Turnip gratin

Turnip gratin

Missing potato gratin? Well friends, it’s time to (drum roll, please)... embrace the turnip! This creamy side couldn’t be easier to put together. A wonderfully flavorful, low carb dish. The perfect complement to meat or fish! Mmmm.
January 26 2016 recipe by , photo by , nutritional review by in Recipes, Side dish

Turnip gratin

Missing potato gratin? Well friends, it’s time to (drum roll, please)... embrace the turnip! This creamy side couldn’t be easier to put together. A wonderfully flavorful, low carb dish. The perfect complement to meat or fish! Mmmm.
USMetric
6 servingservings

Ingredients

  • ½ (2 oz.) ½ (55 g) yellow onionyellow onions
  • 1½ lbs 650 g turnip
  • 1 1 garlic clovegarlic cloves
  • ½ cup (¾ oz.) 120 ml (25 g) fresh chives, finely chopped
  • 2 oz. 55 g butter
  • 1¼ cups 300 ml heavy whipping cream
  • 1¾ cups (7 oz.) 425 ml (200 g) shredded cheddar cheese
  • ½ tsp ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ¼ tsp ground black pepper
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Instructions

Instructions are for 6 servings. Please modify as needed.

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
  2. Peel the onion, garlic and turnips. Slice everything very thinly – ideally with a mandolin or food processor.
  3. Finely chop the chives.
  4. Grease a 9" baking dish with butter and alternate slices of onion, garlic and turnip with chives and most of the cheese, saving some to go on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add cream and remaining cheese on top. Bake for about 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown.

Tips

This dish can be made dairy free if you substitute the cream with coconut milk and skip the cheese.

For the best flavor, select turnips that have smooth skin and are about the size of a tennis ball.

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27 comments

  1. 1
    carol
    January 8 2016
    I made this tonight and it was delicious. I am not a fan of turnip but loved this, even hubby enjoyed it.
  2. 2
    Brandi
    January 17 2016
    Made this today and it was really delicious! I've never eaten turnip before. Great side dish.
  3. 3
    Vicky
    January 26 2016
    I dont like turnip but I have a variation of this dish most nights - just parboil your chosen veg - I use cauli, brocc, cabbage, spinach, chard, mushrooms - place in the dish in layers then put the cream and cheese on top and bake til golden. Yummy and nice and fatty. Goes with everything - fish and meat.
  4. 4
    dom
    January 26 2016
    I thought that turnips were out, root vegetable?
  5. 5
    Eddie Mitchell
    January 26 2016
    This is a great recipe, but for those who want to go lower carb try using celeriac.

    Celeriac is one of the lowcarb mega stars. Much tastier than potatoes, lowcarb and unlike other root vegetables, which store a large amount of starch, celery root is only about 5-6% starch by weight. Collins Gem calorie counter states flesh only boiled 1.9 grams of carb per 100 grams.

    Celeriac may be used raw or cooked. It has a tough, furrowed, outer surface which is usually sliced off before use because it is too rough to peel. Celeriac has a celery flavour, and is often used as a flavouring in soups and stews; it can also be used on its own, usually mashed, or used in casseroles, gratins and baked dishes. It can be roasted like a potato, giving it a crispy edge.

    More info and recipe here. http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/great-grub-celeriac....

