This low-carb Cauliflower Mash recipe is delicious and hearty without the potatoes! It looks like mashed potatoes, its texture is similar to mashed potatoes and the taste is mashed potato-y enough to make those who are on the Paleo diet or low carb diet happy.
Why This Cauliflower Mash Recipe Is So Good
- A low carb side
- Fluffy and not dry!
- Perfectly garlicky!
- Rich and buttery from the sour cream and butter
Ingredients
- Cauliflower
- Milk
- Butter
- Light sour cream
- Garlic salt
- Black pepper
- Chives
How To Make This Cauliflower Mash Recipe – Step By Step
Separate the cauliflower into florets and discard the core.
Bring about 2 cups of water to a simmer in a pot, then add the cauliflower. Cover and turn the heat to medium. Cook the cauliflower for 12-15 minutes or until very tender.
- Drain and discard all of the water (the drier the cauliflower is, the better) and add the milk, butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and mash with a masher until it looks like “mashed potatoes.” Top with chives.
Cauliflower Mash For Breakfast
It’s been a family favorite recipe, we have this dish at least once every couple of weeks. Leftover Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes make a great accompaniment for breakfast sausage. Simply form cold mashed cauliflower into flat patties, and lightly pan-fry a few minutes each side to get them nice and crispy.
A Chunky Cauliflower Mash Recipe
I like the mashed cauliflower to be a little chunky (like I like my mashed potatoes) so instead of using an immersion blender, I just use a potato masher to mash and stir with the butter and sour cream.
Because the cauliflower is more tender than potatoes, the little chunks are really melt in the mouth – so good!
Additional Add Ons For This Cauliflower Mash Recipe
Top with chives (or whatever you normally like on your mashed potatoes) and you’ve got one heck of a side dish. Here are some add on options:
- Sliced green onions
- Oil — Olive, garlic or chili!
- Herbs — Thyme, rosemary and parsley.
- Curry powder
- Diced bacon
Top Tips For This Cauliflower Mash Recipe
- Save prep time and use cauliflower rice instead! Steam the rice or sauté in a pan with a little water until fork tender.
- You can use light sour cream or opt for buttermilk if you want it even creamier.
- To ensure mashed cauliflower is really light and fluffy (no one wants soggy mashed cauliflower) you must make sure you allow ALL the steam to escape before pureeing it. Cauliflower has a large surface area within those little florets, and it will happily retain much of its moisture.
- Ensure all the water is drained from the pan once cooked, but ALSO leave the lid off for a minute and allow the steam to escape also.
Check Out These Delicious Side Dishes
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes
- Cauliflower Fried “Rice” (Chinese style!)
- Korean BiBimBap with zero carbs
- Vietnamese Noodle Salad recipe (uses jicama instead of noodles).
Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons light sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- snipped chives
Instructions
- Separate the cauliflower into florets and discard the core.
- Bring about 2 cups of water to a simmer in a pot, then add the cauliflower. Cover and turn the heat to medium. Cook the cauliflower for 12-15 minutes or until very tender.
- Drain and discard all of the water (the drier the cauliflower is, the better) and add the milk, butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and mash with a masher until it looks like "mashed potatoes." Top with chives.
I don’t prepare them with every dish, but on occasion I will serve double veggies
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Great recipe! I made it according to your recipe and the taste is great! Everyone in the family likes it, it makes me happy. Thank you
love this recipe.
What an amazing recipe. I loved it. Good job
Stumbled upon this amazing recipe, really helped me out a bunch just now! Using cauliflower rice is a great tip!
I made this over lunch hour,it is an absolute perfection.
Kids loved it. very good and easy recipe, i tried it last night
Literally just found this recepe online and ran to the market to grab the ingredients. Hope it comes out good
I made this over lunch hour ,it is an absolute perfection
I tried it and I almost couldn’t tell it wasn’t potato once I combined it with grilled chicken.
