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This veggie-loaded Vegan Cauliflower Casserole is layered with ooey-gooey cheese, topped with buttery breadcrumbs and then baked to perfection. It's easy and delicious!
Autumn is right around the corner and that means it's time for everything warm, comforting and definitely cheesy! Am I right? So, to celebrate, I'm sharing this Cheesy Vegan Cauliflower Casserole to kickoff the season.
It will fit right into your weeknight dinner routine, weekends or for your holiday table. It'll be on our Thanksgiving table along with my Meatless Loaf, Sourdough Bread Stuffing, Vegan Greenbean Casserole, and my Sweet Skillet Cornbread Recipe. I can't wait!
This veggie-packed casserole is also kid-friendly. I mean, who wouldn't eat their veggies when they are smothered in a cheesy sauce?
How to Make Vegan Cauliflower Casserole
(full ingredient amounts in recipe card below)
STEP 1
Combine the breadcrumbs, garlic and melted butter together. This will create a buttery and crispy top to your casserole!
Note: You'll need to soften the cashews first for the vegan cheese sauce. To do this, boil water in a small pot and remove from heat. Add cashews and cover for 15-20 minutes until they're softened.
STEP 2
Cover and steam the cauliflower in about 1" of water in a Large Pot. Cover and steam until just tender (about 7-10 minutes). Uncover and remove from heat.
Note: You can also boil the cauliflower until just tender (about 5 minutes). Drain really well before putting in the casserole dish.
STEP 3
Time to make the vegan cheese sauce! To get started, drain and rinse the cashews (discard soaking water). Now place all cheese sauce ingredients in a High-Speed Blender. Blend until cashews have completely broken down and the sauce is smooth.
Note: If you don't have a high-speed blender, the cashews might not completely break down and this could result in a gritty texture. You can try soaking the cashews longer for 12 hours or more.
STEP 4
Now for the stretchy cheesy goodness! Pour blended vegan cheese sauce into a medium skillet/pot over medium heat (I used the same pot for steaming the cauliflower). Cook for 4-5 minutes until it thickens up a lot and becomes slightly stretchy. Stir often to prevent it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Note: If the cheese sauce is too thick for your taste, you can add a little soy milk or broth to thin it out. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
STEP 5
Pour half of the vegan cheese sauce into the greased casserole dish and spread along the bottom. Now add the cauliflower florets on top in mostly one layer.
STEP 6
Top with more vegan cheese sauce! Pour the remaining cheese sauce on top of the cauliflower and spread out evenly. You can sprinkle the top with fresh-cracked pepper if desired.
STEP 7
Now sprinkle the top with prepared panko breadcrumbs and cover with foil. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until breadcrumbs are light golden brown.
Topping Ideas:
- Fresh-Cut Parsley
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Enjoy!
Tidbits:
- I recently switched to Sari Foods Nutritional Yeast. I like it better because the vitamins and minerals are naturally occurring. They don't add any synthetic vitamins, so it's better for you and it doesn't taste as bitter either. It's a few dollars more than most brands but so worth it. (*It doesn't contain B12, so you'll have to supplement if you depend on nutritional yeast for that)
- If you have Vegan Lactic Acid, you can use that in replace of the lemon juice. It adds a similar tangy flavor that cultured cheese has. I usually add 1 ¼ teaspoons in place of the lemon juice. You'll need to add a few tablespoons of broth or non-dairy milk to make up the liquid portion of the lemon juice.
I'd love to hear from you
If you make this Vegan Cauliflower Casserole, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. It would really make my day. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @veganhuggs and hashtag #veganhuggs so I don’t miss it.
Recipe
Cheesy Vegan Cauliflower Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower , cut into bite-size florets (about 2.5 pounds)
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (GF if preferred)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter , melted (+ more for greasing dish)
Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup raw cashews , soaked in very hot water
- 2 cups unsweetened soy milk
- 1 cup vegetable broth , low sodium
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup tapioca flour/starch
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic , (+ a pinch for breadcrumbs)
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt , more to taste
Optional Toppings
- Fresh-cut parsley
- Crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C). Lightly grease a 3-quart casserole dish and set aside.
