Cauliflower Cheese Casserole

blue baking dish with cheesy cauliflower casserole as viewed from above

This side dish is made with cauliflower, bacon, cheesy sauce mixture, and topped with a bacon bread crumb topping.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword casserole, cauliflower, sided dish

Prep Time 1 minute

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 41 minutes

Servings

Calories 399kcal

Author Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower large
2 tbsp butter
5 medium shallots peeled and minced
5 thick strips of bacon cut in half
3 tbsp flour
2 cups whole milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2/3 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
4 tbs crumbled Blue Cheese
salt
fresh cracked pepper

Topping:

*Bacon bits from above
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter melted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease an 8×8 casserole dish.
Cut cauliflower florets off of the stem. Discard the stem. Blanch cauliflower first: In a large pot, bring water to boil and blanch the cauliflower florets for about 5-7 minutes. Drain and set them onto the paper towel to dry off the excess water.
In the same pot (empty pot), melt butter, add shallots, and bacon. Cook until bacon is fully cooked and take out the bacon halves leaving the shallots and bacon grease in the pot. Place the bacon strips on the paper towel, pat dry, dice, and set aside.
Sprinkle the flour over the shallots and cook for about a minute, whisking constantly. SLOWLY, add the milk, Dijon mustard and stock, whisking constantly. Keep whisking until thick sauce is formed.
Add shredded cheddar, shredded Swiss, and Blue cheeses, whisk until all melted and smooth.
Add salt, pepper, and cauliflower florets. Mix all well and transfer to the casserole dish.
In a small bowl, combine the bacon bits, bread crumbs, and butter. Mix very well and spread the mixture over the casserole evenly.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until bubbly.

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition