Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo

There’s just something about a homemade sauce that tastes so much better than store-bought. Maybe it’s the lack of preservatives or knowing how to pronounce all the ingredients or simply the love that goes into making it that puts homemade sauces over the top. Whatever it is, I try to go for homemade over jarred sauce as much as I can.

If you’ve ever made cauliflower “rice” or “potatoes”, the directions for this sauce will look familiar to you. Once the florets are softened up in water, they can be mashed, grated, and even blended to suit your recipe. As it turns out, cauliflower is a pretty versatile vegetable. It also has an excellent nutrition profile – low in calories, high in potassium, a good source of fiber, and an excellent source of vitamin C.

Now this recipe calls for transferring your cauliflower mixture to a food processor to blend, but you can also use an immersion blender right in the pot. I have to say, one of my favorite new kitchen tools is our immersion blender. We received it as a gift this year and it has been so handy in making sauces and creamy soups.

Once the cauliflower is fork-tender, simply add the remaining ingredients to the pot and blend them up right on the stove. Be sure to remove the pot from the heat before doing this! I was amazed – and still am – at how well the tiny blades create a smooth texture from whole vegetables.

I also find the immersion blender much easier to clean than our food processor and anything that cuts down on clean-up time after dinner gets a thumbs-up from me.

If you really want to take it up a notch, there are some recipes for homemade almond flour noodles that look delicious. Disclaimer – I haven’t made these myself, but I do love almond flour for baking so I figure it would make good pasta too!

Now, if you’re anything like my husband, you’re probably going to be looking for a few more calories, especially from protein, if this cauliflower alfredo sauce with noodles is going to be a main dish. I recommend the old standby – chicken alfredo.

We like to season chicken breasts with a simple mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic powder and then grill them to have a nice char. The seasoning is enough to add some flavor without competing with the alfredo sauce and that grill char adds some welcome texture to the dish.

Other ingredients we like to mix in include mushrooms and broccoli. You really won’t find many additions that pair poorly with this sauce so feel free to add what you’ve already got at home!

(Make this next: Whole Cauliflower Braised in Tomato Sauce)