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A tilted view of a red baking dish with cauliflower gratin

Cauliflower Gratin


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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

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
  • 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) you can use regular milk if you prefer ( See Note 1)
  • 8 oz shredded cheese, Swiss or Gruyere cheese are preferable, but you can also use sharp cheddar 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

  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Coat the bottom of a medium-size baking dish with oil or cooking spray
  2. Cut the cauliflower into small bite-size pieces and place it in the baking dish.
  3. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt, garlic powder, pepper, and toss well. Bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature of the oven to 375F
  4. 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.
  5. Slowly whisk in the milk and nutritional yeast, whisking constantly and making sure there are no lumps.
  6. Add salt and pepper and bring to a simmer until it thickens and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
  7. Add shredded cheese, stir well and continue cooking until all the cheese has melted.
  8. Pour the bechamel sauce over cooked cauliflower and mix well, so all the cauliflower is coated with the sauce.
  9. Mix panko bread crumbs with parmesan cheese and salt in a medium bowl and sprinkle it evenly on top of the cauliflower.
  10. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden.

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. To make this recipe gluten-free use gluten-free flour for the bechamel sauce and gluten-free panko bread crumbs for the topping.
  5. 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
  • 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

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