Our Cauliflower Casserole is serious indulgence. Forget tasteless cauliflower and imagine cheesy, creamy casserole with bits of roasted flavorful cauliflower florets. Such a heart warming and easy dish, and such a great way to enjoy cauliflower–even f or picky eaters!
This luscious, hot and bubbly cauliflower casserole is so irresistibly good, even to cauliflower haters! I promise you! That’s because it’s seriously creamy, loaded with cheese and a luscious béchamel sauce. Additionally, the cauliflower is roasted, so it has a sweet roasting flavor.
There’s nothing like a veggie dish that you can fall in love with, especially in a world where veggies are not popular. If you try our Honey Glazed Carrots, you’ll never look at carrots the same way. Sweet, soft, flavorful, affordable and addictively delicious!
Likewise, our Sautéed Green Beans are simply a one pan dish that is ready in 10 minutes. No blanching and no tasteless beans, rather perfect green beans. We add in a touch of lemon zest, toasted pine nuts, butter and lots of parmesan. Now that’s not your average veggie dish either, and you’ll LOVE it once you try it!
So today’s recipe is no different. This cauliflower casserole is another veggie side dish to try and incorporate more veggies into your life. However the difference here is this cauliflower recipe is more creamy and cheesy compared to the other two. So let’s get started!
Ingredients You Need
- Cauliflower. One large cauliflower head, cut into florets. You can use green or purple cauliflower if you like, but we feel the white is best in terms of taste and aesthetic.
- Butter. The base of the béchamel sauce or cheese sauce.
- Flour. Thickener for the sauce.
- Cream and Milk. While you can use milk only or half n half, we love a combo of both.
- Cheese. We recommend grating your cheese at home. Bu your favorite cheddar cheese, strong or mild and grate it at home.
- Seasoning. Simple salt and pepper is essential, and if you’d like a touch of oregano or Italian seasoning, that would be great.
How to Make Cauliflower Casserole
Roast the Cauliflower
- Cut the cauliflower head into florets and season them with sal, pepper and olive oil evenly. You can use some Italian seasoning or oregano for a bright taste as well. It’s important to make sure they’re all the same size so that they roast evenly.
- Roast the florets until they’re golden and tender, but not mushy. You’ll be cooking the florets further in the oven with the sauce, so keep that in mind.
- Also depending on how soft/aldente you want the veggies to be, feel free to roast to adjust that to your tase. Some of our friends prefer a super soft and tender melt in your mouth cauliflower. We, however prefer a bite to them.
Make the Sauce
- To make the sauce, you’ll begin by sautéing the butter and flour in a sauce pan. This is the base of every béchamel sauce, and the trick here is to use correct measurements. Also the tip here is to toast the flour well in butter before adding the milk.
- Add in the milk/cream mixture and whisk continuously until it has blended in and the flour has dissolved. The mixture has to come to a boil in order for the sauce to thicken up. Once it bubbles, you’ll lower the heat to low and maintain a gently simmer.
- Now you’ll add in the cheese, and using the whisk continuously whisk it in until it melts.
- Season the sauce and add in fresh herbs if you’d like and the sauce is basically now ready.
Assemble And Bake the Casserole
- Arrange the roasted cauliflower florets at the bottom of an oven safe casserole dish. Make sure the dish is deep enough for the sauce and more cheese to go on top as well.
- Spread the sauce you made above over the veggie and use a spatula to make sure it spread well.
- Cover the top with more cheese. While this is optional, it’s SO GOOD! Bake the casserole for 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and the casserole is super bubbly.
- It will be golden on top, and perfectly creamy. Be careful as the sauce will be piping hot out of the oven so wait a few minutes before serving it. This is the HARDEST part 🙂
- Serve this delicious cauliflower casserole as great side dish or main vegetarian dish and enjoy! Look at how saucy delicious and melt in your mouth this casserole is!!!!! SO GOOD!
Casserole Recipe Tips
- Make sure you cut the cauliflower into equal sized florets so they all roast evenly. You can likewise buy cut up florets from the store and use that.
- You can steam the cauliflower or blanch it too as an alternative to roasting. We however prefer the flavor of roasting to any other method. We also don’t want the veggie to get too watery.
- The roasting can be done up to 2 days in advance before preparing and assembling the casserole.
- When making the sauce or béchamel, it’s crucial to use the correct amounts so the thickness doesn’t change.
- Also make sure you toast the flour well in the butter, this removes any raw flour taste from your sauce.
- You can use milk only for the sauce. We prefer adding a touch of cream with it for a luscious sauce.
- We can’t stress enough how important it is to grate your cheese at home. The taste, the texture and the quality is so different from the pre grated one.
- If you feel the bechamel is too thick, add 2 tablespoons more milk.
- If the sauce is too thin, add extra cheese to thicken it.
- Keep an eye on the casserole, it should be ready at 20-30 mins max.
- Make sure to wait a few minutes before serving as the sauce will be piping hot.
