Cheesy baked cauliflower mac and cheese is perfect when you’re craving macaroni and cheese without the pasta! This recipe is lower in carbs, and each bowl is packed with veggies and plenty of gooey, melty cheese.
Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese
Cauliflower makes a wonderful replacement in recipes like Low-Carb Mashed Potatoes, so why not macaroni and cheese!? My cauliflower mac and cheese tastes like comfort food, and it’s packed full of vegetables. And, of course, plenty of melty cheese.
College students, now that school is back in full swing, this delicious dish will help you fuel up! To make a stove-top version, simply skip the last step of baking it in the oven and serve it right out of the pot.
Why Cauliflower Mac and Cheese Is the Best Comfort Food
Cauliflower is one of my favorite versatile veggies. It’s the perfect low-carb substitute in recipes like Cauliflower Wings and Cauliflower Rice and even Cauliflower Gnocchi! Here’s why you won’t miss the pasta in this cauliflower mac and cheese.
- Extra cheesy. Replacing noodles with cauliflower is the perfect excuse to go all out where it counts: on the cheese!
- Smooth sauce. I share my tips for the ultimate mac and cheese sauce that’s silky smooth and not grainy or gritty.
- Quick and easy. This cauliflower mac and cheese is a great recipe for quick weeknight dinners and study breaks. It’s hearty and comforting, with simple ingredients.
Benefits of Dairy
I’ve partnered with Real California Milk to create this cheesy comfort-food dish. This cauliflower dish is great for college students looking for wholesome meals made from real food, and their parents looking for more ways to incorporate more vegetables into meals. My college-age daughter was home while I was testing it, and she went nuts over this dish. She’s a big cheese fan, but tries to avoid eating too much pasta. It can be a quick study snack, main lunch or dinner, or serve it as a side dish for a multi-course meal.
It’s best to get your nutrients, including calcium, from real foods. That’s because whole foods like calcium-rich milk, cheese, and yogurt contain several vitamins, minerals, and other components associated with promoting health.
Dairy foods, such as milk and cheese from Real California Milk, are the main food source of calcium for most people in the U.S. Milk and dairy products are a healthy, tasty way to get essential vitamins and minerals. One cup of milk or yogurt and 1 ½ ounces of natural cheese each contain about 300 mg of calcium. Milk contains nine essential nutrients, including calcium, important for bone health.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are all the ingredients for this cauliflower mac and cheese recipe. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Cauliflower chopped into florets. Try to cut the pieces to about the same size so they’ll cook evenly.
- Butter. I use Real California butter. You can use salted or unsalted.
- Olive oil or your choice of cooking oil.
- Onion. Yellow onion or white onion, finely minced.
- Flour. This an be all-purpose or gluten-free flour as needed.
- Milk. I use Real California fat-free milk.
- Cheddar cheese. I love the sharp cheddar from Real California. You can use a mix of cheeses if you’d like. For best results, shred the cheese fresh from the block.
How to Make Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
The sauce for macaroni and cheese starts with béchamel: A simple combination of butter, flour, and milk that creates a creamy base for the cheese sauce.
- Cook the cauliflower. Start by boiling the cauliflower florets in shallow water with salt for 6-7 minutes. Afterward, drain the florets and set them aside.
- Sauté. Next, sauté the onions in butter and oil. Lower the heat, stir in the flour, and cook that out for 3-4 minutes to make a roux.
- Make the sauce. Whisk in the milk. Raise the heat to bring the milk to a boil, and cook until it thickens. Season the sauce to taste.
- Add cheese. Take the pot off the heat, and fold in the shredded cheese a little at a time, stirring until it melts.
- Put it all together. Lastly, combine the cooked cauliflower with the cheese sauce. At this point, the stovetop version is ready to serve. Or you can take the extra step of baking it.
- Bake. Transfer the cauliflower mac and cheese to a baking dish. Bake at 400ºF for 15-20 minutes, then switch the oven to broil to brown the top before serving.
Tips to Avoid Grainy Cheese Sauce
Have you ever made a mac and cheese that was gritty or grainy instead of creamy or smooth? The worst! Here’s a few steps you should take for perfectly creamy cheese sauce.
- Use real cheese. The first step to success is to start with real cheese. I used a good-quality, sharp cheddar to give this dish maximum flavor.
- You’re not limited to just cheddar. You can play around with different cheese combinations like Havarti, White Cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.
- Shred your own cheese. For this recipe, grating your own cheese will give you the smoothest results.
- Start with a white sauce. A white sauce is made with butter or olive oil, stirred with flour and milk. It thickens once it cools, then you stir the cheese into it to make your cheese sauce.
- Do NOT add the cheese to the boiling sauce. When adding the cheese, remove the white sauce from the heat completely before adding the cheese. I usually move this to a different burner so it stops boiling. You don’t want to add the cheese to the mixture if it’s boiling/bubbling. Doing so will cause the cheese to break down, causing a gritty texture.
- Add the cheese a little at a time. I usually do this 1/4 cup at a time, whisking in between until it’s all melted.
What to Serve With Cauli Mac
Vegetable Sides
Load up on the veggies with easy side dishes.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate. Store any leftover cauliflower mac and cheese airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Warm up leftovers in the oven or in the microwave until hot throughout. Add a splash of milk if you find the sauce needs a little loosening.
More Cauliflower Recipes You Will Love
Baked Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 cups chopped cauliflower florets, 1/2-inch pieces (26 oz)
- 1 tablespoon Real California butter
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 3 tablespoons flour, use all-purpose gluten-free flour for GF
- 2 cups fat free Real California milk
- 7 ounces freshly grated Real California sharp cheddar, about 2 cups total
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Place 1 inch of water in a large pot with 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Add the cauliflower and cook until tender crisp, 6 to 7 minutes. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.
- Heat butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook about 2 minutes.
- Stir in flour. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continually 3 – 4 minutes, to cook out the flour.
- Add the milk and continue whisking, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil and becomes smooth and thick, about 2 minutes stirring; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper.
- Once it becomes thick, remove from heat completely onto another burner if possible. Add the cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup at a time mixing well until cheese is all melted.
- Stir in cooked cauliflower, then pour into a baking dish and bake until bubbly and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Then broil 2 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned.
Last Step:
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Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Real California Milk. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Skinnytaste possible. All thoughts are my own.
