Leftover Alert: Mashed Potato Cakes with Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce

Looking for a way to use up those Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes? These oven-baked mashed potato cakes with sauteed onions and vegan chorizo from No Evil turned out to be everything you love about mashed potatoes and crispy hash browns all in one dish. Topped with a rich and creamy vegan dill sour cream sauce...they are the perfect Holiday Weekend brunch food! Believe me, you won't be able to eat just one.

Let’s face it! Not all plant-based recipes are always healthy but sometimes you just need some old-fashioned comfort food and these Twice Baked Potato Cakes with Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce are just that. A great dish for your weekend brunch or to use up the leftover mashed potatoes. The magic of this recipe is, for sure, the Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce…so don’t skip on that part of this delicious dish!

What you are going to need to buy:

Left Over Mashed Potatoes (about 1/2 cup per Potato Cake you want to make!)

Chorizo - (We used the vegan chorizo from No Evil) Sweet Onion

Butter - (I love this plant-based butter from Earth Balance)

Oatmilk - (We used THIS ONE from Rise Brewing)

Minced Garlic - (the best is from Spice World!)  

Fresh Chives

Just Egg, Egg Replacer (just a tablespoon or so for each serving/cake)

Fresh Dill

Sour Cream ( We used this vegan sour cream from our friends over at Tofutti)

Veggie Stock or Bullion Base

Flour

Salt & Pepper, to taste

What you are going to need to do:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a small saucepan, saute’ your diced onions in olive oil or vegan butter with garlic until onions are translucent.

Incorporate the sauteed onions and garlic, along with pea-sized pieces of the plant-based chorizo. stir well to combine plus flour and a little egg replacer.

Add your chopped chives, salt and pepper, and additional garlic, to taste. If the mixture is too dry add some vegan cream or your preferred plant-based milk and/or butter.

If the mixture is still too thin, add some more flour.

You need the texture to be dry enough to hold together in cake form while baking. Think cookie dough consistency!

Using a ring mold or cookie cutter form your potato cakes. If you are not too terribly concerned about the looks or shape of the cakes, you can forgo the molds and use a large spoon and mound mixture onto a non-stick baking sheet.

Bake cakes at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. You want to watch to make sure that they are not browning too quickly. If they do…simply spray a piece on tin foil with non stick cooking spray and gently lay over the top of the cakes!

While the cakes are baking you can make the Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce.

Making the Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce.

In the pot that you used to saute’ the onions add 2-3 tablespoons of butter and heat on medium/low until melted.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of white flour over the butter and whisk to make a roux. Let rue cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add 1/2 cup of veggie stock and 1/2 cup of Oat Milk and whisk constantly until the rue is dissolved into the stock. Let the mixture come to back up to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute to thicken. If the mixture gets too thick you can add a bit more stock.

Remove from heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Stir into mixture 4 ounces of sour cream along with 1 tablespoon of chopped, fresh dill, and salt and pepper to taste. The sour cream will help to thin the mixture out but if it’s still too thick you can always add a bit of milk and/or butter. Additionally, you can melt your favorite vegan parmesan cheese into the sauce or even sprinkle in a bit of nutritional yeast if desired.

Check on the potatoes. They should be getting a crisp outer shell that is turning golden brown. Feel free to switch your oven to broil for the last 5 minutes that the cakes are in the oven to assist in browning but keep a close eye on them so they do not burn.

Allow the cakes to cool on the stove-top for 1-2 minutes before plating. Serve potato cakes topped with the
Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce and garnished with additional chopped chives.
Enjoy!

Potato and Parsnip Mash with Garlic Brown Butter and Wilted Spinach

This week in my Misfits Market produce box I was loaded down with tons of potatoes and some of the most gigantic parsnips I have ever seen…and boom this recipe was born! I’d like to formally introduce you to your new favorite Holiday recipe!

This recipe is so easy and to be honest, is essentially just a small detour from traditional mashed potatoes! It’s also a great recipe for picky eaters because I promise you…if you don’t spill your secret about the parsnips, no one will ever know! Plus, garlic and brown butter…who could possibly turn that down?

What you are going to need to buy:

Potatoes

Parsnips

Sour Cream - (We love the Tofutti Brand best!)

