Vegetarian Tartiflette

Vegetarian tartiflette is inspired from the traditional French recipe made of potatoes, reblochon cheese and onions. In this vegetarian version, the lardons are replaced with smoked tofu and mushrooms. A great and comforting family meal for a cozy winter night!

As a French, snow and wintertime always call for two family-friendly dishes to make on repeat after a long day of skiing in the mountains: raclette and tartiflette. Both feature some regional cheese melted over baked potatoes, alongside with other ingredients.

While the raclette requires a specific cooking tool to melt the cheese, the tartiflette is prepared in a simple shallow dish and baked in the oven. Both chunky and creamy, tartiflette is the ultimate rustic dish everyone loves. Here’s my vegetarian version, that is equally delicious!

What is vegetarian tartiflette?

Originated from Savoy in the French Alps, tartiflette is a typical after-ski meal consisting of potatoes, reblochon cheese, and onions. In the classic recipe, tartiflette also features some lardons, a bacon-type product we commonly find in France.

In this vegetarian version, I simply replaced the lardons with smoked tofu and added some cremini mushrooms. Together with the reblochon, they add lots of intense and smoky flavors to the dish, and some texture as well. Whether you’re vegetarian or not, I promise you won’t miss the meat in the recipe!

Recipe ingredients

• Reblochon. This typical French cheese can be found outside of France in local cheese shops, sometimes under the name “tartiflette cheese”. Use 2x250g reblochon cheese or 1x500g large one.
• Potatoes. You need potatoes that hold their shape when baking. Varieties can change depending on where you live, so check in your local grocery store or farmer’s market.
• Onions + garlic. Yellow onions or sweet onions will do, but do not replace with red onions, that are not good for this recipe. Garlic enhances the pungent flavors in the dish.
• Cream. Heavy whipping liquid cream is used in tartiflette to create a super creamy, cheesy filling.
• Smoked tofu. It brings up the smoky flavors traditionally brought by the lardons.
• Mushrooms. Additional cremini mushrooms will bring texture to this vegetarian tartiflette. They can be optional and/or used in place of smoked tofu if desired.

How to cut reblochon in tartiflette?

Purists have a very special way to cut the reblochon cheese for a tartiflette. Don’t even try to slice it like a cake if you’re making the dish for French people, they will be offended! Ok, half-kidding here of course, but if you want to make the dish the traditional way, there is only one way to slice reblochon: hold the cheese straight up in front of you and slice lengthwise in two equal size circles.

If you’re using a second reblochon, you can slice it the exact same way, or add one more step and slice these circles into quarters, so you can insert them in a middle layer in between the potato-onion filling. This way, you are sure to have cheese in every serving. In any case, try to always reserve two half cheeses to place on top of the dish, crust up, right before baking.

How to make vegetarian tartiflette?

1. Start with precooking the potatoes. This is not a mandatory step, and you could as well saute them directly in the pan later on, but I find that it spares you some time in the recipe. Most importantly, it ensures you that they are cooked through.
2. Melt the onions, then add the potatoes, and saute until potatoes are golden.
3. Add the smoked tofu strips and saute until caramelized, then add mushrooms and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Assemble the dish with a layer of the onion-potato-tofu mixture, cream, and the reblochon halves on top. Bake, and serve warm!

How to serve vegetarian tartiflette?

First thing first, keep in mind that tartiflette is always best baked at the last minute, so you have this perfect creamy and cheesy texture right out from the oven. I recommend to let sit on the countertop for about 5 minutes and serve right away!

Vegetarian tartiflette is already very filling so you don’t need much to accompany the dish. Serve with a simple side of lettuce with vinaigrette, like French do, and enjoy with a glass of white wine!

FAQ

Which cheese can I use instead of reblochon? This regional French cheese can be hard to find if you live overseas. But you can still make your own version of tartiflette using a Camembert, a Brie, a Morbier or a Maroilles, or a mix of several of these cheeses.

Should I precook the potatoes? I usually precook the potatoes in some boiling water to go faster when making the recipe. It also result in using less oil/butter when cooking them in the frying pan afterwards.

Can I use mushooms/smoked tofu only? Sure! A tartiflette could actually be made of onions, potatoes and cheese only, with just a little bit of cream. I replaced the lardons with smoked tofu stripes and added mushrooms for extra texture, but if you want to go for one or another, that works too!

How to cut the smoked tofu into short strips? Take your block of smoked tofu, slice it, then cut each slice into strips on the shorter side. And voilà, you have smoked tofu strips resembling to French lardons!

Can I prepare tartiflette ahead of tim? It’s best to prepare the tartiflette at the last minute, right before serving. That being said, you can prepare it in advance, place in a dish without the cream and store in the refrigerator overnight, tightly covered with foil (remember: cheese smells!). The next day, pour the cream over, and bake!

How to reheat tartiflette leftovers? You can warm up leftovers in the microwave, each plate individually – it’s usually the best way to make it creamy again. It’s also possible to warm up leftovers in the oven at 210°F (100°C), pouring a little bit of additional cream or milk over the dish to ensure the raclette doesn’t dry out while baking a second time.

More comforting winter recipes with cheese:

• How To Make Vegetarian Raclette
• Apple and French Onion Grilled Cheese
• Sweet Potato Bread Wreath with Baked Camembert
• Baked Brie with Apples, Honey and Nuts
• Cranberry Brie Tart with Pecans
• Butternut Squash, Spinach and Goat Cheese Lasagna

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