This Browned Butter Cauliflower Mash is thick, creamy, and has loads of savory flavor thanks to the garlic, Parmesan, and browned butter. This dish is so good, you’ll want to make it again and again.
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I have a little bit of a confession to make.
You see, awhile back I shared a recipe for what I called the very best mashed cauliflower. And, well…I was wrong.
I mean, that mashed cauliflower is GOOD. Like legitimately way up there at the top of the best mashed cauliflowers. I sincerely believed it was the best when I said it was the best.
It’s just that I hadn’t yet tinkered around quite enough and created this version and now I’ve made a liar of myself.
This right here? This is the all time very best cauliflower mash I’ve ever eaten and it’s so good that I’ll probably never tinker with another cauliflower mash recipe again.
It’s got loads of savory flavor thanks to the addition of garlic and Parmesan. It’s super rich and creamy with a really nice consistency.
The drizzle of browned butter over the top? It’s the icing on the cauliflower cake.
Your whole family is going to flip for this recipe. I just know it!
We’ve served this as a side for pork tenderloin, chicken drumsticks, and keto meatloaf.
You can bet this dish is going to show up on all of our holiday menus this year. I’m so excited to share it with friends and family.
Ingredient Notes:
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Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter. If you’re concerned about sodium use the unsalted and just add any extra salt to taste. Browning the butter will enhance it with a rich, nutty, earthy flavor!
Cauliflower – I start with fresh riced cauliflower. It cooks a bit more evenly and it’s easier to mash than florets. Plus you can find it pre-riced in the store pretty easy. See below for info on ricing cauliflower yourself!
Chicken Broth – This adds lots of savory flavor to the cauliflower mash! I’d recommend using a good quality chicken broth or chicken stock for the best results.
Heavy Cream – It’ll add lots of rich, creamy flavor to the mashed cauliflower!
Parmesan – Some shredded Parmesan is a simple way to add even more creamy, savory goodness to the cauliflower mash.
Other – Minced garlic, plus salt and pepper to taste or any other seasonings or toppings you’d like to use. Herbs such as thyme, rosemary, sage leaves, fresh chives, and others are good additions too!
We use Thrive Market for a lot of our specialty ingredients and keto snacks or products. Their prices tend to be cheaper than the local stores and I love that you can so easily sort products by diet.
Like Costco, this is a membership site, but we find that it’s more than worth it based on the amount we save over the regular grocery store.
They have monthly or yearly plans. Check it out here.
- Versatile: This is a great low carb side dish that you can serve with just about anything! We love this one for holiday gatherings or events. It’s great alongside some turkey for Thanksgiving!
- Flavor: The browned butter really takes the flavors in these cauliflower mashed potatoes to the next level! It’s nutty, earthy, and savory and it’s the perfect topping for mashed cauliflower.
- Potatoes Who? Most cauliflower mash recipes are trying to imitate mashed potatoes. This one is so good that you won’t be thinking about potatoes at all. It is proud of it’s cauliflower heritage, although I’m telling you potato lovers will also enjoy this one.
How To Make Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes:
- Cauliflower – This recipe follows all of the same important tips and tricks from my other mashed cauliflower recipe. It just has a few additional things that really take it over the top. Start by melting some butter and then cooking a couple cloves of garlic.
Add in the cauliflower rice (fresh is best!), chicken broth, and cream and let that simmer, covered.
Remove the lid and then let it simmer for a bit longer to let all that liquid cook away. This will help your cauliflower mash to thicken up and have a nice consistency.
- Blend – We use an immersion blender to puree the cauliflower and really get it nice and smooth, but you could use a potato masher or a regular blender if you need to.
- Parmesan – Once smooth, stir in the Parmesan, salt, and pepper and give it a stir to let the Parmesan melt. This won’t taste overly cheesy, but it will have a really nice depth of flavor thanks to the Parmesan.
How To Brown Butter:
- Heat – Making browned butter is simple – the entire recipe is in the name. 😉
Just pop some butter in a sauce pan and let it cook over low heat until it’s browned!
Whisk the butter as it’s cooking so that it doesn’t burn. It’ll really start to foam up as it cooks, but once that foam settles down keep a close eye on it.
It’ll go from yellow to golden to burnt very quickly. You want to pull it from the heat when it hits that deep golden brown stage.
