and healthy recipes.
Thanks a lot for your great feedback, Nina! 🙂
do we have to use whole pumpkin or can we use canned pumpkin instead
Hi, I never made the recipe with canned pumpkin but it should work as well. Let me know if you give it a try. 🙂
Do you have the nutritional value available? How many grams of CFP per serving?
Hi Sarah, no I don’t. You could check out cronometer.com to calculate it. Hope this helps. 🙂
Looks great! Making this today hopefully 🙂
Can I use butternut squash instead of pumpkin?
Yes, that should work as well. 🙂
Can I leave out the vegan cream cheese, and just make 2 batches of the vegan cheese sauce instead?
Yes, that’s possible! 🙂
Ela! I really love how you just invent delicious things for us to eat! This dish is perfect for fall, and your cheese sauce is brilliant ❤️ Dee xx
Thank you so much, Dee! I hope you will give this recipe a try. 🙂
Much love, Ela ❤️
Such a delicious recipe, my dear Ela!????
Will definitely try it soon!
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️
Thanks so much, Bianca! I hope you will give it a try soon. 🙂
Much love, Ela ❤️