The inspiration for this Twice-Baked Cauliflower recipe came from my oldest son, Ben, who turns 11 years old today. Happy Birthday, Benjamin! In addition to being an all-around great boy, Ben has bowled me over with his new-found fondness for cauliflower. This is a kid whose pre-paleo vegetable repertoire primarily consisted of canned green beans and the (very) occasional carrot stick. But since we have been following the paleo way of eating he has tried, and liked!, many new things. Ben also enjoys Cauliflower Rice and Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes” both of which are dairy free. However, he eats full fat dairy and gave me the idea of trying a mashed cauliflower dish using Greek yogurt. 
We are going all out with the dairy on this one so steer clear if you have an intolerance. I guess you could call this Primal Twice-Baked Cauliflower.
Even though the cauliflower is technically only baked once, the flavors are definitely in keeping with the spirit of the “Twice-Baked Potatoes” we all know and love. This much lower carb version has tons of flavor and is beautiful enough for special occasions. We even served it at Christmas dinner. The colors were perfect and my in-laws loved it which is always a good thing.
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower
- 3/4 cup full fat Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons celtic sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 4 scallions (spring onions), whites and most of the green parts sliced thin
- 4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Fry the bacon until crispy.
- Cut the cauliflower into florets and steam, boil or pressure cook it until soft. (I use a pressure cooker on highest setting for 3-4 minutes.)
- In a large food processor combine the cooked cauliflower, Greek yogurt, milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper and purée until very smooth.
- Spread the cauliflower purée into a 9 x9 or other medium-sized baking dish.
- Sprinkle with the cheese, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- After bringing the dish out of the oven, sprinkle with the scallions and bacon.
- Serve warm.
Serves 6-8
Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by.
Let me know if you try this recipe and if you use different cheeses. G keeps telling me to try it with parmesan.
PrintTwice-Baked Cauliflower
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Side, Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower
- 3/4 cup full fat Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons celtic sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 4 scallions (spring onions), whites and most of the green parts sliced thin
- 4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Fry the bacon until crispy.
- Cut the cauliflower into florets and steam, boil or pressure cook it until soft. (I use a pressure cooker on highest setting for 3-4 minutes.)
- In a large food processor combine the cooked cauliflower, Greek yogurt, milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper and purée until very smooth.
- Spread the cauliflower purée into a 9 x9 or other medium-sized baking dish.
- Sprinkle with the cheese, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- After bringing the dish out of the oven, sprinkle with the scallions and bacon.
- Serve warm.
I did notice something that bothered me about the website you sent out (below)….
I noticed that you say… Legumes – Do not eat beans, peas, lentils or soy of any kind or in any form. This includes peanuts which are a legume and not a nut. The only exception is green beans, snap peas and snow peas because they are mostly pod.
I have to say that studies have shown that Okinawan people live the longest of all people on Earth, and if I remember correctly they eat soy every day (whole soy, not processed, such as tofu).
Plus, studies have also shown that eating a vegetarian diet which included certain specific foods, including whole soy such as tofu or soy milk, enabled people to naturally lower their cholesterol by 20%. This one is a recent finding but considering the widespread problem of cholesterol and the serious side effects of cholesterol-lowering medications (such as liver failure), I would be careful before telling people to cut out whole soy products.
The main thing is that they are having whole soy (good) and not just the isolates (not).
I think you meant to leave this comment on the “Strictly Paleo Plan” post.
Keep in mind this is a 30 day elimination diet. My son is allergic to legumes and while not everyone with a legume/soy sensitivity will have as much of a reaction as he does there are many reasons to generally avoid soy. I’ll have to do an entire post on soy that can go into more detail. But basically, soy contains lectins which can alter your body’s leptin sensitivity which is what tells your brain you are hungry or not. It also contains phytates which bind with minerals and keep your body from absorbing them. You are correct that most asian peoples consume soy in their diets. However, they eat fairly small amounts of it and usually in fermented form such as miso, tempeh or nato. When properly fermented soy loses a lot of its lectin and phytate content. If they eat tofu it is usually in very small amounts in broths usually accompanied by fish. The minerals in the broth and the fish can counteract any effects of the mineral binding of the soy.
So while I agree if you are consuming soy it is better to consume it the way asian peoples do (whole and fermented or smaller amounts of tofu) I do not agree that eating a vegetarian diet is optimal. The soy found in things like soy milk and toful come from crops that are almost always genetically modified, are grown with pesticides in an unsustainable monocrop farming method that destroys croplands.
Soy is a suboptimal food at best. Eating it in the form many vegetarians do in things like soy hotdogs, tofurkey, soy cheese and soy milk, etc… can dangerously affect thyroid function and estrogen levels. There are much better foods to eat and much more sustainably produced foods than soy.
This looks awesome. I’m trying to ditch lactose completely. Do you think this would work if I subbed the yogurt and milk for about 1/2 cup of whole cream?
Hi Laura, I think you could do it that way. You will just have to judge the thickness of the mashed cauliflower mixture. It won’t have the tang of the yogurt but I have another recipe for cauliflower “mashed” potatoes that uses coconut milk and it is good.
Thanks for the idea. I saw this on Pinterest but made a version of this before looking at the recipe. I didn’t put anything in it besides salt and then the cheese and bacon on top. It was very good just like that! Cant wait to follow the recipe competly!