An instant low carb cauliflower mac and cheese recipe that is ready in less than 5 minutes. This quick keto meal only requires 3 ingredients!
Are you cooking for one and hate making an entire casserole that takes you all week to finish? Lately, that’s been the case for me with certain dishes.
My husband and older daughter refuse to eat cauliflower. So if my son isn’t around, a big cheesy cauliflower casserole will take me up to a week to finish.
My youngest daughter just nibbles bites here and there so she never eats a full serving.
I’ve just started getting into the minute mug cakes so I decided to venture out a bit with this instant cauliflower mac and cheese recipe.
You can easily make this cheesy dish in less than 5 minutes. And, it only requires 3 ingredients that you probably already have.
I hope my son is reading this one because it’s a great recipe for college kids doing their own cooking. It’s so much healthier than the processed packaged instant foods, too!
I remember when I was living in an apartment near the University of Florida, I ate a lot of horrible convenient foods.
I like to use frozen florets in the instant cauliflower mac and cheese for convenience. But you can certainly use some fresh ones if you have it.
It’s just easier to grab a handful of florets out of a bag for this recipe.
You could also use pre-shredded cheese, but I prefer to freshly grate mine from a block of cheese so that no high carb fillers are added.
I have an inexpensive rotary cheese grater that I use for grating small amounts of cheese. It was perfect for this quick cauliflower mac-n-cheese for one!
I microwave the cauliflower in two steps. The first one is just to soften it from the frozen state so I can chop it up.
Then, I put it back into the microwave to cook and add the cheese in the last ten seconds.
Ten seconds is just long enough to melt up the cheese in my microwave.
Then, I stir the cheese to melt it a bit more before stirring in a little bit of heavy cream.
That’s all there is to making this instant cauliflower mac and cheese.
I tried making this with coconut milk. But it’s a lot creamier if you use heavy cream instead and it doesn’t add much more to the carb count.
You can easily double or triple this recipe if you want a larger serving or cooking for more than one person.
There isn’t much out there for healthy instant convenience foods. So I’m hoping to come up with a few more of these “instant” low carb recipes.
I need to experiment more with the muffin in a minute recipes. It would be great to have more low carb bread options, especially for breakfast sandwiches.
Do you love finding new ways to enjoy low carb cauliflower? There’s a terrific collection of 33 Low Carb and Gluten Free Cauliflower Recipes at All Natural Ideas that I put together recently.
If you’d like to make more than one serving, just adjust the amounts accordingly. You may need to up the cooking time a little when using larger amounts, though.
Although this instant low carb cauliflower dish is a wonderful side dish, you can also enjoy it as a healthy snack in between meals.
I’m usually really hungry when I get home from work. This quick recipe will be the perfect snack to tie me over until dinner.
Instant Low Carb Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese in 4 Minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup frozen cauliflower florets or fresh with a bit of water
- 1 ounce cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
- In small microwavable dish with lid, microwave cauliflower covered for about a minute.
- Remove from microwave and chop cauliflower into small pieces.
- Microwave for another 50 seconds or so, then add shredded cheese.
- Microwave for another 10 seconds or so.
- Stir melted cheese in, then stir in heavy cream until sauce forms.
- Enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
About Lisa
Lisa has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and find new ways to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites! Her recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Lisa lives in Southeastern Connecticut. Connect with her and Low Carb Yum at:
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Melissa F says
This was so good! It stopped me from eating the Mac and cheese I made for my kids.
I used Mexican blend cheese because that’s what I had. We had leftover bacon from breakfast so I chopped some up and threw that in. Highly recommend adding bacon!!
Lisa says
Adding bacon is always a good idea!
Caitie says
Holy wow! I never comment on recipe pages ever but I find myself coming back to this recipe 2-3 nights a week for a side dish or a full dinner and I LOVE it! Reminds me of cauliflower cheese from when I was a kid only I never liked that – but this is DELICIOUS!
Lisa says
I never liked cauliflower as a kid, but it grows on you as you get older and eat healthier. I’m so glad you are enjoying this quick and easy recipe!
Sebastian says
Followed this to the letter. It will definitely be a new addition to my diet.
Alisha says
My kiddos eat mac & cheese w/hot dogs & peas once per week. I like it but don’t want the carbs. Now, I can have something similar to them that keeps me from dipping my fork into their mac & cheese. I added mustard as a personal preference and put a chopped up hotdog (nitrate free, uncured of course). Doubled the recipe and made it for lunch. Thanks!
Lisa says
Mustard is always a good add!
NightFox says
The recipe itself isn’t bad. I wouldn’t call it a replacement for mac n cheese though.
But yeah, if you like steamed/cooked cauliflower and creamy cheese sauce, it’s tasty. I’ll probably amp it up next time by adding seasonings.
