I’ve learned two things about gardening in Michigan since I moved here:
1. You have to get out your snow shovel if you want to find your kale in January.
2. Potatoes love Michigan!
We dug 6 bushels of potatoes this past summer and have been storing them in a cool room in our basement. This means lots of these Healthy Mashed Potatoes,
Cream of Potato and Artichoke Soup,
Cream of Potato and Kale Soup,
and these absolutely delicious Skinny Scalloped Potatoes.
Regular scalloped potatoes are loaded with milk, butter, and cream; but this slimming version has none of that! Instead, it uses a base of blended cashews for a rich and creamy taste and texture without the refined fat! What’s more, the cashews offer a bit of fiber, which is always good news for weight loss.
But even if you’re not trying to lose weight, I think you’ll like these Skinny Scalloped Potatoes even better than the fattening kind!
Skinny Scalloped Potatoes
Yield 6 servings
Unlike the traditional version, these scalloped potatoes won't add pounds to your weight loss plan.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups water - divided
- 10 medium potatoes or 7 large potatoes
- paprika and parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Place cashews, 3/4 cup water, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder in blender and blend until very smooth. (A heavy-duty blender works best for this recipe; other blenders may not get the mixture smooth enough.)
- Add oil and 2 cups of the water. Blend.
- Scrub potatoes and peel if desired. Slice potatoes into thin slices. Place in an oiled 9" x 14" baking dish.
- Pour half of blender mixture over top of potatoes.
- Add remaining 2 cups of water to the blender and blend briefly. Pour over the potatoes.
- Cover and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for an additional 40 minutes. Serve hot.
Notes
With a food processor to cut the potatoes, this dish can be prepared in as little as 15 minutes.
I added a carrot to the cashew sauce to give the potatoes in the picture an added nutrient boost and richer color. If you want to do the same, just add a small carrot to the blender along with the cashews and water and blend.
Yes! I love these. I’ve made them a couple of times, and they’re always a hit. I add a clove or two of garlic when I’m blending my cashews, and Yum, Yum, Yum! Even my hubby, who is definitely not the health-conscious type, loves them also.
Keep the good recipes coming, Jennifer.
The taste was OK…not great. Mostly the colour of the dish was very off-putting. Pretty much a putty grey that in no way resembled the obviously enhanced golden potatoes in the image.
Hi Lynne,
Sorry the scalloped potatoes didn’t turn out the greatest for you.
As I mentioned in the post above, I added a carrot to the cashew sauce to give the potatoes in the picture an added nutrient boost and richer color. If you’d like to brighten up the color, you could add a carrot.
But even when I don’t add a carrot, the sauce turns out a lovely cream color – never grey. Is it possible your cashews weren’t fresh? Or maybe your olive oil was a darker color. The color of olive oil can vary from very light yellow to very dark green. I’ve never used a dark green oil in this dish, so that could have been the reason.
Again, sorry you weren’t completely happy. I hope these suggestions help.
Jennifer
Try a small amount (1/4 tsp) of turmeric…a healthy mild tasting spice that will add a yellow orange color. Or as mentioned, a carrot, butternut squash, pumpkin or small amount of sweet potato should all lend some color, fiber and nutrients while not changing flavor. If you use sweet veggies, try adding a small dollop of mustard to balance. Good luck!
My mom made this recipe for Easter and it was delicious!!! She forgot to put the carrot in and used turmeric instead. You couldn’t tell the difference. I tried them and then my sister’s tradition scalloped potatoes and ended up trashing the traditional and going for a second helping of the skinny scalloped potatoes!!! And this is from a girl that dislikes (very strongly) cashews! Aren’t cashews pretty fattening though?
Hi Aura,
That’s a good question. Even though nuts do have a fair amount of fat in them, they aren’t fattening. In fact, studies have shown that they’re very helpful for weight loss. Unlike the fat in oil or cream, the fat in nuts is in its natural form which includes all the nutrients that help your body to use the fat well.
Plus cashews are super high in fiber. So when you use them to replace cream, you increase your fiber intake a great deal – which is also helpful for weight loss.
I wrote a post about how nuts help with weight loss here, if you’d like to read it.
So glad you liked the scalloped potatoes!
Jennifer
And another thing. If you have a new food processor that you received for Christmas, it takes only minutes to prepare these!