Thank you Gabriela!!! jaden
I’m super excited to try this! I used cauliflower to make a pizza crust once, and it was surprisingly amazing, although it took forever to get all of the water out of the cauliflower so it was dry enough to make a “dough”. This seems like it’ll be easier since mashed potatoes are supposed to be a bit moist anyways.
Can you use Frozen Cauliflower?
Hi! Yes you can use frozen cauliflower! Frozen cauliflower tends to be more liquidy (since it was frozen), so you may not need the milk at all.
Thanks for this yummy recipe!
I thought I followed the recipe exactly but its more moist than my husband likes his mashed potatoes. I need t fix this so he can eat it for dinner tonight. Any suggestions to thicken it. Please help. He is a new diabetic and is struggling with food tasting good. Anyone help assp
Hi Ella, Spread out the cooked cauliflower on a baking sheet or plate, let all the steam escape. Pat the cauliflower dry. That should do the trick!
Stir in some “instant potato flakes”. Also there’s lots of good recipes for diabetics at www
deathtodiabetes dot com All the best. Skippy
Skippy, ah great tip about instant potato flakes! Jaden
This taste great and was very easy to make
I’ve been playing with mashed cauliflower recipes the past couple years. The recipe in this article is good. If you want to kick it up a notch try using regular sour cream and I’ll add a couple oz. of cream cheese. I also add 1/2 cup fresh grated parm and a hint of nutmeg. It kinda gives you a little kiss of alfredo taste. I prefer fresh grated nutmeg. It’s so much better than in a bottle.
Ohhh I like the Parmesan Cheese Ingredient Going To try it Can you use Frozen Cauliflower?
I made it today! Very tasty! Thank you for recipe!
absolutely delicious!!!
I have unsweetened vanilla almond milk in my fridge. Would this be an okay substitute for regular milk? I am lactose intolerant, so I’m trying to stay away from dairy (unfortunately, because dairy is so good!)
Also, if I want to double or triple the serving size, would i just double or triple the ingredients, respectively? Thank you, and I can’t wait to try this for dinner :)!
Absolutely, use unsweetened almond milk! Yes, to double or triple serving size, just multiply out the ingredient measurements.
There is a new milk called Fairlife. It has the digestive enzyme that u are lacking . Try it no harm and delicious or take digestive enzymes. Research the enzyme lactase and other enzymes
I LOOOOVE Fairlife milk! That’s the only milk we buy now.
Maybe not the vanilla flavor though unless you want your cauliflower to taste like vanilla.
I made this for dinner. Left out the sour cream and blended after cooked for a smoother texture. DELICIOUS!
Light sour cream has too many carbs for a low carb diet. Use regular.
Just made this tonight all I can say is Fantastic
You know you can use a dairy free sour cream that you find at whole foods or your local health store. 🙂
I’m not terribly satisfied on my low-carb diet (it’s doing wonders for my blood sugar though), I miss blue potatoes too much. I’m super excited to try this though I’m going full “mashed potato” treatment to try to convince the husband to try it with me (if I can just get him to try it, he’ll love it faster than I will!)
Thanks!
nice shar jane…. thanks
I’m in the USA & I just bought 2/$5 @ Sprouts they were huge too. Another local grocery store had it for $.98/lb, I would pass on the $7 head of califlower for sure for now. SMH
This was delicious! I used low fat milk (and used about half as much), no butter, greek yogurt instead of sour cream. So yummy! 🙂
Save the water and use it a soup base. Even if you steam it, save the water, this is full of nutrients. I keep a container in my freezer, every time I steam, or have extra flavored water, juice, gravy, sauce or broth I add it to the container. It freezes in layers. When I have a continued full I make a pot of soup.
Brilliant!
Brilliant idea! Winterfresh, inexpensive & yummy in the tummy. I simply love this simple idea. Mmmm. Can’t wait!
Don’t need all those other ingredients….just add a generous scoup of mayonnaise and s&p. Delish!!!
