Chipotle Gouda Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

Incredible chipotle gouda scalloped sweet potatoes made with smoked gouda cheese and a kick of heat from chipotle chile sauce.

You’ll love this lightened up, easy side dish for holiday brunches, dinners, and more!

What’s the difference between scalloped and au gratin potatoes?

Scalloped potatoes often use cheese, cream and sliced potatoes. On the other hand, potatoes au gratin usually have cheese between each layer and breadcrumbs on top; oftentimes they also are made with very thinly sliced potatoes.

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if you call them sweet potatoes au gratin or scalloped sweet potatoes, because they’re going to be delicious either way.

Chipotle Gouda Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

For the sweet potatoes:

• 3 large sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/8th inch thick rounds

For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons salted butter (or sub vegan butter)
• 1/3 cup flour (whole wheat, all purpose, or gluten free 1:1 flour will all work)
• 2 cups milk (skim, 2%, whole milk or heavy cream all work)*
• 12 ounces smoked gouda cheese OR sharp cheddar cheese, shredded and divided (about 1 ½ cups)
• 2-3 tablespoons sauce from the can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, depending how spicy you like it
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
• Lots of freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste

To garnish:

Fresh chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8×8 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease with butter or oil.
2. Place sliced sweet potatoes in three tight slanted rows as indicated in the photos. You don’t want them to be overly tight, make sure you leave enough space so the sweet potato slices are slightly slanted.
3. Next make your sauce: add in 2 tablespoons of butter and place over medium heat. Once butter melts, whisk in half of the flour and cook for 10-20 seconds until a paste forms, then very slowly add 2 cups of the milk, while you add the rest of the flour and continue to whisk away any lumps. You’ll need to whisk pretty vigorously but it should smooth out easily.
4. Once smooth, bring mixture to a low simmer for 5-10 minutes stirring every so often until sauce thickens up a bit, similar to a gravy. If it gets too thick, add in a few tablespoons more milk.
5. Once thick, turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup shredded gouda cheese, garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the can of chipotle chiles. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.
6. After tasting the sauce, you can decide if you want to kick it up a notch and add in a tablespoon more of the chipotle sauce. I definitely recommend it!
7. Pour the sauce evenly over the sweet potatoes to cover them. Don’t worry, the sauce will get nice and creamy while baking.
8. Cover the pan with foil, then bake for 45 minutes-1 hour. The sweet potatoes are done when the middle sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
9. Once they are done baking, remove the foil, sprinkle ½ cup gouda cheese on top, then turn on the broiler in your oven and broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is nice and melted and slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

If you want to lighten these up a little more, use cashew milk from the carton. It’s light and creamy neutral flavor is perfect for the cheese sauce!

Instead of gouda, feel free to use sharp cheddar cheese.

I think adding cooked chopped bacon to these potatoes would be amazing, or even sprinkling a few bacon bits on top for additional flavor!

Source: www.ambitiouskitchen.com