This Mashed Cauliflower and Spinach is an easy and delicious way to eat your veggies!
We’ve been on a big cauliflower kick lately. It’s a lower carb and lower calorie alternative to potatoes – plus cauliflower cooks up quickly and tastes delicious!
I’m always looking for delicious ways to eat more veggies. A few weeks ago, I was cooking dinner and had planned to make cauliflower purée as a side dish to serve with our herb roasted chicken. We also had a big bag of baby spinach on hand in the refrigerator – and that was the simple inspiration behind today’s Mashed Cauliflower and Spinach.
To make this Mashed Cauliflower and Spinach, you’ll start out by cooking cauliflower florets in salted boiling water until soft and tender. While the cauliflower cooks, we sautéed some diced onion in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, then added the fresh spinach to the pan to cook until just wilted.
We pulsed the cooked and drained cauliflower in a food processor, then added the onions, spinach, butter, and seasonings – and pulsed again to combine.
We prefer to serve our Mashed Cauliflower and Spinach with a slightly chunky consistency, but you could process everything to more of puréed consistency. Either way – this easy, healthy side dish is delicious!
P.S. If you are on a Whole30, use organic vegetables and clarified butter.
PrintMashed Cauliflower and Spinach
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 large head organic cauliflower, trimmed down to the florets
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup sweet onion, diced small
- 2 cups organic fresh baby spinach
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon butter (or clarified butter or ghee for Whole30)
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil and add cauliflower. Cook just until tender, about ten minutes.
- While cauliflower is cooking, heat a medium sauté pan over medium high heat and add olive oil.
- Once hot, add onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes or until completely cooked.
- Add the spinach, toss and remove from heat.
- Drain the cauliflower but retain about a cup of the cooking water.
- Pulse the cauliflower until rice size but not pureed.
- Add the spinach mixture scraping the oil with it, salt, pepper, garlic powder and butter and pulse to combine. Do not over mix.
- If mixture is too thick, spoon a little of the cauliflower water in. We did not need to do that with ours.
- Serve immediately.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
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I have made this now three or four times and I love it! I have simplified it which works just fine. After I cook the cauliflower I put it back in the same pot and mash it with a fork. Then add the spinach mixture and blend it with my hand blender. When finished I have kept it on the stovetop for awhile and/or even put it a casserole dish and kept for awhile. So it definitely can be made ahead of time. So delicious! Love the recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks Francy!
About how many ounces is two cups of baby spinach for this recipe?
Hi Denise – I don’t have any baby spinach on hand to give you an exact weight measurement, but knowing that a large container is about 10 ounces, I’d say around 2 ounces? Hope that helps
Was quite wet for me. A little bland.
★★★
Thanks for the feedback Rupert – you could try draining the cauliflower more the next time, and of course, feel free to adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.
Oh my, this is delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I like the idea someone had of adding cashew cream to this, but it’s spectacular as is (at least for a major cauliflower fan).
★★★★★
Thanks Chessie – so glad you liked the recipe!
This is a great recipe, I sautéed fresh garlic with the onion in place of garlic powder, and substituted cashew cream for butter, I did add a splash of the cauliflower water.
★★★★★
Thanks Catherine – Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
How much is a serving? 1/2 cup or more
Hi Pat – Depending on the size of your cauliflower, I’d say a serving is more like 3/4 of a cup to one cup in size.
Could this be made a few hours in advance and then warmed up in the oven when I am ready to serve it?
Hi Stefania – Yes – you can definitely make this ahead of time. The vegetables may weep a little liquid as they sit in the refrigerator, but just stir that back in and you’ll be fine.
Made it and loved it!!! Making it again this week.
Yay! So glad you are enjoying the recipe Barbara!
Do you think I can freeze this?
Hi Barbara – We haven’t tried freezing this recipe ourselves, but we do think it would be find to do so. I’d suggest freezing your portions in zipper seal bags and squeezing out as much air as possible to avoid any freezer burn.
Thanks…I’ll let you know.
So delicious! Making tonight for the second time in a week. Thank you!
★★★★★
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
As a college student trying to eat healthier on a budget, this was a great recipie! I halved most the ingredients and used frozen cauliflower and green onions because that’s what I had. I also added some random other spices like cumin, chilipowder, and cayenne because why not? Finally, as someone who isn’t a fan of normal mashed potatoes because of the consistency I crumbled some ritz crackers and threw them in too. Thanks for the recipie!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome Bob! Your additions sound great!
Loved it. Shared with a friend who said her teen son walked around with the bowl finishing what was left over.
★★★★★
Thanks Ken! So glad the recipe was a hit (with everyone!) 🙂
I’m making this today and I can’t wait. Thank you
★★★★★
We hope you love the recipe Marsha!
Anything that puts cauliflower and spinach together has to be good. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Tara – hope you enjoy the recipe!
My food processor is the small kind (4 cup). Would I need a full size (8 cup) to do this recipe, or could I use a blender instead?
Thanks!
Hi Bethany – A blender would work although I think it will puree the mixture more (but that will still taste delicious!) Alternately, you could just two batches in the smaller food processor. Hope that helps!
Thank you for bringing this nice vegetable to a new level. Will do !
Hope you enjoy the recipe!