Description
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.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 medium-size cauliflower head or one 24 ounce bag of frozen cauliflower
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
For the bechamel sauce
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour. See note 4 to make it gluten-free
- 2 cups plain unsweetened non-vanilla plant-based milk, (almond, cashew, oat, etc) or whole milk if you prefer ( See Note 1)
- 8 oz shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese, cheddar for a milder flavor, or vegan cheese.
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
For the breadcrumb topping
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (you may use vegan)
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat the bottom of a medium-size baking dish with oil or cooking spray
- Cut the cauliflower into small bite-sized pieces and place it in the baking dish.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt, garlic powder, and pepper, and toss well. Bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature of the oven to 375ºF
- In the meantime, prepare the bechamel sauce. In a large non-stick saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add flour and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to lightly brown, 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the milk and nutritional yeast, whisking constantly and making sure there are no lumps.
- Add salt and pepper and bring to a simmer until it thickens and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
- Add shredded cheese, stir well, and continue cooking until all the cheese has melted.
- Pour the béchamel sauce over the cooked cauliflower and mix well, so all the cauliflower is coated with the sauce.
- Mix panko bread crumbs with parmesan cheese and salt in a medium bowl, and sprinkle them evenly on top of the cauliflower.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden.
Notes
- We used plant-based milk in this recipe in order to reduce the calorie count, you can choose to use regular milk, but the calorie count will change. For this recipe, we used unsweetened, plain almond milk and that's what the nutritional facts reflect.
- 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 breadcrumb mix and bake again.
- Freezing instructions: Freeze the cauliflower gratin once baked, but just bake for 15 minutes. When ready to serve, thaw and bake for 15-25 minutes before serving.
- To make this recipe gluten-free use gluten-free flour for the bechamel sauce and gluten-free panko bread crumbs for the topping.
- This post was originally published on January 20th, 2015 and it has been updated.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Entree
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of the dish made with plant-based milk
- Calories: 378
- Sugar: 3.2
- Sodium: 885
- Fat: 25.4
- Saturated Fat: 9.6
- Unsaturated Fat: 13.6
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 23.1
- Fiber: 3.1
- Protein: 15.9
- Cholesterol: 40.6