Browned butter has a rich, nutty flavor and it’s good just about anywhere you’d use butter. We love the extra layer of flavor it adds.
- Serve – Once you’ve prepared the browned butter you can use it for topping the mashed cauliflower potatoes! You’ll love the way the browned butter enhances the flavor.
How To Rice Cauliflower:
We use riced cauliflower in this recipe because it cooks quickly and evenly and ends up with a smoother consistency.
To make riced cauliflower, you can either take a head of cauliflower and chop the florets very small until you have rice-like pieces or you can toss the florets in a food processor and process until finely minced.
My Favorite Food Processor
I use this Breville food processor and it’s my FAVORITE kitchen appliance. I’ve gone through all the big brands of food processors, but this one is the best, in my opinion. It makes short work of grating cheese, making cauliflower rice, slicing veggies, and of course chopping up everything for these broccoli fritters.
Fresh Cauliflower Vs. Frozen Cauliflower:
We almost always recommend using fresh vegetables. The taste and texture is just better and it really does come through in the final product.
We have NOT tried this with frozen cauliflower, but I think the technique will work fine. Give it a try and leave a comment if it works out for you.
MORE LOW CARB SIDE DISH RECIPES!
- Broccoli Cheese Casserole
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Turnips
- Zucchini Casserole
- Green Beans Almondine
Browned Butter Cauliflower Mash
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 24 ounces fresh cauliflower riced
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a deep 12 inch skillet and heat over medium heat. Let melt. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Add the cauliflower rice and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken broth and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover the pot. Let cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid from the cauliflower and stir. Continue cooking until nearly all of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 more minutes, stirring as needed.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to a small sauce pan over low heat and cook, stirring often. Once butter is fully melted it will foam and then the foam will subside. Continue whisking until there are browned bits at the bottom and the butter is lightly golden.
- Remove butter from the heat and set aside.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the cauliflower. Alternately, transfer the mixture to a blender or use a potato masher. Using a potato masher will result in a less smooth texture.
- Stir the Parmesan, salt, and pepper into the cauliflower.
- Add mashed cauliflower to a serving bowl and top with the browned butter.
Rebecca Petersen says
I hadn’t looked at the email you sent out reference low carb Thanksgiving and I had planned the sides you suggested like the cauliflower mashed potatoes, low carb cornbread stuffing which I love your cornbread recipe and the cranberry sauce made with monk fruit sweetner. Great minds think alike!! Thank you for your recipes. I enjoy them very much.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, Rebecca! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipes!
Lucinda Wilson says
Dear Karly, I love your receipes. Before I had covid, I had lost 45 pounds on KETO, using a lot of your receipts. After many lingering covid after-effects, I am finally going back to keto. Just sitting here reading them makes my mouth water. Previously, I added onion and garlic powder to my mashed cauliflower. Then i tried minced onion and peppers. Later I tried hot peppers, rosemary, mint, any many others spices. I have no favorites. Just love trying new ways to cook and be healthy. Amazed at your green salad. I love green beans and plan to make your salad. Thank you so much for all your great dishes. Respectfully, Cindy
Karly Campbell says
Hi Lucinda! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipes! So happy to hear that you’re back on keto and hopefully feeling better!
Rachel says
My partner and I started a keto diet 2 weeks ago and we’re going through a period of adjustment and learning how to meal plan. So far, we’ve had a fairly easy time planning meat and veggies for meals, but haven’t really found other sides. I came across this recipe the other day while searching for “keto friendly sides” and decided to try it. I didn’t really have high hopes for the cauliflower being a real substitute for mashed potatoes, I was just hoping for it to be edible with a good flavor. Oh wow. We made them for the first time today and I think I actually like them better than mashed potatoes. This is by far the best keto friendly recipe I’ve found. It really is ridiculously good. I’ve been sharing the recipe with all of my co-workers. Thanks so much for a fantastic recipe!
Karly Campbell says
Oh yay!! I love to hear that so much! The power of browned butter and a little Parmesan! 🙂
Carolyn Vajdak says
Husband needs to lose weight. Help
Karly Campbell says
Hi Carolyn! I recommend looking into a low carb diet – it’s a pretty simple way to lose weight and there is loads of information out there. The Magic Pill is a great documentary to watch on Netflix, if you’re interested in keto. 🙂