Cauliflower Gratin
This delicious Cauliflower Gratin uses sharp cheddar and Parmesan to make a perfectly delicious low-carb side dish for a special meal! And I’ve also enjoyed this cheesy cauliflower recipe as a meatless main dish.
PIN Cauliflower Gratin to make it later!
This Cauliflower Gratin that uses sharp cheddar and Parmesan cheese is a recipe that has quite a few fans and it’s low-carb, delicious, cheesy, comforting, and also ridiculously easy to make. There’s something so perfect about the combination of cauliflower + cheese; don’t you agree?
This recipe is a close cousin to the Broccoli Gratin that’s also one of my favorites (and something I’ve made over and over for Thanksgiving or other special dinners.)
Both of these easy gratin recipes are great as a cheesy side dish, but recently I ate the cauliflower for a low-carb main dish (kind of a mac-n-cheese wanna-be) and thoroughly enjoyed it as a meatless meal with a green salad on the side.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is ONLY a list of ingredients 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.)
- cauliflower
- finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
- mayo
- sour cream
- fresh squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- Dijon mustard (affiliate link)
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
What is a Gratin?
The word Gratin refers to any dish that’s topped with cheese (and sometimes butter and breadcrumbs) and then cooked in the oven or under a broiler until the top is well-browned and slightly crisp.
Can you make Cauliflower Gratin recipe with frozen cauliflower?
Personally I would use fresh cauliflower for this recipe, and I haven’t tried making it with frozen cauliflower. But if you’re a frozen cauliflower fan I’m guessing you can probably get a pretty good result using thawed and well drained frozen cauliflower that’s slightly pre-cooked.
Can you use different cheese for the Cauliflower Gratin?
I love the sharp cheddar in this cauliflower gratin recipe, but you can use any good melting cheese that you enjoy. I think a nice Swiss Cheese would also be very good.
More Gratin Recipes to Savor:
If you like cheesy vegetable gratins you might also like Delicata Squash and Sausage Gratin, Ham and Broccoli Casserole au Gratin, Sweet Potato Gratin, Easy Brussels Sprouts Gratin, or Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin.
How to Make Cauliflower Gratin:
(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.)
- Cut a medium-sized head of cauliflower into bite-sized pieces; then cook the cauliflower in boiling water for 10 minutes.
- While cauliflower is cooking, mix together finely grated sharp cheddar cheese, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and pepper.
- When cauliflower has cooked ten minutes, drain well in a colander placed in the sink.
- After cauliflower drains well, place in baking dish that you’ve sprayed with non-stick spray or a little olive oil.
- Use a rubber scraper to spread the cheese mixture over the cauliflower.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake 25-30 minutes, or until cauliflower is bubbly and lightly browned on top.
- Yum! I’d love this for a meatless dinner or a cheesy side dish!
More Cauliflower with Cheese:
- Twice-Baked Cauliflower
- Cheesy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
- Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese
- Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup
- Cheesy Baked Cauliflower Tots&
Weekend Food Prep:
The Cauliflower Gratin recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Cauliflower Gratin
Low-carb Cauliflower Gratin uses sharp cheddar and Parmesan can be a tasty side dish or a nice stand-in for Mac-n-Cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 4 T mayo
- 4 T sour cream
- 1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 3 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
- Cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces. (To avoid the little broken pieces of cauliflower all over the cutting board, cut through cauliflower stem, then pull apart the flower end.)
- Put cauliflower in a small pot, add water to cover by a few inches, then bring to boil and cook 10 minutes, or until cauliflower is just starting to get tender.
- Drain cauliflower into a colander placed in the sink and let it drain very well.
- While cauliflower cooks, stir together mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and black pepper. Stir in finely grated sharp cheddar.
- Spray a large glass or crockery baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray, then pour the well-drained cauliflower into the dish and spread out evenly.
- Use a rubber scraper to spread gratin mixture over the top of the cauliflower. (This is not a sauce that completely covers the cauliflower, more like a topping.)
