This cauliflower and potato mash recipe is a healthy twist on the ultimate comfort food. Easy to make, easy to eat, this side dish is a must try any time of year!
Sometimes you just need comfort food. Mashed potatoes are a well-loved and comforting side dish. But if you’re trying to eat healthier you may be avoiding this great side. No more!
This lightened up mashed potato recipe has all the comfort of your favorite mashed potatoes with fewer carbs, less calories, more fiber, and more nutrients!
For those who love to eat seasonally, this is a great late summer side dish. Perfect for when fingerling potatoes, cauliflower, and chives are fresh and prominent at your local farmers market. In the summer, this side is great paired with your favorite grilled foods like chicken, salmon, or steak.
When the weather is colder and comfort food is calling, this cauliflower and potato mash recipe is a great option to pair alongside a roast, any of your favorite baked proteins, and so much more. This cauliflower potato mash recipe would also be a great healthy Thanksgiving side dish option.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Level of difficulty: Easy. Boil and mash!
Flavor: Creamy, potatoey, goodness.
Time: It will take you about 30 minutes to prepare, cook, and mash this potato and cauliflower mash recipe.
Ingredients Needed
- Baby Gold Potatoes: golden potatoes have a naturally buttery flavor and create a creamy and somewhat dense consistency when mashed. The skins are kept on adding great texture to this cauliflower potato mash recipe as well.
- Cauliflower: fresh cauliflower is a key component in these lightened up mashed potatoes.
- Broth: used during boiling and mashing for an added boost of flavor.
- Water: needed for boiling your vegetables.
- Sour Cream: sour cream adds a wonderful creaminess and mild tang to this recipe.
- Butter: everything is better with butter…including cauliflower mashed potatoes!
- Fresh Herbs: fresh chives are used in this recipe. Option to add additional herbs like parsley, rosemary, thyme if desired!
- Salt and Pepper: don’t forget to add these basic seasonings, they’re great flavor enhancers.
Broth Options for Making Cauliflower Potato Mash
You have several broth options for preparing this veggie mashed potatoes recipe:
- Chicken Broth – a very nice choice for mashed potatoes
- Vegetable Broth – a perfect option to make this into a vegetarian recipe
- Bone Broth – a great choice for additional protein, collagen, and additional nutrients. I like and use his chicken bone broth. This turkey bone broth would be great too!
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Cook your vegetables. Place potatoes and cauliflower in a large saucepan with 1 + ¼ cup broth and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Boil until potatoes are fork tender (~15-20 minutes).
- Drain and Mash. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid and set aside. Drain the remaining liquid. In the same pan, mash the cooked potatoes and cauliflower with ¾ cup broth, butter, and sour cream until desired consistency is reached. Add additional reserved liquid if needed. Stir in chives, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Serve and enjoy! Enjoy your healthy mashed potatoes with additional butter, gravy, or any of your other favorite mashed potato toppings.
- Store Leftovers: Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Serving Suggestions
Serve alongside your favorite grilled proteins. Since baby potatoes and cauliflower are in season in late summertime, this cauliflower and potato mash is a great recipe to make and serve along with your favorite grilled proteins. Try pairing with grilled chicken, salmon, or steak! You can also round out your meal by adding another of your favorite summer veggies to your plate.
Make these into cauliflower loaded mashed potatoes! Add your favorite baked potato toppings like bacon, cheddar, chives, and more onto these cauliflower mashed potatoes for a little extra fun!
Enjoy these as a healthy Thanksgiving side dish. Replace (or supplement!) your usual Thanksgiving mashed potatoes with these lightened up mashed potatoes with cauliflower and serve as usual.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this cauliflower potato mash recipe vegetarian? Yes! Using vegetable broth for these veggie mashed potatoes makes them vegetarian.
Can I make this cauliflower potato mash recipe vegan? Yes! To make this recipe vegan, you will need to replace the sour cream and butter with vegan approved products. I would recommend starting with replacing these items with 4 tablespoon of vegan butter. Please note, I have not done this myself but aligns with recommendations for a wide variety of vegan mashed potato recipes.
What type of potatoes should I use for this cauliflower mashed potato recipe if I don’t have baby gold or fingerling potatoes? Yukon gold or russet potatoes are both great potato options for this cauliflower and potato mash recipe! Because these are larger sized potatoes, I recommend cutting yukon gold or russets into smaller pieces (approximately 1-2” cubes) prior to boiling.
Love This Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
- Herbes de Provence Cheesy Potatoes
- Green Bean Caprese
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Dave’s Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce
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Cauliflower and Potato Mash
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb baby gold potatoes
- 1 lb cauliflower florets (~1 small head)
- 2 C broth of choice, divided (¾ C reserved)
- 4-5 C water
- 1 tablespoon salted butter + more for serving
- ½ C sour cream
- ¼ teaspoon salt + add’l salt & pepper to taste
- ¼ C chopped chives
- optional: other finely chopped herbs like parsley, rosemary, and/or thyme
Instructions
- Place potatoes and cauliflower in a large saucepan with 1 + ¼ cup broth and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Boil until potatoes are fork tender (~15-20 minutes)
- Reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid and set aside. Drain the remaining liquid
- In the same pan, mash the cooked potatoes and cauliflower with ¾ cup broth, butter, and sour cream until desired consistency is reached. Add additional reserved liquid if needed. Stir in chives, salt, and pepper.*
- Serve with additional butter, gravy, or your favorite mashed potato toppings and enjoy!
Paul says
We paired this (amazing!) mash with grilled pork chops for dinner this weekend. This recipe is just so good. Will definitely make again!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Now I need to make this to go with some grilled pork chops… 🙂