Keto Mac and Cheese | Easy Low Carb Recipe with Cauliflower (2024)

Can you eat mac and cheese on a keto diet? With this cauliflower mac and cheese recipe – you can!

But does it taste like the real thing? Hmmm – how can I say this gently?

The ultimate comfort food made from pasta smothered in cheese sauce may have been what led you to a low-carb lifestyle in the first place. When pasta cravings hit, use this easy cauliflower mac as a substitute. That way, you can have your classic comfort food of mac n cheese and lose weight too.

Before we get into all of the details, I wanted to let you know this blog contains affiliate links where I may receive a small commission. I also link to the same resources that helped me lose 100 pounds with a low-carb lifestyle. Be sure to click through and share the info that really speaks to you on social media.

Is Cauliflower Keto?

If you’re new to keto, you and cauliflower are about to become BFFs. This cruciferous veggie is used as a replacement in all sorts of keto recipes. Cauliflower is every keto dieter’s favorite replacement for rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, breadsticks, pizza crusts, crackers, bagels, tater tots, and yes – it makes an indulgent keto mac and cheese.

If you don’t love cauliflower’s crunch just yet – keep eating it!

The good news is – your taste bud cells have a continual turnover. Since the average span of these cells is only 10 days, you can easily retrain your taste buds to crave less refined foods. Substituting cauliflower mac and cheese for the real deal is a great way to retrain your taste buds.

Once your body realizes the nutrients it gets from keto cauliflower recipes in place of pasta, this will help make veggies a permanent fixture on your plate. This amazing keto cauliflower mac is the perfect side dish for beginners on a ketogenic diet. Even if you don’t love cauliflower just yet, the creamy cheese sauce helps your body adjust to this low-carb macaroni substitute.

With less than 4 grams of net carbs per serving, this is sure to become one of your favorite new keto side dishes.

The Best Low Carb Cauliflower Mac: Made 2 Ways

When it comes to making this creamy cauliflower mac, you have two options. If you prefer to whip this up while preparing your main dish, throw this in a casserole dish and it’s ready in less than 20 minutes. Prefer a more hands-off approach? This is an easy keto crockpot recipe too. I’ll provide cooking directions for both ways so you can choose the best option for you.

If this is your first time making this simple recipe, there’s really no better way to go about it. Both options are easy – so choose whichever option you prefer.

No matter what you choose, I like to keep this recipe simple. You can use a bag of organic cauliflower florets to make this recipe easy to prepare. Chopping up a head of cauliflower doesn’t take too much additional work either. Choose whichever option aligns better with your culinary skills.

Baked Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. Then spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Coconut oil or ghee are both great options. Any vegetable oil-based spray, like canola oil, is not.

(Except in the case of highly processed vegetable oils – we do)

When you bake this recipe, you’ll need to pull out the cream cheese ahead of time so it has time to soften.

Combine the cream cheese, a quarter cup of heavy cream, water, and spices in a mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer to mix well.

The spices to mix up for this recipe include ground mustard, garlic powder, salt, dried parsley, and black pepper.

Once everything is combined, add it to the baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

Crockpot Keto Mac and Cheese

If you prefer the ease of a crockpot, this is an easy keto crockpot side dish.

First, spray the crockpot with a nonstick spray for easy clean-up. Then set it on low heat.

Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl and set aside. Then add the cauliflower into the crockpot in a single layer. Pour the water, heavy whipping cream, and seasoning mix over the cauliflower. Top with 2 ounces of cream cheese and half a cup of cheddar cheese.

Stir well to combine. Cook on low for 3 hours – and bam! Delicious mac made from cauliflower and keto cheese sauce for days! Or just one day since this recipe only serves 5.

Keto Mac and Cheese Variations

Even though this is a delicious recipe as is, feel free to mix and match ingredients in this recipe to come up with a delicious cauliflower mac all your own.

Use any combo of shredded cheese with the combination of cream cheese to change up the flavor of this creamy sauce. A few great substitutes include mozzarella cheese, Monterey jack to give it a little spice, or even white cheddar in place of regular cheddar. If you love the flavor parmesan cheese adds to recipes – that’s a great addition to this recipe as well.

If you love a little crunch in your low-carb recipes, stir in some crushed pork rinds before serving. Like it spicy? Top it off with your favorite hot sauce.

Turn this into a loaded mac and cheese with nearly zero added carbs. Top the keto mac and cheese with a little bit of crumbled bacon and green onions. This is a great way to mix up this side dish … just in case you made it last night too 😉

What if you’re bored of the 997 different ways you can prepare cauliflower to fit into a keto diet? Keep the cheesy sauce and pour it over zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash instead. Either option is low in grams of carbs – so test both options out.

As you can see, there are numerous ways you can turn this into the best mac and cheese keto recipe! Get creative to keep keto interesting and the weight loss coming!

Keto Mac and Cheese Recipe Wrap Up

This keto cauliflower mac and cheese recipe is a great addition to your keto meal plan. Steer clear of overly processed low-carb pasta options in favor of the real food you’re meant to eat – like veggies! Once the cheese melts over the cauliflower chunks, you’ll hardly even notice you’re eating veggies in the first place.

Are you looking for other keto recipes with cauliflower rice? Coconut cauliflower fried rice is a staple in our keto household. Cheesy cauliflower rice is another mac and cheese keto alternative that uses riced cauliflower instead. Even beyond cauliflower rice recipes keto-friendly options also include roasted parmesan broccoli and cauliflower. It’s a way to get even more nutrient-dense veggies into your keto plan.

Keep scrolling for the recipe card and nutrition info.

Save this to your favorite keto sides board on Pinterest. Share the healthy fat love with all of your friends for some good keto karma!

Get Better Results with Keto

This recipe was taken directly from my Keto Mix and Match Meal Plan – which is part of the Keto Quick Start Course. This is the same course hundreds of women have used to finally lose weight with keto.

Prior to finding the course, many of these women lost weight for a few weeks with keto – but then hit the dreaded weight-loss stall. They finally learned how to get long-term results with an easy keto lifestyle … and you can too!

With bonuses like the Fasting Fast Start Guide, you’ll learn how our students save up to $125 per month … all while getting better results with a keto diet. Save time, money, and frustration when you enroll now.

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Keto Mac and Cheese Recipe

More Keto Sides from Eating Fat is the New Skinny:

Bacon and Garlic Green Beans

Coconut Fried Zucchini

Cilantro Lime Caulirice

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