This is not your ordinary mashed cauliflower! Rich and tasty, this keto side dish is a hearty combination of the best ingredients of a keto diet. Serve with meaty dishes or as an awesome accompaniment to light fish dishes.
How to make this 5-Ingredient Mascarpone and Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower
Preparing this superb dish is really straightforward: just cook the cauliflower, puree with other ingredients, bake, and that’s it!
One thing, though: after cooking the cauliflower, be sure to pour out the cooking water as carefully as possible. Needless to say, your mashed cauliflower will turn watery if you leave excess water in it.
That’s it; let’s take a look at how to prepare this tasty keto side dish:
Put 2 lbs (900 g) frozen cauliflower florets or fresh cauliflower chunks into a medium saucepan.
Add some water but not much, about 1/2 cup (120 ml).
Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
Cook until soft and tender.
Pour out carefully the excess water.
Add 1/2 cup (120 ml) mascarpone (you can use homemade mascarpone)…
…1 organic free-range egg…
…1/2 stick (2 oz = 60 g) preferably salted organic butter…
…and 1/2 cup (120 ml) freshly-grated Parmesan. The order you add the ingredients doesn’t matter.
Season with natural salt…
…and pepper to taste. I prefer white pepper with cauliflower.
Puree with an immersion blender or in a regular blender…
…until smooth.
Transfer into an 8×8-inch (20×20 cm) baking dish.
Level the surface with a spatula.
Feel free to create wavy patterns with the spatula.
Looks awesome!
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until set.
Remove from the oven.
Serve as a scrumptious side.
Yum!
How I came up with this easy keto side recipe
For this hectic week, I needed again yet another easy and fool-proof recipe. I picked Mascarpone Mashed Cauliflower from my idea list as it sounded both delicious and easy to develop.
I started pondering the needed ingredients. Cauliflower and mascarpone, yes, but what else? I thought I needed eggs for binding. As I wanted to make my dish hearty, I decided to add some butter as well.
However, I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough flavor in my Mascarpone Mashed Cauliflower as all ingredients were so mild. Then, I realized Parmesan would make my dish tasty, and it would lend some texture and some extra satiety.
So, now I had all ingredients, plus I naturally needed salt and pepper to season my dish.
I calculated the measures and decided to use a whopping 4 lbs (1.8 kg) cauliflower and cupfuls of other ingredients. However, I wanted to make a smaller batch first to see if my recipe works in practice. I made just half of a batch, and it made so much that I decided to use the half-batch recipe as the final recipe. This dish is so hearty that an 8×8-inch (20×20 cm) dish goes a long way and makes many servings. Well, 8 servings to be exact.
I actually didn’t have to change the ratios of the ingredients, as my calculations turned out to be ideal. Well, with these simple and great ingredients, it’s difficult to go wrong! All in all, I was super satisfied with the dish: it had a fabulous — but not overpowering — taste from Parmesan as well as richness from butter and mascarpone. One egg was enough to bind the dish without it being eggy.
The Mascarpone and Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower tasted awesome with baked salmon and also with burger patties. So rich, satiating, and tasty!
Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:
5-Ingredient Mascarpone and Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower
This is not your ordinary mashed cauliflower! Rich and tasty, this keto side dish is a hearty combination of the best ingredients of a keto diet. Serve with meaty dishes or as an awesome accompaniment to light fish dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs = 900 g frozen cauliflower florets or fresh cauliflower cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup = 120 ml mascarpone
- 1 organic free-range egg
- 1/2 stick = 2 oz = 60 g (salted) organic butter in chunks
- 1/2 cup = 120 ml freshly-grated Parmesan
- natural salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
- Cook the cauliflower until soft and tender. Pour out all water carefully.
- Add the mascarpone, egg, butter, Parmesan, and the seasonings. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth and well combined.
- Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch (20 cm) baking dish. Level the surface with a spatula. Feel free to create wavy patterns with the spatula.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until set.
- Remove from the oven and serve as a scrumptious side dish.
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| Nutrition information | In total | Per serving if 8 servings in total |
| Protein | 33.5 g | 4.2 g |
| Fat | 110.5 g | 13.8 g |
| Net carbs | 23.6 g | 3.1 g |
| kcal | 1247 kcal | 156 kcal |
Tips for variations
Instead of cauliflower, use broccoli or celeriac. According to the newest calculations, celeriac is surprisingly low in carbs, having just 2.6 grams of net carbs per 100 g (3.5 oz).
Fancy a cheesier dish? Add a full cup (240 ml) of Parmesan — or other sharp and flavorful cheese. You can sprinkle another 1/2 cup (120 ml) of cheese on top before baking.
You can make this dish even heartier by adding crumbled fried bacon, or cubed ham, chicken, or practically any cooked meat.
On the other hand, you can make this dish lighter by adding chopped veggies, such as green bell pepper, green beans, steamed kale, cooked mushrooms, cooked spinach, or watercress. Don’t use “watery” veggies that have a high water content, like zucchini, as they make the dish watery as well. Of course, you can cook the zucchini first to reduce the water content and then add it to the pureed mixture before baking.
You can certainly season this dish with other than the obvious salt and pepper. For more kick, add some Sriracha sauce or a dash of Louisiana Hot Sauce to the dish.
From the herb world, parsley, thyme, oregano, and basil go well with this dish.
For a natural flavor enhancer, add 1 teaspoon of onion powder. Garlic powder or crushed garlic cloves lend some delicious taste, too.
Be sure to try out my Chantilly Cauliflower recipe; it’s yet another fabulous keto side dish!
You can prepare this dish ready to the baking dish and freeze for later baking. If you are planning to make it for a dinner, take the dish from the freezer in the morning to the fridge and bake in the evening.
General prattling
This week went fast, and there were so many things to do that it felt almost overwhelming. However, I managed to accomplish all the critical tasks, like preparing my presentation for Saturday for an expo. For some reason, October is full of expos, and I would have an expo each weekend.
However, I skipped last weekend’s expo and most likely will skip the expo on the last week of October as I would like to meet my dad, who is in hospice. I haven’t seen him for some time, and I won’t be able to see him many times anymore.
This weekend’s expo was really fascinating. The topic was physical and mental well-being. I had my presentation…
…and I was also presenting and selling Ketokamu products.
The expo visitors were open-minded, positive, warm, and friendly, so it was a real pleasure to chat with people and network with them.
This dish is absolutely perfect, I still added my favourite nutmeg. Thank you for one more wonderful recipe
Thank you for your comment, Susi! So great to hear you liked it!
Thank you for another super easy and looking delicious recipe, Elviira.
The tips for variations look quite handy once again. Adding some extra cheese, ham and oregano have convinced me to make this recipe as soon as possible 🙂
PS. I hope you see your father many more times.
Thank you so much for the sweet and kind comment!