Cauliflower Cheese! Ideal if you need to make ahead. Simply put it in the oven when you're ready! This is great as a main meal or served as a side, with a nice roast dinner, or ham.
I often make this when we have company for dinner as I can make it ahead of time and simply pop in the oven when I need to finish cooking it.
Here I show you how to make a wonderful Creamy Cheese Sauce to go all over the cauliflower whilst it's baking, and I've also added a couple of other ingredients to really bring out the flavor of the cheese and cauliflower.
You can, of course, add bits of bacon or other things to this dish, but for me, I like it as simple as it is, with some nice chicken on a Sunday dinner!
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Another option would be to swap the cauliflower for broccoli, and either baked the whole lot in the oven or steam the broccoli and drizzle the cheese sauce over like in the photo.
In this recipe, I will also show you how to make a smooth cheese sauce, as I know sometimes people don't like to make them in case they are lumpy. Don't worry! I will show you how to make it smooth!
Cauliflower Cheese is a wonderful side dish to serve alongside your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
It tastes wonderful, goes great with any roasted meats, particularly turkey and ham, and you can make ahead and then pop in the oven when needed, and who doesn't love cheese anyway!
Can I reheat cheese sauce?
If you have any leftover cauliflower cheese, reheating is no problem at all.
You can reheat and serve with any other leftovers, or cook some sausages in the oven with some of our oven fries and you have a whole new meal!
I've also used this same recipe for a mix of broccoli, shredded carrots and cabbage. That was also really nice. The cook time is a little less if your vegetables are cut small, so keep that in mind, unless you like soft vegetables of course!
So let's get straight to the recipe and see how we make this delicious cauliflower cheese. Please enjoy!
Ingredients
1 Cauliflower
The cheese sauce
¼ cup or 50 g butter
½ Cup or 50 g All-Purpose Flour
1 pint or 550 ml milk
2 Teaspoons yellow or grained mustard. *** You do not taste the mustard, but it brings out the flavor of the cheese.
5 oz or 150 g grated cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon of your favorite dried or fresh herbs. I used Tarragon. Parsley is also very nice.
A pinch of salt. I did not add much as my cheese was a little salty.
Instructions
1. First, cut the cauliflower into quarters as in the photo and boil until it is ¾ cooked. About 20 minutes or so.
2. Have all your ingredients measured and ready.
3. Drain the cauliflower and place on some kitchen paper. You do not want excess liquid in your oven dish.
Then arrange the cauliflower like in the photo. Place with the flower side facing up.
Use an oven dish which will be deep enough to hold the 1 pint of cheese sauce.
4. Now we make the sauce. Please see our recipe here for making a BASIC CHEESE SAUCE
5. Transfer the sauce to the cauliflower, and pour all over so the cauliflower is coated with the sauce. Sprinkle some extra cheese on the top if you wish to.
6. Place in the oven at 200 C / 400 F for about 20 - 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden.
When done, remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. It will be VERY hot so take care!
Serve the whole dish at the table or portion onto plates and enjoy!
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Cauliflower Cheese
Cauliflower Cheese! Also good if you need to make ahead. Simply put it in the oven when you're ready
Ingredients
- 1 Cauliflower
The cheese sauce
- ¼ cup or 50 g butter
- ½ Cup or 50 g All Purpose Flour
- 1 pint or 550 ml milk
- 2 Teaspoons yellow or grained mustard. *** You do not taste the mustard, but it brings out the flavour of the cheese.
- 5 oz or 150 g grated cheddar cheese
- 1 Tablespoon of your favourite dried or fresh herbs. I used Tarragon. Parsley is also very nice.
- A pinch of salt. I did not add much as my cheese was a little salty.
Instructions
- First, cut the cauliflower into quarters as in the photo and boil until it is ¾ cooked. About 20 minutes or so.
- Have all your ingredients measured and ready. Drain the cauliflower and place on some kitchen paper. You do not want excess liquid in your oven dish. Then arrange the cauliflower like in the photo. Place with the flower side facing up. Use an oven dish which will be deep enough to hold the 1 pint of cheese sauce.
- Now we make the sauce. Please see our recipe here for making a BASIC CHEESE SAUCE
- Transfer the sauce to the cauliflower, and pour all over so the cauliflower is coated with the sauce. Sprinkle some extra cheese on the top if you wish to.
- Place in the oven at 200 C / 400 F for about 20 - 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden. When done, remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. It will be VERY hot so take care!
- Serve the whole dish at the table or portion onto plates and enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 4 - 6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 301Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 383mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 14g
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Joybee
says:Sounds good. It’s a lot like macaroni and cheese but with cauliflower instead. A low carb mac&cheese.
lovefoodies
says:Hi Joybee, yes, it’s a little like mac n cheese! I also make this recipe using a mixture of broccoli and carrots and it’s so delicious, please do enjoy!