Skip to cheese “curds” and final steps
If you’ve ever been to Canada, you’ve likely noticed that almost every fast food place you’ll come across has some version of poutine. This is for good reason because poutine is amazing. Truly, truly amazing. This French-Canadian dish is pretty simple: it’s just French fries, beef gravy, and cheese curds. As a French Canadian herself, it’s one of the dishes that Isabelle craves once in a while. However, finding poutine at a restaurant that meets her allergies can be really tough, if not impossible. This is why we started making our own from scratch.
Making poutine from scratch does involve a few extra steps, but we’ve found that the end result is really worth it. Not only will it taste like you got it from a fast food restaurant (in the best possible way), but it’s actually not that unhealthy. As a bonus, you can make this recipe vegetarian or vegan if you want to, or even swap out some of the steps or ingredients if you want to make this even easier or don’t have to worry about dietary restrictions.
We’ll show you how we typically make poutine that accounts for Isabelle’s food sensitivities and Celiac disease, as well as we’ll show you alternatives along the way. While the food prep for some of this recipe can be time-consuming upfront, it means that you can make a fast and easy meal at a later point.
Table of Contents
The French Fries
These fries are vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free. We tend to make multiple batches at a time and then freeze them (around two 5-lb. bags of potatoes), but we’ll scale it down to a more manageable number here.
INGREDIENTS
- 2-3 lbs. of potatoes (we used around 6 medium potatoes)
- 1/8 cup rice vinegar (white vinegar would work, too)
- 1/8 cup salt (plus more to taste)
- ¼ cup Canola Oil
DIRECTIONS
When you’re making this recipe, it’s a good idea to have everything laid out in advance. You’ll need a cutting board and a good knife, a large pot for boiling the fries, a bowl of ice water, a tray to dry the fries, another bowl for tossing the fries, and another tray or two for the freezer.
- Wash and dry the potatoes you’re going to use and cut them into fry-shaped sticks. You can go anywhere from ¼” to ½”, depending on how thick you want them.
- Boil a large pot of water (roughly halfway full) with the vinegar and salt. When the water is bubbling, put the cut fries in.
- After 2 minutes, scoop the fries out with a slotted spoon or some tongs and put them in the bowl of ice water.
- When the fries have cooled, take them out and put them on a tray or some paper towel to dry off.
- Once your fries are dried off, toss them in a bowl with canola oil until they are all coated.
- Spread the oiled fries out on a tray and freeze them for at least 6 hours. When they’re frozen, put them in a zip-top bag.
- When you’re ready to bake the fries, preheat your oven to 400°F. Put aluminum foil on a baking sheet and spread out your fries on top, adding a little extra oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes, flip, and bake for another 10-12 minutes.
- Add salt to taste.
The Gravy
This is what makes poutine taste so good! If you’re making this as a meat-eater, then beef gravy is what we’d recommend, since that’s the traditional option. If you are vegetarian or vegan, then feel free to substitute the beef broth with veggie broth. No matter what you use, following these steps will result in some amazing gravy.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp. butter (we use Earth Balance soy free vegan butter)
- 2 tbsp. flour (we use Pamela’s gluten free)
- 1 cup beef broth (we use College Inn or Pacific)
- Black pepper (to taste)
- Dash of salt
DIRECTIONS
- On medium heat melt your butter in a saucepan.
- When the butter is melted, add your flour and mix them together so that the two create a paste. This is your roux.
- Next, add your beef broth. Whisk this in with your roux to avoid lumpy gravy (a challenge with gluten free flour).
- Raise the heat to medium-high and let your gravy simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until it begins to thicken.
- Add the salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
The Cheese “Curds”
Traditionally, poutine is made with cheese curds. Because of Isabelle’s allergies, finding cheese curds that are from goat or sheep milk can be challenging, so we substitute this with Manchego cheese (any kind). This sheep’s milk cheese has a nice flavor and melts really well with the gravy. We just cut up the Manchego into small cubes (1/4”) and serve them. If you’re doing a vegan version of this recipe, then substituting this with a mild vegan cheese (like Daiya mozzarella) will work, too.
Assembling Your Poutine
Once you have all the components you need, all that’s left to do is put your poutine together. We tend to do this per plate rather than in one large batch, but that’s up to you. All you need to do is put down a layer of fries, put on cheese “curds” to your desire, and then top it off with gravy to melt the cheese.