- Prep-time: / Ready In:
- Makes one 13x9-inch casserole
- Serving size: 1/12 of recipe
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This festive dish is a healthy reinvention of a greasy fast-food classic. Oven-baked steak-cut fries get smothered in a zesty homemade chili, then topped with a smooth potato-based cheesy sauce. Yum!
Ingredients
Fries and Cheesy Sauce
- 4 pounds Russet potatoes, cut into ½-inch-thick wedges
- 1 cup unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chili and Garnishes
- 1 medium onion, cut into ¼-inch dice (about 2 cups)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (3 cups)
- 1 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes (1½ cups)
- 4 tablespoons mild (or hot) chili seasoning
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 stalks scallions, thinly sliced (¼ cup)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Place potato wedges in a steamer basket in a saucepan. Add water to saucepan to just below basket. Cover pan and steam potatoes 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Transfer ¼ of the potatoes to a bowl and set aside. Spread out the remaining potatoes in a 13x9-inch casserole dish; bake 20 minutes until fries are crispy and brown.
- For Cheesy Sauce, add milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and garlic powder to bowl with reserved steamed potatoes. Mix well, using a potato masher to mash the potatoes into a smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- For chili, in a sauté pan, combine onion and garlic with ¼ cup of water. Sauté 10 minutes on medium heat until onion is tender, adding water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to prevent sticking. Add beans, tomatoes, and chili seasoning, and cook 5 minutes more or until chili thickens. Add lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.
- To assemble Chili Cheese Fries, spread chili over baked fries in casserole dish. Dollop Cheesy Sauce over chili layer. Bake 20 minutes or until Cheesy Sauce is lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and garnish with scallions and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Information:
Per serving (1/12 of recipe): 381 calories, 74 g carbohydrates, 22 g protein, 1.2 g total fat, 0.2 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 166 mg sodium, 21 g fiber, 4 g sugar
Note: Nutritional information is provided as an estimate only.
Comments (9)
(5 from 6 votes)WOW! This recipe is SO good!! I was a little hesitant to try it, just because a few recipes I have tried from this author have not turned out so good, but this one is amazing. The cheese sauce is delicious, one of the best vegan cheese sauces I have made yet! I absolutely recommend this recipe if you are looking for a quick and easy comfort food recipe!
This was a very tasty dish! I’ve enjoyed searching through your recipes, choosing a few to try out. So far no one has been disappointed. Yummy!!
I really enjoyed this meal. I seasoned everything according to my taste instead of the actual measurements of the ingredients. It was worth it. Delicious! My husband enjoyed it and he is not into going plant-based like myself.
We love this. I don’t have an airfryer and found it took longer than 20 minutes to brown the potato slices in the oven. I used a hotter oven setting the next time. (215 degrees C) Also the sauce was a little lumpy, so second time round, I used a potato ricer to mash to a more creamy consistency. Served it with cabbage to make it even healthier.
Too many steps on the potatoes. Sauce was just okay.
The next time I will cook the potatoes in my air fryer. They will be more like french fries.
I think the sauce works a lot better when whizzed in a blender or food processor for a bit to break down the starches into a smooth, creamy texture.
Thank you for sharing this tip!
I agree. I generally boil my potatoes first and use a little of the water, if you need to thin out the cheese sauce.