Creamy Kale & Mushroom Gratin (Vegan)
Vegan Mushroom Gratin with kale is a favorite creamy comfort food dish! It’s a delicious side or main meal filled with tender mushrooms, kale, vegan cream, and topped with almond parmesan!
This vegan Kale Mushroom Gratin is true comfort food at its finest. It’s creaminess and flavors will have you OOHING and AAHING with delight!
This recipe is inspired from Food 52 entitled, Spinach, Mushrooms and Cream for Dinner, which is adapted from Nigel Slater’s ‘Tender.’ I decided to veganize it and it’s definitely one of those dishes I will come back to again and again!
Why We Love This Recipe!
- It’s easy. Made with minimal ingredients, this Kale and Mushroom Gratin is super simple and easy to prepare—in fact, it’s almost foolproof!
- Healthy and dairy-free. Mushrooms and kale are both nutrient-dense vegetables. You will not miss any of the standard dairy products typically used in gratins—that I promise you!
- Serve as a side dish or main meal. I served my kale and mushroom casserole over a bed of farro but you can use whatever grain you like. Even mashed potatoes or pasta would be great!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Onion, mushrooms, and kale are cooked until tender with wine and vegan cream and then baked until bubbly, creating a simple, yet delicious plant-based mushroom casserole that is perfect for both casual and elegant dining!
Here is everything you will need:
- Mushrooms – Brown mushrooms are best, and yield the most nutrients.
- Kale – Use curly or flat kale, and for ease use pre-cut (also can sub with spinach).
- Onion – Use a small onion or large shallot.
- White wine – Any vegan dry white wine will do.
- Vegan Cream – Make homemade vegan cream or use store-bought.
- Plant milk – Use your favorite plain and unsweetened, I used cashew milk here.
- Salt + pepper – As always we recommend to taste.
Can I add herbs or other flavors?
Yes, this recipe is very simple, but feel free to add 1 teaspoon thyme or garlic powder for another layer of flavor.
How To Make Vegan Mushroom Gratin with Kale
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 3 – 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until some of the mushroom liquid cooks away and they start to brown.
- Add the white wine and boil for a couple of minutes.
- Add kale, and continue cooking until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the cream and milk, and let simmer for several more minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Turn off the heat. Tip: If you have time, leave this mixture to steep; the cream and milk will become wonderfully mushroomy.
- Transfer the mixture to a shallow baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.
And now your creamy gratin is ready!
How To Store Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Leftovers can be stored for 5 days in a covered container.
- Freezer: This mushroom gratin is freezer-friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let cool completely and store in freezer-safe containers (affiliate link), leaving 1/2-inch head space for expansion. Let thaw before reheating. You can also freeze larger portions in large ziplock bags.
- Reheat: Simply re-warm on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through, adding a little plant milk for moisture as needed. Alternately, reheat in the microwave using 30 – 60 second intervals, stirring after each, until warm.
Can I Make This Mushroom Gratin Ahead?
Yes, you can make this vegan gratin ahead of time. It will be even better as the flavors will have time to steep together. To make ahead, simply prepare as directed, cover, and keep in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to bake.
Serving Suggestions
This savory and creamy gratin can be served in a variety of ways for a hearty plant-based main meal. Here are a few of my favorite options:
- Grain: Serve on a bed of Farro, quinoa, white rice, brown rice, or even black rice.
- Pasta: Serve over pasta such as orzo, couscous, bowtie, penne, linguine, fettuccini, and more.
- Bread: This would be great served over toasted and lightly buttered homemade Artisan Bread!
- Vegetable: Serve topped on a baked potato, Mashed Potatoes, Oven Roasted Red Potatoes, or with a side of Green Beans Almondine.
More Vegan Dinner Recipes!
- Hearty Lentil & Mushroom Ragu
- One Pot Fettuccine with Oyster Mushroom ‘Scallops’ and Peas
- Blackened Tofu with Savory Kale + Quinoa
- Mushroom Bourguignon
- Easy Vegan Calzones (with mushrooms and kale)
- Vegetable Vegan Lasagne
If you try this vegan mushroom gratin recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintKALE & MUSHROOM GRATIN
This vegan kale and mushroom gratin is creamy and delicious! Serve over farro, quinoa, barley, pasta, or whole grain toast.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 35 min
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 – 6 1x
- Category: Dinner, Side
- Method: saute, bake
- Cuisine: Vegan, French
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or water for water saute
- 1 small onion (or large shallot), diced
- 1 lb. (16 oz.) mushrooms, sliced or quartered, cremini or baby bella’s
- 1 1b. (16 oz. or 2 large bunches) kale, stems removed and chopped (or use pre-cut for ease)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 cup vegan heavy cream (recipe in notes)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, more as needed
- himalayan salt & cracked pepper to taste
To serve
- Almond Parmesan (a pantry staple)
- Grain or pasta (farro, quinoa, rice, barley, bowtie, couscous, penne)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat oil over medium heat, add onion and saute for 3 – 4 minutes, and mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until some of mushroom liquid cooks away and they start to brown.
