Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
This Creamy Mashed Cauliflower recipe is the perfect substitute for mashed potatoes. Cauliflower is roasted, seasoned and whipped into a delicious side dish that is great for those living keto, low carb, paleo or Whole30 lifestyles. Vegan adaptation included.
✨ Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- It’s budget-friendly because it uses raw cauliflower.
- It can be made dairy-free and vegan.
- It’s made with simple real food ingredients.
- Delicious low carb and keto side dish.
- A quick and easy side dish to make during the holidays or any time of the year.
- It can be made Whole30 compliant.
- 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.
- Avocado Oil (or olive 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 a beautiful pop of color.
- Salt & Pepper: Used to simply season your mashed cauliflower.
📖 How To Make Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
1️⃣ Preheat oven and prep cauliflower:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Cut away the stem of the cauliflower and rough chop the rest into small equally-sized florets.
2️⃣ Season cauliflower:
In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with avocado oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3️⃣ Roast cauliflower:
On a baking sheet, spread cauliflower florets in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until the florets are tender and dry but not browned. Be sure to flip the florets halfway through. Oven times may vary, so keep checking until desired texture is reached.
4️⃣ Blend cauliflower into a mash:
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 smooth and creamy. For a thinner consistency, stir in a splash of sour cream, coconut milk or butter.
🔁 Variations
➡️ 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.
Also, if you need to thin out the mash, add in some coconut milk, almond milk, or unflavored nutpods to keep things dairy-free.
🌱 Vegan Mashed Cauliflower: to make this recipe vegan, use a plant-based butter alternative such as Earth Balance, and be sure to use a non-dairy milk alternative if you need to thin it out a bit.
❓FAQ
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 recipe is the best way to go.
Follow this recipe as is with some of these delicious mix-ins.
– Garlic and Herbs
– Bacon, Cheddar Cheese and Chives
– Curry Powder
– Diced Jalapenos
– Mashed Potatoes (for cauliflower mashed potatoes)
– Parmesan Cheese
– Avocado (cauliflower avocado mash)
Roasting the cauliflower to draw out most of the moisture 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 deepens the flavor.
More Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes
Instant Pot Brown Butter Ghee
Riced Cauliflower Stuffing
Air Fryer Turkey Breast
Whole30 Sweet Potato Casserole
Sugar-Free Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce
➡️ Tap here for a printable round-up of 16 mostly Paleo & Whole30 Thanksgiving recipes.
Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
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.
I can’t believe I don’t need any dairy for this! Amazing!