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.