- Combine the melted butter, breadcrumbs and a pinch of granulated garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.
- To soak cashews, boil water in a small pot and remove from heat. Add cashews and cover for 15-20 minutes, until softened (*see note).
- While the cashews are soaking, you can steam the cauliflower. Place about 1 " of water into a med/large pot that will fit your steamer basket. Place your basket on the bottom and cover pot with a lid. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to med-low to maintain a low boil and place cauliflower florets into the basket. Cover and steam for 7-10 minutes, until just tender. Uncover and remove from heat.
- Drain and rinse cashews (discard soaking water). Now place all cheese sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend until cashews have completely broken down and the sauce is smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour cheese sauce into a medium skillet/pot over medium heat (I used the same pot for steaming the cauliflower). Cook for 4-5 minutes until it thickens up a lot and becomes slightly stretchy. Stir often to prevent burning. If sauce is too thick for your taste, you can add a little soy milk or broth to thin it out. Taste for seasoning, and add more if needed.
- Pour ½ the cheese sauce on the bottom of the greased casserole dish. Now add the cauliflower on top in one layer. Pour the remaining cheese sauce on top of the cauliflower. Now sprinkle with prepared breadcrumbs and cover with foil. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is hot and bubbly. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until breadcrumbs are light golden brown. Remove from oven. *Sprinkle with optional fresh-cut parsley and crushed red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Abby
I made this today and looking forward to dinner, but realizing that the nutrition facts seem very off. I calculate the calories at 380 per serving … and this shows less than half that per serving (8 servings per casserole and 187 calories per serving). Am I missing something or is the nutritional information indeed incorrect? Thanks …
Lauren
This was so tasty and filling! I had about a cup of this with a side salad for dinner and I was stuffed! Ive made a lot of vegan cheese sauce recipes in my day,, but this is the first that used tapioca flour and I gotta tell ya, I think that’s the secret ingredient. The texture was so spot on and you didn’t have to use so many cashews to get it right. I will be modifying other cheese recipes to include this! This is the first recipe of yours I’ve tried and I’ll def be coming back for more!!
Melissa Huggins
Thank you for trying the recipe, Lauren! Yes, I agree...the tapioca is the magic ingredient. I use it for so many cheese recipes. 🙂
EaBH
Hi Melissa,
Long time not communicating via Instagram or your blog😊. I had a cauliflower casserole recipe that it was almost the same but yours added much more flavor. It is cooling down right now but smells amazing! the difference is that I never added onion powder or garlic or Dijon I just made usually made a simple vegan béchamel using soaked cashews. I did not use all the amount of butter that you recommend for the topping nor I use a cup of cashews. So I took it a little bit but pretty much merged my recipe with your, because your recipe added much more flavor.
As I said before it looks and smells delicious Thank you for sharing the recipe
Melissa Huggins
Hi Beatriz. So nice to hear from you! I'm so sorry about the late reply. Your comments was sitting in the spam folder. I'm so happy you were able to merge my recipe with yours for a perfect dish! Thank you for sharing your feedback. 🙂
Kay
Really enjoyed this - and so did the non-vegans I gave it too.
Melissa Huggins
Hi Kay, I'm so happy everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing feedback. 🙂
Christine
I put in half the cashews and then half a block of medium firm tofu into the sauce. Also used almond milk as I didn't have soy milk, an extra 2 tbsp of nutch and 2 big cloves of garlic into the blender with the sauce. Added a bit of chili pepper, paprika and turmeric to the sauce as well. Super yummy!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Christine, it sounds wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to share feedback. 🙂
Pam
This cheese sauce is the bomb! It made a lot, so I used half one night with roasted the cauliflower and used the other half later in the week on a pasta and broccoli.bake. The only change I made was using a mix of lemon juice and pepperoncini broth.
