Everyone needs a great cauliflower cheese recipe – especially for pairing with a cozy roast dinner or your Christmas meal! This delicious and indulgent vegetarian side dish is full of flavour and one of my all-time favourite side dishes (but no lie, I could eat it as a main meal too!).
You can’t beat the creamy, cheesy goodness of cauliflower cheese. This classic cauliflower has crispy roasted cauliflower (trust me, it makes the biggest difference!) coated in the most delicious two-cheese sauce seasoned with mustard, thyme, and sage for a warming, flavourful dish.
Serve this for your Christmas dinner or Sunday roast with crispy roast potatoes, honey garlic carrots, roasted green beans, balsamic brussel sprouts, and veggie pigs in blankets.
Want a vegan version? I got you! Try my vegan cauliflower cheese recipe instead.
Ingredient Notes
Scroll down to the recipe card for the exact recipe and to see the video for making this recipe. Here’s a few notes on the perfect cauliflower cheese.
- Cauliflower: I always buy a whole cauliflower, and find it makes about two to four servings. Bear this in mind if you’re cooking for a large party – as those cauliflower leaves can be awfully deceptive! If in doubt, buy more cauliflower than you think you need (you can always freeze any leftovers!)
- Roux Sauce: The foundation for the sauce for cauliflower cheese is a roux sauce, which is comprised of butter, flour, and milk. To make a dairy-free version, use vegan butter and plant-based milk. If adjusting quantities, try to stick to the ratio of 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, to 1 cup of milk.
- Cheeses: I used a two-cheese blend for this recipe, using mature cheddar cheese and red Leicester. Some other delicious options could include gruyere (if you’re vegetarian, keep in mind gruyere often is not!), a scoop of Boursin soft cheese, or Monterey jack cheese. I also like to add a little sprinkle of shredded mozzarella on top of my cauliflower cheese to get that perfect stringy cheese pull.
- Seasonings: This cauliflower cheese is seasoned with a dash of mustard for heat and warmth, as well as wintery herbs such as dried sage and thyme.
How To Make This Cauliflower Cheese
To make this cauliflower cheese recipe, I opt to roast the cauliflower instead of the more traditional method of boiling or steaming it before adding to your baking dish along with your cheese sauce.
I find that roasting the cauliflower makes it extra crispy and gives you more room for more flavours to pack a bigger punch, so it’s well worth that extra 10 minutes.
To make your cauliflower cheese, follow these steps:
Step 1) Roast your cauliflower
So, first things first. Wash your cauliflower and remove the leaves, then chop it into florets. Try to keep the florets relatively even in size so they all cook at the same time – watch the recipe video embedded within the recipe card to see an easy way to cut up your cauliflower!
Add the cauliflower to your baking dish and sprinkle over the seasonings and olive oil. Use clean hands or a spoon to ensure each floret is evenly coated in the seasonings and oil, and roast for 20 minutes until the cauliflower turns crispy and golden.
Step 2) Make the cheese sauce
While the cauliflower is roasting, you can make your cheese sauce. Start by melting your butter in a pan, then adding the diced garlic, followed by the plain flour.
After cooking the butter/flour mixture off for a couple of minutes, slowly whisk in the milk to avoid lumps forming. Once you’ve added all the milk, continuously whisking the sauce, you can add the English mustard and another other seasonings
Take the pan off the heat and stir in your grated cheeses. Taking the pan off the heat means the sauce won’t be too hot when you stir the cheese in – which can risk the sauce going gritty!
Step 3) Combine the roasted cauliflower and cheese sauce
Tip the roasted cauliflower into your baking dish and pour over the cheese sauce. Use a spoon to help fully coat the cauliflower. Then top it with the remaining cheese.
Step 5) Cook your cauliflower cheese
Bake your cauliflower cheese 20 minutes or until it’s golden and bubbly. I like to pop mine under the grill for 5 minutes just at the end to get that really crispy, bubbling topping!
Storing & Preparing Your Cauliflower Cheese
If you’re making this cauliflower cheese for Sunday lunch or as a side dish for your Christmas dinner, it’s understandable that you might want to pre-make this recipe so you’ve got less to worry about on the day.
If you are making your cauliflower cheese a day or two before serving, I would recommend following steps 1- 4 above, then allowing the cauliflower cheese to cool before covering the dish with foil and refrigerating. Then, when you’re ready to cook it, take the dish out of the fridge while you preheat your oven, and cook the cauliflower cheese with the foil on for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for another 10 minutes.
Aside from this plant-based cauliflower cheese recipe, I also have this super crispy air fryer cauliflower recipe that uses frozen cauliflower! This would also be a great base to use for your cauliflower cheese.
Cauliflower Cheese
This extra cheesy cauliflower cheese recipe uses roasted cauliflower for extra flavour, and is topped with a combination of red Leicester and extra mature cheddar cheese for the perfect indulgent side for a roast dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1.5 cup (375ml) milk
- 75g extra-mature cheddar cheese, grated
- 75g red Leicester, grated
- 1tsp sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1tsp English mustard
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C.
- Cut the cauliflower into florets, then mix on a baking tray with the oil, salt, and pepper.
- Roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes until the cauliflower is starting to get crispy on the edges.
- Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the minced garlic, cooking until the butter has melted and the garlic starts to smell fragrant (2 minutes)
- Next, add the flour and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously to form a dough-like texture.
- Slow pour in the milk and whisk the sauce constantly to mix the flour mixture into the milk until smooth. As the sauce heats, it will begin to thicken. If you feel your sauce is looking to thick, add a splash more milk
- Add the English mustard, seasonings, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the roux sauce from the heat and add ¾ of the grated cheese, stirring until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth and glossy.
- Add your roasted cauliflower to your baking and pour over the cheese sauce, using a spoon to mix the two so the cauliflower is fully coated.
- Top with the remaining cheese, then bake for 20 minutes until the cauliflower cheese turns golden and bubbles. In the last five minutes, you could pop the cauliflower cheese under the grill to guarantee a beautifully crusty topping.
Notes
This cauliflower cheese will store well if you have leftovers. You can simply cover the dish with foil and store in the fridge for around 3 days. Equally, you could make your cauliflower cheese ahead of time, stopping when you have topped the cauliflower with the cheese on top. Then, you can simply cook it in the oven when you are ready to serve.
To reheat, place it back in the oven with the foil on and cook at 200C for 30 minutes or until the cauliflower cheese has completely warmed through.
You can also freeze this cauliflower cheese before or after cooking it in the oven. Defrost fully in the fridge before cooking.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 546Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 647mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 7gSugar: 6gProtein: 16g
Nutritional information isn't always accurate.