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Just a few ingredients is all you need to make this super comforting and creamy Cauliflower Mac and Cheese. A low carb mac and cheese that is bulked out with cauliflower for extra nutrition, but still has all that flavour that you know and love.
Mac and cheese is always a favourite in our house and I am yet to meet a kid that doesn’t love it. In my never ending attempt to get us to eat more vegetables, I love finding ways to “sneak” vegetables in to meals we already love, in a way that doesn’t change the way it tastes.
So, cauliflower mac and cheese was born. A gooey, cheesy sauce coating macaroni and chunks of cauliflower, with the crispy cheese topping.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Prep: Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.
One: Put the macaroni into a pan of boiling water. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Two: After 5 minutes, add the cauliflower to the pan of pasta.
Four: Drain the macaroni and cauliflower and put into a baking dish.
Five: Pour over the cheese sauce. Mix well so that all the macaroni and cauliflower are coated.
Six: Sprinkle over the grated Parmesan. Put into the oven for 20 minutes. The top should be browning and bubbling.
Everyone know that garlic bread and pasta are a match made in heaven. Carby heaven! Either buy some ready made, or make your own easy garlic bread by cutting up some French stick and spreading it with a mix of butter, crushed garlic and dried herbs. Then pop it in the oven for 10 minutes.
For extra vegetables, then frozen peas and sweetcorn are a good addition, and they usually go down well with kids. For some greens, you could put broccoli in at the same time as the cauliflower, or even add some chopped spinach.
If you want to add some crunch to the top of the cauliflower mac and cheese, then you can mix the Parmesan with some panko breadcrumbs and sprinkle that on top.
Store: Make sure the cauliflower mac and cheese has completely cooled and store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freeze: Once cooled, separate into freezer containers and it will keep for up to 2 months.
Defrost: This does freeze well, although the sauce my separate when defrosted, so make sure to stir it well before serving. You can defrost it in the fridge overnight.
Reheat: Reheat it in the microwave until piping hot throughout.
We have reduced the amount of pasta used, and added cauliflower to bulk it out and add nutrition. Cauliflower is low in calories, and also a good source of vitamins C, K and B6. It is also a good source of fibre, and there are 3 grams of fibre in one cup of cauliflower, which is important for digestive health and may reduce the risk of several chronic diseases. Cauliflower is also a good source of antioxidants, which protect your cells from harmful free radicals and inflammation.
However, this is still cheesy pasta, so portion control is key.
If you use gluten free pasta, then this is a gluten free dish. Make sure you grate your own cheese, as pre-grated cheese has a coating on it that might not be gluten free. Check for cross contamination too.
• The cheese sauce may look runny when mixed with the macaroni, but it will thicken up as it cools.
• For something a little different, we like stirring a couple of tablespoons of good quality BBQ sauce into the cheese sauce. It adds such a nice flavour.
• If you wanted to really hide the cauliflower, then you could blend it into the cheese sauce.
• If you love some spice in your meals, you can add a sprinkle of red chilli flakes to the cheese sauce.
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