This gooey baked vegan cauliflower cheese is the ultimate vegan comfort food, with a crispy breadcrumb topping.
When I first tried Veganuary five years ago I assumed favourites like cauliflower cheese, vegetable gratins and creamy pasta bakes would be off the menu. I soon discovered they definitely weren’t. Making a creamy vegan béchamel from dairy-free milk and a block margarine is straightforward, and the wide range of plant-based cheeses now available makes a rich cheese sauce and crunchy topping easy to achieve.
Cauliflower cheese is pure comfort food: a humble winter vegetable transformed by a silky sauce and a crisp topping into something far more than the sum of its parts.
Although usually served as a side, this vegan cauliflower cheese works perfectly as a main course too. Serve it with crusty bread and a rocket salad in summer, or with Tenderstem broccoli and green beans during colder months.
📝 What you need
Ingredients
Cauliflower — choose a fresh, medium-sized head to serve about four people. Frozen florets can be used in a pinch, but fresh gives a better texture for baking.
Dairy-free margarine — use a solid block-style vegan butter rather than a soft tub. Options like Flora Plant Butter or Naturli Block work well.
Dairy-free milk — use an unsweetened plant milk. Oat milk gives a naturally savoury, creamy base for sauces, but soya or unsweetened nut milks are fine too.
Dairy-free cream — an unsweetened oat or soya cream adds extra richness; Elmlea Plant Double is a good example if you can find it.
Dairy-free cheese — a firm vegan cheddar-style cheese works best for flavour and melting. Violife Epic Mature, Applewood Smoked or KoKo Cheddar are all good choices.
Breadcrumbs — homemade breadcrumbs from toasted crusts give great texture. If you use shop-bought crumbs you can skip to the final steps, as they’ll already be crisp.
Equipment
No special gadgets are needed — just a saucepan, a frying pan, a colander and an ovenproof dish.
👩🏽🍳 Variations
This recipe is a great base for variations. Try:
- Stirring halved cherry tomatoes into the cauliflower and sauce just before adding the breadcrumbs.
- Using a 50/50 mix of cauliflower and broccoli for added colour and texture.
- Making the breadcrumbs from vegan garlic bread for an indulgent twist — tear into chunks or blitz into crumbs, and keep an eye under the grill to avoid burning.
- Adding macaroni or pasta shells to turn the dish into a comforting cheesy pasta bake.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Cauliflower Cheese
Kate Ford | The Veg Space
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Ingredients
For the cheese sauce:
- 50 g dairy-free butter (a block margarine, rather than a tub)
- 50 g plain flour
- 1 litre unsweetened dairy-free milk I prefer oat milk
- 100 ml dairy-free cream
- 100 g dairy-free cheese
- Nutmeg (optional)
For the cauliflower:
- 1 cauliflower
- 2 tablespoon dairy-free butter
- 40 g breadcrumbs (or 1 slice bread, toasted and blitzed into crumbs)
Instructions
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Melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir, cooking gently for about 2 minutes.
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Gradually add the milk a little at a time, stirring continuously to avoid lumps.
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When all the milk is incorporated, simmer gently for 5 minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy. Remove from the heat, stir in the cream and two-thirds of the dairy-free cheese, then season generously with salt and black pepper.
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Grate in a little nutmeg if you like, taste and adjust the seasoning, then set the cheese sauce aside.
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Preheat your grill to a medium setting.
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Break the cauliflower into smallish florets and bring a large pan of water to the boil.
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Cook the florets for about 4 minutes until just tender, then drain thoroughly.
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Melt 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in a large frying pan and sauté the cauliflower for 4–5 minutes until browned and caramelised. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a large ovenproof dish.
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Add the breadcrumbs to the frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes until crispy and golden, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
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Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower, sprinkle over the remaining dairy-free cheese, then top with the crispy breadcrumbs.
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Grill until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden. Serve hot.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 391 kcal
Carbohydrates: 57.6 g
Protein: 10.6 g
Fat: 13.5 g
Saturated Fat: 5.9 g
Sodium: 470 mg
Potassium: 469 mg
Fiber: 8.2 g
Sugar: 24.6 g
Calcium: 422 mg
Iron: 2 mg
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