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Whip & Wander

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese with Kale and Sausage

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Cauliflower Mac and Cheese with Kale and Sausage in a glass baking dish with a wooden serving spoon

If you haven’t noticed, cauliflower is a regular guest in my recipes as an awesome low-carb swap for rice and potatoes. But what if I told you that it also makes an awesome swap for mac and cheese? Well, that’s exactly what I’m touting.

A serving of cauliflower Mac and Cheese with Kale and Sausage in a white bowl on a wooden surface

Comfort Food at it’s Prime

Though cauliflower florets aren’t an exact dupe for noodles, they make for a super satisfying low-carb alternative that is just asking to be smothered in cheese sauce. And Sausage. And Kale. I know, I had to sneak some green in there! Trust me friends, this Cauliflower Mac & Cheese with Kale and Sausage is comfort food at it’s prime.

Do you love cheese as much as I do? I hope so because this recipe has a ton of it. I’m talking about a cheese sauce made from multiple kinds of cheese and if that wasn’t enough, more cheese on top. If you’d prefer to focus on the veggies, this dish is packed with both cauliflower and kale. Do you feel less guilty now?

Ok, probably not.

To top it off, this dish is also chock full of sausage. This is a totally optional addition. If you’d rather keep this Cauliflower Mac & Cheese vegetarian, it is awesome sans meat. But, I figure if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it properly.

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese with Kale and Sausage on a wooden surface with a white tea towel

A note for special diets

This Cauliflower Mac & Cheese is grain-free, gluten-free and fits Keto diets. In order to make this dish SIBO friendly, it’s important that you choose lactose-free dairy products. Traditional cream cheese is not super SIBO friendly, so I swap it for Lactose-Free Cream Cheese from Green Valley Organics. If you’re not worried about a little lactose, regular cream cheese works identically so go ahead and use it. For the shredded cheese, I make this with cheddar to keep the lactose in trace amounts (less than 0.5g lactose). My favorite option is Tillamook Triple Cheddar because I figure when you’re making Cauliflower Mac & Cheese, the more types of cheddar the merrier. If lactose isn’t an issue for you, mozzarella cheese is also great in this.

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Cauliflower Mac and Cheese with Kale and Sausage in a glass baking pan with a wooden spoon

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese with Kale & Sausage

★★★★★ 5 from 53 reviews
  • Author: Whip & Wander
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 55 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 6 large portions 1x
  • Category: Mains
  • Cuisine: American
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Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
  • 2 cups Lacinato kale, chopped
  • 3 bratwurst sausages – or – 1 1/2lbs ground sausage
  • 8 oz cream cheese (we use Green Valley Organics Lactose-Free)
  • 3/4 cup whole milk (we use lactose-free)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (we use Green Valley Organics Lactose-Free)
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3 cups shredded cheese, divided (I like to use a mix of medium and sharp cheddar, but you can also mix in mozzarella if the lactose doesn’t bother you)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
  2. Lightly oil or butter a 4 1/2 qt baking dish and add cauliflower florets and kale. Set to the side.
  3. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 tsp butter or ghee to melt. Add sausages links to brown turning on each side every ~2 minutes. The sausage does not need to be fully cooked through, you just want to get a nice brown on the outside. Remove from heat, slice into 1/2 inch coins, and reserve to the side. (Alternatively, if you are using ground sausage, brown the sausage, drain excess fat, and reserve sausage to the side).
  4. In the same saucepan, lower heat to medium-low and add cream cheese, milk, sour cream, Dijon, green onions, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Stir until melted and combined.
  5. Slowly add 2 cups of the shredded cheese, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring each until fully combined.
  6. Once sauce is fully combined and smooth, pour over the top of the cauliflower and kale mixture and add sausage. Fold ingredients until well-coated.
  7. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cups of cheese on top and place in oven to bake for 40 minutes. I like to cover the dish for the first 20 minutes and then remove the cover for the final 20 to allow the cheese to brown a bit.
  8. I highly recommend letting the dish sit for atleast 10 minutes after removing from the oven. The cauliflower is not only blisteringly hot straight from the oven, but I like to give the sauce some time to thicken as it cools slightly.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 portion
  • Calories: 617
  • Sugar: 5 g
  • Sodium: 1062 mg
  • Fat: 52 g
  • Saturated Fat: 29 g
  • Carbohydrates: 15 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Protein: 25 g
  • Cholesterol: 159 mg

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Gloria

    What a great way to enjoy cauliflower. You can never go wrong with a mac’n cheese dish any night of the week. The added kale and sausage add to the depth of flavour for sure.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  9. Patti @ Patty Cake's Pantry

    I have always loved the combination of cauliflower and cheese, so I am completely ready to serve this for dinner. I also agree with you that the more types of cheddar, the merrier. I’ve never added kale to macaroni and cheese, but this combination is wonderful.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  12. Clarissa

    I have pinned, I have printed, and I am ready to make this! I am usually not on board with the cauliflower train, but with this cheese sauce?! YESPLEASEFEEDMENOW <3 The husband and I are doing paleo, so this is perfect!

