Baked Garlic Cauliflower Mash with Cheese Crust
A baked garlic cauliflower mash with cheese crust on top. Low carb, gluten-free and primal.

Baked Garlic Mashed Cauliflower with Cheese Crust is an insanely delicious, low carb, gluten-free, a primal alternative to baked mashed potato casserole.
I just gave my old baked mash potato recipe a healthy makeover, and oh my did it ever turn out good!
WATCH THE RECIPE VIDEO.
That cheesy crust on top of the garlic-mashed cauliflower was a hit with even my cauliflower-hating family. They thought I did half potato & half cauliflower, but it was all cauliflower (sneaky me!).
The fresh mozzarella added to the cauliflower mash really gave it a creamy thick, “potato-like” texture.
Give this a try and let me know what you think. Be sure to use a medium to large-sized food processor, not those small or mini-sized ones.
Also, I chose 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, so you can adjust how strong you like your garlic flavor. I made a short recipe video to watch below.
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Baked Garlic Cauliflower Mash with Cheese Crust
Ingredients
Baked Garlic Cauliflower Mash Ingredients:
- 1 head cauliflower (small to medium size)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil, or butter
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chicken broth, or vegetable broth (I used bone broth)
- ⅓ cup fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Cheesy Crust Topping Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon almond flour
- 1 ½ tablespoon Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ tablespoon cheddar cheese, grated
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Chop cauliflower into florets. Place a steamer insert into a pot and fill with water to just below the steamer insert.
- Bring water to a boil. Add the cauliflower florets, cover, and steam for 10 minutes or until tender.
- While cauliflower in steaming, heat the olive oil or butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and stir for about 2 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat.
- In a large food processor, add half of the cooked cauliflower. Cover and blend on high.
- Add 1 tablespoon of chicken broth and a few more cauliflower florets to the processor; Blend on high. Using a spoon while the processor is off, scrape the sides of the processor to get any unprocessed bits of cauliflower.
- Add the cooked minced garlic and ⅓ cup fresh mozzarella to the processor and blend until creamy but still thick.
- Spoon cauliflower mash into three ramekins or small ceramic bowls. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon almond flour, 1 ½ tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Mix together. Sprinkle on top of each cauliflower mash dish.
- Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes or until slightly browning. Remove from oven and sprinkle each with a ½ tablespoon grated cheddar cheese. Return to oven and broil for a minute or two until cheese melt and bubbles. Serve
Nutritional Data: Servings: 3 ( just over ½ cup each), Cal: 203, Carbs: 7 g, Net Carbs: 5 g, Fiber: 2 g, Fat: 15 g, Protein: 13 g, Sugars: 2 g. * all nutritional data are estimates based on the products I used*

Printable Recipe Card Below:
📖 Printable Recipe Card

Baked Garlic Cauliflower Mash with Cheese Crust
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower small to medium size
- ½ tablespoon olive oil or butter
- 1 cloves to 2 garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used bone broth)
- ⅓ cup fresh mozzarella cheese chopped
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- CHEESY CRUST TOPPING:
- 1 tablespoon almond flour
- 1 ½ tablespoon parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ tablespoon cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Chop cauliflower into florets.
- Place a steamer insert into a pot and fill with water to just below the steamer insert.
- Bring water to a boil. Add the cauliflower florets, cover, and steam for 10 minutes or until tender.
- While cauliflower in steaming, heat the olive oil or butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and stir for about 2 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat.
- In a large food processor, add half of the cooked cauliflower. Cover and blend on high.
- Add 1 tablespoon of chicken broth, and a few more of the cauliflower florets to the processor; Blend on high. Using a spoon while processor is off, scrape sides of processor to get any unprocessed bits of cauliflower.
- Add the cooked minced garlic, and ⅓ cup fresh mozzarella to the processor and blend until creamy, but still thick.
- Spoon cauliflower mash into 3 ramekins or small ceramic bowls. In a small bowl combine: 1 tablespoon almond flour, 1 ½ tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Mix together. Sprinkle on top of each cauliflower mash dish.
- Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes or until slightly browning. Remove from oven and sprinkle each with a ½ tablespoon grated cheddar cheese. Return to oven and broil for a minute or two until cheese melt and bubbles. Serve
Video
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Notes
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Carol Verge says
I will try this, as I have tried at least 10 different recipes for cauliflower "mash" and each one turned out a watery mess. I had given up on mashed cauliflower. But when I read this recipe and saw "steaming" it, I thought maybe that might work instead of being cooked "in" water. I sure hope so!
Thanks for your hard work. 🙂
Stacey says
Hi Carol, I hope this recipe is the one! Bless you for giving it another try 🙂
Tricia says
Would the texture hold up if frozen cauliflower were used?
Stacey says
I'm not exactly sure Tricia. I have not tried it with frozen before.
Lyn says
Is fresh mozzarella what is also known as Bocconcini? It comes in a container with watery liquid?
Stacey says
Lyn, Yes it is the the one in the container or package with some liquid around it.
JR1225 says
OMG!!! I'm a believer! I never would have believed how good this is. I was expecting to fix this for dinner and end up throwing it out. I absolutely love this as did my 'meat and potatoes' significant other. This will definitely be in the menu rotation.
Stacey says
Lady J, thank you so much for making the recipe and leaving such a positive and kind review. So glad you did not have to throw it out, lol.