Did you know that July 1st is Canada's 150th birthday? Geeze, Canada, you're getting up there in the years, eh? Don't worry, you look great for your age! In celebration of my country's b-day I thought it would be fun to share a few classic Canadian recipes (veganized, of course). First off, The Ultimate Vegan Poutine!
Yep, it's every bit of comfort food amazingness that it looks like. If you're Canadian, you're likely drooling right now. If you're not Canadian, you may be saying "huh"?
Poutine, is 3 total comfort foods smashed together in one rich dish. That is French fries, topped with cheese curds, and then doused in hot gravy. Yeah, I know, delicious gluttony at it's finest.
Some of the French fries are crispy, and others soak up the gravy. The fries and gravy are hot, so the cheese curds get melty and gooey. And you eat it all with a fork, because Canadians are classy with our comfort food... or really you HAVE to eat it with a fork otherwise you fingers will sizzle off.
Canadian readers have been requesting this recipe for awhile now, so I am so happy to deliver! And it's a fairly easy recipe too, just takes a bit of time, but every step is easy peasy. The gravy, cheese curds, and potato soaking can all be prepped ahead of time, so all you have to do is bake the fries, heat up the gravy and assemble. Gooey, saucy, crispy, salty, goodness.
To make The Ultimate Vegan Poutine: make a batch of my Melty Strechy Gooey Vegan Mozzarella and then pop it in the fridge to cool for at least 15 minutes or overnight. Cooling the cheese, takes it from melty, to a slightly firmer texture that works perfectly for scooping into little blobs providing a cheese curd like effect. Pre-tay cool.
You only need about ⅓ of the cheese, but I just made the whole batch so I could cheese to taste.
Next, whip up a batch of my Quick Vegan Onion Gravy. I recommend using a low-sodium vegetable broth this time, because the fries are also salty. Then taste the gravy and add soy sauce or tamari to taste if needed. This controls the salt flavour and the soy sauce or tamari also help make the gravy a little richer brown in colour. Ooh so rich.
Now just whip up a batch of my Crispy Baked French Fries. Again, I would choose to keep the salt low here so you don't over salt yourself, so I went with ½ teaspoon of salt. Perfection.
To assemble the vegan poutine: fill a dish of choice with the fries. I chose this small cast iron skillet, because it looks all hipster cool, but poutine often comes on a plate or in a paper box... this ain't a fancy food.
Then use a spoon to scoop small blobs of the chilled mozzarella. Ta-dah! Perfect cheese curd blobs. So cool.
And finally spoon over the hot gravy to taste. Pass the forks and dig in! Hello Canadian comfort food. Omnomnom.
The Ultimate Vegan Poutine
My Notes:
Ingredients
- ⅓ recipe Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Mozzarella, chilled for 30 minutes or overnight
- ¼ recipe Quick Vegan Onion Gravy (use low-sodium broth, and add soy sauce or tamari to taste if needed)
- 1 recipe Crispy Baked French Fries (use ½ teaspoon of salt)
Instructions
- To make The Ultimate Vegan Poutine: prepare the mozzarella according to directions, then chill in the fridge for a least 15 minutes, or overnight. Prepare the gravy according to direction, using a low-sodium vegetable broth. You can add more salt to taste by splashing in soy sauce or tamari which will also make the colour a richer brown. Prepare the French fries according to directions, using ½ teaspoon of salt. *Because all three recipes require salt, you do not want to over salt anything, you can always add more salt later!
- To assemble the vegan poutine: fill a dish with the french fries. Use a spoon to scoop small blobs of cheese onto the cheese. You can use as much or as little cheese as you like, but I found about ⅓ of the recipe was a good amount. Finish by spooning over the hot gravy to taste. Pass out the forks and dig in!
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
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Ginnie G says
Do you think the mozzarella would hold up to make fried cheese curds with?
Joanna Hopson says
I just made this. I admit I was doubtful of the cheese but OMG this dish is so yum! Great recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
YAY!!!!!
Chantal says
Hi, I don’t want to be rude, I really enjoy your account and I have purchased your recipe book that I share with my daughter, but poutine is not a Canadian staple! It was developed in Québec so it makes it a Québec staple! I just wanted to clarify.
Thanks and continue to create you are awesome
Chantal
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Chantal, Quebec is a province in Canada. Enjoy!
Roese says
Hey 🙂 Happy to see some vegan poutine! Chantal is right tho. We're part of Canada but the French Canadian culture is often put together and erased as something broadly Canadian when we have cultural specific components. You can find it pretty much all over Canada now, but only because we shared it through our very own restaurant chains 🙂 It's important to us that our particular history is recognize because it's complex and still a sensitive issue nowadays.
I don't take offense tho, it's a common misconception because of how under represented we are. I'm just adding a little bit of info for whoever reads it so people know to make the difference. It always feels great when our own culture is accurately represented ^^
I'm also gonna try that recipe! My feeling is that the ''squishiness'' isn't gonna be there but I'm impressed that it melts! I think tofu marinated in salt would be a great option for those who don't mind the ''cheese'' not melting but really need that ''squish'' texture 🙂 Real poutine is also a cultural debate hahaha Melting vs freshness of curds, we all have our opinions on it 😀
Dani says
You...are awesome. So elegantly handled. Not Canadian, but love Canada, and love Quebec. I want to give you a huge hug. 🙂
Jo says
I can't believe how good this veganised version of a Canadian staple is. Better than the restaurant attempts I've had by a long shot!
