Make Ahead

Vegan, Gluten Free Butternut Squash Gratin

October 26, 2015
2.5
2 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

Here's a perfect side dish for holiday gatherings, winter socializing, or simply for digging into on a cold night. The topping is arguably the best part, and a really great, gluten-free substitute for traditional bread crumbs. —Gena Hamshaw

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the gratin:
  • 2 1/2 pounds cubed butternut squash
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 large shallot, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups almond or soy milk
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons brown rice flour (alternatively, you can use 2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder or cornstarch)
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • For the topping:
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F and lightly oil a 9-inch square baking dish (or a 7- by 11-inch rectangular baking dish).
  2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the butternut squash. Boil for 15 minutes, or until all of the cubes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain the squash and set it aside.
  3. Add the olive oil to a medium-sized sauce pot over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic. Swirl them around and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant but not burnt. Whisk in the almond or soy milk, lemon juice, and salt. Allow the milk to come to a low simmer. Whisk in the brown rice flour, one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. (Alternatively, add 1/4 cup hot water to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot powder and whisk thoroughly to create a slurry. Add the thickener to the hot milk, stirring it the whole time.)
  4. Stir the sauce constantly until it has thickened up (it should be about the texture of alfredo sauce). Add more salt and black pepper to taste. Whisk in the 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Remove the sauce from heat and set it aside.
  5. For the topping, place the almonds in a food processor and process until they resemble a coarse meal. Add the remaining topping ingredients and pulse to combine thoroughly. The mixture should be crumbly.
  6. Place 1/3 of the sauce at the bottom of your baking dish and top with half the squash. Top the squash layer with another 1/3 of the sauce. Cover the sauce with the remaining squash, and cover the squash with the remaining sauce. (In other words, the layers are: sauce, squash, sauce, squash, sauce.) Top it all with the almond topping. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the gratin is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve.
  7. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Carmen Irene Giles
    Carmen Irene Giles
  • Whats4Dinner
    Whats4Dinner
  • Amanda Savitzky
    Amanda Savitzky
  • Kat
    Kat

4 Reviews

Kat November 30, 2019
Quite disappointing -- even my vegan children couldn't eat this dish. I'll stick with Butternut squash soup next time.
 
Carmen I. November 20, 2016
I'm trying to plan ahead on as many dishes as possible for Thanksgiving. Do you think it would be okay to make the topping ahead of time?
 
Whats4Dinner June 1, 2016
I only use the topping part of the recipe to put on your butternut squash mac n cheese from Food52's Baking book of yours.......delish!!!
 
Amanda S. November 3, 2015
I made this last night and it was delicious! A great harmony of sweet squash and savory sauce. The sauce came out pretty salty, but that might be my error. The squash balanced it well. This was my first time cooking with nutritional yeast and it produced a really creamy umami sauce. I used cornstarch to thicken the sauce and it worked well. I'm not gluten free so next time I might try regular flour to thicken the sauce just for aesthetic reasons. Cornstarch can sometimes make a sauce have that translucent goopy look. It tasted VERY decadent but in MFP the recipe was much lower in calorie than I expected!