Creamy Cauliflower Gratin

This creamy cauliflower gratin is a delicious cheesy side dish that you’ll want to make again and again. Perfect for any holiday meal!

Creamy Cauliflower Gratin is a tasty, low-carb alternative to scalloped potatoes. This recipe has all the same flavor of potato gratin with less carbs and calories.

Creamy Cauliflower Gratin is an easy recipe that will satisfy your cravings for comfort food without all of the carbs or calories you might expect from traditional recipes.

The only thing better than creamy, cheesy cauliflower gratin is knowing that there are fewer carbs and calories than what you would find in traditional recipes made with potatoes.

Packed with veggies, this comfort food casserole is easy to prep, and even easier to eat!

What is a Gratin?

A gratin, or dish that is covered with cheese and/or breadcrumbs before baking, is considered by many to be an essential player at any holiday celebration.

Gratins can be made with many types of vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. They may include meats such as ham or bacon and usually contain cheese as well.

In this case, our dish is a creamy cauliflower gratin that can be served as a side dish with any meal.

The creamy base of a gratin is a white sauce, or béchamel. The classic recipe for béchamel is made with butter, flour and milk. We have made ours a super creamy and cheesy béchamel with the addition of heavy cream and a blend of cheese.

About the Ingredients for Creamy Cauliflower Gratin

Oil – Any neutral flavoured oil will do.

Cauliflower – Fresh cauliflower only. Using frozen will result in mush.

Butter – You can use either salted or unsalted. Just be sure to keep which you have used when seasoning.

Flour – To thicken the béchemel. If you want to make your béchamel thicker without flour, reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce while stirring. This will take longer as it relies on evaporation to reduce and thicken the sauce.

Milk – Any milk will do here. If you are using non-dairy milk be sure that it is unsweetened.

Heavy Cream – For the best flavour and results use heavy whipping cream. Half and half (18% mf) will work if that is what you have on hand, but won’t be as rich and creamy.

Cheese – We are using both Fontina and parmesan cheese. Don’t substitute the parm with anything. You can substitute any sharp cheese for the Fontina. Gruyere or even a sharp cheddar would work well.

Looking for More Tasty Side Dish Recipes?

Check out more of my favourite easy side dishes!

This savory mashed sweet potatoes recipe is lightly spiced and creamy, making them the perfect side dish to complete any fall meal.

This easy Pan Fried Polenta Recipe includes directions to make creamy polenta and then fry it up, bake it or grill it.

Greek Lemon Potatoes are cooked in a flavourful lemon garlic broth and then are roasted to golden perfection.

How to Make Creamy Cauliflower Gratin

Yields: 4 Servings | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 t extra virgin olive oil
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
2 T butter
2 T all-purpose flour
1 c milk
¼ c heavy cream
1-½ c fontina cheese, shredded
½ c parmesan cheese, shredded
½ c fresh Italian leaf parsley, chopped
salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease a large casserole dish with olive oil.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Par-boil the cauliflower for 3 minutes. Drain and return to the warm pot to let the steam dry some of the moisture from the cauliflower. Gently pat dry to remove any remaining moisture.
3. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes. This removes the raw taste from the flour.
4. Slowly pour in the milk and heavy cream and continue cooking 2-3 minutes or until the mixture thickens.
5. Turn off the heat and add fontina. Stir until the cheese is fully melted.
6. Place the cauliflower florets in the prepared casserole dish. Pour the fontina béchamel all over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and place in oven to bake 20 minutes or until nicely browned and bubbly on top.
7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Enjoy!