Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower (Video)
Everyone who likes cauliflower and loves cheese is going to enjoy this Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower! And if you like these ingredients I bet this cheesy baked cauliflower is going to be a recipe you’ll make often!
PIN the Cheesy Baked Cauliflower to try it later!
For this week’s Friday Favorites pick I’m reminding you about this recipe for Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower and if you’re strictly watching your carbs this January, this cheesy baked cauliflower is really going to be a treat. This is a recipe I found years ago in one of the old notebooks where I used to write down recipes before I was a blogger. I was intrigued by how easy it was, and when we tested the recipe we absolutely loved it!
And let’s be honest, I did wonder if this blog needs another cheesy baked cauliflower recipe since Twice Baked Cauliflower, Cauliflower Gratin, and Cheesy Baked Cauliflower Tots are all so popular.
But the absolute easiness of this recipe, combined with the way it uses common ingredients, convinced me that many of you will like it. So grab a head of cauliflower, some butter, Parmesan, sharp cheddar, and a cheese blend and give this tasty side dish a try. And if you want to call it a casserole and eat it as a meatless main dish, I think that would make a good dinner as well.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- cauliflower
- Kosher Salt (affiliate link) or salt, for water you use to boil the cauliflower
- butter
- coarsely-grated Parmesan cheese
- grated sharp cheddar cheese
- grated three cheese blend
- coarse-ground black pepper to taste
How much cheese do you need for the cheesy baked cauliflower?
Before I give you the recipe I want to say one more thing. This recipe uses a lot of cheese! If it seems like too much cheese for you, feel free to use the amount you prefer. (I can’t see through the computer to tell how you adapt a recipe to your personal taste, honest.) And you are under no obligation to make a recipe just because I share it here, so I hope the cheese police can refrain from criticizing!
Want more Keto Cauliflower Recipes?
Check out 25 Roasted Cauliflower Recipes to see lots more easy cauliflower side dishes from Danica's Kitchen and around the web! Or you can use Cauliflower Recipes to see all the recipes on my site that use cauliflower or use Side Dishes to find lots more ideas using this versatile low-carb veggie in a side dish!
Weekend Food Prep:
This cheesy baked cauliflower reheated especially well so if you’re a big fan of cheese + cauliflower you might want to double the recipe and make it as a Weekend Food Prep recipe to enjoy several times as a side dish.
How to Make Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Start by cutting up a head of cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and cooking it for exactly 5 minutes in boiling salted water.
- Drain the cauliflower very well.
- While you’re doing this preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
- Then put the well-drained cauliflower into a bowl (or back in the pan you boiled it in if you want to save dirtying another dish!)
- Add the butter to the hot cauliflower and stir to coat cauliflower with the butter.
- Then mix in the Parmesan and sharp cheddar.
- Put cauliflower into a baking dish and top with the three-cheese blend, or any cheese that melts well.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is cooked through and cheese is all melted and nicely browned.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
This cheesy baked cauliflower would be a great low-carb side dish for something simple like Easy Low-Carb Garlic and Lemon Shrimp, Chicken Piccata with Fried Capers, or Beef and Sausage Italian Meatloaf.
More Low-Carb Cauliflower Recipes to Love:
- Instant Pot (or Stovetop) Loaded Cauliflower Soup
- Ham and Cauliflower Casserole au Gratin
- Loaded Cauliflower Potato Salad
Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower
Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower is a rediscovered recipe I first made before I even had a blog!
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut apart into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp. kosher salt (for water you use to boil the cauliflower)
- 2 T butter
- 1/2 cup coarsely-grated Parmesan
- 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar (see notes)
- 1/2 cup grated three cheese blend
- coarse-ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
- We used an 8.5 " X 11" baking dish for this recipe. Spray baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray.
- Bring water to boil in a pot that's large enough to hold all the cauliflower.
- While the water comes to a boil, cut up the cauliflower, cutting away and discarding the core and leaves and cutting cauliflower florets into bite-sized pieces.
- When the water boils, add the salt and cut-up cauliflower, turn heat down to a low boil, and cook cauliflower 5 minutes.
- Drain cauliflower very well in a colander placed in the sink.
- When cauliflower is well-drained, put it into a bowl (or back into the pan you used to cook in) and add the butter. Stir to melt the butter and coat the cauliflower.
- Then add the coarsely-grated Parmesan, sharp cheddar, and a little black pepper if desired.
- Put the mixture into the baking dish and top with the three-cheese blend.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is cooked through and the cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.
- This will keep in the fridge for a few days and reheats well.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 535Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 24gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 127mgSodium: 1144mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 32g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower is a good side dish for any low-carb diet or Keto diet, but it’s probably too high in fat for the original South Beach Diet. However, you could make a tasty version with less cheese and use low-fat cheese for South Beach.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Side Dishes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for cheesy baked cauliflower was first posted in 2019. The recipe was last updated with more information and featured for Friday Favorites in 2024.