Melissa Huggins
Hi Pam, I'm so happy you love it! Sounds perfect with pasta. Thank you for taking the time to share feedback. 🙂
Lori
Does this freeze well or else how long will it last in fridge?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Lori, yes, it freezes well and will last in the fridge for 3-5 days. 🙂
Beverly
Loved the results, warm and cheesy. Not complicated to make. Great directions on overlapping the time to soak the cashews and steam the cauliflower.
Melissa Huggins
Thank you, Beverly! I'm so happy it was a hit! You're the best <3
Bea
Cashew allergy here. What could we use instead?
Melissa Huggins
Can you have macadamia nuts? They would produce the same results.
Bea
We could do almond. Do you think that would work?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Bea, yes, almond milk will work instead of soy, and blanched almonds or macadamia nuts will work instead of cashews.If you use blanched almonds you will need to soak them 8-10 hours in water. I usually pop them in the fridge overnight. I hope this helps. 🙂
Michelle
This is delicious. I've probably made this 6 or 8 times now, and change it up a little each time. I usually roast the cauliflower, as well as some sliced baby bella mushrooms, using aquafaba, no oil. Tonight I also added a diced jalapeno (roasted), about 6 oz of frozen spinach/kale (thawed in a colander under hot running water, excess water squeezed out), and about a cup of chickpeas, rinsed and drained. I use water instead of oil with the breadcrumbs, almond milk instead of soy, water instead of broth, arrowroot powder instead of tapioca starch. Everyone loves it. Thank you for a great recipe!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Michelle, I'm so you love the recipe and change it up to fit your taste. Thank you for making it and sharing your modifications. 🙂
Michelle
Like another commenter, I've now started replacing some of the cashews with tofu (about 1/2 block extra firm tofu with about 2/3 cup cashews). Reduces the fat and we can't tell any difference in taste. We love this recipe!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Michelle, I'm so glad you love it that way too. Thank you for sharing your tips. 🙂
marge201
Why do you prefer arrowroot powder over tapioca starch?
Michelle
Hi Marge. It's just what I had on hand, and I had a feeling it would thicken the cheese sauce in a similar way as the tapioca starch. If I had the tapioca starch, I would have used it instead.
Lyn
Hi, I cannot use soy or almond milks. Has anyone used another milk that worked okay? I tend to gravitate toward macadamia nut milk. I think with the cashews, cashew nut milk may be too much. I plan to make this over the weekend and love the comments.
Melissa Huggins
Hi Lyn, you can use any unsweetened plant-based milk that you prefer. Macadamia nut milk sounds perfect! I'm glad you'll try the recipe. Thank you so much 🙂
Belle
Hi, looks delicious and best of all not overly complicated!
Wondering if adding other veg (like mushroom and zucchini etc) might ruin it?
Also I couldn’t find any information about storage / longevity 🙂
Melissa Huggins
Hi Belle, I think they both could work, but I wonder if the zucchini would produce too much moisture. If you use the mushrooms, I would sauté them first, so they release their water. It'll add a great flavor too! The casserole will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days and the freezer for 2-3 months. You may need to add a small amount of broth to thin the cheese a little. 🙂
Trish
Found this today whilst looking for a recipe using ingredients I had in the house. I made it pretty much as directed apart from using broccoli and cauliflower. I didn't have tapioca starch so used cornflower and I realised at the last minute we were out of vegan butter so I used olive oil. I also added some herbs and chilli flakes to the breadcrumbs. I did have a bit of a mishap when my too small blender exploded the liquid all over the bench :), lesson learned for next time. It turned out absolutely delicious, my husband who's a big meat eater loved it and my vegan daughter came back for seconds. There's still enough for lunch tomorrow. I'll now be subscribing to your website and look forward to trying more of your delicious recipes soon. Thank you!
Melissa Huggins
Hello Trish, that was quite an adventure but I am happy to hear it turned out well! So glad your family enjoyed this recipe and thank you for the support. 🙂