Looking for a carbless dinner or just really into cauliflower? Check out these loaded cauliflower recipes that are a joy to devour!

The best gluten, sugar, keto or any type of special recipes are the ones that are naturally tick all the boxes of the desired category without the smallest effort. Loaded Cauliflower Casserole is just such a dish.

Cauliflowers are naturally low in carbs as over 90% of their weight is made up by water and the rest of it is minerals, fibers and some almost nonexistent carbs hidden in the connective tissues.

Being naturally low in carb qualifies it to be the forerunner in so many diets and featuring in countless recipes. Be it Atkins, paleo, keto, cauliflower find its way to the table either raw or cooked.

Raw cauliflower has a mildly sweet taste and remote pungent flavor raw that is disappearing in its cooked form turning into rather bland but easily chewable bits.

Unfortunately, we haven’t got much options when using frozen vegetables but to cook them. Nor everybody can be pleased chewing on raw vegetables as the main dish at the dinner table.

With the right ingredients cauliflower can be turned into soup, served as side dish, dubious pizza base or various main dishes like this chicken cauliflower recipe.

The best thing about any casserole is the minuscule preparation time it requires to yield a delicious meal. Contrary to soup where the nutritional compounds get reduced by the boiling process baking, steaming, stir frying or microwaving has no significant effect on the cauliflower.

One of the drawbacks of preparing dishes in the oven though, is the long time the meat requires to get tender enough to be enjoyable. Generally, it well worth the effort. Just think about how splendid is a duck or turkey after hours of spit roasting in the oven…

Time in the oven can be reduced by using ingredients that are processed beforehand. If the connective tissues are already broken up into smaller pieces, much less time is needed to cook the dish ready.

Mincing the meat thus mechanically severing most of the connections in the meat is a sure-fire way to quicken up the dinner making process.

Using ground beef or pork sounds like excellent choices for a casserole but any kind of meat is suitable as long as we adhere to the general food safety guidance. Ground pork and beef inner temperature should reach 160°F / 70°C.

Taking meat temperature when it’s ground or minced up is a bit of a challenging task thus we shall rely on the color guidance in cases like this and if there is no pink inner part visible then the meat should be good to go.

Luckily, if we are making casserole and the meat is mixed up with vegetables, this shouldn’t be the cause of any concern as the meat will be plenty done when the vegetables are ready.

A bit of a less lazy and much more flavorful option is to brown the minced meat in a skillet with onion, maybe a bit of wine and spices before mixing it with the cauliflower and placed into the oven.

This juicy and evenly browned meat then can be mixed together and finished up in the oven with optional sour cream and handfuls of cheese to please the eyes.

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons / 30g Cooking oil or lard
2 medium / 200g Onion (Sliced)
1 clove / 3g Garlic (crushed)
1 teaspoon / 5g Salt
1½ lb / 600g Ground meat
2 heads / 1200g Cauliflower
1 cup / 200g Greek yougurt or Sour cream
2 cups / 200g Cheese of choice (Gouda & Edam) (grated)
Optional Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Carrot
- Brussels Sprouts
- …

How to make Loaded cauliflower casserole

Beginner

Throw everything except the sour cream and cheese in a baking tray.
Place it into a 350°F / 180°C oven for 60 minutes.
Check if the vegetables and meat has the desired texture. Spread sour cream and sprinkle the cheese on top.
Change to oven to broil and place the tray back onto the oven’s top rack until the cheese gets a nice golden brown color for about 10 minutes.

Advanced

Saute sliced onion and salt in the pan on high heat until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3-5 minutes.
Turn the heat down and occasionally stirring start caramelize the onion until it gets a golden brown color.
Stir a crushed clove of Garlic and cook it until fragrant.
Mix the ground meat with the onion and stir fry it until all the pinkish color is gone and starts to brown. This takes about 10 – 15 minutes.
Stir in the vegetables and stir-fry them for 5 minutes.
Pour everything from the pan into a baking tray. (In case of oven safe pans this step is optional)
Spread sour cream on top then sprinkle the cheese.
Change to oven to broil and place the tray back onto the oven’s top rack until the cheese gets a nice golden brown color for about 10 minutes.

Overkill

Saute sliced onion and salt in the pan on high heat until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3-5 minutes
Turn the heat down and occasionally stirring start caramelize the onion until it gets a golden brown color.
Stir a crushed clove of Garlic and cook it until fragrant.
Mix the ground meat with the onion and stir fry it until all the pinkish color is gone and starts to brown. This takes about 10 – 15 minutes.
Cut up a cauliflower into pieces and slices then lay it on the bottom and sides of the baking tray. Also use the optional vegetables here.
Pour the stir-fried ground meat on top of the cauliflower bed.
Spread sour cream on top. If it seems too hard to pour add a bit of water but be careful as it gets runny quickly.
Optionally fill up some holes with the extra vegetables. Sprinkle cheese on top.
Place it into the oven on 350°F / 180°C oven.
When the vegetables get the desired texture and the cheese gets the golden brown color in about 30 – 40 minutes take it out of the oven and let it cool.

Enjoy!

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