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until cauliflower is bubbling and lightly browned.
- Serve hot.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Broccoli Gratin recipe in A Pinch of Salt Lake (affiliate link).
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 268Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 10gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 48mgSodium 375mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 2gSugar 2gProtein 12g
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:
Cauliflower Gratin would be a great side dish for low-carb or Keto eating plans. It could be suitable for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, but it would be recommended to use low-fat sharp cheddar, low-fat mayo, and low-fat sour cream if you’re making this 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 Kalyn’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 Cauliflower Gratin recipe was posted in 2009. It has been popular ever since and was last updated with more information in 2023.
59 Comments on “Cauliflower Gratin”
Hello Kalyn!
I’m excited to try this cauliflower gratin recipe! Would it work if I roasted the cauliflower florets first? I just love roasted vegetables and this recipe sounds delicious!!
Thank you!
Alison
Yes, I think it will work to roast the cauliflower florets first instead of boiling. Let me know how it turns out.
Made for friends,delicious had to make copies !!
Thanks soooooo much 👏
So glad you enjoyed it!
Kalyn-would this work with frozen cauliflower rice or it wouldn’t have enough consistency?
I’m really not sure how it would work with frozen cauliflower rice. My guess would be not bad but not as good as with fresh cauliflower.
This looks and sounds delicious! Going to make for Christmas Eve dinner. Was wondering if it could be made ahead of time?
Yes, I think you can make it ahead and then cook when you need it. I would let it come to room temperature before baking.
Thanks again Kalyn for this amazing recipe, you never let us down!
Delicious! Ate it with steak on the grill tonight!
I think that sounds fabulous; glad you liked it!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have made it so many times for myself and friends & potlucks, and it’s always a big hit!
So glad you have enjoyed it!
I have made this several times and it has been a favorite of family and friends. Easy and very good.
5 stars!
Thanks so much Candace! So glad you have enjoyed it!
Hi! Just letting you know I have featured this recipe in my post roundup of 14 delicious low carb recipes using cauliflower! https://jenniferbanz.com/14-delicious-low-carb-recipes-using-cauliflower
Thanks Jen, will share with my social media; always appreciated!
I made this yesterday as I had some cauliflower I wanted to use up. You can substitute good greek yogurt (I used fage), I didn't have any sour cream on hand but I did add real mayo. It came out so good, cannot wait to try with sour cream.
Good to know about the Greek yogurt; I am a huge Fage fan! Glad you enjoyed it.
Sue, you could try it, but I honestly don't know how that would work. I think the melting aspect of Greek yogurt is a little different and I wonder if it will be watery here. But let me know how it works if you try it!
Do you think I could substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream and mayo?
Superb! I love gratin. I made a cauliflower gratin just last week when we had friends over!
City Girl, glad you like it!
So glad I found this recipe! I was in search of one that didn't require flour and this one is perfect.
Oh good, so glad it even was a hit with the picky eater!
This dish was delicious! It was a big hit in our house and we have one picky eater. Thanks Kalyn!
Cathie, glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
Made this the other day and very happy with it. I didn't have any cheddar, so make it with a three cheese mixture. This one's a keeper.
Ashlyn, how great! I love it that my recipe inspired you to create a variation.
I made this recipe tonight out of hopes to find something different to eat, as my veggie likes are limited. I am still on phase one of the SBD and have become bored with some of my options. I made a combo cauliflower broccoli chicken chunk bake. I was missing some of the ingredients so I used a dab of sugar free soy milk instead of sour cream and didn't have dijon so I used a dash of montreal chicken seasoning and a dash of olive oil and it was divine!!! Even the kids LOVED it!!! I know mine was a bit diff but it was inspired by your recipe. Thanks for the great ideas, choices…HOW WONDERFUL!!!
My sweet husband just brought me two lovely heads of cauliflower from our garden. I am so happy to find this recipe. We love your twice baked cauliflower and enjoy it on special occasions. Thanks so much.
I had this tonight. My goodness it was really good. I’m still stuffed!
