Loaded cauliflower casserole
Everything you love on a loaded baked potato, with cauliflower doing the potato's job: tender florets in a tangy cream cheese and sour cream sauce, baked under melted cheddar and finished with crisp bacon and chives. The side dish that disappears first.
- Time
- 55 min (15 prep + 40 cook)
- Servings
- 8
- Per serving
- 226 kcal
- Protein
- 13 g
Ingredients
- scant 2 lb florets cauliflower, bite-size
Sauce
- 4 oz light cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, plain
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Cheese
- 1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded, divided
- 1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese, finely shredded
To finish
- 7 slices bacon, weighed here as eaten, cooked crisp
- 5 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
Steps
- Heat the oven to 425°F. Fry the bacon until crisp while a large pot of salted water comes to a boil, then drain it and chop it. Steam the cauliflower or boil it in the water for 6–8 minutes, until a fork slides in with a little resistance. Drain very well and let it steam dry for 5 minutes; wet cauliflower makes a watery casserole.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper until smooth. Fold in the cauliflower, half the cheddar, half the bacon and all but a tablespoon of the chives.
- Spread in a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 inch) dish and top with the remaining cheddar and the Monterey Jack.
- Bake 20–25 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and golden on top. Scatter over the rest of the bacon and chives. Keeps 4 days in the fridge; reheat covered in the oven or microwave.
Good to know
Can I use frozen cauliflower?
Yes. Thaw it first and press it dry in a clean towel, or the sauce will thin out in the oven.
Can I make it richer?
Use regular cream cheese, and all sour cream in place of the yogurt, for a fuller sauce, at about 38 instead of 43.
Per
- Calories
- 147
- Protein
- (24%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (64%)
- 10 g
- Carbohydrates
- (12%)
- 5 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 423 mg
More side dishes
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1808 kcal goes into the pot and 1364 g of ingredients comes out as about 1229 g of food: 147 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.