This keto cauliflower mash is better than mashed potatoes. Change my mind. Just kidding – you can’t. A bold claim, but I stand behind it. And believe me, nobody is more surprised than I am at how delicious this low carb cheesy cauliflower puree is!
If you’ve tried keto cauliflower mash or cauliflower puree before and found it lacking, I totally feel your pain!
I’be been on various low carb diets since the 90’s (1990’s – I’m not THAT old), and had heard many people tout mashed cauliflower as an acceptable substitute for mashed potatoes. I’d tried it a few times and always…..meh, not so great.
I think part of the problem for me is that keto cauliflower purees always seem too watery and don’t have that true starchy mouth feel of real potatoes. I had long ago put mashed cauliflower in the category of “better than nothing but nowhere near as good as mashed potatoes.”
Steaming or boiling the cauliflower always ends up in a watery, greyish, flavorless mess. If that’s been your experience, then I’m excited to introduce you to this keto cauliflower mash recipe – where I solved the problem by microwaving the cauliflower uncovered, which concentrates the flavors and also allows a lot of the liquid to evaporate while cooking, leaving you with a much thicker end result.
In addition to the consistency issue, my other problem with low carb cauliflower mash recipes has always been the funky, skunky flavor natural to cauliflower. The addition of a strong Irish cheddar cheese made all the difference! It embraced the funk and transformed it into a complex flavor that I couldn’t get enough of!
The naturally sweet flavor of the cooked cauliflower paired with the extra sharp cheddar in this cauliflower puree made regular mashed potatoes seem boring and one note by comparison. And I’m a person who loves mashed potatoes!
If you’re on the fence, and are worried about being disappointed yet again by another keto mashed cauliflower recipe claiming to replace mashed potatoes, then I implore you to scroll down and the read the comments of all the people who were skeptical at first, but had their minds blown when they gave this cauliflower puree recipe a try.
Then be sure to let us know what you think!
Tips for Making the Best Cauliflower Puree
Be sure to watch the recipe video in this post to see how we do it, and how easy it is – even when making smallish batches.
First, try to choose a head of cauliflower that feels heavy, and has tightly packed florets. If the head is loose and there is a lot of visible stem, you will likely end up with a grainy cauliflower mash from the thick membrane on the outer stem. If using stems and they seem thick, peel them with a paring knife to get that membrane off and you will be rewarded with the creamiest cauliflower puree of your life.
Second, be sure to trim your cauliflower into pieces that are no more than 2 inches in size. If you cook the cauliflower and there are some tiny pieces and some huge pieces, you will inevitably be left with some that are overcooked and shriveled, as well as some cauliflower pieces that are left raw in the middle – that will also result in a grainy puree.
If you can’t get Irish cheddar, a decent brand of extra sharp grocery store cheddar (like cabot or Cracker Barrel) will do – but don’t use the cheapest brand, or anything pre-shredded, or you won’t get nearly enough flavor to balance out your cauliflower mash.
Which Appliance Works the Best
If you read through the comments you’ll find that people did not have great results with blending this cauliflower mash in a food processor. If it’s what you’ve got, then it’s better than nothing, but you’ll find that it will not produce a creamy, smooth cauliflower mash – it’s just not built for that.
My favorite way to make this cheesy cauliflower mash is in my Nutribullet because I can easily shake up the cup to redistribute the cauliflower pieces while blending.
When making larger batches, I have made it in my trusty Blendtec blender (and back in the day my Vitamix) with good results, but it can be annoying to have to remove the lid multiple times to stir the mixture with a spatula to get it to blend. Since we are looking for a nice, thick consistency to our cauliflower mash, we don’t want to add more liquid to make it blend too easily or it will be a very loose puree.
So for that reason my favorite appliance for making this recipe is the NutriBullet, or some other kind of bullet style blender.
More Delicious Cauliflower Mash Recipes
- Bacon & Smoked Gouda Cauliflower Puree
- Cheddar Leek Cauliflower Mash
- Garlic and Chive Cauliflower Mash (Dairy free and SCKC friendly)
- Jalapeno Popper Cauliflower Mash Casserole
- Pepperoni Pizza Cauliflower Mash Casserole
Now you’ve got all of your keto side dishes covered, but if you’re in need of more keto dinner ideas to serve with this cauliflower mash, check out this post of keto dinner recipes next!
Cheesy Cauliflower Mash – Keto, low carb
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
This Keto Cheesy Cauliflower Puree is so thick, creamy, and delicious, you’ll never miss mashed potatoes again!
