Paleo “Cheesy” Potatoes are like gluten-free and dairy-free comfort food.
The Inspiration for These Paleo “Cheesy” Potatoes
I really, really wanted to make “Paleo Mac n’ Cheese”. Really.
Then I went to the market and of course, they were all out of spaghetti squash. Luckily, my brain sprang into problem-solver mode and I thought, “What about shredded sweet potatoes?”
I think the end result came out better than spaghetti squash ever would have, though you could surely make the sauce and pair it with pre-roasted squash. The sweet potatoes got crispy on top, while the bottom was creamy and bubbling with yummy sauce. Serious comfort food, and it’s dairy-free.
How to Make Dairy-Free Cheese Sauce
The hardest part about making these “cheesy” potatoes dish is getting the consistency of the sauce just right. Too thick and it’ll be gummy or leave the dish too dry. Too thin and it’ll be a runny mess.
I used three techniques to thicken my sauce: 1) reduction – slowly simmering the sauce until some of the water was driven off from the coconut milk; 2) arrowroot powder – a similar thickening agent to cornstarch; and 3) cold butter added at the end. If you don’t eat butter, just leave it out.
This dish is definitely a once in a while treat since it’s pretty calorically dense, but it really hit the spot!

Paleo “Cheesy” Potatoes (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free)
Paleo "Cheesy" Potatoes are a dairy-free and gluten-free way to make some comfort food that won't explode your blood sugar.
Ingredients
- 1-2 large yellow sweet potatoes ~5 cups shredded
- 14 oz full fat coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp minced shallot or onion
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp arrowroot powder
- 1 Tbsp ghee optional
- 2-3 Tbsp ground almonds
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13″ x 9″ baking dish with coconut oil or your fat of choice. Set aside.
- Peel and shred the sweet potatoes using a food processor with shredder blade or a box grater. Set aside.
- Mince the shallot very finely. You can use onion if you cannot find shallots.
- In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium low heat, combine the coconut milk and shallots. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the coconut milk starts to reduce.
- Whisk in the nutritional yeast, mustard powder, salt and paprika. Then add the arrowroot powder and whisk well until combined and slightly more thickened. Finish by whisking in about a tablespoon of cold butter (optional). Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Add the potatoes to the baking dish and pour the sauce on top. Stir to combine. Top with ground almonds.
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the sauce is bubbly. Turn on the broiler to high. Broil for about 5 minutes until the very top of the potatoes gets a bit crisp and browned – watch them so they don’t burn though!
Yet another great recipe, do you have a recipe for collard greens, been craving them lately guess it’s memories of my Granny.
Hi Roy! How about this one? https://www.stephgaudreau.com/2012/10/21/shrimp-and-greens/. It uses mixed greens – of which collards were one – but you could probably use just collards on their own 🙂
Thanks, that looks great.
I have a faux pho recipe I make with spaghetti squash – but never thought to use it as a “cheesy” potato exchange. Brilliant. My sister will love this. Thanks for the insight.
I’m so glad to hear that! When I’m in a pinch, I steam the spaghetti squash in the microwave…I find it works well with applications like putting in soup but it can be too watery for dishes with a sauce involved. I think roasting the squash is the way to go because it makes for a drier “noodle” 🙂
I like the advice. Can’t wait to experiment more with spaghetti squash. Great inspiration!
Made this last night, delicious!!! The ingredient list says “Paprika” – do you recommend sweet or regular? I used sweet paprika but I was not sure if reg would be better (to make it less sweet).
That’s so awesome to hear, Karen! Any kind of paprika will do…it’s really in there to make it a more orange color 🙂 It’s got virtually no bearing on the taste.
What is the purpose of the nutritional yeast? I’m not sure it is available anywhere near where I live, is there a substitute or could I just leave it out?
Hi Sandra…it gives a sort of cheesy flavor. You could certainly leave it out but I might sub something like a couple teaspoons of onion powder just to make sure the flavor is there.
Any suggestions on brands of coconut milk to use?
I like Native Forest or Aroy-D. Look for something without emulsifiers.
Does the recipe really NEED the Nutritional Yeast? !
It gives it a flavor that would be lacking without it. You could omit it, but I can’t promise the same results.
Made it without and it didn’t stand a chance….the pan barely had time to cool, my family gobbled it up! Most certainly will be making it again! Thank you!
This is so awesome!
Made this for supper–diced regular sweet potatoes & used prepared mustard. Hubby says it’s a keeper!
Yay!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
There’s an ad covering up part 2 and all of 3 & 4 of the directions. Even if I click “ad covers this page”.
Would you mind posting what they are…..I dont cook very often so deductive reasoning may not be a good idea.
THANK YOU 🙂
Hi Toni…I think the photos were throwing off the formatting. It should all be viewable now. I definitely saw the directions getting covered up. Thanks for letting me know!
You’re very welcome! Thank YOU! Can’t wait to make it!! 🙂
Glad you can see it 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! That’s great thinking with the nutritional yeast. I always thought it was sorta cheesy tasting! Brilliant idea!!
🙂
I made this without baking it and it was amazing, best mac n cheese i ever had! i baked the butternut squash separate and then poured the cheese over it in my bowl. So the second time though, I decided to try baking it to the recipe but also adding things like ground beef and peppers and onions. That made it really soupy, and watery. It still tasted good, but the thickness of the sauce was totally lost for some reason. I think I will just not bake it like I did the first time and add my extras separately. Just wanted to inform you of how this turned out in case anyone else was wondering!
Have you ever tried cooking in crock pot? I have a pot luck dinner this weekend and want to bring in slow cooker so it stays warm.
Also, I don’t have any arrowroot. Any good substitution there?
Hi Shannon, I haven’t tried in a slow cooker. You could try tapicoa flour since it’s very similar.
Looks yum but we’re thinking nutritional yeast shouldn’t be classed as paleo due to how highly processed it is. Much like guar gum, yes it’s made from a ‘natural’ source but the end result is pretty far from it, and causes a lot of digestion issues. Paleo today should be about low inflammation foods, but nutritional yeast easily causes tummy problems for a lot of people pretty quickly. As long as people read about the pros and cons of highly altered ingredients like nutritional yeast that’s the main thing. We have 2 gelatin based cheese recipes we use as a dairy replacement in foods.
Hi guys,
If you don’t like the idea of nutritional yeast as an ingredient (even in this small amount), feel free to avoid this recipe.
I have to say…saying that nutritional yeast shouldn’t be classified as paleo due to how highly processed it is, then advocating for the use of gelatin boggles my mind a bit. Do you know how gelatin is made?
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