Nutritional Yeast - (Note: this is what makes these wedges vegan, but if that’s not a concern for you, feel free to use dry Parmesan or even your favorite powdered cheese blend.

Butter - (We used Earth Balance Plant Butter)

Minced Garlic - (Our favorite is this jarred garlic from Spice World)

Salt & Pepper

Fresh Spinach

Olive Oil

What you are going to need to do:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Peel your potatoes and parsnips and cut into 1” cubes

Boil the potatoes and parsnips until tender, about 10-15 minutes.

In a small saucepan melt 1/3 stick or about 1/3 cup of butter.

A note on brown butter: I never knew what “brown butter” was until I lived up in Ohio’s Amish Country for about a decade. After melted, if butter is let continue to cook it will eventually go from bright yellow to a nice caramel color. Stir butter often so it doesn’t take on too much color or burn.

Once your butter has browned, remove from heat and add 1 heaping teaspoon of garlic. You will hear the garlic start to sizzle and the minced garlic should take on a nice toasted color as well.

Set your Garlic Brown Butter aside in a small dish and using the same pan add 1-2 cups of spinach and wilt on low heat. Set aside

When the potatoes and parsnips are soft drain and let sit for 1 minute in the hot pot to make sure they are very dry! This step is what will help make them extra fluffy.

In a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, mash your potatoes and parsnips with sour cream, nutritional yeast, and salt. Whisk until soft and fluffy. No not overmix.

Serve topped with Garlic Brown Butter and wilted spinach, salt and pepper, to taste.

Enjoy!

Crispy Vegan Potato Salad

It’s officially summer and that means cookouts! I’m always on the hunt for a dish that I can take to a neighborhood or family gathering that even the non-veg community will love AND one that I don’t need to worry about spoiling if it sits on a picnik table for a few hours and this Crispy Vegan Potato Salad checks all the boxes!

This Crispy Vegan Potato Salad recipe is the perfect plant-based dish to take to your July 4th Holiday BBQ or cookout this weekend because potato salad in general is 99% plant based anyway! I love using opportunities like this to introduce things like, plant based mayo to people who would normally never, ever try it! Let them gobble up a helping of this…and then spill the beans!

What you are going to need to buy:

3 lbs of Potatoes - (We could go on and on about the kind of spuds to use, but honestly, we say, use what you like! For this recipe we like to used the tiny, golden, baby potatoes and just cut them in half one time!)

Vegan Butter

Yellow or White Onion

Celery

Vegan Mayo

Sour Cream - (On this page we are big fans of Tofutti Sour Cream!)

Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Mustard

Dill Pickles or Dill Relish

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Onion and Garlic Powder (or whatever you like to season your spuds with!)

Paprika

Fresh Herbs, dill works great, but so would parsley or even thyme.

What you are going to need to do:

The Spuds:

This recipe is so super flexible but there is one trick to it all and that’s how you prepare the spuds!

I like to leave the skins on my potatoes but that’s a person preference, so if you would rather reel them, be my guest. Cut into 1/2” cubes, or in this case with the tiny, golden potatoes, I just cut them in half and they end up as the perfect sized bite!

In salted water, boil your potatoes until they are just fork tender…not too soft because they are going to continue to cook in the oven.

Gently drain potatoes and let sit for 1-2 minutes to make sure they are good and dry! You will see the steam continue to escape and that’s what you want. The more dry they are, the easier they will crisp up in the oven and that’s what we want!

Toss with 1-2 tablespoon of melted vegan butter and salt and pepper and roast on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven OR on a low broil setting until the potatoes become crispy. Check often and stir/flip so that they pick up color on all sides.

Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet. Do not assemble the potato salad until the spuds are 100% cool.

The Dressing:

Into a large mixing bowl combine the following:

(Note: If you like a sweet potato salad feel free to add some sugar to this dressing)

• 1 cup of vegan Mayo - (like THIS ONE from Hellmann’s)

• 1/4 cup of Tofutti vegan sour cream

• 1/4 cup of diced dill pickles, cut fine or your favorite dill pickle relish

• 2 Celery Stalks, diced small

• 1 small onion, diced small

• 2 teaspoons of vinegar

• a splash of lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon of yellow mustard

• Salt, pepper, and paprika, to taste.

