Baked Cauliflower Mac and Cheese is a nourishing take on a classic comfort food. This cheesy casserole is gluten-free and low-carb, with a vegan option. The perfect healthy side for dinner.
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese Bake
Is there anything cauliflower can’t do? Well, yes, but when it comes to gluten-free pasta and low-carb rice substitutes, this veggie is supreme!
Even with food allergies or restrictions, there is no reason to give up the traditional comfort foods that everyone loves, for holidays or any day! One of my primary goals here is to provide you with healthier versions of your favorites.
Nobody can resist mac and cheese. But, instead of making the carb-loaded original, I have a low-carb mac and cheese recipe that you make with cauliflower instead of pasta. This cheesy cauliflower casserole is easy to make ahead, so you can just pop it into the oven to warm it through on the day you serve it.
Ingredients and Substitutions
NOTE: As written, this recipe is gluten-free and low carb. To help those of you who need to avoid dairy products, I have a vegan recipe option for you.
For the Cauliflower
- Raw cauliflower, broken into florets (or cut the head in half)
- Olive oil or another neutral flavor cooking oil of your choice
For the Cheese Sauce
- Butter – to prevent the sauce from being too salty, I suggest using unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, make the recipe without additional salt. After tasting the sauce, if you feel it needs more salt, then you can add it.
- Cream cheese – any variety of plain cream cheese will be fine.
- Non-dairy milk and heavy cream – you can use dairy free cream if you need to.
- Salsa or tomato sauce – this ingredient is completely optional. I love the flavor it adds to the dish.
- Cheeses – I use 3 different cheeses (sharp cheddar, parmesan, and cream cheese) for the sauce because, well… cheesy cauliflower mac = winning.
- Blanched almond flour – This combined with parmesan makes for a great crispy topping, almost like bread crust topping, minus the gluten. Almond flour also makes for a great thickener, since we’re not using real macaroni pasta.
Vegan Substitutions
- Vegan butter
- Hummus or non-dairy cream cheese
- Non-dairy milk
- Cashew cream or coconut cream
- Shredded vegan cheese
- Nutritional yeast flakes for parmesan cheese. I also tested this with Daiya cheese, and it works well!
How to Make Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details and nutrition information.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Toss the raw cauliflower florets in oil, garlic powder, and pepper then bake on a sheet pan for 15 minutes.
- Bring the cream and milk to a soft boil in a large pot over medium high heat. Whisk in the butter and cream cheese and reduce to medium heat. Add the cheddar and stir until combined. Stir in the paprika and optional tomato sauce or salsa.
- Add the cauliflower to the cheese roux and mix evenly with cheese sauce on medium heat for about 3 minutes.
- Whisk together the grated parmesan and almond flour. Add ½ of the mixture and salt/pepper to the pot with the cheese and cauliflower. Add cooked protein or veggies at this point.
Optional Add-Ins: Bulk the dish up by adding in a protein or veggies. Cooked chicken, turkey, any cooked veggies or healthy greens, etc.
- Spoon into an 8×11 inch casserole dish, then top with remaining almond flour and parmesan mixture. If you’re using a large oven-safe skillet to coat the cauliflower, you can bake in the same pan.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden and cooked through. To create a crispy topping, place the pan under a broiler for the final minute.
Leftover Storage: Be sure to refrigerate any leftovers within a couple of hours after serving. You can freeze the casserole, but be aware that the sauce may separate a bit as it thaws. It’ll still be safe to eat, and it will recombine if you stir it while it reheats. But, the consistency may not be as creamy.
More of Our Favorite
Gluten-Free Comfort Food Casseroles
Baked Cauliflower Mac and Cheese (Vegan Option)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Baked cauliflower mac and cheese is a comfort food casserole that’s gluten free and low carb, with a vegan recipe option. Perfect holiday side dish!
Ingredients
*See notes for vegan ingredient substitutions
- 800g (2 small heads) raw cauliflower, cut into florets (3 cups florets)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the pan
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter or vegan butter
- 6 oz (½ cup) cream cheese *
- 1/ 2 cup cream + ⅓ cup non dairy milk
- ½ teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika
- ½ cup salsa (optional)
- 6 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese *
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese *
- ¼ cup blanched almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Toss the raw cauliflower florets in oil, garlic powder, and pepper. Bake on a sheet pan for 15 minutes. Once baked, cut each floret into smaller pieces, about the size of a quarter. Set aside.
- In a large pot, bring the cream and milk to a soft boil. Then, whisk in the butter and cream cheese together and reduce to medium heat. Add the cheddar and stir until combined. Stir in the paprika and optional tomato sauce or salsa. Stir until combined.
- Next, add the cauliflower to the cheese roux and mix evenly with cheese sauce on medium heat, about 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the grated parmesan and almond flour.
Add ½ of the parmesan and almond flour mixture (reserve other half for topping), and salt/pepper to the pot with the cheese and cauliflower. Mix again. Feel free to add in any cooked veggies or raw spinach or kale here. - Spoon into an 8×11 inch casserole dish, then top with remaining almond flour and parmesan mixture. If you’re using a large oven-safe skillet to coat the cauliflower, you can bake in the same pan.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden and batter is cooked through. To create a crispy topping, place the pan under a broiler for the final minute.
- Remove pan from oven and allow the dish to cool for 5 minutes, then serve with topping of choice.
Notes
1:1 Vegan ingredient substitutions
- Soy free vegan butter to substitute unsalted butter
- Hummus or non dairy cream cheese to substitute the cream cheese
- Coconut cream or unsweetened non dairy creamer to substitute heavy cream
- Shredded vegan cheese to substitute shredded cheddar
- Nutritional yeast flakes to substitute parmesan cheese
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: sides
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 342
- Sugar: 4.3 g
- Sodium: 660.9 mg
- Fat: 24.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 13.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.5 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 16.5 g
- Cholesterol: 69.5 mg
Alright my friends, let me know if you have questions about the recipe. Happy to help with ingredient substitutes if needed! We got you covered!
Have a wonderful cozy comforting day.
Cheers,
LC
This is delicious! I added a bag of gluten free macaroni noodles and it’s a perfect dinner. Thanks!
We love the addition of noodles! Yum! Thanks for sharing your recipe experience with us. Happy cooking!
Could I substitute a different flour instead of the almond flour?
You can use bread crumbs/panko that’s GF. Or maybe coconut flour. It’s just to create a crispy topping.
Thank you for your reply!
It was amazing and too fascinating. I love your food. I will cook it for my family this weekend
Great! Hope y’all enjoy it!
great use of cauliflower, love a good mac and cheese too
Thanks, Sabrina!
Oh my goodness, this stuff is amazing! I have been looking for recipes to help my husband adjust to a low carb diet, this was a huge hit! We all loved it and I already have the ingredients on the shopping list so I can make it again soon!
So glad this was a huge hit! Thanks for letting me know!
This is such a delicious healthy option for my favorite mac and cheese! So amazing!
Glad you liked it! Thanks, Toni!
cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetable so this will be fantastic!
Great! Enjoy!
Oh my gosh this was amazeballs…like wow. It was perfect.
So glad to hear that!
I swear you don’t miss the pasta AT ALL!! Holy cow this is so good!
Thanks, Lauren! So glad you loved it!