Who knew you can turn a head of cauliflower into something on par with a decadent, divine, buttery cream sauce straight out of Julia Child’s kitchen – sans fat and calories? Well, we all do now! Gone are the days of loading up the pan first with butter, then flour, then heavy cream, then full-fat cheese, then a little more butter, then take the whole thing and flood it over pasta, with more full-fat cheese – and then, I would imagine, a trip to the cardiologist.
The truth? Once you’ve made this cream sauce, you will never make another. The consequences? There aren’t any. Yes, you read that right – it’s not truth or consequences, it’s the truth and no consequences! It’s as versatile as any cream sauce has a right to be, can be used in a myriad of ways and you can indulge as often as you wish – now how many decadent, divine, buttery cream sauces can you say that about? Thought so – let’s get started …
click here to jump down to the cauliflower cream sauce recipe
1. Quarter a head of cauliflower.
2. Remove the innermost core as it tends to be tough.
3. Continue breaking it down into small pieces – the smaller the pieces, the faster they cook.
4. Collect the rest of the players.
5. First, in a large pot put the cauliflower pieces, diced onion, minced garlic, chicken bouillon & enough water to kinda, almost cover the contents of the pot. Bring to a boil & simmer until the cauliflower is nice & soft.
6. When the cauliflower is nice & tender, get your immersion blender and start blending.
7. And continue blending until it’s completely smooth.
8. Like this.
9. Whisk in a scant amount of cream.
10. Next, the flavourings go in – and it can be anything you like.
11. Get the parmesan cheese grated and ready to go. I’m adding cheese as I’m going for an alfredo idea. But if you stop here without the cheese, you have yourself some rockin’ cream sauce ready for anything.
12. Stir in the cheese and mix until it melts and you’re done.
13. Pour your cauliflower cream sauce into a bowl.
14. Stand back and admire your latest creation! And contemplate how you’d like to serve it.
15. I just threw this together and so can you. A little cooked pasta, a little stir-fried vegetables and guess what I’m thinking for the sauce?
16. Here’s a hint.
17. That’s right, use enough sauce to generously cover the pasta and vegetable mixture.
18. Just like that.
19. Presto – and there you have it – cauliflower cream sauce that won’t break the bank, the scales or your waistband. You can put this sauce over just plain pasta or make it as chockful as you like. Personally, I’ve always been a chockful kinda gal – so here’s to filling up your chock?
cauliflower cream sauce
yield makes 4-5 cups of sauce
INGREDIENTS & METHOD
1. Chop into small chunks and place in a large pot:
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 2 onions
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
2. Almost cover with:
- water or chicken/vegetable stock – maybe 2-3 cups
3. If using water, add:
- 1-2 tbsps. boullion or boullion cubes
4. Bring to a boil and simmer until the cauliflower is nice and tender. Get your immersion blender out and start puréeing into a smooth sauce or transfer to a blender to purée completely. Once blended add:
- 1/3 cup light cream
5. Next the flavourings go in, below is what I used, but use what you like or what you have on hand, you’ll need 2-3 teaspoons in total:
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- several turns of freshly cracked black pepper
6. Stir in to melt:
- 1/3-1/2 cup grated parmesan
get creative
Use the cauliflower cream sauce in a variety of ways:
- add a little milk and pour over thinly sliced potatoes for a new twist on scalloped potatoes
- use where any newburg sauce is called for – scallops or shrimp for an instant seafood newburg
- use as the cheesy layer in your favourite lasagne recipe
- smear a little on pita or naan and carry on with your favourite pizza toppings
- toss with roasted vegetables, put in a casserole, top with parmesan and broil until crispy
- use it as a the base for macaroni & cheese, any pot pie, baked casserole or stroganoff
- drizzle over a baked potato, top with grated sharp cheddar and put under the broiler to brown
- add chopped up artichoke hearts, chopped frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry), shredded mozzarella for a hot dip
- stir into cooked rice along with stir-fried vegetables for an instant risotto
- this sauce is a blank canvas – use it wherever you want a little rich, creaminess to bring it all together
how to flavour cauliflower cream sauce – let me count the ways
Omit the parmesan cheese and flavour it up in any way you like. Start with a couple of teaspoons, taste and adjust to your liking.
- any homemade or store-bought spice blend or dry rub
- add a little heat – cayenne, chili powder, chipotle powder, red pepper flakes, hot sauce
- go for classic flavour combinations
- add anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to 1/2 cup of pesto or red pepper purée
- moroccan spice mix
- spice rub 101
- herb & spice blend
- bbq rub recipes
- berbere blend
- cajun blend
- chinese 5-spice powder
- curry blends 101
- dry rub recipes & tips
- garam masala
- greek blend
- herbes de provence
- italian mix
- jerk seasoning
- old bay mix
- poultry blend
- quatre épices blend
- ras el hanout
- salt blend
- sloppy joe mix
- taco blend
- za’atar
- zhoug mix
salmon grilled with dijon, honey & soy
black olives seared in lemon, garlic & herbs
zucchini, chocolate, coconut, nut bread
corn on the cob with garlic & lime
lemon summer squash soup
OH EM GEE!!!! THIS RECIPE R-O-C-K-S!!!
This is FANTASTIC! I’ve made it twice now; the first time I made it to put in a baked mac & cheese, so I added a little parmesan, a small container of cottage cheese, and lots & lots of shredded old cheddar. The mac & cheese was delicious (even the 2 kids finished their plates) and I had so much sauce left over (the recipe makes 8-10 cups), I thinned some out & ate it as soup, then used the rest to make really, REALLY good scalloped potatoes. I had to make it again ’cause I realized I hadn’t tried it without the cheese and I wanted to leave an educated reply to this post. Without the cheese, it was also great – I made scalloped potatoes again (froze a bunch in muffin tins for quick dinners) and half a dozen mini chicken pot pies. Everyone loves it!!! I froze the last cup or so of the plain sauce to try another of your suggestions, probably pizza sauce.
Thanks so much for posting this recipe!!!
Oh my goodness!! This seriously sounds fantastic, I have got to try this! I never make creamy sauces because of the obvious (too rich), this is perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing! Ps I love my immersion blender!
Just made the cauliflower cream sauce for a chicken lasagne and wondered if you’ve whipped up a batch yet! And I must look for quinoa spaghetti – I’ve also been on the whole-grain train forever so I’m always wanting to find new options – just finished up my whole-grain spelt spaghetti so I’ll be on the lookout/hunt for quinoa!