This Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Gratin is going to be one of your favourite side dishes! It’s rich and creamy, full of flavour and seriously moreish!
This Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Gratin was inspired by my Potato Dauphinoise Gratin and Scalloped Sweet Potato Gratin – it’s similarly easy to make and tastes just as delicious.
This dish was inspired by one of my childhood favourites cauliflower cheese, but instead of relying solely on a dismal pile of beige, textureless cauliflower, I decided to add some vivid green broccoli to the mix. You could also add other greens such as spinach or kale!
There’s no par boiling required, and the sauce doesn’t require a blender, which makes this dish really easy to throw together.
The sauce is made using unsweetened almond milk (or oat milk for a nut-free version), nutritional yeast (for a cheesy flavour), and some basic seasonings.
To thicken the sauce, I used cornflour (cornstarch) – it’s important that you mix together the cornflour and almond milk until completely dissolved before adding it to the hot pan, because otherwise it will clump up instead of being distributed evenly.
I like to sprinkle this Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Gratin with a flurry of flaked almonds as the sweet, nutty crunch they add is just perfect!
You can cook this gratin for for 30 minutes of 40 minutes, depending on how soft you want the cauliflower and broccoli to be. If you prefer them to have a little bite, bake for 30 minutes, but if you prefer them to be super soft, you should bake it for 40 minutes, or possibly longer.
For more vegetable side dishes, check out my:
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make this Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Gratin:
measuring jug
baking paper
Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Gratin (GF)
Ingredients
- 400 g (14oz) small cauliflower and broccoli florets
- 1 tablespoon oil (olive, vegetable or rapeseed oil)
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 500 ml (2 1/4 cups) unsweetened almond milk (or sub unsweetened oat milk for a nut-free version)
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 vegetable stock cube (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- Salt + pepper, to taste
- 5 tablespoons flaked almonds (or sub breadcrumbs - gluten-free if necessary)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Place the cauliflower and broccoli florets in a large baking dish
- Heat up oil in saucepan and add onions once hot
- Fry on a low heat for around 10 minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised
- Measure out the almond milk, and add the cornflour to the jug or measuring container and mix very well until completely dissolved
- Add this almond milk + cornflour mixture, nutritional yeast, stock cube, salt + pepper and bring to a boil then turn to a low heat
- Keep stirring until the sauce has thickened - it may seem very thick at this stage, but the cauliflower and broccoli do release water whilst cooking so the sauce should definitely be on the thicker side
- Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and broccoli florets
- Sprinkle over flaked almonds
- Cover the dish with tin foil or baking paper and bake for around 20 minutes (30 minutes if you prefer the vegetables to be soft)
- Take off foil or baking paper and bake for a further 10 minutes, until top is crispy and golden brown
- Best enjoyed immediately!
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Shaun Butler
January 19, 2019 at 8:37 pmThis is such a quick and easy recipe to make, and it was a great hit with my wee girl! That’s two of your recipes I’ve made and both are equally brilliant 👌👌
Rhian Williams
January 19, 2019 at 9:58 pmThank you so much, so glad you liked it!!
Lou
April 6, 2019 at 6:04 amThis was amazing! Made it last night. Making it again tonight! A hit with the the whole family. Thanks so much!
Rhian Williams
April 6, 2019 at 1:22 pmThank you so much, so glad you like it!
Elisabeth Tudor-Jones
April 12, 2019 at 3:38 pmJust come across your recipes while searching for vegan, gluten-free food. I notice you use cornflour as a thickener. I cant have corn in any form. Do you know what flour I could use as a substitute, please. Looking forward to getting cooking your recipes. Thank you very much.
Rhian Williams
April 12, 2019 at 5:29 pmThank you! As a thickener for savoury recipes, cornflour can be substituted with rice flour, chickpea flour, tapioca flour or kudzu. Hope that helps!
Elisabeth
April 15, 2019 at 1:33 pmThank you very much. That’s very helpful.