Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic, an easy delicious alternative to mashed potatoes – keto friendly, low-carb, healthy and full of amazing flavor! The perfect side dish to any occasion! Vegan adaptable and gluten-free!
Here’s a little number we use in our catering business quite a lot in the colder months – Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic. It’s versatile- keep it light, lean and vegan if you choose, or make it rich and decadent – totally up to you!
The roasted garlic mellows and sweetens in the oven, giving the cauliflower mash, incredible yet subtle flavor. And the crispy sage leaves add the most beautiful color and fragrance.
Why I love Mashed Cauliflower
- Mashed Cauliflower goes with practically everything! Seriously… from braised short ribs or roasts, to salmon, to lamb, to oven roasted chicken to simple baked tofu, it just works! I often find myself eating a bowlful of this, just on its own. Pure comfort food.
- It’s something different than the same old mashed potatoes.
- It’s low-carb! For those of you going low-carb or on the keto diet, it’s a godsend.
Mashed Cauliflower Catering Tip
I really love the flavor of the roasted cauliflower, but steaming the cauliflower results in a bright white mash. The roasted cauliflower, when mashed, is slightly brown, not quite as pretty, but tastes good. See recipe notes!
Here is the lightened-up, vegan version Mashed Cauliflower. Here I steamed the cauliflower to keep it nice and white. Clean and simple. You could finish it off with a little olive oil or truffle oil.
And here the Mashed Cauliflower is drizzled with brown butter and crispy sage. Not as light, but ohhhhhh so delicious, perfect for cold nights and special occasions.
For extra richness, you could whisk in goat cheese.
You could also top off the mashed cauliflower with a handful of melty cheese and bake it in the oven.
It will come out golden and delicious and your house will smell amazing.
However you choose to make this, please let me know your adaptions and what you think in the comments below.
Hope you are have a fantastic holiday season.
xoxo
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Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Vegetable, vegan, gluten-free, Side Dish, keto, paleo, holiday
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: Pacific Northwest
Description
Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic, an easy delicious alternative to mashed potatoes, low carb, keto friendly, healthy and full of amazing flavor, the perfect side dish that goes with everything! Vegan adaptable and Gluten Free!
Ingredients
- 1 extra large head cauliflower
- 4–8 cloves roasted garlic (or sub 2–3 teaspoons granulated ROASTED garlic)
- ½ cup milk, nut milk, soy milk or ½ and ½
- ¼ cup chicken or veggie broth or water
- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 3 tablespoons sour cream ( or vegan sour cream, cashew cream – or simply leave this out)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- generous pinch white pepper (or cracked pepper)
Optional toppings:
- A drizzle of olive oil, melted butter or truffle oil, right before serving
- A few tablespoons of browned butter with crispy sage leaves (see notes)
- handful grated romano cheese and mozzerella mixed, then baked.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 F
- Drizzle whole garlic cloves with oil and wrap tightly in a double layer of foil and bake 30 minutes.
- Cut cauliflower into small 1 inch thick florets, toss with olive oil and roast on a sheet pan until fork tender, 25-30 minutes. (You can also steam in an inch of water in a big pot. See notes)
- Once cauliflower is tender place in a food processor adding milk of your choosing, butter (or olive oil), sour cream and broth. You may have to start with half the cauliflower, puree, then add the rest in order for it to fit. Puree until very very smooth, several minutes. Add salt, roasted garlic, pepper, and nutmeg. Taste. Adjust salt and pepper.
- At this point, you could keep it warm and serve it just as it is, or refrigerate it and heat it up in the oven or stove top, before serving.
Optional Toppings before serving
- 1. Drizzle with a little olive oil, melted butter or truffle oil.
- 2. Drizzle with browned butter and crispy sage.
- 3. Top with a handful of grated cheese and bake in a 375 F oven until golden and crispy for a delicious cheesy crust.
Notes
- To brown butter, heat a few tablespoons of real butter in a small pot on the stove over medium heat. Let it cook until you begin to smell it’s beautiful nutty fragrance. Once you smell it, add a few sage leaves, and stand by, letting the butter slightly darken to the color of light brown sugar, another minute or so. Turn heat off until ready to serve, make a circular well in the mashed cauliflower with the back of a spoon and pour the browned butter in the well & top with crispy sage leaves.
FYI- If you like the look of the light white cauliflower, then I suggest steaming it. Roasting the cauliflower gives it delicious flavor, but the roasting will cause the cauliflower to darken a bit, giving the finished dish a beige-ish color.
The sour cream adds a subtle delicious tang – so if choosing to leave this out, consider adding a ½ teaspoon lemon juice. Up to you. 😉
Nutrition
- Serving Size: -with 3 tablespoons butter, milk, and sour cream
- Calories: 128
- Sugar: 3.8 g
- Sodium: 522 mg
- Fat: 8.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Fiber: 2.8 g
- Protein: 4.2 g
- Cholesterol: 22.8 mg
Delicious! My whole family loved this despite their skepticism. Definitely a make again dish!
Awesome to hear Julie!
Hi there, sorry about that. There is a note in the recipe card that talks about the color- if you want more of a white color, then steam the cauliflower. The roasted garlic is given in a big range, so you can always lower that.
I served it with a pan fried fish and it was soo delicious! And sage butter…the smell is divine.
Evija
Perfect – glad you enjoyed!
Hi! Just made this, I think i didnt use enough cauliflower so it seems very thin. Any suggestions to thicken it up?(i have no dietary restrictions)
Oh shoot Milly. Well, you could turn it into a “soup”, or add some boiled potatoes?
Love this recipe…so tasty!
Drool!