Loaded Cauliflower Mac and Cheese – cauliflower tossed in a delicious paleo cheese sauce and topped with bacon. Get your mac and cheese fix without the guilt!
Heeeey guys! Happy Monday!
I discovered that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is now on Netflix and umm, it changed my life. You guys. No one told me that it’s a musical series.
A musical!
Anyway, it’s really good and I’m not gonna tell you how many episodes I watched while I was catching up on some work that I’m waaaay behind on.
How To Make Loaded Cauliflower Mac and Cheese!
It’s not really mac and cheese, I know. But when you’re doing the paleo thing, this works. I grilled up some chicken thighs and threw them on top and called it dinner several nights in a row. But it’s also an excellent side dish!
Wait, Amanda, you can’t have cheese when you’re paleo.
The sauce calls for nutritional yeast which has a cheesy quality and is also really good for you.
Steps for making Loaded Cauliflower Mac and Cheese:
- Cook bacon in a large skillet until crispy; remove bacon and drain off most of the fat
- While bacon is cooking, steam cauliflower florets in microwave
- Once the cauliflower is cooked, transfer it to the pan with the bacon fat.
- Add full-fat canned coconut milk, nutritional yeast, salt, and black pepper
- Stir in half the bacon
- Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with remaining bacon and fresh chives
More Cauliflower Recipes
- Dirty Cauliflower Rice
- Korean Beef Cauliflower Rice Bowls
- Cauliflower Tots Shepherd’s Pie
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice
- Cheesy Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower
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Loaded Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
from Fed & Fit
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon, thinly sliced
- 2 heads cauliflower
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- In a wide soup pot or heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the bacon into a bowl. Drain off most of the fat remaining in the pan, but don't wipe the pan down.
- While the bacon is cooking, cut the cauliflower florets away from the stems. (You should have 6 cups of florets.) Steam the cauliflower by placing the cauliflower in a large microwavable bowl with ¼ cup water. Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes, or until the cauliflower is fork tender.
- Transfer the steamed cauliflower to the pot you used to cook the bacon. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chives, and stir to combine. Stir in half of the bacon and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining bacon and the chives. Serve warm.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 442Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 1276mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 11gSugar: 6gProtein: 33g
Karen says
What are the net carbs in this dish?
Carolyn says
Love that this is low carb AND dairy-free. Just pinned it!
Zandri says
Love this! It’s a paleo recipe the nutritional yeast makes it cheesy. You can also say where’s the macaroni? You guys are mean
Rick says
I have never heard of nutritional yeast. Where is it located in a grocery store – in with regular yeasts, flour, etc…
amanda says
In my grocery store, it’s in the baking section and the healthy/gluten-free section. It’s also fairly inexpensive on Amazon if you can’t find it in store.
Caitlin says
I made this tonight for dinner and it exceeded my expectations! Hubby loved it too. :) This will become a regular dish in our low carb life. Easy and delicious! Thank you!
Emma says
Is there any substitute for full fat coconut milk?
jess says
this recipe was AMAZING!
You need cheese says
You can’t havs Mac and cheese without cheese
amanda says
It’s vegan.
B says
how is this vegan when it has bacon in it?
amanda says
The cheese is a vegan cheese sauce. The recipe itself isn’t.
Hilary says
YUM!! This is DELICIOUS. My husband and I made this for Whole30, and gave some to his family whose wide eyes and smiles said just how much they loved it. This will be a new staple in our kitchen from now on. Thank you!!
amanda says
Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I need to make it again soon!
Melissa says
Wow! I halfed the recipe. My family of four loved this so much tonight. No leftovers and kids asked for seconds. Thank you for sharing.
samantha steven says
This recipe is AH-MAZING! I believe it’s my new addiction. I love the idea of it being low carb as I am on a keto diet. Thanks for this recipe!
Amarie says
Looks great ! ! I can I sub for the nutritional yeast ? Flour or ? Just wanting a veggie dish . Thank you :)
amanda says
The nutritional yeast is what gives it the cheesy flavor so I don’t recommending substituting unless you want to use actual cheese or a vegan cheese product.
Lori says
It was delicious and easy to make.