What to Serve with Cauliflower Casserole
- Salad. Panzanella Salad, Peach Burrata Salad, Sweet Persimmon Apple Kale Salad Recipe
- Chicken. Air Fryer Chicken Breast, Hot Honey Chicken, Chicken Fingers
- Meats. Ribeye Steak, Lamb Steaks, Best NY Strip Steak
- Bread. Air Fryer Garlic Bread, Biscuits With Cheddar Rosemary, Cornbread Recipe, Fougasse
What Type of Dairy Can I Use?
You can use sour cream or cream cheese to replace the cream in this recipe, and you can use non dairy milk. However you’ll need to adjust the amount of flour to nearly double for the same thickness of the sauce.
Can I use frozen cauliflower?
Yes! You just need to make sure they’ve defrosted before using. And proceed with roasting when they’re ready.
How to Store Leftovers and Reheat?
IF you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat them in the microwave or in an oven safe ramekin/dish. For the oven, cover the dish with foil, adding 2 tablespoons of milk to it and let it reheat at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Can I freeze this casserole? Can I make it in advance?
YES. You can prepare the recipe and assemble it, then freeze it before baking. To bake, simply thaw it and proceed to baking it as per the recipe. This is a great way to make ahead as well.
Delicious Veggie Dishes
Honey Glazed Carrots
Sautéed Green Beans
Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Air Fryer Asparagus
Zucchini Fries
Roasted Acorn Squash
Air Fryer Mushrooms
Cauliflower Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning store bought or homemade
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 2 cups Milk 2%
- 1/2 cup cream 18% minimum
- 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese divided
- Chives fresh thyme leaves or parsley for garnish
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
-
Spread the cauliflower florets in a single layer on a baking sheet.
-
Season them with olive oil and Italian seasoning.
-
Toss well to coat the cauliflower.
-
Roast them for 18 minutes until tender, but not mushy.
-
In the meantime, make the cheesy sauce. In a pot over medium heat, add the butter and flour.
-
Cook the flour for 2 minutes to make a roux.
-
Add the milk and whisk continuously until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.
-
Add in the cream and drop the heat to low. Keep the sauce at a Lowe simmer for 3 minutes, and then add in 1 cup of cheese.
-
Whisk until the cheese has melted. Season and remove the sauce from the heat.
-
In an oven safe casserole dish, spread the roasted cauliflower florets at the bottom of the dish, and pour the cheese sauce on top.
-
Use a spatula to spread the sauce over the cauliflower.
-
Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese on top.
-
Bake the casserole for 20-30 minutes until bubble and the cheese has melted completely and golden in colour.
-
Garnish with fresh herbs if you like.
-
Wait for 3-4 minutes before serving the casserole as the sauce will be extremely hot.
Recipe Notes
Casserole Recipe Tips
- Make sure you cut the cauliflower into equal sized florets so they all roast evenly. You can likewise buy cut up florets from the store and use that.
- You can steam the cauliflower or blanch it too as an alternative to roasting. We however prefer the flavor of roasting to any other method. We also don't want the veggie to get too watery.
- The roasting can be done up to 2 days in advance before preparing and assembling the casserole.
- When making the sauce or béchamel, it's crucial to use the correct amounts so the thickness doesn't change.
- Also make sure you toast the flour well in the butter, this removes any raw flour taste from your sauce.
- You can use milk only for the sauce. We prefer adding a touch of cream with it for a luscious sauce.
- We can't stress enough how important it is to grate your cheese at home. The taste, the texture and the quality is so different from the pre grated one.
- If you feel the bechamel is too thick, add 2 tablespoons more milk.
- If the sauce is too thin, add extra cheese to thicken it.
- Keep an eye on the casserole, it should be ready at 20-30 mins max.
- Make sure to wait a few minutes before serving as the sauce will be piping hot.
What to Serve with Cauliflower Casserole
- Salad. Panzanella Salad, Peach Burrata Salad, Sweet Persimmon Apple Kale Salad Recipe
- Chicken. Air Fryer Chicken Breast, Hot Honey Chicken, Chicken Fingers
- Meats. Ribeye Steak, Lamb Steaks, Best NY Strip Steak
- Bread. Air Fryer Garlic Bread, Biscuits With Cheddar Rosemary, Cornbread Recipe, Fougasse
What Type of Dairy Can I Use?
You can use sour cream or cream cheese to replace the cream in this recipe, and you can use non dairy milk. However you'll need to adjust the amount of flour to nearly double for the same thickness of the sauce.
Can I use frozen cauliflower?
Yes! You just need to make sure they've defrosted before using. And proceed with roasting when they're ready.
How to Store Leftovers and Reheat?
IF you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat them in the microwave or in an oven safe ramekin/dish. For the oven, cover the dish with foil, adding 2 tablespoons of milk to it and let it reheat at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Can I freeze this casserole? Can I make it in advance?
YES. You can prepare the recipe and assemble it, then freeze it before baking. To bake, simply thaw it and proceed to baking it as per the recipe. This is a great way to make ahead as well.
This cauliflower casserole is amazing! The creamy, cheesy texture with the roasted cauliflower makes it the perfect comfort food for a chilly day. Love that it’s lower carb too!
This is so good! I love how rich and creamy it is, and roasting the cauliflower fist adds so much flavor!
Serious indulgence is right! I never knew cauliflower could taste so good. Will make again and use the same cheese sauce for other veggies too