I absolutely love mashed potatoes but I’m not a fan of all the carbs and calories! This cauliflower purée is absolutely divine! It’s creamy, comforting and your guests won’t even know you used cauliflower (my dad didn’t! ;)) I like to use Kite Hill vegan cream cheese with chives or Monty’s cashew cream cheese with scallions instead of yogurt or sour cream to add a nice creaminess but without using any dairy. This baked cauliflower mash tastes great when served with seafood, grilled chicken or as a side to Thanksgiving turkey!
Baked Cauliflower Mash
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1 head cauliflower, cut in florets
- 3 tbsp vegan cream cheese or Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
Toppings:
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp shredded vegan cheese (dairy can be used if you prefer)
DIRECTIONS
- Step 1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot and place cauliflower in it. Cook covered for 10 minutes, so the cauliflower is tender but not mushy. Remove from heat. Drain well.
- Step 2. Put the cauliflower back in pot without lid on and cook for 1-2 minutes. This ensures the cauliflower doesn’t get watery. Don’t skip this step.
- Step 3. Place cooked cauliflower in the food processor with vegan cream cheese or yogurt, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, and chili flakes. Blend until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes. You can choose to make this a day ahead and refrigerate the mixture until you are ready to bake.
- Step 4. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
- Step 5. Place mashed cauliflower in a lightly greased baking pan. Top with chopped onions and shredded cheese.
- Step 6. Bake for 20 minutes and then broil for a couple of minutes to crisp up the top.
What kind of cheese?
Any kind you like, always go for raw cheese xx
How do you recommend drying out the cauliflower after step 1?
Step 2 explains it – Put the cauliflower back in pot without the lid on and let stand for 2-3 minutes. This will evaporate any excess water and the cauliflower won’t be watery.
It’s delicious!!! I would like to make again can you use riced cauliflower instead of whole cauliflower ?
I am sure you can!