Ultra cheesy and warming-to-boot, this keto cauliflower mac and cheese is bound to become a favorite low carb side (or ahem, comforting main!).
Keto Cauliflower Mac ‘N Cheese
Easy & One-Pot!
When it comes to this keto mac and cheese, calling it easy just doesn’t cut it… it’s suuuper easy! Think one pot and only a handful of pantry staples, making it an ideal weeknight side or meal.
The trick here is to cook the cauliflower in a browned-butter and heavy cream base, rather than boiling it in water first. This way you’ll achieve true creamy and cheesy glory!
Plus, feel free to play around with a few things. For instance, I love doing a sharp cheddar and gruyère mix when I’m feeling extra fancy. And adding in some deeply caramelized onions at the end also takes it to a whole other level!
(One-Pot!) Keto Cauliflower Mac 'N Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- kosher salt to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons arrowroot powder or 1/4-1/2 tsp konjac
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded (sharp!) cheddar cheese or a mix of gruyere & cheddar
Instructions
- Break up the cauliflower head into bite-sized florets and set aside.
- Add butter to a Dutch oven or pot over medium/low heat and cook, stirring every so often, until fully browned (4-6 minutes). Add heavy cream, mustard, garlic powder, black pepper, a generous pinch of salt and stir until combined. Add in the cauliflower bites, stir until evenly coated, cover with lid and simmer until softened but still retain a bite (10-15 minutes). Feel free to add a little extra salt now, keeping in mind you'll be adding the cheese still.
- Make an arrowroot or konjac powder slurry (i.e. mix the powder with a couple tablespoons of cold water). Add it to the cauliflower mixture and stir until thickened (I've noticed various brands behave a little different, so just add it little by little to taste). Add in the cheese, stir until melted and serve right away!
Very good! I used a large head of cauliflower, which made a huge amount. So I used the upper amount of cheese and a lot more salt than a generous pinch. It probably ended up being 1/2-3/4 tsp before it didn’t taste bland, and I am not a saltaholic. So make sure to taste as you go. It took 20 minutes to cook the cauliflower until it wasn’t crunchy anymore. I used 1 tsp of xanthan gum in a slurry rather than arrowroot or konjac, which worked well and thickened it up nicely. My family liked it. I’d make it again. I got six, large servings out of it.
Can you reheat this the next day?
Yum! My husband and I are totally in love with this creamy dish! This is something we could never get bored of. We could indeed enjoy it for all three meals. All of the ingredients really work together. Highly recommend everyone to give the recipe a try. Believe me, once you try this fab dish, there’s no turning back.
Paola, thank you so much for sharing this delightful idea with us. I hope your post will inspire many of your readers. Looking forward to your new awesome recipes. I’ve just bookmarked your blog. I’ll be coming around often. Keep the great recipes coming!
Best wishes,
Ann
Oh wow! This looks amazing and is a total Winter warmer classic! We always have cauliflower in the house, total staple for me. I need to check out arrowroot, I’ve seen it mentioned a lot, especially in Keto Yorkshire Pudding recipes! I need this recipe in my life!!!! 🙂 Sim x
Does anyone know if this can be made ahead? I really want to make it on thanksgiving, but am doing some recipes the day before. Anyone?
This looks so yummy! How does it hold? I love to meal prep on the weekend and enjoy the fruit of my labors throughout the week. Thank you!
Delicious!!! I cheated and used frozen cauliflower because that’s what I had. Simply thawed it in the microwave and broke the flowerets into smaller pieces. I probably could’ve used two bags for the amount of sauce I made. Nevertheless, I am extremely pleased with all this creamy goodness. Konjac works wonders. After reading through the comments, I added a little cream cheese as part of my cheese blend. Great suggestion 👍
This recipe works well for a quick weeknight meal. Can’t wait to play with some add-ins like jalapenos, bacon or ham, maybe some crab or lobster.
Another home run! Thanks Paola!
Delicious!!!! Finally a cauliflower recipe that tastes great. Thank you for the great recipe.
another unbelievable recipe! If I had one last meal on earth it would be mac and cheese so I was a little skeptical, but shame on me because all your recipes are wonderful. I scarfed this down like nobody’s business, and it was so so easy to put together!! A really price conscious excellent quick meal. Thank you for your amazing ideas!!
Lol! So awesome to hear Haley! Though tbh I was also highly skeptical of this one before whipping it up 😂!
Wow!! So good. And super easy!! I used cheddar and cream cheese. I also added chicken. Topped off with hot sauce.
So amazing!!!
This was soooooooo good. Like candy! Thank you!!!!!!!
I’ve made this a couple of times now and love it! I make a batch of this for me and a batch of this sauce with pasta for the rest of the family. Everyone loves it and it’s super easy. Thank you!
Thanks for this recipe! It’s literally the first couliflower dish that’s w actually liked and ate happily!
lol that’s awesome to hear!
Try cauliflower fried rice, stuffed peppers using cauliflower riced! It is wonderful!
Thank you for the great recipe! We made this tonight & used Xanthum gum cuz it’s what I had. My kids loved it! Next time I’m gonna add a wee bit of cream cheese 🙂 I love this site; thank you for your hard work!
Awww thanks Cheryl!
Cheryl, xanthan gum is also what I have. How much did you use? A straight substitution? Did it come out as expected or would you try the arrowroot next time?
Wow !!! Thank you so much !!! I made this tonight and it was the best ever. My fussy son was raving. Next time I need to make double !
Wonderful to hear Cherie! Kiddos approvals are always the best 😂!
Why call this cauliflower Mac & cheese when there is no “Mac” in sight? How about cauliflower with cheese sauce?
The title also reads CAULIFLOWER 😂
When recipes don’t have a serving size listed are the macros calculated for the entire dish and then you devide by how many servings you want out of the dish?
Yup!
I get so aggravated at these recipes that look so yummy but do not give a serving size! When you are looking at a whole pot of whatever it is impossible to “see” what a serving size is when all you give is a 4 servings per recipe!
Instead of getting aggravated with free content Robin (!!) just calculate your own macros according TO YOUR serving size 😉 keep in mind that it’s hard for me to say 1 cup or 1/2 cup (or whatever) with savory recipes (unlike desserts were you can say 1 muffin…) as it will depend A LOT on how you cut your cauliflower etc… xo!
Do not think arrowroot powder is keto. Not heard of konjac. Ads say it is a wt loss powder. Is it keto & a thickened at 1/4-1/2 tsp?
It’s a low glycemic flour and in small amounts you’ll be fine (you’ll get more carbs from eating a strawberry). But m if that’s not cool. That’s why I suggest konjac- another thickener that’s a little harder to find but nil carbs
Ps remember that keto is a metabolic state, not a list of foods 😉
There are 4.7g of carbs per teaspoon of arrowroot powder, so given that this serves approximately 4 people, that’s a gram or 2 of carbs per person of ‘thickener’. Therefore, it’s really not a game changer.
It’s even less than that because 1tsp only weighs 3g (so net carbs are something like 2.9)… less than a carb a serving
Wondered if this would reheat the next day. I’m single and want to try this but would hate to waste so much if it can’t be reheated
Is xantham gum an acceptable substitute for arrowroot in this recipe?
MANY THANKS FOR THE UTTERLY FABULOUS RECIPES!!!
I’m just generally not a fan of xanthan gum as a thickener- I think it comes out slimy?
I agree that xanthan gum comes out slimy. I either skip it or try a tad of organic cornstarch or … skip it.