Cheesy Cauliflower is the best low carb side dish. Cauliflower florets are baked with homemade cheese sauce until golden brown on top!

Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables and is a fantastic low carb star that can take on many flavors.

Some of our favorite ways to eat it include cauliflower alfredo sauce, roasted frozen cauliflower, orange cauliflower, and cilantro lime cauliflower rice.

This homemade cheesy baked cauliflower is so incredibly delicious that even kids will eat their veggies!

First you start out with roasted cauliflower, then top it with a homemade easy cheese sauce, and top with a little more cheese on top to get that incredible browned cheese at the end!

The full recipe and instructions can be located at the bottom of this post.

spoon scooping cheesy cauliflower from the dish

Ingredient Notes

Cauliflower: fresh cauliflower is best here. Frozen would not work the same way.
Milk: the recipe calls for 2% milk, but whole milk would work also.
Mozzarella
Cheddar cheese: freshly grated
Corn starch: to thicken the cheese sauce
spices (garlic, onion, basil, oregano, paprika, salt)

How to make cheesy cauliflower

Step 1: Chop up one head of cauliflower into bite sized florets. Place the cauliflower into a small baking dish, and spray with olive oil spray. Bake the cauliflower at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

cauliflower florets in a white baking dish

Making the cheese sauce

Step 2: While the cauliflower is baking, it is time to make the homemade cheese sauce.

To make the cheese sauce, simply add the milk, cornstarch, cheddar cheese, and all spices to a saucepan.

Stir with a spoon or whisk over medium heat for 5 – 10 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.

Notes

This recipe is made with cornstarch which allows it to thicken without a roux! It’s a method that we also use to make homemade cheddar cheese sauce and nacho cheese sauce.

Step 3: Once the cheese sauce is done and the cauliflower has finished baking for 10 minutes, remove it from the oven. Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower florets. Top with the remaining cheddar cheese and the shredded mozzarella cheese.

This extra cheese on top is what will give us those yummy browned cheesy bits on top.

Step 4: Bake the cheesy cauliflower casserole at 400 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbly and begins to brown. Serve immediately!

If you struggle to get your kids to eat their veggies, this is a great recipe to try.

My very picky 4 year old had seconds of this and in his own words “didn’t even want to stop eating it.”

This cheesy casserole would also make a great different side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any holiday.