Make a delicious low-carb cauliflower grilled cheese sandwich for lunch or dinner. All the cheesy goodness you love in a keto-friendly meal!
Making a melty and gooey grilled cheese sandwich doesn’t have to derail all your healthy eating for the day, just make a cauliflower grilled cheese and rest easy. I love to make this swap when I am having a nice hearty soup for dinner and want to have just a little something to dip into it and enjoy.
You will love Cauliflower Grilled Cheese
I love this grilled cheese for when I want a warm and gooey sandwich with lower carbs. The cauliflower bread is so tasty, you’d never even think you’re eating vegetables! If you love grilled cheese and have made it every way from Sunday, try this new spin on an old standby. You’re going to love it!
Other Recipes to Serve with Keto Cauliflower Grilled Cheese
- Slow Cooker Classic Tomato Soup: the ultimate cooler temperatures meal pairing for lunch
- Southwest Quinoa Soup: get filled up with healthy grains and lots of flavor
Ingredients
Cauliflower Bread: The base for our “bread” is of course cauliflower. Combine that with cheese, eggs, seasonings, and herbs for a tasty sandwich bread substitute. You can even save yourself some prep time and buy pre-riced cauliflower.
Cheese: You can really play around with the type of cheese you use for this sandwich. I went with a nice cheddar cheese this time, but I also used pepper jack, American cheese, mozzarella, and havarti. Any good melting cheese will work.
How to Make Cauliflower Grilled Cheese
STEP ONE: Break down the cauliflower head, cut it into florets and then rice it in a food processor or blender. Spread the cauliflower out on a baking sheet and roast it for about 20 minutes. Then wrap it in a kitchen towel or paper towel and squeeze out all the excess moisture.
STEP TWO: Put the cauliflower in a mixing bowl and stir in the mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, basil, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. When everything is mixed together it should hold its shape.
STEP THREE: Place half of the cauliflower mixture into a large skillet over medium heat. Form the cauliflower into 1/2-inch thick squares. Cook the squares for 7-10 minutes per side. Then top one square with cheese and let it melt. Plate the cheesy square and top it with the plain square. Then repeat for sandwich number two.
Tips for Success
- One of the biggest issues I run into with make cauliflower “bread” is that it can be crumbly if you don’t get enoguh moisture out. Roasted the riced cauliflower and then squeezing out the excess moisture really helps create to best texture for your bread. You could also steam the cauliflower, but that adds more water to equation… so I prefer roasting.
- If you have a really large skillet, you can cook all 4 cauliflower squares at once. My skillet isn’t big enough so I had to work in batches. Just be sure to onyl put cheese on half of the squares. The other one is the top slices of “bread”.
- My favorite cheese for all grilled cheeses sandwiches is hard to find but so worth it, try to find the Sharp Cheddar American blend. Its usually at the deli counter and has to be sliced for you. Rich and creamy flavors and textures, it is an upgraded version of the plastic wrapped individual cheese slices. Velveeta brand slices are another super gooey melty option.
- You can pre-roast and/or make the cauliflower bread patties ahead of time to cook later. This is a great time saver for dinner. Just be sure to ring out the roasted cauliflower right before mixing the “bread”. It will soak up some moisture in the fridge.
Can You Make Grilled Cheese with Cauliflower?
You can, obviously since we just showed you how. The trick is using a cauliflower mixture in place of bread to make your grilled cheese low carb. It’s the same idea that I used for these low carb cauliflower breadsticks. Mix up riced cauliflower with seasonings and eggs, and then cook it until the mixture holds its shape. Add your favorite cheese and let it melt. Boom! You’ve got cauliflower grilled cheese.
How Many Carbs are in Grilled Cheese?
Traditional grilled cheese with white bread and American cheese will run around 25g to 31g of carbs. This low-carb, keto cauliflower grilled cheese will run about 17g of carbs per sandwich. Not too shabby by comparison.
Other Low-Carb/Keto recipes you will enjoy:
- Keto Chocolate Cupcakes
- Low Carb “Fried” Pickles
- Chocolate Keto Mug Cake
- Keto Peanut Butter Fudge
- Bacon Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Fat Bombs
- Low Carb Cheesey Bacon Cauliflower Chowder
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower (or 4 cups riced cauliflower)
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded or shaved
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon fresh basil chopped
- ½ tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Rice the cauliflower by cutting the head into florets. Pulse the florets in a blender or food processor until it is in small crumbs. Spread out the riced cauliflower on the baking sheet.
- Roast for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven. Cool completely (about 15 minutes). Remove the excess moisture by placing the cauliflower on a paper towel or kitchen towel and squeezing and twisting as much as possible.
- In a large bowl, mix together the riced cauliflower, mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, garlic, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Once combined it should hold together when formed.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and melt 2 tablespoons of butter. (see note) Place half of the cauliflower mixture into the skillet and for it into two squares, about 1/2-inch thick each. (If you have a really large skillet, you can form 4 squares using all of the mixture.)
- Cook the cauliflower bread for 7-10 minutes on each side until a nice crust forms. Then add 2 cheese slices to one half of the bread squares. Cover with a lid and allow the cheese to melt.
- Place the "bread" slices with cheese onto a plate and then top with the other "bread" slice on top. Repeat with the other grilled cheese. Serve warm.
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