Keto Mac and Cheese

Why cauliflower?

The cruciferous vegetable, cauliflower, has many skeptics. It is known for having an off-putting smell and flavor. Others love it and cauliflower has been a replacement for many high carb favorites like rice, noodles and pizza crust. And if it is prepared right, you can’t even tell the dish has cauliflower in it.

In this macaroni and cheese recipe, we use cauliflower in place of the elbow noodles. But don’t worry, if you are one of those cauliflower haters, you won’t even tell this dish has a vegetable in it! It’s a great way to sneak in some veggies into your kids’ diet too!

When I make keto cauliflower mac and cheese, I get a bag of precut cauliflower florets just for convenience and to eliminate the step of cutting florets. You can save money by buying a whole head of cauliflower and chopping up florets yourself. Another option is to use frozen cauliflower.

Choosing the right cheese

My favorite cheeses to use when making cauliflower mac and cheese are sharp cheddar cheese and gruyere cheese.

Gruyere

Gruyere is a softer cheese and has a rich, nutty flavor. It is creamy and melts well.

Cheddar

The cheddar cheese provides that iconic cheddar flavor in macaroni and cheese and give the dish it’s yellow – orange color. It like using sharp cheddar over mild or medium cheddar as it has a stronger cheddar flavor so that cheddar flavor really comes out in the dish as helps to mask the cauliflower taste.

Other cheeses

Here are some cheese substitutions you can make depending on what you have access to. You can use any combination of cheese. Play with the amounts and types.

• Medium cheddar
• Pepper jack
• Colby jack
• Monterey jack
• Fontina
• Swiss

Substitutions & modifications

Besides changing up some of the cheeses used in this keto cauliflower macaroni and cheese recipe, you can substitute some of the ingredients to make the sauce.

• Almond Flour – substitute with 1 tablespoon of coconut flour or 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder (these are great substitutions for someone with a nut allergy or sensitivity.
• Heavy Cream – substitute with a nut milk like almond milk, coconut milk or macadamia nut milk (these are good options for those wishing to lower the calorie count of this mac and cheese)

Storing macaroni and cheese

This keto side dish can be made up ahead of time.

It’s a good option for those who like to meal prep. Store the cauliflower mac and cheese in refrigerator. The cheese sauce will thicken and harden a bit when it’s cooled but once you reheat the dish either in the microwave or stovetop, the cheese sauce will liquify and be creamy again.