35 Comments on “Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower (Video)”
As a Cheese cop, I’m going to have to pull you over and cite you for insufficient cheese quantity on this.
Ok, kidding.
Great recipe. There’s no such thing as too much cheese so good for you!
Thanks for posting.
Yeah, the cheese police are alive and well! So glad you like it.
Loved this! My husband was skeptical that cheesy cauliflower would be this good without a bechamel sauce, but this we agreed this was even better than your classic cheesy cauliflower dish. We ate this with grilled chicken. Used a high-quality sharp cheddar. This would be good when you are craving comfort food, as well! 5 stars!
So glad you liked it!
Made this to go with pulled pork tonight .
When you say 9g of carb is that for one portion or for the whole recipie , i easily get confused
Nutritional information is always given per serving. This recipe has 9 total carbs per serving, but 3 grams of fiber for 6 net carbs. Hope that helps.
Did you use good quality sharp cheddar? The flavor here is from the cheese, and it was definitely delicious with the cheeses that I used.
I am so lucky to get great recipes from people like you. I just put i the ingredients I have on hand and it takes me to so many options. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! I have become a better cook in this quarantined time thanks to your efforts. My stomach and I appreciate you!
That is great Sarah, thanks for the nice feedback!
Great recipe!
I found your recipe when looking for something to make with some leftover steamed cauliflower and broccoli that we had from dinner last night (it was slightly undercooked). We didn’t have 3 cheese bend, so used mix of sharp and mild cheddar. I can also see this being good with a variety of other cheeses!
I adapted by starting with tossing it in a little olive oil as that was what was on hand). I also added 2 cloves of grated garlic in with the cheeses (which admittedly I did not measure, but used what looked about right). I liked the flexibility of this recipe to use it as a guide with what I had on hand.
It paired well with baked pesto chicken (inspiration from another recipe of yours I found after looking at this one!) and a side of sautéed beet greens.
Thank you so much for sharing it!!
Love hearing how you were able to switch it up and so glad you enjoyed it!
Curious where the sugar is coming from in this recipe? I tried it tonight and it was delicious – thank you!
I am guessing the sugar is from the dairy products, but I don’t know for sure. Glad you enjoyed!
Thank you, Kalyn, for all of the work that you have done putting together all of these delicious recipes and sharing them with us. You enrich all of our lives by your efforts and I just wanted to let you know that there are so many people who, though they may not take the time to say so, really appreciate it.
Thanks Pat; I appreciate you saying so!
Pat I do appreciate your attitude about it. But the good news is that I am now starting to calculate nutritional information on the recipe (as I promised I would!) This recipe now has it.
Your recipes look amazing! I can’t wait to try them. Thank you so much for posting them! I appreciate all your hard work!
Wow. Just wow.
Thank you so much for everything you do, Kalynn. You have been my go to for recipes for YEARS! You have seen me through Somercizing, South Beach, keto, low carb, etc,. and I have nothing but appreciation for the effort and time you put in to keeping up with all the changes in eating trends/styles. YOU ROCK!!!
Thanks Kristin, I appreciate the support more than you can imagine!
Lynda, thank you very much! I certainly appreciate people who are willing to take responsibility for their own eating choices! Hope you enjoy the recipes!
I made this and it was great- yes, I am on Keto. Yes, I would have liked nutrition info. But i get it! Life happens and you are working on getting that updated. In the mean time, I will enjoy your delicious recipe and wait patiently for the update. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Rachel! And nutritional info has now been added!
Clearly some people are looking for a magic healthy dish that’s going to make the weight fall off. Keto uses fat but no sugar. If you look up a cheesy cauliflower dish then criticize about the cheese, maybe you should look up “healthy” recipes instead. I am excited to give this a try out. Thinking of chopping some almonds to go on top to make it crunchy since I’m doing keto and can’t use crackers.
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
My family (husband gags) hates cauliflower so I thought I’d substitute broccoli. It was great!. Delicious!
I love hearing that, thanks for letting me know!
Made it, loved it, super easy, turned out perfect!
I will be making this again😊
So glad to hear you liked it!
This looks great, and the perfect alternative to the cauliflower cheese I make. Will definitely be trying this soon.
Hope you enjoy!
Anyone who claims that any recipe contains ‘too much cheese’ is a liar and a fraud, and you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.
Seriously, it looks amazing. Gonna try this one soon.
Ha, thanks Janice!
Would there be any downside to using frozen cauliflower? I’m wondering if it would tend to retain too much water, but I am often too lazy to cut up a cauliflower and then clean up the mess of crumbs I’ve left behind.
Truthfully I don’t have much experience cooking with frozen cauliflower. Definitely I think fresh cauliflower would be best. But thawed frozen cauliflower might work probably with a bit shorter cooking time. Would love to hear how it goes if you try it.
I guess you missed my remarks requesting no “cheese police” comments. If the recipe doesn’t appeal to you, simply don’t make it.