Cauliflower Cheese Sauce
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
10 mins
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Cook Time
12 mins
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Servings
5 cups
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Calories
189 kcal
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Course
Condiments
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Cuisine
American
Cauliflower Cheese Sauce
Description
Cauliflower Cheese Sauce starts with evenly sized cauliflower florets gently simmered in vegetable broth until tender. Separately, garlic is softened in butter without browning to avoid bitterness. After cooking, the cauliflower is blended together with the sautéed garlic, milk, seasoning, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese to a smooth, creamy consistency. Olive oil can be added if needed to loosen the sauce.
The sauce offers a mild cheesy taste from the Parmesan with gentle garlic aroma and creamy texture from blended vegetables and milk. The cooking method preserves delicate flavors while enhancing richness from the broth and butter. This sauce can be used as a cheese-like topping or dip and provides a lower dairy option.
To make a vegan version, substitute butter with olive oil, milk with plant-based alternatives like almond milk, and omit Parmesan cheese. The sauce thickness can be adjusted by blending time or adding cooking broth to reach the preferred velvety smoothness, ideally achieved with a high-powered blender.
The preparation emphasizes not browning garlic to keep flavor clean and advises uniform cauliflower size for even cooking. This sauce can complement vegetables, pasta, or grains and is straightforward to prepare with basic kitchen equipment.
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower broken into florets (about 5-6 cups of florets, head
- 7 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup milk use almond milk for vegan version
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese freshly grated
- 2 tablespoon olive oil optional as needed to loosed the sauce
Instructions
- Rinse whole cauliflower head under tap water.
- Remove the green stem from cauliflower head and break cauliflower into small florets. Keep aside.Note – make sure you have equal sized florets so they cook even.
- Melt butter in a pan. Add minced garlic and saute until garlic is fragrant. Do NOT brown garlic. You only want garlic to soften a bit and release it’s oil. Immediately remove pan from heat and set it aside.Note – browned garlic will give bitter taste to the sauce. DO NOT BROWN IT.
- In a stock pot or large pot bring vegetable broth to boil.
- Add in cauliflower florets. Cook cauliflower in broth on medium heat for about 7 to 8 minutes or until florets are tender.
- Once soften cauliflower florets from the stock. Transfer to a blender.
- Add rest of the ingredients to the blender – sautéed garlic, salt, freshly ground pepper, milk and few tablespoons of hot broth in which cauliflower was cooked.
- Blend until smooth. You can blend the sauce into velvety smooth texture with Vitamix blender!
- Add in Parmesan cheese and some olive oil (it adds more flavor to the sauce) and blend again.
- Serve over your favorite pasta.Note – cauliflower sauce by itself will have the ‘cauliflowery’ taste. Stirring it with foods like pasta (mac n cheese), pouring over roasted broccoli or vegetables works better. You can even stir it in soups to enhance taste and as thickening agent!
Notes
- Ensure cauliflower florets are uniform in size for even cooking and texture.
- Sauté garlic gently in butter without browning to avoid bitterness in the sauce.
- Cooking cauliflower in vegetable broth enhances the sauce's flavor base.
- Adding Parmesan cheese enriches the sauce's cheesy taste; omit for a lighter version.
- Use a powerful blender for a velvety smooth sauce consistency.
- For a vegan version, replace butter with olive oil, milk with almond milk, and omit Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 5cups
Amount Per Serving
Calories 189 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 189kcal | 9% |
| Carbohydrates | 11g | 4% |
| Protein | 7g | 14% |
| Fat | 14g | 22% |
| Saturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Cholesterol | 21mg | 7% |
| Sodium | 1463mg | 61% |
| Potassium | 402mg | 9% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 5g | 10% |
| Vitamin A | 658IU | 13% |
| Vitamin C | 57mg | 63% |
| Calcium | 179mg | 18% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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