  6. 6
    Oren
    January 26 2016
    What is the butter for? is only for greasing the baking dish?
  7. 7
    Mbh
    March 17 2016
    This was fantastic!
  8. 8
    Valerie
    March 20 2016
    I found these directions very vague - for example, when does the butter go in? Do you layer the cheese? What about the salt and pepper? I put the butter on a fork and greased casserole dish. Then I sliced it up and layered it every few layers with the turnip, onion, cheese, and gave a few grinds of salt and pepper every few layers. I did not use the garlic but rather did a couple shakes of garlic powder every few layers too. I put the heavy cream in and then the cheese on top. This turned out great, but I wanted to help others who may find these directions are not very detailed. Enjoy!
    Reply: #9
  9. 9
    Reply to comment #8 by Valerie
    Tara
    April 10 2016
    Thank you! This is very helpful!
  10. 10
    Christine
    May 24 2016
    I would never have thought of preparing parsnips this way. This was a fantastic dish.
    One of the best things about the Diet Doctor website is finding and trying new recipes and discovering a new cooking style. Thank you... Keep up the recipes..they are great.
  11. 11
    Viviane
    May 30 2016
    So, I made the turnip gratin and, instead of lamb chops, I made pork chops because they were on sale and the lamb was expensive. Now, I have eaten turnips in a stew or a casserole and they were ok, I then tried them roasted and I started to have more of a relationship with them. But, last night, when I tasted them in this dish, the turnip gratin, I fell in love with them! One could almost mistake them for potatoes! I use the shredded cheese, the Italian one, with asiago, provolone etc. I sprinkled tarragon, fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, the chunky one. I use quite a bit of garlic and whipping cream. The cheese was subtle and gooey, the tarragon offered a lovely flavour without being overpowering and the garlic blended well with the onion and cream. I am so in love with this dish and I am now thinking of what other vegetable can I try in this recipe and what other cheese can I use and see what I can come up with! On top of that, turnips have just been raised up to a higher level on my list of go to veggies!
  12. 12
    Mark
    June 1 2016
    I've made this several times with slight variations here and there. I think it's amazing with the coconut milk!!! Great side recipe. Feels like potatoes!! MMMmmmm!
  13. 13
    Emma
    August 1 2016
    Just made this tonight, absolutely delicious! I used a bit of mozzarella between the layers for a bit of extra cheesiness.
  14. 14
    Susanne
    September 10 2016
    It sounds great, have to try , I have just finished my first week
  15. 15
    Sue
    September 16 2016
    Tried this for the first time today, was very quick and easy to make and absolutely gorgeous.
  16. 16
    Lewis
    September 17 2016
    I found this recipe in an old low carb book from 1997. Almost didn't make it because of the turnips...

    There is of course more carbs per 100g in carrots or onions... So no root vegetables must mean look at the numbers more than no root vegetables.

  17. 17
    Shannon
    October 4 2016
    The directions aren’t entirely clear on a few things.
    I layered the turnips with the onions, then added chives and garlic every layer. Would add a thin layer of cheese every second layer.
    I added the butter to the top layer and melted it, then added the cheese after it had melted.
    It said to cook for 30 minutes at 400, but I cooked it for 20 minutes extra to ensure that the turnips were well cooked (turnips take a long time to cook) and they were undercooked at 30 minutes.
    Reply: #24
  18. 18
    Mark
    October 5 2016
    Don't worry about this recipe too much. Add your own little details to make it yours. I've layered the onion, turnip, cheese, and sometimes just mixed the whole thing up...cant really tell the difference. I've used butter, Ghee, coconut oil, avocado oil for the pan greasing. Currently have made it the last 4 times with rutabaga, works perfectly. I make such a big casserole dish that I usually cover it for 30 minutes then take cover off and cook till top browning.
  19. 19
    Tony
    February 27 2017
    Anyone have any ideas about quantities for this recipe? It looks good, but the quantities of all the ingredients are missing. Would love to try it, but how much butter, heavy cream and shredded cheese are you supposed to use?
  20. 20
    Marleen
    September 15 2017
    1/4 tsp cream? most recipes call for 1-1/2 cups or so. Is this correct?
  21. 21
    Mark
    September 25 2017
    Check your recipe. It's changed from 1 1/2 cups to "Tablespoons" People, I think it's 1 1/2 cups. Certainly works. This is a go to dish and keeps me in ketosis if I pace myself.
    Mark
  22. 22
    Chantal
    November 13 2017
    NOTE: This recipe used to say 1.25 cups heavy cream, it's much better that way!
  23. 23
    Joan
    March 9 2018
    Glad I read the posts I was also wondering about the cream being 1/4 teaspoon.
  24. 24
    Reply to comment #17 by Shannon
    Ray
    January 26 2019
    Totally agree on the insufficient cooking time. Definitely undercooked at 30 minutes. I cut out a square and ate it 'crunchy' because I was so starving, but put the rest back in at a lower temp (150ºC) with foil on top because it was already well browned. Hoping it will cook through in another 30 mins! Shannon had the right instinct; why do I never learn? My gratins always need more time than the recipe. Maybe my basic mandolin doesn't slice thin enough? Taste was very oniony, but, hey, the onions were also half-raw, so no wonder.
  25. 25
    Fanny
    May 15 2019
    There are two ways to speed up the cooking process. One is to part-cook the turnip slices etc in the cream in a saucepan before putting into a baking dish and the other is to part-cook in a microwave before finishing both off in the oven.
  26. 26
    laurie
    November 3 2019
    Love this. I've added mushrooms and tuna for a really nice casserole.
  27. 27
    Joanne Tenhoeve
    February 7 2020
    Absolutely wonderful! I was a bit skeptical but kept an open mind. Thank God I did! Very flavorful! Will be making this again and soon!

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