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This easy Cauliflower Au Gratin Casserole with bacon is a lovely low carb casserole that you can serve any day! This cauliflower side dish is great any time of year, but it is especially welcome at the holidays when you are looking for some lighter carb items to serve. 

Cheesy and delicious, the cauliflower tastes wonderful and a lot like potatoes, with a lot fewer carbs. I love making this all year round. 

Hello Friends! I hope you are having a great week. It has been a productive week at our home as I have been cleaning out my craft closet and pulling out the Christmas decor. 

Today’s recipe is a cheesy cauliflower dish that is wonderful to serve at dinners. The cauliflower is a vegetable that I have only recently embraced. Since I follow weight watchers during the week (on most weeks – ahem), this low carb vegetable tastes a lot like potatoes but saves you calories and carbs.

If you have never made a cauliflower dish, this is a great one to try. It really is great with cheese! Cauliflower has about 1/5 of the calories than potatoes and if you substitute it in some dishes, you will be saving calories without even realizing it. 

For more great recipes ideas

• Baked Butternut Squash – Baked in the oven with no added sugar.
• Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes – Use your crockpot and save space on your stove with this easy Potato Recipe.
• Oven-Baked Brussels Sprouts – These are so tasty as a side dish and are not like any Brussels Sprouts you remember. 

This recipe just takes a few ingredients.

List of main ingredients:

Cauliflower– This tastes best with fresh cauliflower. Pick a firm cauliflower head with no bruises or dark spots. This recipe can also be made with frozen cauliflower. 

Cheese – I recommend Cheddar cheese for this dish. You can use low-fat Cheddar if you wish. 

Bacon – I’m partial to low-sodium bacon as I feel it has enough salt in it. You can also use turkey bacon if you wish.

How to  make Cauliflower Au Gratin Casserole

The full recipe is below, but the major steps are:

1. Cook the cauliflower. Add cooked cauliflower and bacon to the casserole dish.
2. Mix together melted butter, milk, and some of the Cheddar cheese.
3. Top with a light layer of cheese.
4. Bake and enjoy!

Don’t forget to bookmark this recipe! You will want to make this again. 

Cauliflower Au Gratin

Yield: 8

Cauliflower Au Gratin Casserole

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This Cauliflower au gratin recipe with bacon is a lovely low-carb side dish option any time of year!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 large heads cauliflower, stems removed and separated into evenly-sized florets
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 ½ cups cooked and crumbled bacon
• Sliced green onions, garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2 .Fill a large stockpot with water to three-quarters full. Add about 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.

3. Add the cauliflower florets and cook for 10 minutes or until fork-tender.

5. Drain the cauliflower well and place in the casserole dish.
Sprinkle half of the bacon over the cauliflower and tuck into the cauliflower florets.

6. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat.

7. When the butter is melted, add the heavy cream and bring to a boil, stirring often. Allow mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in 2 ½ cups of the cheese and stir until melted. Allow sauce to simmer, stirring often, for an additional 3 to 4 minutes or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and begins clinging to the sides of the skillet.

8. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and bacon. Top with the remaining cheese and bacon.

9. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the cauliflower begins to brown.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 659Total Fat: 56gSaturated Fat: 32gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 165mgSodium: 775mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 30g

• Shred the cheese ahead of time and keep it in your refrigerator. Or you can buy the cheese that is already shredded.
• You can buy prepared cauliflower florets if y9ou want to save time.
• You can make the bacon ahead of time or use bacon bits, but I highly recommend you make the bacon yourself. 

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