How to make creamy healthy mashed cauliflower in less than 20 minutes. This is easier than mashed potatoes. No peeling! Our recipe makes cauliflower that’s light, fluffy, and creamy all in the same bite. Jump to the Easy Mashed Cauliflower Recipe. Or watch our quick, straight-forward recipe video showing you how to make them.

Watch Us Make Mashed Cauliflower

How to Make the Best Mashed Cauliflower

This recipe started as a replacement for our beloved mashed potatoes, but then it took a turn. We fell in love. Creamy, tasty cauliflower without any guilt!

Mashed or “smashed” cauliflower is very simple to make and is so versatile. Our recipe only calls for a few extra ingredients, but you can always spice things up.

Whether you make our basic recipe or add your spin, here’s a few things to keep in mind:

Cauliflower Cooks Quickly — There’s no need to boil the cauliflower for more than 10 minutes. You can tell the cauliflower is done when you can pierce it with a fork.

Let the Cooked Cauliflower Stand — We’ll do this when we make mashed potatoes, too. Just after draining, throw the cooked cauliflower back into the hot pot you cooked it in. Cover, then let it stand 2 to 3 minutes. During this time, the cauliflower will continue to steam, and any extra moisture will reabsorb into the cauliflower. If you don’t do this, the mashed cauliflower will be watery.

Use a potato masher — If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know we hate washing extra dishes. For the absolute creamiest mashed cauliflower, you can make a cauliflower puree by using a food processor or blender. We actually like some texture in our cauliflower mash so we use a potato masher instead. This recipe is all about quick so we make our mashed cauliflower without a food processor.

Mashing with a potato masher leaves some texture in the cauliflower mash. For an ultra creamy mash, use a food processor or blender.

Spice it Up — Our recipe below is straightforward and thanks to a bit of cream cheese, it’s extra creamy. We love it so much we’ll eat it with a spoon, but there are so many things you could do to spice up the flavors. Think of what you could do to mashed potatoes — this is the same. Add your favorite spices, garlic oil, chili oil, or some shredded cheese. We love spicing cauliflower up. Our roasted Thai curry cauliflower and this chili lime roasted cauliflower are great examples. Blue cheese and caramelized onions would be fantastic. Cheddar cheese and a little bacon would also be delicious. Anything goes.

More Easy Cauliflower Recipes

Recipe updated, originally posted January 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne

20 Minute Mashed Cauliflower

PREP 10mins COOK 10mins TOTAL 20mins



Mashed or “smashed” cauliflower is light, fluffy and creamy. Best of all, though, it’s easy. Our recipe calls for a little cream cheese, which adds extra creaminess. You can omit it, though. The cauliflower would still be quite delicious. We also call for a tiny bit of nutmeg, which rounds out the flavors and adds a little richness.

Makes 4 Servings

You Will Need 1 medium cauliflower or 4 cups cauliflower florets 3 tablespoons cream cheese Salt and fresh ground black pepper Pinch ground or grated nutmeg 1 tablespoon sliced green onion, optional

Directions Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut cauliflower into florets then add to boiling water and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until a fork can easily be pierced through the cauliflower. Drain the cauliflower, and then throw back into the hot pot (off the heat) and cover with lid. Let stand 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cream cheese, a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to the cauliflower. Then, use a potato masher to smash the cauliflower. Finish with a pinch of nutmeg. (If you have whole nutmeg, grate a little over the cauliflower using a Microplane). Stir then serve with sliced green onions on top.

Adam and Joanne's Tips Make it vegan: This is a vegan-friendly recipe, just leave out the cream cheese and replace with vegan butter. A sprinkle of nutritional yeast is also a nice touch and will add a bit of “cheesy” flavor to the cauliflower.

Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We omitted salt from the calculations since you will need to add to your tastes. If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving: Serving Size 1/4 of the recipe / Calories 75 / Protein 4 g / Carbohydrate 8 g / Dietary Fiber 3 g / Total Sugars 3 g / Total Fat 4 g / Saturated Fat 2 g / Cholesterol 12 mg