This creamy mashed cauliflower is the perfect substitute for mashed potatoes. Cauliflower is roasted, seasoned and whipped into a delicious side dish that is great for those on keto, low carb, paleo or Whole30 lifestyles. It can also can easily be made vegan.
Recipe Highlights
- It’s budget friendly because it uses raw cauliflower.
- Can easily be made to suit vegan diets.
- It’s made with simple ingredients.
- A great side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or even weeknight dinners.
- It can be made compliant with a Whole 30 reset.
- You can make it ahead of time.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Raw Cauliflower: This gets cut up, seasoned then roasted as the base of the mash.
- Olive or Avocado Oil: Toss this with your cauliflower to get a nice roasted taste.
- Ghee or Butter: This will help give the mash a nice buttery flavor.
- Garlic Powder: Pairs well with vegetables and butter.
- Dried or Fresh Parsley: Will add a hint of freshness and beautiful pop of color.
- Salt & Pepper: Used to simply season your mashed cauliflower.
How To Make Mashed Cauliflower
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Remove stem and rough chop cauliflower into small florets being mindful of trying to make everything the same size.
- Toss cauliflower with avocado oil and a pinch of salt & pepper.
- Spread cauliflower evenly on a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 30 minutes flipping halfway through.
- Cauliflower should be cooked and starting to look dry but not brown or burnt. Oven times may vary, so keep checking until desired texture is reached.
- Using a high speed blender, immersion blender or food processor pulse cauliflower until it is smooth with no lumps. Add garlic powder and ghee or butter and blend until fully smooth and incorporated.
- If you’d like to thin out the texture, add some cream, coconut milk or more butter.
Whole30 Cauliflower Mash
- To keep this recipe Whole30 compliant, make sure you use ghee instead of butter. Ghee can be purchased at most grocery stores or you can make it easily in your instant pot or slow cooker using this homemade ghee recipe.
- If you need to thin out the mash, add in some coconut milk, almond milk or Unflavored Nutpods to keep it dairy free.
Vegan Mashed Cauliflower
To make this recipe vegan, use a vegan butter substitute such as Earth Balance and keep your milk dairy free if you’d like to thin out the mash.
Tips For Making Mashed Cauliflower Creamy?
- Can I Use Frozen Cauliflower? Use raw cauliflower ONLY. This is important because once you freeze a vegetable it changes the structure of the vegetable and the texture is never the same. Using fresh cauliflower for this creamy mashed cauliflower is the best way to go
- Roast the cauliflower to draw out a lot of the moisture. This is KEY! Once I realized I could draw out a lot of the moisture by roasting, I was able to blend the cauliflower into a thick mash instead of cauliflower soup. Roasting the cauliflower also gives it a nice depth of flavor.
Optional Mashed Cauliflower Add Ins:
- Garlic and Herbs
- Bacon, Cheddar Cheese and Chives
- Curry Powder
- Diced Jalapenos
- Mashed Potatoes (for cauliflower mashed potatoes)
- Parmesan Cheese
CLICK HERE For a PRINTABLE Thanksgiving Recipe Round Up
More Healthy Holiday Recipes:
- Instant Pot Brown Butter Ghee
- Riced Cauliflower Stuffing
- Air Fryer Turkey Breast
- Whole30 Sweet Potato Casserole
- Sugar Free Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce
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Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
This creamy mashed cauliflower is the perfect holiday side dish for those on a low carb or keto diet. Find out 2 secrets to making your cauliflower mash nice and creamy without any need for milk.
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Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 201kcal
Ingredients
- 1 head Raw Cauliflower 4 cups
- 2 tbsp[ Avocado Oil]
- 2 tbsp [Ghee] or Butter
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Dried Parsley
- Salt/Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Remove stem and rough chop cauliflower into small florets being mindful of trying to make everything the same size.
- Toss cauliflower with avocado oil and a pinch of salt & pepper.
- Spread cauliflower evenly on a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 30 minutes flipping halfway through.
- Cauliflower should be cooked and starting to look dry but not brown or burnt. Oven times may vary, so keep checking until desired texture is reached.
- Using a high speed blender, immersion blender or food processor pulse cauliflower until it is smooth with no lumps. Add garlic powder and ghee or butter and blend until fully smooth and incorporated.
- If you'd like to thin out the texture, add some cream, coconut milk or more butter.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 244mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 3g
Valerie Skinner is a Whole30 approved personal chef & recipe developer that bridges the gap between healthy eating and busy lives by providing simple healthy meals and recipes for you and your family.
Thyme and JOY is a parnter with the Whole30 Approved program. For more information about the Whole30 reset and Personal chef services in Charleston check out these links:
I can’t believe I don’t need any dairy for this! Amazing!