Macaroni and cheese is a staple at my table during any holiday celebration and I know it’s the same for you. It has become the comfort food we all look forward to! Like every other human, my grandmother’s mac & cheese is definitely the best I’ve ever had. But, grandma’s mac & cheese isn’t the best option for someone trying to live a low-carb lifestyle. So, I decided to take the very best of grandma’s famous mac & cheese and put my own spin on it. The result is truly the best keto mac & cheese you’ve ever had.
In my humble opinion, macaroni and cheese is really all about the cheese. This dish can take on many different forms but the cheese is always a must. So, to make the gooey cheese sauce, I am using 2 different kinds of cheeses; mozzarella, and cheddar. The combination of cheeses with the hint of mustard and nutmeg provides a combination of warmth and creaminess.
All about the cheese for The Best KETO Mac & Cheese
For recipes like this, or whenever I am using cheese in a dish, I prefer to grate the cheeses at home for a couple of reasons:
- It melts a lot more smoothly. pre-grated cheese usually contains additives like potato starch to keep the cheese from clumping. So it is not going to melt evenly. Plus grating your cheese at home will ensure you do not intake any additional preservatives.
- It tastes better. Because your freshly grated cheese doesn’t contain any preservatives or nasty chemicals, it will taste fresher and creamier.
PRO-TIP: Try placing your block of cheese (especially the softer cheeses) in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before grating. This will firm the cheese up and make it a lot easier to grate. You can also use the shredder disk on your food processor to grate Your cheese in seconds.
This low carb Mac & Cheese can be enjoyed all year round but it’s also the perfect addition to your holiday spread. Add this to your Thanksgiving menu and the whole family will love it. Even those family members who aren’t a fan of any “healthy” during the holidays.
CLICK HERE for more scrumptious holiday recipes.
Let’s get cooking
Let’s get cooking
THE BEST KETO MAC & CHEESE
Creamy, gooey and absolutely scrumptious. This low carb Keto Mac and cheese is the perfect side dish for any occasion. It definitely needs to make an appearance on your Thanksgiving table.
Creamy, gooey and absolutely scrumptious. This low carb Keto Mac and cheese is the perfect side dish for any occasion. It definitely needs to make an appearance on your Thanksgiving table.
Prep Time:5 mins
Cook Time:30 mins
Total Time:35 mins
Yields:8 SERVES
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Ingredients
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2
no sugar added bacon slices
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grass-fed butter to grease the baking dish(es)
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4
10-ounce bags of cauliflower florets
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1
cup milk
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1/2
cup cream cheese
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1/4
tsp ground nutmeg
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1/4
tsp mustard powder
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10
ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
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16
ounces shredded cheddar cheese, divided
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salt and pepper
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smoked paprika
Instructions
- First, preheat your oven to 400˚F. Place the bacon slices on a sheet pan, transfer to the oven and cook until the bacon is crisp about 15 minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven, dice or crumble into small pieces and set aside to cool.
- While the bacon cooks, grease 4 10-ounce ramekins or a 10.5 x 7.5 inch casserole dish with the butter and set aside. If you are using ramekins, put them on a sheet pan and set aside.
- Now, place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring the water to a boil, add the cauliflower florets, cover and steam until the cauliflower is fork-tender, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the cauliflower from the heat and set aside.
- Add the heavy cream to a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to a slow simmer. Now, add the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat altogether and whisk in the nutmeg, mustard powder, mozzarella and 8 ounces of cheddar cheese. Whisk the mixture until the cheeses are melted and the sauce is smooth. Season with a couple pinches of salt, pepper and paprika to taste.
- Add the cauliflower to the cheese sauce and gently toss to make sure the cauliflower is well coated with the cheese sauce.
- Turn the oven to the highest setting on broil.
- Add an equal amount of the cauliflower mixture into each ramekin (or a large casserole dish). Add the remaining 8 ounces of grated cheddar cheese on top and sprinkle the bacon pieces on top of the cheese. Transfer to the oven and cook for 7-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted with golden brown edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes and serve. Leftovers will last in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Notes
- You can certainly sub macaroni for cauliflower if you’re not following a low carb lifestyle. Simply follow all the steps other steps for this recipe and use cooked macaroni instead of cauliflower.
Your website is stunning and this recipe looked so good! I am not sure what I did wrong….I never got cheese sauce, just melted but essentially solid cheese that started to separate in the pot before I even mixed in the cauli. Even after broiling the result was essentially milky soup with pieces of cauli and melted clumps of mixed cheeses. Where did I screw up? I followed the recipe in every way except I had half and half on hand instead of heavy cream, but cream sauce is often made of milk not cream. But was that the culprit?
Hi Heather. I’m so sorry you had a bad experience. This is all on us. In the process of transferring recipes, I had a few different people typing the recipes out on the new site and there was definitely confusion here. The person typing out this recipe used the first draft of the recipe when I was testing it. I am so sorry. I adjusted the recipe accordingly. The recipe you made, i had the same issues with that draft myself. Which is why i switched things up. You will notice the updated recipe I didn’t made a “traditional roux” with butter and flour because the coconut flour wasn’t thickening the sauce accordingly. It was still good but the sauce was breaking up. So I ended up using cream cheese instead. And you will also notice you don’t want to simmer the cheese sauce for too long before adding the cauliflower to the sauce.
Again, I am so sorry for the confusion. I would love to send you a gift card or something to help you repurchase the ingredients to make this if that works for you. It’s been a crazy experience transferring all of the content from the old site here. I’ve been diligently proof reading everything but obviously this one got away from me. I hope you will try the recipe again because it is delicious. It is going to be a bit watery after you add the cauliflower and put it in the oven because cauliflower Is a vegetable that retains a lot of liquid but the sauce shouldn’t be breaking up. Hope this helps thank you for your support.
Would almond flour work instead of coconut flour? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Sure! Just make sure it’s finely milled.
Holy moly! It’s a million degrees in Texas right now, but as soon as it isn’t this is going on the menu. Gorgeous photos 🙂 Happy to find you through Sisson’s Friday post! p.s. Hmm I wonder how well this might do in the Air Fryer?!
Thank you Andrea! The air fryer? I’m not sure. If you mean to finish these off then yea I’m sure it’ll be great.
You have to try it. So good!
Where did you get those adorable triangular cast-iron mini pans?
They are by Lodge Castiron. I’m pretty sure they still carry them