• Handful of fresh herbs, chopped fine

To Serve:

The trick to this recipe is that the potatoes are nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. To maintain that texture you don’t want to mix up this salad too far ahead. In fact, if you can, I recommend making sure that both the potatoes and the dressing is nice and cold, but waiting to toss until just before service.

Gently toss the crispy potatoes with the dressing and mix well. Garnish with more fresh herbs and a dash of paprika.

Twice Baked Potato Cakes with Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce

Sometimes I even surprise myself at how well a recipe turns out. These oven-baked mashed potato cakes with sauteed onions and vegan chorizo from No Evil turned out to be everything you love about mashed potatoes and crispy hashbrowns all in one dish. Topped with a rich and creamy vegan dill sour cream sauce...believe me, you won't be able to eat just one.

Let’s face it! Not all plant-based recipes are always healthy but sometimes you just need some old-fashioned comfort food and these Twice Baked Potato Cakes with Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce are just that. A great dish for your weekend brunch or to use up the leftover baked potatoes from last nigh’s dinner. The magic of this recipe is, for sure, the Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce…so don’t skip on that part of this delicious dish!

What you are going to need to buy:

Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes - (Budget 1 medium potato per person you want to serve)

Chorizo - (We used the vegan chorizo from No Evil) Sweet Onion

Butter - (I love this plant-based butter from Earth Balance)

Milk or Cream - (We used this coconut and almond blend from Califa Farms)

Minced Garlic - (the best is from Spice World!)  

Fresh Chives

Fresh Dill

Sour Cream ( We used this vegan sour cream from our friends over at Tofutti)

Veggie Stock or Bullion Cubes - (we like the “Not Chicken Bouillon” by Edward and Sons)

Flour

Salt & Pepper, to taste

What you are going to need to do:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

This recipe starts by peeling and cubing your potatoes and bringing them to a rolling boil in salted water until they are fork-tender.

While the potatoes are boiling, in a small saucepan, saute’ your diced onions in olive oil or vegan butter with garlic until onions are translucent.

Once the potatoes are tender drain them well and then using a potato masher or the tines of a large fork begin to mash the potatoes. Continue to mash and incorporate the sauteed onions and garlic, along with pea-sized pieces of the plant-based chorizo. stir well to combine. This mixture will still be a bit lumpy and that’s okay…you don’t need it to be smooth like actual mashed potatoes, just break down the big potato chunks. Add your chopped chives, salt and pepper, and additional garlic, to taste. If the mixture is too dry add some vegan cream or your preferred plant-based milk and/or butter. You need the texture to be dry enough to hold together in cake form while baking.

Using a ring mold or cookie cutter form your potato cakes. If you are not too terribly concerned about the looks or shape of the cakes, you can forgo the molds and use a large spoon and mound mixture onto a non-stick baking sheet.

Bake cakes at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Watch to make sure that they are not browning too quickly.

While the cakes are baking you can make the Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce.

Making the Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce.

In the pot that you used to saute’ the onions add 2-3 tablespoons of butter and heat on medium/low until melted.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of white flour over the butter and whisk to make a roux. Let rue cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add 1 cup of veggie stock and whisk constantly until the rue is dissolved into the stock. Let the mixture come to back up to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute to thicken. If the mixture gets too thick you can add a bit more stock.

Remove from heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Stir into mixture 4 ounces of sour cream along with 1 tablespoon of chopped, fresh dill, and salt and pepper to taste. The sour cream will help to thin the mixture out but if it’s still too thick you can always add a bit of milk and/or butter. Additionally, you can melt your favorite vegan parmesan cheese into the sauce or even sprinkle in a bit of nutritional yeast if desired.

Check on the potatoes. They should be getting a crisp outer shell that is turning golden brown. Feel free to switch your oven to broil for the last 5 minutes that the cakes are in the oven to assist in browning but keep a close eye on them so they do not burn.

Allow the cakes to cool on the stove-top for 1-2 minutes before plating. Serve potato cakes topped with the
Creamy Dill Sour Cream Sauce and garnished with additional chopped chives.
Enjoy!