How to Make Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes | Paleo & Vegan Friendly
30-Minute Meal Prep Veggie Dish – How to Make Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes the EASY Way!
Lighten up your favorite, starchy side dish AND pack more veggies into your meal with this simple cauliflower and potato mash recipe! A delicious, nutritious, and CHEAP meal prep dish that can fit any budget. If you’ve ever made mashed potatoes, you pretty much know how to make cauliflower mashed potatoes already. It’s as easy as: boil, mash, and serve!
But, it’s even easier when you throw cauliflower into the mix. For one thing, cauliflower bulks up your mash so you can use fewer potatoes, which means less peeling for you to do! Plus, cauliflower cooks more quickly and is just plain easier to mash. In fact, you can make this cauliflower and potato mash without doing ANY mashing at all…
I’m showing you how to make cauliflower mashed potatoes the EASIEST way: using a food processor or blender! You’ll spare your arms the mashing workout and cut down on your time in the kitchen. From start to finish, you can have these easy cauliflower mashed potatoes ready in just 30 minutes!
Of course, you can always mash by hand if you prefer. But, if it’s that chunkier texture that you crave, that can totally be achieved using the food processor, too! I’ll walk you through how to make cauliflower mashed potatoes step-by-step—whether you want them chunky or smooth, vegan and paleo, or whatever suits YOUR lifestyle!
Looking for healthy dinner ideas to serve your cauliflower mashed potatoes with?
Try my healthy sloppy joes pepper poppers!
Tips for Easier Cauliflower and Potato Mash-ing
First and foremost, you’ll need to prep your cauliflower and potatoes. If you have a full head of cauliflower, simply chop into rough florets. It’s alright if they’re a bit large—they’re getting boiled and blended up anyway!
Next, I recommend peeling your potatoes, so they’ll be easier to ‘mash’ in your processor or blender. Chop those into rough cubes and, again, they can be roughly chopped since they’re getting blended up.
Of course, you can leave the skin on you if you want that bit of added texture in your cauliflower mashed potatoes. But, it’s best to mash by hand if you leave the skin on—unless you have a high-powered food processor that you feel confident in!
Then, toss your chopped cauliflower and potatoes into a large pot, and fill it with cold water to cover the veggies. Leaving the lid off, bring that pot to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, until fork tender.
The potatoes will take a bit longer to cook, so don’t worry if the cauliflower gets beyond fork tender. Remember, it’s all about to get blended on up!
How to Make Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes in the Food Processor
Strain your cooked veggies and add them to your food processor or blender (they will be steamy!), along with your remaining ingredients and seasonings. I use ghee in this recipe because I love its rich, nutty flavor and the indulgently creamy texture it creates, but you can also use butter if you like.
Or, for vegan cauliflower mashed potatoes, just omit the ghee/butter altogether and use the non-dairy milk of your choice! Honestly, this is like the most BASIC recipe for how to make cauliflower mashed potatoes, so feel free to adjust the ingredients or jazz it up however you want.
Now, rather than blending your cauliflower and potato mash mixture, simply pulse, pulse, pulse to combine. By pulsing the mixture—a.k.a. allowing the blade to run in separate, short bursts—you have more control over the final texture. Whether you’re Team Chunky Mash or Team Smooth, I’m talkin’ to you!
For Smooth vs Chunky Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
If you’re a fan of super-smooth mashed potatoes, you may be fine just pressing ‘blend’ and letting your machine run for a minute or two! But, for those who are fans of a chunky mash: pulse and be patient—checking to see once you’ve reached your desired consistency.
Also, you can add some broth, milk, or even water as you’re pulsing to thin out the mash and help keep the blade moving. If you’re after a silky-smooth mash, you may need to add a bit more liquid. For chunky mash lovers, you may need a bit less. Either way, be patient and add your liquid gradually and as-needed!
Bottom line: Pay attention to your cauliflower and potato mash and check on it as you go—so you can stop pulsing once you reach the level of smooth/chunkiness that YOU enjoy. Once properly pulsed, your cauliflower mashed potatoes are ready to serve straight out of the food processor!
Perfect as a hearty, veggie-packed side dish at dinner, and a great option to fit more veggies into the diet or a picky eater. (They won’t even taste the cauliflower!) Personally, I love to keep this nutritious mash prepped and on-hand in my fridge for meal prep lunches and dinners, or just for snacking!
How to Make Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped (5-6 cups florets)
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 Tbsp milk of choice, or cream (dairy or non-dairy)
- 1 Tbsp ghee or butter, melted (or omit, if preferred)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt, to taste
- squeeze of lemon juice
- splash of broth, milk, or water (to thin out, as needed)
Instructions
- Add cauliflower and potatoes to a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Strain, and add to the food processor with remaining ingredients. Pulse to desired consistency—as chunky or smooth as you like it—seasoning to taste.
- Add a splash of broth, additional milk, or water to thin out, if needed.
- Serve with chopped chives and enjoy immediately, or portion and store for later!
- Yields 6-7 cups cauliflower mashed potatoes.
2 Comments on “How to Make Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes | Paleo & Vegan Friendly”
this roasted mashed cauliflower. It’s creamy and rich, yet light and ethereal on the tongue. The mouthfeel is so much lighter than regular potatoes, which can be gummy or heavy. I mean, mashed potatoes are delicious AF, lets not lie to ourselves. But the textural difference between cauliflower and potatoes when pureed is very different. There s also a faint natural sweetness that really goes well with added savory notes.
Hi there, so glad that you enjoy this cauliflower mash! Thanks for giving the recipe a try 🙂