Lisa says
Extra seasoning is always a great way to up the flavor!
Yvonne van der WESTHUIZEN says
What if I can’t find heavy cream?
Lisa says
You could use a low carb milk like almond or coconut.
Lisa Bapst says
Absolutely loved this. Will be making an appearance in my rotation often. mmmm mmmm.
Lisa says
So happy this one worked out for you Lisa!
Jessica says
Hi! Fellow Gator here! I’m new to low-carb and really needed a recipe like this to still feel like I’m getting my Mac n Cheese fix. Until recently I never ate cooked vegetable and HATED cooked cauliflower.
I love this dish! I used fresh cauliflower. Since I didn’t have heavy cream, I used half n half and a bit of butter. I would make sure to add salt and pepper to this as well. I also added a bit of smoked paprika, but that’s a personal preference.
Thanks for the great dish!
Lisa says
You’re welcome Jessica. And, it’s always nice to bump into UF alumni!
Ramona Ward says
Can you use greek cream cheese instead of heavy cream?
Lisa says
I’m sure you can. It just may give a different taste.
Susan says
So where’s the ‘mac’?
Lisa says
It’s the cauliflower!
Lauren says
I’ve made it with Alfredo sauce instead of milk or cream and it’s absolutely delish! When making an entire head of it I use whole jar + cheese, few shakes of dry mustard and a little hot sauce it’s incredible!
Lisa says
Sounds fantastic!
Hélène says
Remember yucky cauliflower wuth white sauce as a kid? This is it. Except you havent boiled the cauli to death, theres no need to make sauce as cream does it just fine and you add ChEESE. Ohemgee
What your childhood nemesis COULD have been.
Yum.
Betsy says
Just came across this recipe and will be trying it tonight. I also plan to try it using smokey gruyere cheese and crumbled bacon for a twist. My question is how well does it reheat? I want to make a couple of them and have one the next night when I won’t have time to fix a side dish.
Lisa says
Reheating should be be okay if you’d like to remake a few.
Rosanne says
How would you suggest cooking this without a microwave?
Lisa says
You could use a regular or toaster oven and bake at 350F until heated.
Rosanne says
Thanks!
Julia says
Microwaving is really very unhealthy. Roasting as you suggested or even steaming would be the best option. Will definitely try this!
Lisa says
It’s a myth that microwaving is unhealthy. Do the research and you will see it’s not much different from other cooking methods.
Hélène says
And regardless, its heckuva lot better than cheezie curls or a little debbie cake cuz ur starved!
Lisa says
Good point!
Sassy says
Agreed, and it tastes so much better NOT cooking in the microwave. We don’t even own one.
GretchenInTexas says
My daughter and I tried this last night. We both think it’s delicious and fast. We will be making it again. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Lisa says
So glad you and your daughter enjoyed the recipe!
Robert says
Going to try this, we love cauliflower and cauliflower pizza, rice, mash..I bet it be even better with some ground pork rinds sprinkled on top!!
Lisa says
The crushed pork rinds are a great addition. You can also brown the top using the oven broiler if desired.
Barbara B says
Made this tonight for hubby & I. We LOVED it ! He can be a picky eater, he started eating before I did and his words were “this is really delicious” I actually put my ramekins in the oven with the mini meat loaves to finish while I cooked some green beans in the micro (in case he didn’t like it). Woo Hoo – another low carb success that hubby will eat !
Lisa says
I bet it’s even better oven baked!
Barbara B says
Thanks for this easy version -my husband and I are empty nesters, so this is perfect for weeknight meals !
Kacy says
I love cooking with cauliflower and especially that this could be made so quickly. Sometimes a mac and cheese craving just must be satisfied after all 🙂
Lisa says
The benefits of modern cooking! Thanks for stopping in Kacy!
K Morgan Capner says
I read recipes, but do not follow them exactly. I did with this and the result is superb. So much better than my usual cauli and cheese sauce. I can vary the cheese….creamy or blue, and use up the bits from the cheese box. Keep going please, your ideas are grand.
Lisa says
Glad it worked for you as-is! I may try a blue cheese version. I love all things cheese!
Natalie @ A Fit Philosophy says
We made something similar for Thanksgiving! It was so good, I’ll totally have to try your recipe 🙂 YumM!
Lisa says
I bet your Thanksgiving dish was so delicious! Thanks for the visit!
Elly Leavitt says
You had me at Mac and cheese… It’s my favourite dish so I’m always looking for ways to make it healthier and switch it up! This sounds amazing, will definitely give it a try x
Lisa says
Hope you like it Elly!
Catherine says
I absolutely love this quick and easy version…how wonderful in a pinch! Looks delicious too. xo, Catherine
Lisa says
Thanks Catherine! It is definitely a keeper 🙂