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 ¼ 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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Mariana
Beautiful side dish. Love the addition of almonds.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, glad you like it!
Steph
Can’t wait to try this tonight, looks delicious
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, hope you'll love it!
Brenda
I've been looking for a dairy-free cauliflower cheese recipe and this looks great!
Rhian Williams
Thank you!
Julie
Excited to try this dish! I'm allergic to nuts so swapped for breadcrumbs...
Rhian Williams
Aw great, thank you! Hope you'll like it!
Iiz
This was really good. My husband and I ate the whole dish. I did add garlic, thyme and rosemary just because I love all of those flavors. But we agreed the sauce could be changed up quite easily with different flavors and spices. We want to try curry next. Thanks for the great recipe.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it! Thank you for sharing your changes, they sound delicious! A curry sauce is such a good idea!