A couple years ago, I blogged about a Cauliflower Purée with Mushroom Compote, Seared King Mushroom and Shitake Bacon dish. That meal was awesome but time-consuming. Today, the big head of cauliflower sitting in my fridge inspired me to make a simple vegan mashed cauliflower side dish.
I decided to load this up with roasted garlic, chives, and nutritional yeast. I used vegan margarine, but a drizzle of olive oil would be really tasty too.
The result is a wonderfully light and flavorful side dish that you wouldn’t feel too bad about if you ended-up eating a whole bowl full. Who me? Never…
Roasting Garlic Cloves
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Cut off the end of the garlic cloves to expose the flesh. Place them on a piece of foil, drizzle them with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
- Wrap the cloves up with the foil and place them on baking pan. Bake them for 1 hour. The cloves should be soft and fragrant.
- Once cooled, pop the cloves from their skins, and mash them up before incorporating them into your dish.
Recipe Notes – Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic & Chives
- I like to include a couple cloves of roasted garlic in this mashed cauliflower, but if you don’t have the time, feel free to substitute a fresh clove of garlic, or garlic powder.
- Purée the boiled cauliflower with an immersion blender or potato masher.
Looking for more side dishes?
- White Bean Mash with Grilled Vegetables
- Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers with Almonds and Mint
- Gnocchi Potato Salad with Green Beans & Quinoa
- See all my vegan side dish recipes
Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic & Chives
This vegan cauliflower mash / cauliflower puree with roasted garlic, chives, and nutritional yeast is so healthy, they won’t feel guilty asking for seconds! Vegan / Gluten-Free
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower, chopped into florets
- 2 big cloves of roasted garlic (see recipe above) (or 1 clove raw garlic)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp vegan margarine
- 1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Chop the head of cauliflower into small florets.
- Place cauliflower in a large pot and fill with just enough water to cover the florets.
- Bring the water to boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Steam until tender, about 6 minutes.
- Drain the cauliflower well.
- Place the cauliflower in a large bowl, and puree with potato masher or immersion (stick) blender.
- Mix in remaining ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.
Keywords: cauliflower, chive, easy, food processor, gluten-free, holiday & special occasion, kid-friendly, low-carb, mash, nut-free, nutritional yeast, oven, soy-free, stove top, vegan
Such a great recipe and easy way to “sneak” more healthy veggies onto my plate. Thank you!
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This is excellent, thank you!
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An awesome alternative to mashed potatoes! Thanks for sharing this recipe, our family loves it.
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Making this tonight!
Yummy
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what if you roast the cauliflower and then boil/steam it??!! trying it tonight
Made this tonight but used fresh dill instead because that’s what I had on hand. My boyfriend isn’t a cauliflower fan & commented “wow, this is great- reminds me of mashed potatoes!” Uh, yeah that’s the point! 😉
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HI,
The flavor of this recipe was fantastic but since I used a food processor it was more like a puree. Do I need to mash it in order to keep it a little firm?
Thanks!
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Yes, very likely…
This was really good I made a batch of it for when I work. The only change I made was I added some almond milk to it, not very much only about 2 tbsp to make it smooth. Thanks for the recipe!
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I followed this exactly and it was outstanding! Loved it! Thanks for the recipe. Everything I’ve made from your site has been delicious.
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I am giving this recipe 5 stars, but I have to admit that it didn’t start out that way. I happen to LOVE sinfully delicious mashed potatoes. I also LOVE cauliflower, so I thought this would be a marriage made in heaven.
I followed the recipe to the letter, but when I took my first bite- I felt like I had been betrayed. The texture is nothing like mashed potatoes. I wanted to cry and toss the whole thing out. A few minutes later, I had the delicious hint of roasted garlic in my mouth. I went back for a few more bites…. a few bites turned into me eating the whole pan.
I will definitely make this again and again. If you are a first timer, please note that these are missing the starchy quality of potatoes. If you can get past that, these are quite tasty. Thank you for the recipe.
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Hi Tricia, that’s great feedback and sorry if I misled you. I guess nothing can really replace potatoes, but considering how healthy this is in comparison, I think it’s a good compromise. Thanks for taking a chance on the recipe, and encouraging others to as well. All the best 🙂
I’ve made this recipe before and I thought it was FABULOUS. Seriously, I think it only lasted me three servings 🙂
However, cauliflower is a little expensive in my area (for a poor college student). Could I make this recipe with frozen cauliflower? I know it probably won’t be quite as good as fresh, but I figure it might be worth a try. Could I just microwave the frozen cauliflower, or would I still steam/boil it on the stove? I’m pretty new at cooking 🙂
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Glad you like it so much. Absolutely, use frozen cauliflower. I don’t think it will matter one bit 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! But, I’m a bit confused about cooking the cauliflower. You the water should cover the florets but then you say to steam until tender. Does it matter if they’re steamed or boiled as long as they’re soft? I always assume you lose fewer nutrients with steaming.
Sorry about that. Steam or boil, either works 🙂
I was wondering if you could give me ideas about what to serve these with? I like to do sort of traditional “meat and potatoes” meals that have no meat! I don’t know if that sounds weird but… I do have a hard time thinking of things to serve that aren’t just variations on baked tofu.
