Creamy Mashed Cauliflower made without dairy – A great substitute for mashed potatoes if you’re looking low carb options! Gluten Free + Vegan + Paleo
Where do you sit on the whole turning vegetables into carb based comfort foods thing?
I, for one, LOVE it.
Zucchini pizzas, sweet potato crackers, mashed cauliflower…I know it sounds ridiculous and maybe even a little bit obnoxious, but when it’s done right it’s total food heaven. It’s flavour and comfort without the huge insulin spike and carb crash to follow. What a beautiful thing.
Onto the creamy veggie mash!
How to Make: Creamy Vegan Mashed Cauliflower
Altogether this recipe is super easy! It’s made up of only 7 ingredients and unlike most other mashed cauliflower recipes out there’s it’s 100% dairy free.
Start off by simply steaming your cauliflower. You want to steam and not boil because cauliflower already has a pretty high water content. Boiling will just add more water which would result in a less thick and creamy mash.
So steam it over boiling water for about 10-15 minutes. You want the cauliflower to be extremely soft and tender before moving on to the next step.
While the cauliflower is steaming, sauté your garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Cooking the garlic is important because it tones down its fieriness.
Once the cauliflower is ready, transfer the florets to a food processor or blender along with the remaining ingredients:
- soaked cashews
- lemon juice
- salt
- sautéed garlic
- & nutritional yeast
As I noted above this mashed cauliflower is entirely dairy free. Instead of adding actual cream to it you’re basically making a cashew cream with the five ingredients listed above. This is what makes this mash creamy.
From here it’s just a matter of blending it all up into a smooth puree. Taste and season with a little more salt as need. Top it off with freshly chopped chives to garnish along with any of your favourite toppings you’d normally add to mashed potatoes.
Feel free to add bacon bits, fresh herbs, butter, cheese – anything you’d like!
With the holiday’s coming up this would make a great, low carb side for you and anyone who’s looking for lower glycemic options.
That all being said, if you’re not quite ready to commit to a 100% Creamy Cauliflower Mash you might be interested in checking out my Mashed Potatoes with Cauliflower!
Creamy Mashed Cauliflower
Creamy Mashed Cauliflower made without dairy - A great substitute for mashed potatoes if you're looking low carb options! Gluten Free + Vegan + Paleo
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water at least 4 hours or over night
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 large cloves garlic,
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Bring about one to two inches of water to a boil in a large sauce pot. Add cauliflower florets to a colander or to the steamer basket that fits over the sauce pot. Place a lid over the cauliflower and steam until the cauliflower is tender, 10-12 minutes until very tender.
- While the cauliflower is steaming warm the oil oil in a small skillet over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until golden and fragrant. Remove the garlic from the hot pan to keep it from cooking further.
- Drain and pat dry. Add the cauliflower to a food processor or blender along with the soaked cashews, salt, lemon juice, garlic and nutritional yeast. Process/blend until smooth.
- Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Top with fresh chopped chives and serve immediately.
- Optional toppings: feel free to add additional toppings as you would with mashed potatoes: butter, cheese bacon bits - whatever you like!
Heinz Kabutz says
Oh this was amazing, thank you so much. Whilst not vegan, I didn’t like the looks of the other cauliflower cream recipes and so searched for cashew nuts and cauliflower. You did not disappoint! Took a while to find nutritional yeast where I live, but totally worth it. Amazing texture and taste, just melts in your mouth.
Sarah Nevins says
So glad you were able to find nutritional yeast and try this! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!
Joy E Ensign says
What could you use as a substitute for the cashews? One of my sons has a nut allergy so I never use them.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Joy! A couple things you could try. If you can have dairy then you could add 3-4 tablespoons of cream cheese (or vegan cheese). If you don’t want to use cream cheese you can just skip the nuts altogether. The blended up cashews add an extra element of creaminess/thickness to the mash. While I do think it makes the mash better, it’s not actually necessary and you can totally make this without. Hope that helps!
Staci says
Made this for dinner tonight it was amazing!!!
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Staci! So glad you enjoyed it!
Amanda Rodrigues Pisetta says
Heey, I’m from Brazil! Do you know any product who substitutes the Nutritional Yeast? Thanks!
Sarah says
Hi Amanda! If you can vegan parmesan that would be perfect! I also want to recommend searching on Amazon if you haven’t already – that’s where I get my nutritional yeast here in the UK along with other types of specialty food items.
Hope that helps!