We loved this! The first time I made it, it boiled over in my oven. The next time I used a bigger dish and it was fine. But either way this was very good!
OMG these were amazing! Unbelievably easy and delicious…We over-eat though 😀
So glad you liked them Marina! The three of us are quite happy to polish off the whole dish!
These were so good! Thank you, Jennifer, for such an easy recipe with so much flavor!
Glad you liked them, Becky. Thank you for your comment.
Excellent! I was really impressed with how creamy it was. It will be interesting to add some other ingredients…like mushrooms. Big hit at my house. Thanks!
Fabulous! Great to hear it was a hit!
This is one of my favorite recipes! They’re really good. And, using a food processor, I’ve made these in 15 minutes!
I added some nutritional yeast to amp up the cheesy factor and I’m happy to say that it came out so DELISH! Thank you so much for the recipe 🙂
You’re very welcome, Crystal. Glad you liked it!
I have made these twice now and while I love the taste, they are really watery. Suggestions?
Hi Rena,
I am really sorry they didn’t turn out right for you. I’m trying to figure out what could be the problem; I’ve made them over 100 times and have never had them come out watery. I’m sure you’re baking them for the full 90 minutes. Are your potatoes completely cooked and soft when they come out of the oven? The only thing I can think of beyond this is to add less water to the blender. Also, they do thicken a little if you let them sit for a few minutes before serving.
I hope this helps.
Jennifer
Yum, these were a huge hit in our vegan household! The only changes I made were to use veggie broth instead of water (barley any calories and so much flavor added, although you don’t need to add salt as well since most broths are so salty) and I garnished with some nutritional yeast. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe 🙂
Glad to hear it Kelly! Veggie broth is a good idea.
Can I make these the day b4 n then refrigerate till I am ready to bake?
Hi Shari,
I would suggest making them AND baking the day before – just bake them about 5 minutes less. Then cool and refrigerate. Then reheat them at 350 degrees F the next day until they are thoroughly heated.
They reheat beautifully.
Jennifer
I am such a huge fan of these potatoes! I made them last week, and my family loved them so much that I decided to bring a batch to potluck, and I came home with an empty dish. My husband is out hunting asparagus right now, and I just put a batch of these in the oven, and am really looking forward to the potatoes alongside fresh picked, sautéed asparagus and salad. This will definitely be added to our regular rotation.
Mmmmm! Asparagus and scalloped potatoes! That sounds luscious! So glad to hear you liked these. They are definitely one of our favorites too. 🙂
We love these potatoes too! But I’m always unsure exactly how many potatoes to slice. Do you have any idea how many pounds you use?
Hi Midori,
Ten medium potatoes is about 4 pounds.
The recipe is fairly forgiving, though. I never weigh the potatoes. I just grab about 10 medium size potatoes (medium = about the size of potato you would find in an average 10 lb. bag of Russet potatoes from the store). If my potatoes are on the small side, I add another potato or two. If my potatoes are slightly larger than average, I use only 9. And the scalloped potatoes always turn out good. 🙂
Hope this helps.
Good evening.
I am oil free.
What would work instead of oil? More water? Or something else?
Thank you
Hi Rawan,
I’ve made these without any oil and, while they weren’t quite as rich and creamy, they were still quite good. No need to replace the oil with anything; just leave it out.
Jennifer
Just made these after finding them on Pintrest. They were yummy! Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, Cindy. Glad you liked them. 🙂
Made this potatoes yesterday and LOVED it!! I’m not a cook but found the recipe easy to follow. It was a hit. Thank you?
Thanks Esther. I’m so happy you liked it!! 🙂
I love this dish. I make it for fellowship meals and special dinners. It’s friendly to food allergies (I have friends who are vegan, low salt, no sugar). It is versatile. I have substituted 1/4 of the nuts for almonds or pumpkin seeds with it tasting great and the first time I made it I subbed all almonds and it was still yummy. The carrot is a must for us and I usually add at least 2. I usually add nutritional yeast as well but not always and this lasts time I subbed miso paste for some of the salt. The original recipe is great and I love how I can change it up and it still tastes great. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
I made this recipe for Easter dinner – everyone loved it even better than traditional scalloped potatoes. I did add a small carrot when blending the ingredients. I soaked the cashews beforehand which made them easier to blend – also didn’t add the full 4 cups of water I only added 3 cups and they turned out nice and creamy.