Cauliflower Gratin

With just a handful of ingredients, we've taken the mighty cauliflower and transformed it into a cheesy, decadent, bubbly dinner recipe. Enjoy this cauliflower gratin with a hot bowl of our vegetarian French onion soup or a healthy bowl of ratatouille for a French-inspired dinner night.

Inspired by our mom's Pasta au gratin a.k.a. Baked Mac and Cheese, an amazing, super cheesy pasta dish she used to make for us as kids, we came up with this lower-calorie version of the traditional cauliflower gratin by making a few recipe swaps.

A Healthier Cauliflower Gratin

• Consider our cauliflower gratin the healthier cousin of a baked mac and cheese. By using cauliflower instead of pasta, the dish becomes lower in calories and carbohydrates, and higher in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber
• By swapping the whole milk and butter in traditional bechamel sauce for unsweetened almond milk and olive oil, we made this cauliflower dish lower in calories and cholesterol. All without sacrificing flavor, hello, nutritional yeast!
• Every cauliflower au gratin recipe includes cheese; it's a must! Here you have a choice: use regular cheese or vegan cheese. The stronger the flavor of the cheese you choose, the less cheese you'll have to use to achieve a flavorful dish.
• We've transformed a traditionally heavy dish usually served as a side dish, into a lighter, feel-good, flavorful, satisfying dinner recipe that will make it easy for you to stick to your healthy eating resolutions... all year long!

How to Make Vegan Cauliflower Gratin

First, we oven-roasted the cauliflower. While the cauliflower is roasting, we made a bechamel sauce on the stovetop and added cheese. We combined the cauliflower and bechamel sauce in a baking dish and baked it with a crumb topping to create this delicious, comforting, and cheesy dish.

Ingredients for the Cauliflower Gratin Recipe

• Cauliflower: If you can't find fresh, you can use one 24-ounce bag of frozen cauliflower.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Adds both flavor and fat to the dish, allowing the cauliflower to crisp
• Seasoning: Nutritional yeast, Salt, Garlic Powder, and Ground Black Pepper.

Ingredients for the Bechamel Sauce

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Flour: These are used to make a traditional roux for the bechamel.
• Milk: If you want to keep the calorie and fat count down, use almond, cashew, or oat milk. For a richer cauliflower gratin, use whole milk.
• Shredded Cheese: Swiss or Gruyère cheeses are ideal for making this cauliflower au gratin. If not available, use sharp cheddar. For a milder taste, use mozzarella cheese. To make it vegan, use your favorite vegan cheese.
• Seasoning: Nutritional Yeast, Salt, and Pepper. They add flavor to the bechamel sauce

Ingredients For the Breadcrumb Topping

• Panko Bread Crumbs: These light and flaky bread crumbs add a pleasant crunch to the cauliflower gratin.
• Parmesan Cheese: Adds both salt and flavor. Use vegan parmesan if you prefer.
• Salt: You won't need much because of the Parmesan cheese.

Step-By-Step Visual Instructions for Baked Cauliflower Au Gratin

Start by preheating your oven to 400ºF and preparing your pan with cooking spray. Cut the cauliflower into small, bite-sized pieces. Even if you get the frozen cauliflower, it may need to be chopped a bit.

Mix the cauliflower with olive oil, some salt, garlic powder, pepper, and toss it all really well. You can do this directly in the pan you will bake it in to save on clean-up.

While the cauliflower mixture for the vegan cauliflower gratin is baking, prepare the bechamel on the cooktop.

Season the bechamel and bring it to a simmer until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Pour the béchamel sauce over the baked cauliflower and mix everything thoroughly, so that all the cauliflower is evenly coated with the sauce.

To make the crumb topping, mix panko bread crumbs with parmesan cheese and salt in a medium bowl, and sprinkle it evenly on top of the cauliflower. Bake the dish for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

How to Serve Vegan Cauliflower Gratin

This dish can stand on its own as a vegetarian entrée served with focaccia bread, a fresh salad, or an easy tomato rice soup. It also makes a fantastic side dish. Serve it hot.

Tips for the Best Cauliflower Gratin

• Make sure to cook the cauliflower before adding the bechamel sauce, as it will be too crunchy otherwise. If you don't have the time to roast the cauliflower, you can microwave it for 5 minutes.
• We used plant-based milk in this recipe to reduce the calorie count. You can choose to use regular milk, but the calorie count will change.  
• Make sure to cook the roux on the stovetop until it gets bubbly and starts to darken slightly. This will ensure it works as a thickening agent.
• The sauce is ready for cheese when it coats the back of a spoon. The cheese and time in the oven will thicken it more.
• Don't skip the panko topping; it adds texture and crunch to this creamy cauliflower dish.

Tips for storing, freezing, and making ahead

• Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for two to three days.
• Reheat it in the microwave or heat it in the oven or stovetop.
• It can also be frozen in individual serving-size portions and reheated as needed.
• Making ahead instructions. Prepare the cauliflower gratin for up to step #8 and keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days.  Right before serving, add the breadcrumb mix and bake.

Other Cauliflower Recipes

• Roasted Cauliflower Salad
• Cauliflower Meatballs with Coconut Turmeric Sauce
• Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos
• Turmeric Zucchini Cauliflower Soup

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