    Reply

  14. Maya

    Oh this is sooooo up my alley. I’ve been dabbling in low carb and cauliflower. I’m stuck at what else to do with all that cauliflower and this couldn’t be more perfect! It’s already printed and ready for Sat night! Thanks!

    Reply

  16. Ben Myhre

    You are right. Cauliflower is not the perfect replacement for the mac in mac & cheese, but I think it stands up on its own as its own recipes. I love this veggie and if you add melted cheese on it, how can it be bad? Oh, and sausage. mmmmmm sausage.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  24. Meg

    That cauliflower substitution is really appealing. I don’t each much pasta these days, so the switch would work well for me. Thanks for the suggestion!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  25. Steph

    Oh my gosh this looks freaking amazing. I LOVE cauliflower and cheese so basically this recipe is meant for me. I will be pinning it for future!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  29. Jenn

    What a perfect way to add the extra veggies to a dish! This looks so good and I think my family would enjoy it too! Will have to try this out.

    Reply

  30. Jenni

    This macaroni and cheese is amazing! Love all the fun flavors you added! I am totally saving this for when we have leftover brats this summer!

    Reply

  32. Julie Hoag

    I love using cauliflower in recipes! This looks really yummy! I also love the Tillamook cheese. Great combo!! Can’t wait to try it out! I would leave th sausage out being a vegetarian, but this sounds super good without it too1

    Reply

  37. Dannii

    I love being Cauliflower in Mac and cheese, but adding the kale is josh next level. Definitely trying that.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  42. Cat

    I have been on a keto diet for a month and honestly, I miss mac and cheese so much. So this recipe post basically speaks to my soul

    Reply

  43. Sharon

    Swapping cauliflower for pasta in this recipe is a great idea! Add the super healthy kale and sausage and this make s a perfect meal.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  45. Erin

    I love cauliflower and that dish looks incredible! Looks like the perfect meal on a cold day with all of that yummy melted cheese happening in the bowl. 🙂

    Reply

  46. Kate

    OMG yum! Pasta was one of the hardest things for us to give up when we went grain free. However, this cauliflower substitution looks like it could cure all our mac’n’cheese cravings!!

    Reply

  48. Kat Jeter

    I love eating keto because I get to have cheesy deliciousness like this. I have developed such an appreciation for vegetables like kale and cauliflower. Can’t wait to give this a try.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  49. Amanda Mason

    What an amazing way to switch up the norm! No, I would not have thought to switch noodles to cauliflower! And I love that you added the Dijon mustard!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  50. Amanda

    This looks like such a satisfying “mac and cheese” and I bet you don’t even miss the pasta, with the sausage, kale, and all of that cheesy goodness! What a great way to switch up a classic comfort meal!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  55. Lesli Schwartz

    I’m totally craving this healthier version of mac -n- cheese! Looks so comforting, can’t wait to make it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  57. Stine Mari

    Yes count me in! Kale and sausage sounds like the perfect addition to a mac and cheese. I’m also intrigued by the low-carb cauliflower mac, very good idea!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  60. Amanda

    I love that this recipe uses cream cheese. It adds the perfect creamy texture for the ultimate mac and cheese. Thanks for sharing!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  61. Alexis

    What a fun twist on the usual mac and cheese. I lvoe that you’ve incorporated veggies into a traditional carb loaded recipe. This looks delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  62. Jacqueline Debono

    Baked cauliflower cheese has been a favourite side dish of mine since childhood. I’ve never added sausage to it, or kale. Sounds delicious and good enough to be a meal on its own!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  65. April

    Great notes for special diets. And a fabulous recipe in general – really like the combination of all the ingredients here. Yum!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  66. Mimi

    I did notice and I am absolutely happy about it – cauliflower has been “my thing” lately so I can’t stop enjoying all the cauliflower recipes that I stumble upom. Yum!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  82. tessa

    We made this the other day and totally loved it!!! Pure comfort food, and all of us fought for the leftovers!!!! Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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