Hi Libby – I do tend to serve this with a side of baked tofu, but you could do seitan or tempeh on the side too. You could also coat your tofu in BBQ sauce or “shake and bake” type toppings. I’ll try to get more of those types of recipes up in the new year 🙂
Amazing recipes! 🙂 Do you include nutrition information on any of your recipes?
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Thanks! I don’t at this time, but I’ll get to it eventually 🙂
Your picture of the roasted garlic looks like it has olive oil on the foil. But the “recipe” does not refer to oil (though it does say to drizzle salt and pepper). Was wondering whether you roast it with salt, pepper and drizzled olive oil.
Hi David – You should drizzle olive oil and season with salt and pepper. I’m fixing the post now. Thanks for catching it and reporting it to me!
I’m anxious to give some of these a try. After watching Forks over Knives we made the switch about two months ago… Always on the lookout for making this new way of eating more enjoyable. Thanks for taking the time to provide this info…
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That’s so great! I’m so glad that my recipes can help you as you embark on this new journey. Please let me know which recipes you try 🙂
You use vegan margarine in your recipes which I’m not allowed to eat, can you substitute with olive oil or something in savoury dishes?
In this recipe, absolutely! I use margarine very rarely myself and would say that olive oil can be used in most of my appetizers and mains.
Out of all the recipes out there, I chose yours solely based on the amazing pictures. It was scrumptious!
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Thank you! Glad you liked it 🙂
Tried it tonight. Turned out great!
The kids were a little sceared, but they cleaned their plates 🙂
Just found your sire today, will definitely try some more recipes
Philip
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Happy to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Oh my god, these are heavenly. Thank you for posting! These are perfect for comfort food when you’re vegan and trying to cut carbs/fat out for sports. I made them without the margarine and they still are amazing…will quickly become a staple in my house. Thanks again!
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Agreed – they’re like the perfect “comfort yet healthy” food. I’m so glad you liked them, thanks for taking the time to let me know!
I made this tonight and it was really really good! Yay to cauliflower and thank you for the simple and tasty recipe!
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Yay for cauliflower indeed! I’m glad you liked it, thanks for taking the time to comment 😉
This is really yummy!!!
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So glad you liked it! 🙂
Hi there. Your recipes sound fantastic! Im going to try this cauli mash. Just wondering what is the reason for the addition of nutritional yeast? What does it taste like? Is there a generic name for it?
Helen.
Hi Helen – Nutritional yeast imparts a “cheesy” flavor. Feel free to leave it out if you don’t have any on hand, but it’s a great addition to any vegan kitchen. Read my post about it here: https://vegangela.com/2011/04/20/nutritional-yeast-nooch/
Hi Angela, I got the nutritional yeast and Ive tried this recipe 3 times since. Its fantastic. My cauliflower-hating friends just thought it was delicious! Its definitely going to be on my repertoire of recipes from now on. Thanks so much.
Hi Helen, I fixed the “typo” on my name, he he! 🙂 I’m so glad you picked up some nutritional yeast – it’s such a great ingredient. I put it in everything!
A divine & tasty recipe! I made this yesterday for the very 1st time & loved every bite of it!
I ate it with baked tofu & my husband ate this with an organic pork chop: so good, so tasty too! 🙂
I am not a vegan but do cook, bake & eat vegan 5x/week. I also blog about it! Check me out! x
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Hi Sophie – Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad that you both enjoyed this recipe! I’ll add your blog to my RSS reader now 🙂
That looks awesome! I tried mashed cauli tonight for the first time and unfortunately it bombed pretty hard. I roasted them but don’t think they were in there long enough. They were still pretty firm. Do you find you need to get them pretty soft in order to get the mashed potato consistency?
Did you make the mashed cauliflower from this recipe? Yes, the cauliflower has to be pretty soft before mashing it… hope that helps?
Well I didn’t use your exact recipe no. I roasted the cauliflower in the oven to brown them and give extra flavor then tossed them into the food processor with some of the broth from the moroccan chicken to moisten it up. The flavors going into the mash were solid but the consistency was gross 🙂
Hmm… sorry it didn’t work out. Maybe try making it as-is next time to see if it works out better for you?
If you read the recipe carefully, you roost the garlic, and actually boil the cauliflower. If you roast the cauliflower, I’m sure that would be gross!
Hi Melissa – You got it! It’s the roasted garlic that really makes this so flavorful…
This recipe sounds absolutely wonderful and delicious! I’m going to try it as soon as I pick up some nutritional yeast. I’m always looking for comfort foods that are vegan, so I don’t jump into all the heavy carbs. Thanks for this.
You’re so welcome! Let me know what you think of it… 🙂
Mashed cauli was a big staple in our house whne we were going no carbs for dinner. I need to bring it back – so good!
Agreed – it’s a great alternative! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Looks fantastic.
2013 = Year of Less Carbs and More Veggies.
Thanks!
I couldn’t agree more! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Veggies are very high in carbohydrates. I assume you mean less refined carbs!
Yes exactly 🙂
“Veggies are very high in carbohydrates”? A medium head of cauliflower contains about 29 grams of carbohydrates with 12 grams of that as fiber. This recipe yields 4 servings. Thus, each serving contains only about 4.25 grams of carbohydrates. By contrast one medium sized potato contains about 37 grams of carbohydrates with just 4.7 grams of that as fiber. Broccoli, Cauliflower, cucumber or any non-starchy vegetable remains incredibly low in carbohydrates.