This recipe is a great way to get your family to painlessly eat more non starchy vegetables like cauliflower. Cauliflower has many touted health benefits. I love cauliflower. It’s one of my favorite vegetables. Unfortunately, it’s not my family’s favorite. I’ve tried slipping mashed cauliflower on the table in place of potatoes, but they weren’t big fans. Undeterred, I decided to try another approach. A friend at work was sharing how her housemate had tricked her husband into eating cauliflower mashed into some potatoes. I decided I had to give it a try.
Since I didn’t have a specific recipe, here’s what I did.
First, I peeled 8 potatoes and cut them into chunks.
Then, I cut an entire head of cauliflower into large chunks. I cut off the florets. I put the thick, hard, center stalk into the chicken yard. Chickens love raw cauliflower.
Next, I put the potatoes and cauliflower into my pasta pot that was full of boiling, salted water.
I allowed the potatoes and cauliflower to cook in the boiling water for about 20 minutes. They are done when they can be easily stabbed with a fork.
I immediately strained the potatoes and cauliflower and placed them into another flat bottomed pot. I seasoned with a lot of pepper and a pinch of salt.
Next, I added 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup of sour cream. I thought I might need to add some milk, but they mashed up perfectly without it.
Whipping out the hand blender that my mother got for me when my oldest was a baby, I pureed the potato cauliflower mixture to the perfect texture.
I served up the mashed cauliflower-potato mixture topped with gravy. No one noticed. No one complained.
Bus Boy who has an aversion to anything different, ate two servings of the “mashed potatoes.” It was amazing. It was nearly a miracle.
We served the cauliflower mashed potatoes with smothered ranch pork chops. It was a delicious combination.
Give cauliflower mashed potatoes a try. You’ll be glad you did.
- 1 head cauliflower
- 8 medium potatoes
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ½. Cup light sour cream
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Cut large florets off of the head of cauliflower.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks
- Place potatoes and cauliflower into a pan of salted boiling water.
- Allow to cook for about 20 minutes or until a fork can be easily inserted into the flesh of both vegetables.
- Strain water from vegetables. They still be a little wet.
- Place in a bowl suitable for mashing or pureeing.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter and ½ cup light sour cream to the bowl.
- Blend with a hand blender or mash with a potato masher until they are the desired consistency.
- Serve
Omgoodness, it does look like mashed potatoes! Does it taste as good? I’ll have to try it. I tried a cauliflower recipe recently that I need to blog about. It had bacon in it and was OHHH so good!!!
Yes. They taste like mashed potatoes. No one knew there was cauliflower in the potatoes until I told them. I will NEVER tell Bus Boy. He would refuse to eat them if he knew. I initially gave him a small serving because he usually tastes anything healthy that I try to slip in his food. He ate 3 servings.
This is such a fantastic idea! I love regular mashed cauliflower, but my husband isn’t the biggest fan, and definitely prefers true mashed potatoes. I need to try this one!
Don’t tell him there’s cauliflower in the mashed potatoes, and let me know what he thinks. Like I said, my oldest son, Bus Boy, is very picky and has very sensitive tastes. He devoured these potatoes.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing cauliflower mashed potatoes recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Hello Alyssa, glad you came back again. We love this recipe, too. Combining the potatoes and the cauliflower is a great way to lower the carbs and still sneak the cauliflower past picky eaters. I’m looking at you, Bus Boy!
Awesome way to sneak in some cauliflower! What a great idea. I’ll be trying for sure!
Tina, you’re absolutely right about sneaking in the cauliflower. Bus Boy won’t touch the stuff if he knows it’s in food, but he gobbled up these. Thanks for leaving a comment.
I loved how creamy and delicious my cauliflower mashed potatoes turned out! Plus this is a great way for me to have my kids eating healthy cauliflower.
Kate, Getting the kids to eat cauliflower is the best part of this recipe. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
I love adding cooked cauliflower to mashed potatoes! The texture is so similar, no one even notices at my house!
Liz, That’s exactly what we’ve learned. No one notices. That’s what makes this work so well. Thanks for the comment.
Yum what a fun vegetable side dish that’s not too hard to make. Everyone loves it!
Chandice, I love it when everyone in my family likes a dish like this. Sometimes, it’s hard to get the kids to eat vegetables, so I love to sneak them in whenever I can.