I want to thank Tessa, from Hold the Grain, for sharing this delicious slow cooker recipe for loaded mashed cauliflower. Cauliflower is one of the most versatile ingredients in a Paleo kitchen and she makes it even better by adding my favorite ingredient… BACON! I’m sure this will be a favorite go-to recipe for your family! Be sure to check out the Ultimate Crock Pot guide for everything you need to know for this incredibly useful kitchen tool!
Slower Cooker Loaded Mashed Cauliflower
Hello everyone! I am so excited to be sharing this recipe here today! And, since this is George’s blog after all, I thought it only appropriate that this recipe includes bacon.
Okay, so you can find a lot of recipes for cauliflower mash out there, and most people will have their tried and true favorite way to prepare it. But now you can cook in your slow cooker too! I love cauliflower mash and I love a good slow cooker recipe, and so I decided to combine the two into loaded cauliflower mash. Did I mention the bacon?
Cooking the cauliflower in the slow cooker with bacon and broth gives the cauliflower a great flavor while allowing it to cook without burning or turning to mush. Once the cauliflower is cooked and mashed, it is loaded with nutritional yeast, scallions and more bacon for a cheesy, comforting and flavorful side dish. If nutritional yeast is a new ingredient to you, it’s used to add a cheese-like flavor to dairy-free recipes, but feel free to omit it if you prefer.
And that’s it! Now you can make a greatloaded mashed cauliflower in the slow cooker! If you like this recipe, be sure to join me over at Hold the Grain where I share new recipes each week.
Slow Cooker Loaded Mashed Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 6 slices of bacon
- 2 heads of cauliflower chopped
- 1/3 cup chicken broth or water
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast optional
- 1 thinly sliced green onion garnish
Instructions
- In the bottom of a slow cooker, place 4 slices of bacon and top with the chopped cauliflower florets.
- Pour the broth over the cauliflower, and then season with the turmeric, garlic, onion and pepper.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
- When the cauliflower is almost done, in a pan, cook the remaining 2 slices of bacon until crispy and set aside. Chop into pieces once cooled.
- Once fully cooked, transfer the florets to a food processor with a slotted spoon. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to do this in a few batches. (Be careful not to transfer the excess liquid into the food processor, or the mash will be too thin.)
- Process the cauliflower until smooth.
- Place the mash in a bowl and stir in the nutritional yeast. Garnish with thinly sliced green onion and the chopped bacon.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Banana Bread Donuts
Any chance you can convert the recipe to be made in an Instapot (under pressure not slow cooker function) instead?
Also wanted to mention that I used my immersion blender right in the crock pot-love that thing!
Awesome!!
oh my stars! This is amazing! I made this today and I used frozen cauliflower. Just plopped it in the crock pot, and magic! So good this might be on the table for Thanksgiving! Bonus that it doesn’t need to be in the oven.
love the enthusiasm!! It is magic for sure but don’t tell anyone lol
Is the bacon at the bottom of the slow cooker raw?
I’m making this now. Just to clarify, what do you do with the bacon on the bottom of the slow cooker? Do you process it with the cauliflower?
I would, then you’ll have the smoky bacon flavor all throughout.
This was very good! Thanks.
This looks delicious! Two heads of cauliflower…they vary so much in size, could we have a weight range to look for at the store? Thanks!
I would suggest just looking for two average sized heads of cauliflower. The recipe shouldn’t vary greatly with the size of the cauliflower.
Great recipe!