Cauliflower Cheese
This vegetarian builds cauliflower, mature cheddar and parmesan into a crowd-pleasing meal you can have ready in about 65 minutes. Below: the ingredients split into pantry staples and a quick shopping list, a built-in serving scaler, and the method in 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and saucepan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (4)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Cut the cauliflower into even florets and boil them in well-salted water for 5 to 6 minutes until just tender but still firm, then drain thoroughly and tip into a baking dish.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stir in the flour, and cook the resulting roux for 1 to 2 minutes until it smells nutty but has not browned.
- Gradually pour in the milk a little at a time, whisking constantly to keep the sauce smooth, and cook until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar, half the parmesan, the mustard, salt, and pepper until the cheese melts into a glossy sauce.
- Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the cauliflower, making sure every floret is coated.
- Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining parmesan and scatter over the top.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the sauce is bubbling at the edges and the top is golden and crisp. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
You'll use: Oven · Saucepan · Pan · Whisk · Baking dish
Ingredient substitutions
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Parmesan
- pecorino · grana padano · aged asiago
Tips & common questions
How long does Cauliflower Cheese take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 10 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of milk?
Try any unsweetened plant milk. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Cauliflower Cheese vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Cauliflower Cheese is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Cauliflower-cheese.jpg by Andy / Andrew Fogg from near Cambridge, UK, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.