You can never have too many side dishes during the holiday season! Drinks are flowing, inhibitions are lowered and food is abundant. Isn’t that what makes the holiday season so great? So add this incredibly easy to make loaded keto cauliflower casserole to your list of dishes to make this year!
Low Carb Sides For The Holidays
You might be worried about the upcoming holidays and justifiably so. Temptations are high and family is constantly asking you to try their dish or why you aren’t eating anything! You can cut out the holiday stress by preparing some low carb sides that even your non keto family and friends will enjoy! Some of our favorites are:
- Low Carb Rolls (Matt’s favorite!)
- Low Carb Stuffing (Megha’s favorite!)
- Keto Cornbread
- Green Bean Casserole
I know you didn’t think we would have you completely set for the holidays. Guess what?! You can have a keto friendly holiday season without missing out on your faves.
Cheese Sauce Is A Must!
Any casserole needs to have a good base whether it be cheesy or not. We personally think cheesy is the way to go to ensure everyone will dig in. The beauty about a casserole dish is that preparation is very simple and it’s near impossible to make a mistake.
For this casserole dish we’ve given you a simple cheese base that you can use for any casserole dish. The combination of cream cheese and sour cream give this dish a creamy, slightly tangy profile, and for cheeses, we kept it pretty mild with Monterey and cheddar cheese. You don’t want the creamy base to overpower the other ingredients, but you can honestly go with any cheeses you have in the fridge.
Layer And Bake
There is no particular rhyme or order to making a casserole dish. Ultimately everything ends up in the same dish baked to meld into one another. It’s easy and you can add any filling or toppings you want. The only note I would mention is to make sure everything is coated in the cheese sauce before you bake. That will make every bite perfect!
Since everything is already cooked in this recipe you’re not baking to complete the cooking process. This means you can play around with cook time. You definitely want to make sure all the cheese has melted through and everything is hot, but other than that, if you’re in a time crunch this recipe can be baked and out in no time!
Tip: we like to turn on the broiler for 1-2 minutes at the end to slightly brown the cheese!
Presentation
When you’re serving up a casserole dish, especially during the holidays, you want people to be impressed. You want to make it seem like you slaved over the stove to make the dishes. And, the best way to create that illusion without all the slaving is to hit it out of the part with presentation.
Setting aside some of the ingredients, as we did here in this recipe, allows you to top the final dish and give it some nice color. Fresh herbs always work great so even if it’s not called for in the recipe itself you can still finely chop up some parsley or chives and top before or after you bake!
Stay On Track This Holiday Season!
A great way to approach the holiday is to make a decision and not stress about it too much. Do you plan to indulge in some of your favorite holiday foods or do you want to stay on track? Once you make that decision for yourself you’ve built it into your plan so you don’t need to feel guilt or regret!
Either way you decide to go we’ve got you covered with all the keto holiday recipes you are going to need from sides, to desserts!
Loaded Keto Cauliflower Casserole Recipe
What You Need:
Ingredients:
- 1 large cauliflower head, cut into florets
- 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tsp brown mustard
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tsp fresh chives, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp pink salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 large green onions, chopped and divided
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place cauliflower florets and 3 tablespoons of water in a large microwave safe bowl. Cover with damp paper towels and microwave 7-8 minutes, steaming until tender. (Steps shown in video above)
- Meanwhile, in another large bowl, combine half of each cheese, half of the bacon, half of the green onions sour cream, cream cheese, mustard, herbs and spices, mixing well. Add the steamed cauliflower florets and the water from the bowl, tossing gently until coated.
- Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish and top with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. If desired broil for 1-2 minutes at the end for browned crispy cheese topping!
- Garnish with green onion and serve immediately.
- Best stored in an air tight container in the fridge up to 5 days.