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 ounces Dubliner Irish Cheddar or other sharp cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Clean and trim the cauliflower, breaking it into medium sized pieces.
- Place in a microwave safe bowl with the cream and butter.
- Microwave, uncovered, on high for six minutes.
- Add the garlic powder and stir to coat cauliflower with cream/butter mixture. Microwave for another six minutes on high.
- Check that your biggest florets are fork tender, if still hard, microwave another 5 minutes.
- Remove from the microwave and spoon the cooked cauliflower and any liquid into a magic bullet or high speed blender.
- Add the cheese and puree until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Keto Side dish
- Method: microwave
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 148
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 4g
- Protein: 6g
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Mellissa Sevigny says
I recommend trying it again and following the recipe as written for best results.
Miranda Kellum says
I’m so glad that I found your recipe for these “faux” tatoes! I knew that you could use cauliflower to make fake potatoes before, but they always wound up too runny! I have made these twice in the last 2 weeks, they are absolutely amazing!! Even my youngest adult son, who is wary of anything “keto” or “healthy” that I cook or bake, loved these and ate them right up! So, many big thanks to you! I will probably wind up buying your book. I love your recipes!
I would love to start my own blog and/or website about baking and cooking, even though I’m not sure how to get it going, but if I ever did, I would love to link up with you!
Karyn says
I tweaked the recipe to match my favorite mashed potatoes that my husband makes and it shocked me how close to exact they turned out!!!! I just added a little garlic, dill and onion powder. AMAZING!!
Bee says
I was looking for an alternative to the typical starchy side for lamb shanks. OMG, this WAS truly better than mashed potatoes. I already had Trader Joes “riced cauliflower” and just followed the directions for a test try. I added garlic and paprika to the seasonings and had mild cheddar and pepper jack cheese on hand. The result was a creamy cheesy goodness. Nothing grainy about it! Tomorrow for Vday I will be using a regular head of cauliflower. Hoping it comes out just as good. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Can’t wait to try doing different things with it. I feel like this could be a good base for a loaded “baked potato” soup.
Amy Grisham Hill says
I just made an improvement to this already yummy dish. I added a 16 oz container of ricotta cheese blended well with 2 eggs and a bit of Romano cheese. mix it in with the cauli mash and bake it. The eggs will make it rise a bit leaving you with a fluffier, creamier and more decadent dish!
Mellissa Sevigny says
sounds delicious Amy!
Angela A says
I have found the age of the cauliflower has something to do with this. It seems that the older the cauliflower, the drier it is and the harder it is to get a creamy texture. Just my experience. Now if I could only figure out how to tell if they’re fresh before buying them :)
Linz says
I make mine with a head of cauli, boiled and left to drain well for 10 mins. Then add a tbsp if cream cheese and black pepper. Then blitz with a hand blender. Then stir in a mountain of mature cheddar cheese. Totally amazing and actually better than real mash. Whoever thought it!! Keto ftw!
Danielle says
DELICIOUS! Fast, easy, filling. Can’t wait to make this again!
Cathu says
Wow! I’m in love!!! Keep the recipes and side notes coming!
Note: I steamed the head of cauliflower on the stove, boiled it in three inches of water in the pot, and even with only half a head, it was more than enough for me, I only needed up eating half!
**Changes to recipe**
-Boiled instead of using a microwave (mine started on fire one morning so I never replaced it lol)
-used coconut milk cream as my heavy cream when blending
-and added a dash of coconut oil as I was boiling the head
-sharp cheese recommendation: Asiago or Balderson aged white cheddar…mmm!
Linda says
Simply Beautiful! Made this for the first time last night and it was a hit replacement for mashed potatoes. I used shredded parmesan in place of Dubliner cheese and it worked great. Put hot cauliflower and cheese into my nutribullet and blended it all to perfection; not pulpy or grainy just nice smoothly blended mash.
Laura Cawthorn says
First I want to say, I never leave comments on anything; however, I found your recipe today and decided to give it a try for dinner tonight and it is AMAZING. I didn’t have cream so I put 3 tablespoons of butter when I cooked the cauliflower in the microwave and after I pureed it, I added about a tablespoon of cream cheese. This is by far the best cauliflower dish I have ever had and it even has the texture of mashed potatoes I have been missing so much on the keto diet. Thank you for this incredible (and incredibly easy) recipe!