Add the white wine and boil for a couple minutes. Add kale, and continue cooking until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add the cream and milk, let simmer for several more minutes. Turn off heat. (If you have time, leave this mixture to steep; the cream and milk will get wonderfully mushroomy.) Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the mixture to a shallow baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Top with a light dusting of almond parmesan.
Serve over a bed of farro, barley, white or brown rice, pasta or pasta of choice. Top with a tad more almond parmesan and salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy with the rest of the wine or a nice glass of lemon water.
Notes
Feel free to sub the kale with 16 oz. fresh spinach.
This recipe is super simple, but feel free to add 1 teaspoon thyme and/or garlic powder when cooking the mushrooms.
Heavy Cashew Cream:
Make your own heavy cashew cream with this simple recipe:
- 3/4 cup cashews (soaked at in hot water for 10 minutes or cool water for 2 hours)
- 3/4 cup water, slightly more as needed
- juice of 1/2 lemon
Cashews should be soaked in water, covering them with 2 inches of water. Soak in hot water for 10 minutes, or 2 – 3 hours in cool water. Rinse cashews well. Place cashews, water and lemon juice into the blender/food processor and blend until smooth and creamy scraping down the sides as needed (the NutriBullet (affiliate link) is a perfect size blender for this job.). Can be made a day or two ahead and kept in the refrigerator until ready to use.
FOLLOW TSV on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or RSS for more updates and inspiration!
My Partner and I are doing veganuary. I’ve actually been searching for something to replace our breakfasts. Many of the recipes I’ve seen are sweet, which we’re not a fan of. I’ve also been worried about misssing the unctuousness of egg yolk. This recipe was perfect served on some sourdough toast as a savoury breakfast. I didn’t miss the eggs at all. And the bonus is that it’s better if you make it the night before, and just bake it the day of eating.
This recipe will definitley be appearing in our regular rotation, especially in the late winter months, when kale and other brassicas are pretty much the only things coming out of the garden in the hungry gap.
I added a bit of garlic, but otherwise kept everything as is and it was delicious!! Served over barley and it was a hit. Will definitely be making again. Thanks!
I just want to say thank you. My husband is not a big fan of kale,so I thought maybe this would hide it a little. He loved it and then I told him there was a lot of kale in it. He could not believe it. This is definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad you both enjoyed this creamy kale recipe! Thanks so much for sharing, Sherri! Cheers :)
This recipe was AMAZING! I made it yesterday for my boyfriend and me and he told me afterwards that it was one of the best things he has eaten recently — and I agree! This is sooo creamy, filling but not too heavy, great flavors, and easy to make. I added a lot of garlic because we love garlic (who doesn’t?!) and served it over orzo. Absolutely amazing — definitely added to our regular meal rotation!
I needed to find a new way to prepare mushrooms and kale and decided on this recipe. It is absolutely delicious. I served It over penne. The almond Parmesan was a wonderful addition! This is a keeper!
Oh my!! I highly recommend this. I received two large produce boxes this week and had an abundance of kale and mushrooms. I went looking for recipes on the Google machine and this one caught my eye right away. I don’t have any white wine so I just added a little bit of water to ensure the mushrooms and onions didn’t burn. It was so good I posted it on two Facebook groups as well as my page to tell others about it. It’s been a while since I was THIS excited about a recipe. Yum. Make it!
My husband and I are new to plant based/vegan eating. I find I have to cook all the time as we are trying to eat more whole foods rather than processed. We rate all the recipes we try on a scale of 1-10 and we both gave this one a 10! Delicious and comfort all in one dish!
We have found many great recipes on your site, Thank you!
Thank you for sharing, Judy! So glad this worked well for you, makes my day. Be healthy and well!
Delicious! I served this with mashed potatoes and both my husband and I loved it. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing, Oano! That sounds wonderful, I’ll add them to the serving suggestions!
I was actually planning to make your mushroom soup, but I saw this recipe and I had a big bag of kale in the fridge, so decided to give this a try. Oh, my!!! It was absolutely delicious! Thanks so much. I’ll definitely be making this one again.
Vegan Parmesan is non existent where I live. Any other suggestions for a topper?
Hi Stefanie, I would suggest maybe making your own with one of the recipes in the TSV archives, Almond Parmesan. It will be amazing sprinkled over top of this gratin!