Servings: 8 Prep: 15 min Cook: 30 min Total: 45 min
This is comfort food, in the best possible way. I’m never fully quite sure what makes a particular dish “comfortable”, but … I feel confident in the stance that this particular dish exudes it.
It’s actually really quite simple. It’s partially cooked cauliflower (boiled in salted water), then tossed with a cheese sauce, bacon and fresh sage. It’s then placed into a baking vessel, where it’s topped with almond meal and … more cheese!
The end result is a soft, comforting mélange of cheesy, creamy and bacon-y goodness. YUM!
Bacon-Sage Cauliflower "Au Gratin"
Print RateIngredients
- 1 head large cauliflower stem and leaves removed and cut into small florets
- 1 recipe low carb alfredo sauce (about 2 cups)
- 1 tbsp fresh sage chopped
- 1/4 cup bacon bits
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup parmesan (reggiano) cheese grated
Instructions
- Place a large pot full of water on the stove to boil.
- Pre-heat your oven to 425 F.
- If your Alfredo sauce is cold, warm it in a medium sized sauce pan.
- Once your water is boiling, add a healthy amount of salt to the water.
- Add your cauliflower florets to the water and simmer for about 3 minutes.
- Strain the cauliflower, so that all the water is removed.
- Stir the cauliflower into the alfredo sauce. Add the sage and bacon bits, as well.
- Once the cauliflower is evenly coated with the cheese sauce, pour it into a greased baking pan. I used a 9 inch round silicone baking pan, but a 9x13 casserole pan will work, as well. All we're really doing is browning the top. It's all already mostly cooked, at this point.
- Dust the top of the cauliflower with the almond meal and parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is nice and toasty brown.
- Serve!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
How much bacon did you use?
Wow…this is really good. In fact, I am going to make it for Christmas dinner instead of the dressing. Really really good!
Hi Sharon! Sorry about the bacon. I just added it. Whenever a person comments, the system is supposed to email me, but … sometimes it doesn’t. You can always just email me directly, if the comments aren’t working for you (that said … they SHOULD work!). I’m really glad you liked it. I LOVED IT, when I made it. I knew it was going to be good, but … sometimes a dish catches me off guard and is just amazing. This was one of them. I also encourage you to check out the underground hash I just put on the site. It’s kinda carby, but … for special occasions, all all whole foods, so … it should be ok in moderation. Thanks for the kinds words … as always! 😀
Hi Dj, just made this cassarole for my lunch today and it was delicious.
Thank you
Glad you liked it, Heather! You’re welcome! 🙂
Any suggestions to whip up a homemade low carb Alfredo sauce? Would like to avoid the processed stuff. Thanks.
—Reply posted by Part on 11/17/2018
I use unsalted butter, cream and Parmesan cheese a little white pepper. The sauce turns out creamy and delicious.
—Reply posted by Part on 11/17/2018
I use unsalted butter, cream and Parmesan cheese a little white pepper. The sauce turns out creamy and delicious.
Hi Keli, sure do! <a href="https://www.djfoodie.com/aspx/m/Thick-Goopy-Alfredo-Sauce">Click Here for the recipe.</a> I hope that helps!
Would this still work if you omit the almond flour?
Hi April, absolutely! That’s just there to give a little bit of a crust. The cheese will still melt and make a nice "au gratin" appearance, even without the almond meal. Maybe just sprinkle a bit of grated cheese over the top, instead! I hope this helps!
I just made this – the sauce is to DIE FOR! I used shredded parm instead of grated….it seemed to work OK. I had to add a little light cream b/c that plus the scant 1/4t. xanthan gum seemed to make it too thick. It’s in the oven now…I can’t WAIT to try it!!
Thanks for the info, Julie! Please let us know how it turns out! 🙂
It turned out HEAVENLY! Next time I will get the right cheese!! I ate it for lunch today with some beef tips sauteed in butter topped with caramelized onions. If the cauli au gratin with that is not comfort food that’s good for you, I don’t know what is!
Mine turned out fantastic! I used a little dried sage, because that was all I had, and I used a bit of a mixture of cheeses, but it was wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this last night and it was amazing!!! I don’t really care for cauliflower at all so I was floored at how wonderful it was!!! The Alfredo sauce is wonderful!! Mine was a little thick,because I reduced it too much,but I just added some HWC back into it. Will definitely be making this agai !! Thanks so much!!
I’m glad you liked it, Kris and Rhonda! The sauce really should be pretty thick, actually. The cauliflower has some water which is released as it cooks. The thicker sauce balances with that water. As it bakes, some of this evaporates, making for a fairly even and nice little scoopable casserole. My thoughts, anyway … I do agree, though … THIS is a tasty little dish! 🙂
DJFOODIE! You’re the low carb BOMB! This recipe was just amazing. Even my kids, who do not eat cauliflower, ate this. I told them it was kinda like mac & cheese. LOL. Instead of parm and almond meal for the topping, I used smoked gouda and crushed pork rinds. Woo!
I have one question. I see that this is 8 servings, but do you have any idea what the actual serving size is? Like 1/2 cup-ish? I didn’t think to kinda figure that out as I was serving it out.
Again, you rock! Thanks for the awesomeness!
Hi Theresa, it’s hard to know "exactly", but … the total weight per portion would be about 170 grams, which is just a shade less than 3/4 of a cup. Some water will evaporate … so a large 1/2 cup is probably closer to the truth. I hope this helps!
This dish was absolutely WONDERFUL! My cauliflower was on the small side and I really didn’t realize it until I took the wrapping off, next time I will make sure that the cauliflower is big. This will be a staple for me. Very simple and such a party in my mouth! Love it!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, DEMI! Yep, cauliflower can be a bit on the deceptive side … Between the leaves, core and packaging … even the little ones can appear fairly large. Now you know! 😉
Do you think this would be ok to make ahead and then re-heat for Thanksgiving. We are traveling to a friend’s house Thanksgiving Day and I want to bring this as a side dish. Suggestions? I was thinking about putting it together the day before and then cooking it Thanksgiving morning…early..so we can take it hot.
Sharon … yep! Go for it! Just be sure to reheat it gently. It’s got a lot of fat in the cheese and cream and "may" break, resulting in something still quite delicious, but … floating in clear yellow fat. If reheated slowly, it should stay creamy. Otherwise … yep! This one would re-heat quite well! 😀
Can you use frozen cauliflower for this recipe?