Skip mayo if you can and limit to a simple olive oil w/S&P:,most people who dine at my table would be extremely disappointed in not only missing out on my “heart attack mashers” but then getting an additional slap of mayo to the face. They WILL notice the subtle yet delicious difference immediately so don’t freak them out if they’re not expecting it. Repeatedly whip on high & If this is brand new for the palates you’re serving, don’t skip the butter, olive oil, chives and other mashed ingredients, then whip again and serve via pastry bag…. . hell, I even tossed in some bacon crumbles!
Get real fancy with a buerre blanc sauce topped w/fresh bacon on chives on top of that pastry bag delivered “puff” and VIOLA these will be requested for years to come! … especially after everyone realizes what a delightful “cheat food” they taste like. ENJOY!
I steamed the cauliflower and added all the ingredients and mashed it.No worrying about the water and it turned out pretty good.I got cauliflower for $1.50 at a local produce store.
Your sister owes you one!!
At first I thought the cauliflower would burn b/c it didn’t look like enough water. But I used 1&1/2 c and went til 17 min=good! Certainly does NOT taste like mashed potato! BUT, it is a good replace to for them. Still tastes good, just not like potatoes. I’d make again!
Couldn’t care less if it’s Paleo or not as I don’t follow that diet 🙂 but it is amazing. I make cauliflower mash all the time – cheap, fast to make and absolutely delicious. And so healthy. And wow, if a head of cauliflower is $7, as someone says in your comments, guess I’m glad I no longer live in the US 🙂 I just picked one up at my local market here in Bangkok for 40 cents. Organic and straight from the farmer. Guess I have it better here than even I was aware of 🙂
That’s wonderful! Cauliflower here is not that expensive. I live in Indiana and is is definitely not 7.00 for a head of cauliflower. Maybe 50 cents or 70 cents at the most.. I cannot wait to try this recipe. I’m making a beef chuck roast with carrots and parsnip tonight! This sounds like a very good compliment to dinner. And I’ll be having horseradish for the beef of course. Horseradish and beef are amazing together!!!
Lovely! I am going to try this tonight. I have a dairy-free child, so I’m going to skip the butter and sour cream instead use some very good extra virgin olive oil 🙂
I am dairy free, skipped the milk and used to Tofuti sour cream. I will make this again.
Loved it!
Just bought a head of cauliflower 2.8 lb Cost over $7.00. There were smaller heads available, some half the size. So question is, how much should a head of cauliflower weigh to comply accurately with this recipe?
Do you ever give nutritional information for your recipes? I am trying to keep track of my caloric intake. I made this with coconut milk, coconut oil , garlic, chives and rosemary.
What is the calorie count per serving??
I’m not sure of the calorie count – you might want to enter it into a calorie calculator.
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Lpw carb..yes. Paleo…NO!!! Paleo=no dairy.
use almond milk instead
Thanks for this. I have a ton of cauliflower and wasn’t sure what to do with it other than cauliflower and cheese. Will be trying this tonight 🙂
Simple & sober.
As I am really keen on healthy food, I just love what this looks like. The taste is probably even better. We cooked something like this during a cooking class in Dirty Apron which offers one of the best cooking classes in Vancouver, but we used pumpkin instead of the potatoes. However, the taste was pretty similar, I can recommend it to you!
I soo agree with you. Call it what it is instead of fill in names!!!
Ern: To cut down on the moisture, I do this, even with regular mashed potatoes: When they are finished cooking, turn the heat off, pour into strainer to drain, return to original pot and immediately put the pot back on the still-hot heating element. (I have a smooth top range. If you have gas or something I’d put it to low.) Prepare the rest of the recipe while still on the stove. It should get rid of any residual water in the few seconds it takes to dig your milk/butter/etc out of the fridge. 🙂
I tried this and really liked it. I used more butter, but no milk or sour cream (tried it with a bit of plain yogurt but decided I preferred it without). It’s a super easy side dish and a great way to get more fibre in and keeps pretty well. I actually prefer it to mashed potatoes, it has a lovely creamy feel but with a lightness about it, while potatoes sometimes just feel very heavy and stodgy. I’ll definitely be making this again!
