Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

We used to never eat cauliflower. It was one of those weird ingredients you look at while in the produce section of the grocery store and think to yourself, “What would I do with that?” That was, until one day, the hubby said, “I love cauliflower, why don’t we ever eat it?” Really. Really? After 10 years of marriage, you announce that you LOVE cauliflower? Okay, I’ll bite. Let’s learn to cook with cauliflower.

At first it was boring recipes, like steamed cauliflower and over roasted cauliflower, none of which were very pleasing to anyone, but the hubby. It wasn’t until I discovered ways to turn cauliflower into ‘other’ things that I realized this veggie was about to rule my kitchen! With new recipes like cauliflower rice, roasted cauliflower dip (see video below), cauliflower pizza crust (I have a thing for pizza – it’s kind of ridiculous), cauliflower tortillas, buffalo cauliflower (like buffalo wings – but not really), and cauliflower pasta, I had stumbled upon a veggie that was really replacing the majority of the carbs in our diet.

All of those cauliflower recipes I tried we fell in love with, but it was cauliflower mashed potatoes that completely wowed us, and after a few attempts, I created a recipe that wasn’t soggy, tasted very similar to mashed potatoes, and didn’t need to be loaded with butter.

This is my go-to-recipe now for mashed potatoes. It goes perfect with my Elk Meatloaf recipe, but I’m not sure if I could convince the family to use it as a substitute for Thanksgiving (but I can try, right!).  To keep the cauliflower mashed potatoes from being soggy, it’s important to cook the cauliflower out of the water – using a steamer basket helps. If you don’t have any other option than to cook it in the water, you’ll need to drain as much water off as you can before blending.

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

To feed 4 people about 1 cup of cauliflower mashed potatoes, use 2 heads of cauliflower. If you have hungry eaters, you may want to bump it up to 3 heads so that they can get seconds or pile on a bit more than 1 cup.

5 from 9 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Sides

Cuisine Comfort Food

Servings 4 People

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 heads Cauliflower
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/4 cup Sour Cream
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chives

Instructions

 

• Set a veggie steamer basket in the bottom of a large pot. Add water until it just reaches the bottom of the steamer basket. Place the pot on the stove, cover with a tight fitting lid, and set the burner on high to start the water boiling.
• Wash the cauliflowers, and then cut off as much of the bottom of the cauliflower as you can, making sure to take off all of the leaves. You can use a small knife to help get all of the leaves off.
• Lay the cauliflower on a cutting board and cut long slices off of each side, just until you reach the center part of the cauliflower. We're not going to cook the center part, but we can cook everything else. I usually chop either side, then turn and do the opposite sides. I'm left with the top and center part. Cut off the top and discard the center. You don't need to worry about cutting off florets off of the branches, everything is edible.
• Peel 2 cloves of garlic. No need to cut the cloves, we're just going to throw them in with the cauliflower. Garlic can be very overpowering in this recipe. I started with 3 cloves and had to cut back, so just remember that when you're judging size.
• Once the water is boiling, add the cauliflower and garlic cloves. Cover the pot with the lid again, and let the veggie boil for 15 minutes.
• Taste the cauliflower after 15 minutes and make sure it's done. It shouldn't be so cooked that it's mush.
• Once done, drain the pot and add the cauliflower, garlic, and sour cream to a blender.
• Blend the cauliflower mix until it looks like mashed potatoes. I usually just turn it on, walkaway, and let the blender work its magic for a few minutes.
• Once done, add the cauliflower mashed potatoes back to your pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add some chives for garnish.

Notes

If you think the cauliflower mashed potatoes need more liquid, try some milk or chicken broth. If you want to add cheese and other mashed potato favorites, go ahead - it's your recipe!

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