This Cauliflower au Gratin recipe is low carb, keto-friendly, and loaded with cheddar, Gruyere, and crispy bacon. Creamy, cheesy, and totally satisfying – no potatoes needed.
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Cauliflower gets a bad rap as the replacement for everything – mashed potatoes, rice, pizza crust…
But here? Cauliflower actually shines.
We’re roasting it until tender, drowning it in a cheesy, garlicky cream sauce, sprinkling crispy bacon over it all, and finishing it off in the oven until bubbly and golden.
Suddenly everyone is all potato who? Don’t know her.
We serve this up for holiday dinners (and regular ol’ Wednesday nights because this one is actually quite easy) and everyone raves about it.
Sure, at holiday meals, I still dish up the non-negotiables, like dinner rolls and mashed potatoes for my carb loving family members, but my family never notices they’re eating healthier options when I swap in my keto green bean casserole or keto broccoli casserole for the carb filled versions.
And the secret for this cauliflower au gratin recipe? Don’t. Try. To. Trick. Them.
Seriously – this IS NOT potatoes au gratin. It’s cauliflower! And it’s absolutely delicious! But if you go in hoping for potatoes or you hype this up to family as a potato substitute, people are inevitably disappointed.
Enjoy this dish for what it is – a cheesy, buttery, roasted cauliflower dish loaded with crumbled bacon and cheese.
All that creamy cheese and butter baked in makes this some serious comfort food!
It’s an easy dish to put together and doesn’t require a lot of work.
This is fancy enough for a holiday dinner, but easy enough for any night of the week.
Perfect for picky eaters, since the cheese and bacon are so appealing to most people!
Ingredient Notes:
Cauliflower – I keep life easy by buying the bag of already chopped florets from the produce section. My first choice is always fresh, but frozen does work in a pinch.
Cheese Sauce – We add melty cheddar and flavorful Gruyere along with some heavy cream to make the cheese sauce. Swap in provolone, gouda, havarti, pepperjack, or even Parmesan for the gruyere, if you’d like to mix things up.
Bacon – Crispy crumbled bacon adds the perfect salty, crispy bite. Diced ham or crispy pancetta would also work nicely. Or leave it out for a vegetarian dish.
We love the flavor and texture of fresh cauliflower florets, but frozen will likely work as well. Steaming, boiling, or microwaving your cauliflower will also work if you don’t want to roast your cauliflower, but roasting the cauliflower gives it an extra layer of flavor that we love! Feel free to swap in whatever cheese you like. This recipe is hard to mess up!
Serving Ideas
- Serve it up next to ranch grilled chicken, steak bites, or garlic butter pork tenderloin.
- Works great as a holiday side when you’re skipping potatoes.
- Add a green veggie on the side, like our broccoli salad.
- Serve it at your next holiday dinner next to our keto crockpot ham or roasted turkey breast.
Storage
Reheat: Oven at 350ºF until hot or microwave individual servings.
Fridge: Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.
Freezer: We don’t recommend freezing this one.
More Cheesy Low Carb REcipes!
- Turnips Au Gratin
- Zucchini Gratin
- Cheesy Baked Asparagus
- Cheesy Cauliflower Bake (Air Fried)
- Cheesy Cabbage Casserole
Cauliflower Au Gratin
Ingredients
- 24 ounces fresh cauliflower florets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons butter cubed
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 4 slices fried bacon crumbled
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss the cauliflower, oil, garlic powder, and salt and pepper together to coat.
- Arrange the cauliflower on a rimmed sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly tender.
- Grease a 9×9 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Add half of the cauliflower to the baking dish and pour half the cream over the top. Arrange half the cubes of butter over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with half of the cheese and bacon.
- Repeat the layers.
- Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden and the cauliflower is tender.
- Sprinkle with parsley and let set for 5 minutes before serving.
Melissa Walters says
I havent tried this but that is a lot of calories and fat. Is there a lower fat lower calorie way to make this.
Karly Campbell says
You could likely use reduced fat products or try to reduce the cream or leave out the bacon, but it’s not something we’ve tried. Keto is a higher fat diet.
Millie says
In the recipe you say in the first layer to pour in the cream. Did you mean half the cream (1/4 cup)? Because you said to repeat the layers, and in the video it shows you pouring cream in the second layer, too. I’m just a little confused on this.
Karly Campbell says
Oh, good catch! I did mean to pour in half of the cream, but it won’t hurt anything if you added all of it. 🙂
Terrie Falkenstein says
Question: Could you roast the cauliflower one day and then assemble the dish and bake the next day?
Karly Campbell says
I think that would work fine, but it may take a bit longer in the oven if the cauliflower is cold when you assemble. 🙂