I tried this tonight and no one really liked it. Will not be making it again.
mashed faux tatoes, huh?
instead of using all of those ingredients, i just microwave the cauliflower, mash it and mix in a tablespoon (or two) of boursin cheese (garlic and herb flavor). it is delicious and adds creaminess.
I found that if I microwave the cauliflower without any additional water, it helps to keep the puree from getting soupy. I also put it in my potato ricer and squeeze out a lot of the extra moisture, then use the hand held stick blender to puree it. Add a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and a bit of butter.
luv it simple and easy to do
Somehow, even with the corrected milk amount at 3 Tbsp, ours was still soupy! I wonder if it would be best to spread it out on a dish towel or something to completely lose the water? Tastes awesome but I think next time just a splash of milk will do for me. Thanks for posting!
This was GREAT. I eliminated the milk and added a bit of sharp cheddar cheese to it. Thank you for posting it.
made these last night and they were surprisingly good, didn’t have sour cream so I used some cream cheese instead. will definitely be making again, thanks for posting.
Just wondering, does it smell like feet? I’ve been wanting to make mashed cauliflower as I’m trying to lose weight but from what I’ve heard, it stinks. I don’t think it would bother me too much but my other half hates cauliflower.
Looks delicious! I don’t own a masher. Do you think I could just use a fork instead?
Yes!
Looks great Jaden! I’ve been working on some cauliflower recipes too lately… it’s so versatile!
I’ve had mashed cauliflower before and it is surprisingly delicious. Parsnip mash is another great substitute to potatoes. I don’t prepare them with every dish, but on occasion I will serve double veggies (parsnip mash and something like steamed broccoli, for example).
Thank you for sharing!
Delicious, but this recipe calls for WAY more milk than necessary, IMO! We made it just like this, but with a splash of milk instead of 3/4 cup, and it was a touch on the soupy side.
Hi Leigh – oh my goodness – you are right! I meant to write 3 tablespoons!!! eeeks!
I have never had mashed cauliflower, as my favorite way to eat it is roasted. That said, I love mashed potatoes, but am always looking for lower carb options. I can’t wait to try this!
These “vegan up” very nicely, too. Substitute a non-dairy milk (make sure it isn’t flavored or sweetened), use Earth Balance instead of butter, add some nutritional yeast and if you like, a non-dairy cream product (sour cream, cream cheese substitutes, etc). But I find just using the nutritional yeast, milk and some Earth Balance, these are heavenly.
Agreed, no one puts cauliflower in the corner! I just wrote a post about mac’n’cauliflower that manages to be mac’n’cheese and cauliflower all at the same time. Your recipe looks like a similar cauliflower celebration, thanks!
Some members of my family hate cauliflower, but I bet they would eat it mashed. They’d have no idea it isn’t a potato.
I adore mashed cauli! Looks awesome.
I have yet to try this but need to. I am on the. Just call it what it is boat.
Delicious too. Not know if I can get a creative way.
I haven’t had it for a while, need to make it again. Sometimes I make it light: with olive oil and no sour cream, it is delicious too.
I agree with your, mashed cauliflower is great on its own so I don’t know why people try to mask it. On a totally different note, I only just realized that I can roast cauliflower like broccoli… duh and it is another yummy way to eat cauliflower!
I totally agree – why do we have to call things something they are not just to get people to try to eat them?! I have this pet peeve about vegetarian recipe writers calling something meat – like a quinoa “meatball” – why not just call it a quinoa ball?
This is nice and simple and sounds great. I have used cauliflower to make faux potato salad, pizza crust, and also grated and fried it to take the place of rice. Such a very versatile vegetable when one is watching carbs or is diabetic or just wanting something different. Thanks for posting!
These look so much like the real thing, I could totally go for these!
I have never had mashed cauliflower, as my favorite way to eat it is roasted.
It tastes amazing. You should have try once.