Name: Cauliflower Gratin
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 recipe mashed cauliflower ((see note)); 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; 6 strips cooked bacon (finely chopped)

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This creamy cauliflower gratin is healthier than the potato version but just as delicious. It’s made with mashed cauliflower, bacon, and cheese so it’s creamy and cheesy. It’s a great side dish for holiday dinners.

This cauliflower gratin is another Thanksgiving side idea. I know there’s been an unusual amount of savory recipes lately. I’m gearing up for major baking for Thanksgiving though!

Potato gratin is one of Mr. K’s favorite dishes. He loves all that cheese and bacon. I don’t make it too often because I know how unhealthy it is. So after discovering cauliflower as a great potato substitute, I decided to try making his favorite with cauliflower instead. The verdict? He loved it!

Cauliflower mimics the texture of potatoes so well. With all the added cheese and bacon, it really masks any vegetable flavor.

Ingredients

Mashed cauliflower
Shredded cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese
Finely chopped cooked bacon

How to prep the cauliflower florets: Follow the instructions in my Mashed Cauliflower recipe. You can boil the cauliflower in a large pot until it’s tender with water instead of broth, if you like, for this gratin since there will be so much flavor from the cheese and bacon.

Casserole dish: for this recipe, I made two small cauliflower au gratin but you can use a 1-quart baking dish to make a single casserole. You can also double this recipe if you want to serve more.

Cheese options: I like Parmesan but you can use shredded sharp cheddar cheese, white cheddar, or Gruyere cheese to give the dish a different flavor.

Recipe Steps

Spray or butter the small casserole dishes (or one dish if you are making one gratin) and preheat the oven to 375°F

Place the cauliflower mash mixture in the baking dishes. Stir some of the crumbled cooked bacon into each and then sprinkle the cheese over the top. Top the cheese with the rest of the bacon.

Bake the gratins for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. At the end of the baking time, I like to turn the oven to a low broil so the tops of the gratins turn golden and bubbling.

Garnish Ideas: You can sprinkle chopped fresh parsley over the top with some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper if desired. I think sprinkling some toasted breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter sprinkled over the top would work well, too.

After I served this dish, I left the room for a minute and when I came back, the baking dish was empty. He asked me to make him more. Yes, I’m pretty shocked too…It’s almost as shocking as when I found him awake before me last Sunday and cleaning the house.

He also had brought me up breakfast in bed. Okay, it was just bread we had bought from the bakery the night before, but still. I can’t remember the last time he brought me up any meal in bed.

So maybe he wasn’t quite himself when he declared his love for this cauliflower gratin recipe, but it’s definitely a keeper and one that I really enjoy, too. I think it would be great as a side dish for Thanksgiving, Easter, or Christmas dinner.

More Holiday Recipe Ideas