This baked Cauliflower Gratin is an easy, cheesy, make-ahead side dish that’s great for serving a crowd. A perfect recipe for the holidays!
I had every intention of getting this recipe out to you before Thanksgiving, but then, well, it didn’t happen. Did your Thanksgiving suffer as a result? I highly doubt it.
Am I the only one who feels completely overwhelmed by the amount of recipes and food rhetoric that come barreling in around the fourth Thursday in November? I got to a point this year where I was just like OKAY, ENOUGH ALREADY. Every once in a while I’ll come across a new Thanksgiving recipe that really makes me swoon (like this one), but really, all I ever want are the classics: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, and maayyybe cranberry sauce. Chalk it up to nostalgia.
All those other new fangled Thanksgiving recipes are delicious I’m sure, I just don’t want to eat them on Thanksgiving day. Christmas, on the other hand, is a whole different story. This is when I welcome any and all recipes, both traditional and new, causal and fancy, savory and sweet. Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I’m ready dive head first into all the holiday decadence.
One might say that I have a penchant for gratins and I would have to agree. I’ve made everything from a classic potato gratin to a zucchini gratin, fennel and onion gratin, parsnip and celery root gratin, kale gratin, and I’m ready to gratin any other vegetable you throw at me. Here, I present to you one of the first gratins I ever loved: cauliflower.
I learned how to make this cauliflower gratin back when I was in culinary school, and I became instantly obsessed with it. I actually made it so much at one point that I had to stop myself and take a hiatus because it was getting out of hand. That was almost 9 years ago (ack!), which explains why it’s taken me this long to post a cauliflower gratin recipe on my blog.
In that class I learned one of my greatest cooking lessons from my amazing teacher, Chef Richard. The lesson was simple: just use water. It was a time when boxed / canned “stock” was taking over home kitchens thanks to tv cooks like Rachael Ray. There’s certainly a time and a place for those products, but use them in everything and everything winds up tasting the same.
Chef Richard taught us to make a simple veloute – or white sauce – out of the water used to cook the cauliflower in lieu of milk, cream, or stock. For one, it’s a whole lot more economical, but it also results in a lighter, cleaner flavor that actually tastes like cauliflower rather than milk, chicken or vegetable stock. From there, I learned to use water as a key ingredient in everything from soups to sauces and more. By using water instead of any other liquid, you have more control over the flavor and direction of the dish.
That simple cauliflower sauce gets further flavored with a touch of cream, Gruyere cheese and a pinch of nutmeg to make it taste even creamier. Once mixed with the cauliflower, it gets topped with more cheese and buttery garlic thyme breadcrumbs, then it all gets baked until bubbling and crisp. The filling is rich and flavorful, but still maintains a welcome lightness so you don’t feel like you’re eating something outrageously unhealthy (because you’re not).
This cauliflower gratin makes a great side dish for holiday entertaining since it feeds a crowd and can be made entirely in advance, just requiring a little reheat before serving. It goes beautifully with any type of meat, be it beef, pork, or – dare I say it – even Thanksgiving turkey.
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This baked Cauliflower Gratin is an easy, cheesy, make-ahead side dish that’s great for serving a crowd. A perfect recipe for the holidays!
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into large chunks (about 2 1/2 lbs or 6–7 heaping cups)
- 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the dish
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups reserved cooking water
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
- 6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (about 3 cups), divided
For the Topping:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 1/4 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Add the cauliflower to a medium pot, then add just enough water to barely cover. The goal is to use less water in order to achieve a more concentrated cauliflower flavor, so it’s okay if some pieces are sticking out of the top. Bring the water up to a simmer, then cover and cook until the cauliflower pieces are al dente, about 2-3 minutes. Drain the cauliflower well and reserve the cooking water.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and butter the inside of a medium casserole dish. Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat, then whisk in the flour until it absorbs all the butter, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in 1 1/2 cups of the reserved cauliflower cooking water, then continue whisking until it comes up to a boil. Lower the heat, continue whisking, and cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Whisk in the heavy cream, salt and pepper, then turn off the heat. Stir in the nutmeg and 1/3 of the Gruyere cheese (about 1 cup) until the cheese is melted.
Add the well-drained cauliflower to the cheese sauce and mix to combine. It’s important that your cauliflower doesn’t have a lot of excess moisture or it will make the sauce watery. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed – it will likely need a bit more salt.
Scrape the cauliflower mixture into the buttered casserole dish, being sure to get every last bit of cheese sauce in there. Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere cheese, then set aside while you make the topping.
For the topping, melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat, then add the garlic and stir around until it starts to sizzle. Add the panko breadcrumbs, thyme leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper, then continue to stir around until light golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Spread the breadcrumbs on top of the cauliflower in an even layer, then pop it in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs have darkened a few shades and the sides are bubbling up. Allow the gratin to cool down for about 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
This recipe can be made entirely in advance. Reheat in a 350 degree F oven covered for about 15 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes until bubbling around the sides.
Keywords: cauliflower, au gratin, Gruyere, cheese, Thanksgiving, Christmas, side dish, easy, healthy
Nicole Gaffney, aka Coley, is a professionally trained chef, recipe developer, tv host and food writer.
Glad you brought the cauliflower back. I can totally relate to everything tasting the same, and I love the idea of using the cooking water rather than stock. My gratins are much lazier than this, but that veloute makes it look like mac and cheese in the best way.
I’ll take a lazy gratin over no gratin any day!
My new go to for baked cauliflower. Didn’t change a thing. Delicious.
Awesome!!!