What a tasty sounding gratin with the cheese, mayo and mustard!
I have a real thing for macaroni and cheese. I might be some kind of addict, actually. This looks like it would sub nicely without all the carbs/calories. Thank you! I am so making this!
It’s a real coincidence, but I was wondering what to do with the cauliflower that’s about to die in my fridge. This looks lovely.
Thanks everyone for the nice feedback. I just bought some cauliflower so I can make this again!
Looks like a great recipe Kalyn, and I’m sure I’d enjoy it because I love both cauliflower and cheese!
Nothing goes better with cauliflower (or broccoli for that matter!) than cheese, cheese, cheese.
This looks delicious Kalyn! i love cauliflower and cheese mmm
Great way to get some cauliflower in us!
This sounds really good to me, I just wish I could convince hubs to eat cauliflower. Maybe I’ll make a have recipe just for me! 🙂
Kalyn, I can’t thank you enough for this recipe. I have a terrible weakness for mac and cheese and I was mourning not having it in my life anymore. You totally have come to my rescue!! I made this last night and my entire family just snarfed it up in utter ecstasy. It is BETTER than mac and cheese. This dish is such a keeper. Again, thanks.
I was just thinking the other day that it had been awhile since I made a gratin. I used to love broccoli gratin.
I love this dish, I made it last week with cheddar & stilton, then on Sunday with just Port Salou & a low fat creme fraiche sauce.
It makes life so much easier when you can just pop things in the oven & more or less forget about them.;0)
I wish I saw this before I steamed mine tonight. Doh!
PS – Greetings from Heber
Yes yes yes! I agree gratin goes so well with roasted pork. I love cauliflower too so a great excuse to switch the potatoes to cauliflower 🙂
Some day I’m going to learn to love cauliflower, and when I do, I’m going to make this recipe. I try once every year to find a cauliflower dish that will change my mind about it. Usually melted cheese will do the trick!
I love cauliflower, but Josh hates it. Maybe he would enjoy it if I fixed this dish though. It looks fantastic!
Cauliflower cheese – a great British classic. Ok, I know yours isn’t quite the same but in my eyes this is a classic combination which would remind me of my childhood.
I love cauliflower and this is so easy to make & is a satisfying meal too. Thanks Kalyn.
Cheers,
Siri
I’m glad people are liking this, because it’s such an easy way to make this type of dish, so much easier than making an actual sauce. Definitely I think this can be made ahead, refrigerated, and then cooked later. If you have time, I’d take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature before you bake.
I’m not able to provide nutritional information for the recipes for several reason, including the additional time it takes, the difficulty in doing it accurately, and the sheer number of recipes on my site. I give two links after the recipe itself (where it says “Nutritional Information”) for suggestion of how to get that information. So that link you are seeing that says Calorie Count is a link for a site where you can enter the recipe and calculate it. Or you can sign up for a membership with Yummly (free) and then you can just click the orange YUM button at the top of the posts and get nutritional information. That’s all I can do at this time. Thanks for understanding.
I am always looking for more ways to use cauliflower as I love the vegetable. Do you think this can be assembled ahead of time and then baked? The ingredients are probably fantastic together. Thanks for the inspiration.
I had a party over the weekend and have LOTS of leftover cauliflower from the crudite. Thanks for this delicious looking way for me to use it up tonight. Have a terrific day, Kalyn.
One of my all time favorite dishes. Looks wonderful.
Thanks so much for commenting on my blog! This dish looks fabulous. I love cheesy side dishes served with a lighter main course, and broccoli and cauliflower are two of the vegetables I crave most.
oh yum! i can’t wait to try this! i’ve made cauliflower gratin but never with cheddar. i bet its fabulous!
Such a satisfying cold winter meal. I’ve been eating lots of squash and cabbage lately, but should pick up some cauliflower. Lovely recipe Kalyn!
This dish looks so good! I’ve been wanting to find more options for califlower. I love it, but I always either steam it or use it for dips so, I’ll have to try this. Thanks