Roasted “Frosted” Cauliflower with Cheese
Tender and addictive frosted cauliflower with cheese was an inspiration from a favorite cookbook that one of our grandparents treasured. It’s hard to resist a low carb vegetable side dish. The hard part is not devouring the whole head of cauliflower in one sitting! And that means just the two of us making a whole head of cauliflower disappear.
Family Recipe Inspiration: Frosted Cauliflower with Cheese
This frosted cauliflower with cheese recipe is very special to us. Over twenty years ago, this was one of the very first cookbooks that we dived into for vegetable inspired recipes. And it way back then that we came across this recipe for frosted cauliflower that we make on a regular basis. This recipe is like a part of our family now. Is it odd to ordain a cauliflower recipe onto our family tree? It’s permanently there and we’ve been known to bring in some odd characters into our family unit. Take a look at our silly and crazy dogs and you’ll now how far from normal we are.
Watch Video: How To Make Frosted Cauliflower Recipe
Delicious way to Eat Cauliflower
It’s during this time of year that our farmers markets are exploding- repeat, exploding & overloading- with cauliflower. Colorful heads of gorgeous cauliflower in many different varieties, shapes and sizes are flooding market stalls and it’s hard to not resist making this recipe every day of the week. These beautiful tuffs of florets are mesmerizing and we have the urge to buy these heads of cauliflower in every single color. If we had a fridge big enough, we totally would. It’s that easy to be hypnotized by their beauty.
This frosted cauliflower with cheese is roasted to perfection in the oven and it’s always our go-to recipe. You should consider making a huge batch if you’re serving these at a party. Or even if you’re only cooking for one, don’t be surprised to find yourself eating these to the very last floret, with abandon.
Can you Use Frozen Cauliflower?
Sure, you can. But the results will be a soggier, softer and spongier frosted cauliflower. If you don’t want to break down a fresh head of cauliflower, then theres pre-cut and pre-washed cauliflower that’s packaged. That’s a great option. Can you tell we’re not fans of making this with frozen cauliflower?
Frosted Cauliflower Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 head (@ 2 pounds – 900g) Cauliflower , cut into bite sized florets
- 1 cup (240 ml) Mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Mustard
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) finely minced shallots or onion
- 1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
- fresh cracked Black Pepper , to taste
- chopped cilantro or parsley , for topping
Equipment
- Baking Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Cut cauliflower into bite sized florets.
- In a large bowl, combine the 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 Tablespoons mustard, minced shallots or onions, 1 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. Mix until well combined.
- Gently add in the cauliflower florets and stir into the mayo mix to coat all the florets. Careful to not bread the florets into tiny pieces.
- Lay coated cauliflower onto the prepared sheet pan in a single layer.
- Bake at 375°F/190°C for about 35-45 minutes or until the cheese frosting is golden brown on top and cauliflower is tender.
- Top with chopped cilantro or parsley. Serve warm.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
What to cook a dessert? Try these simple recipes:
- olive oil layer cake with lemon cream cheese buttercream
- our favorite moist zucchini bread with cream cheese and sour cream frosting
- amazing fresh blueberry cream cheese frosting for cupcakes, cakes or any dessert
- chocolate cake with butterscotch cream cheese frosting
- carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
- our frosted cauliflower recipe was originally published in 2013 and re-published with new video and photos
Nom, nom, nom, nom. Would I have to share?
OMG, this is a beautifully modern twist on my recipe for Frosted Cauliflower, which is a staple n my Easter menu. I learned about this recipe from my best friend in Ohio. I blanch the whole head till tender and then ‘frost’ the entire thing and bake till the cheese melts (we typically use Cheddar, but I think Parmesan would be awesome!). Thanks for sharing this. I will try this version on Easter!
It’s 10pm and yet I could eat an entire pan of this right now.
Oh wow, this looks out of this world! I love roasted cauliflower and could eat an entire batch myself.
What a genius idea! I ran to the kitchen to make it exactly as you have it in the recipe. OMGGGG these were amazing!
My mom always used to make cauliflower with cheese sauce when we were kids. This is such an inspiring twist; I hope my little man likes it as much as I liked my mom’s recipe.
I never enjoyed cauliflower. Until last year when I made a cauliflower mash, my daughter and I love it! I have been looking for more creative dishes to enjoy this fabulous vegetable ever since. I really can see us devouring this one.
These were incredible! I loved the mustard and my kids gobbled up the last bites.
oh my gawd! This looks amazing! So glad you are giving some LOVE to cauliflower!
I’ve never seen a recipe like this before, delish!
This is so fabulous I can hardly stand it.
How cute that you made little ‘toasts’ with the cauliflower! They’re the perfect surface for the cheese! Mmm. and I do love roasted cauli despite stinking up my house for 2 days in the process 🙂
What a great idea! I always seem to just end up steaming cauliflower and putting a slab of cheddar cheese on it, but this looks so gourmet! 😀 Yum!