Sam Turnbull says
Woohoo!! So thrilled to hear that!
Val Lopez says
Wow! This is incredible! I added some dried herbs to the gravy...but kept everything else the same. Great recipe 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome! Thrilled you loved it so much, Val 🙂
Deb Zak says
POUTINE AY? WOW!!!!! BEING AN AMERICAN (AT LEAST I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA), AND WHO WE HAVE IN THE WHITE HOUSE.....APOLOGIES TO ALL OF MY CANADIAN FRIENDS.....THIS RECIPE....THIS COMFORT FOOD IS GOING TO BE A STAPLE IN OUR HOUSE..... WE NEED IT!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SAM!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha, so happy you enjoyed it, Deb!
Johanna B. says
I spent a year in Canada a while ago and fell in love with poutine so of course I was super excited to see a vegan version of this delicious dish. The vegan 'mozzarella' is amazing in and of itself so I was sure it must taste amazing. I tried it with frozen chips though because I'm really lazy 😀 I used cornstarch instead of flour for the gravy and it turned out a liiiittle too thick but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Overall, I enjoyed it and I think I will try it again in the future, maybe even with homemade chips *.*
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed the poutine, Johanna!
Heather says
Oh thank you, you beautiful Canadian for veganizing poutine!!! I am so excited for this I can’t stand it.
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha! You're most welcome!! Well, now I'm excited too 🙂
Mary says
If I could give this recipe 10 stars, I would!! I'll admit, the homemade mozzarella seemed a little intimidating at first, but it is amazing and so easy to make! Thank you for sharing this totally awesome recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
Woohoo! Thank you, Mary! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much 🙂
Shavone says
Made this tonight and OMG. Tastes just like the real thing. The cheese is AMAZING. I added a ton of fresh dill to the cheese and it was just the perfect addition. I love dill on my poutines. This is definitely a keeper!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!! That's awesome, thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Shavone 😀
tasha says
Do you think you could pre separate the "cheese curds"? I'm making this tonight and have to put everything out buffet style so I'd prefer it to be scoopable.
Sam Turnbull says
Not sure exactly what you mean by that, but the cheese can be made in advance and stored in an air-tight container. Enjoy!
Donna says
I made this for lunch today. Already had the cheese made from a similar recipe, so it was quite quick and easy and so, so delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome, Donna! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Melanie says
Just made these so very good, a little labor intensive but worth the effort ! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed it, Melanie!
Bruce says
I just wanted to say this came at the perfect time - I had no idea what to make and then bam, email, Poutine. Except my Trader Joe's doesn't have tapioca flour so I made your Tofu Ricotta Cheese and then a homemade marinara and made Italian Poutine! Nomnomnom! Thanks! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Italian poutine! Fun idea!
Marie-Christine Bruce says
Ooh I'm making this asap! Poutine, I've missed you.
I love that you're veganizing some Canadian classics. I can't wait to see the recipes!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! I hope enjoy it. 🙂 One more Canadian recipe will be posted on Wednesday. Woot!
Kayla says
So I made it, and it was amazing! I used canned mushroom gravy out of laziness but the 'cheese' is where it's at. It's amazing!!! I'll never make poutine with just Daiya again. Even my hubby who hates most vegan cheese alternatives, enjoyed a big plate of this! Thank you SO MUCH Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!!! So happy to hear that! Yeah, in my opinion, my cheese recipe is way better (and way healtheir) than Daiya! 🙂
Kayla Mussar says
I just made the Stretchy mozza and after many dips into it with some chips, it's now chilling in the fridge! Selfish here, but once my toddlers go to bed, I'll throw in some fries and heat up the gravy and see how wonderful this recipe is!! SO EXCITED! Poutine must be one of my favourites foods so being able to veganize it, is like a dream come true!
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha! I think having a poutine moment to yourself is the perfect thing to do! I hope you love it so much 🙂
Kayla says
So I made it, and it was amazing! I used canned mushroom gravy out of laziness but the ‘cheese’ is where it’s at. It’s amazing!!! I’ll never make poutine with just Daiya again. Even my hubby who hates most vegan cheese alternatives, enjoyed a big plate of this! Thank you SO MUCH Sam!
Repeated this because I posted it on the wrong comment lol
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! No problem! SO happy you both enjoyed it 🙂
Katherine says
Omgggggg I'm definitely making this tonight
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! I hope you love it 🙂
Mari says
I started following you a few weeks ago and I am thoroughly enjoying it. So many great ideas. I was hooked by the stretchy mozzarella, and I just pre-ordered your cookbook. I know it's going to be great. Thanks for the many ideas and the wonderful recipes. I am not a vegan currently, but this book may convert me, and help some of my health issues.
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! Thank you so much, Mari, and welcome 🙂 So wonderful that you are making the move towards a more vegan diet. Let me know if you ever have any questions or recipe requests! I look forward to seeing you around 🙂