This creamy and decadent mac and cheese is hiding a secret ingredient — cauliflower! Cooked alongside the pasta, cauliflower florets melt right into this recipe to the point of not even knowing its there in the final cheesy bite.

If you search for a cauliflower mac and cheese recipe online expecting to find a pasta-based recipe, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Low-carb sites dominant the results taking cauliflower alone and coating it in a cheesy sauce. That might have its time and place, but this recipe goes in a different, more traditional direction.

This recipe combines both pasta and cauliflower so you’ve got your veggies included in the main dish. While I’d love to say this is great for feeding picky kids (and it most certainly is), as a 43 year old adult, I love it just as much.

The cauliflower melts right into the dish, seemingly disappearing as it cooks. What you’re left with is a classic mac and cheese in all its decadent glory and the added bonus of getting some extra nutrition worked into the mix too.

Recipe Highlights

Creamy, cheesy, luscious comfort food when you need to satisfy that craving
Easily lightened up with a few tweaks for something healthier
Made in just one-pot
Kid-friendly
Can be made gluten-free (easy) or vegan (requires more effort)

A wooden spoon holds a serving of creamy cauliflower macaroni and cheese above a pot filled with more macaroni and cheese. The sauce is rich and thick, coating the pasta evenly.

Ingredient Overview

Mac and cheese is pretty straightforward, you need pasta, milk and cheese as the basics. From there, this recipe includes so spices to round out flavor and of course, cauliflower to sneak in some added nutritional benefits.

Pasta: I’m using cavatappi in this recipe for its fun corkscrew shape and ability to hold lots of cheesy sauce. Elbows are a great substitute and if you need this to be gluten-free, just choose your favorite GF pasta option. I often make this with chickpea or lentil pasta for added protein and fiber.

Cauliflower: The key with incorporating the cauliflower into this recipe is keeping the florets small so they cook easily and sort of disintegrate into the pasta. Fresh or frozen cauliflower both work.

Milk: The recipe calls for both milk and heavy cream which results in an incredibly rich dish. The heavy cream can be omitted and more milk used in its place. 2% milk can also be swapped for whole milk for a lower fat recipe.

Cream cheese: Use cream cheese, neufchâtel (low-fat cream cheese), or cottage cheese which is my favorite higher protein hack. You can see how great it is at making creamy pasta sauces in this cottage cheese Alfredo recipe.

Cheddar: Both yellow and white cheddar are fine for this recipe. The choice will slightly change the final color of the dish, but the taste will be the same. Always grate your own cheese instead of using pre-shredded cheese for recipes like this that require it to melt smoothly.

Spices: Salt, pepper, dried mustard powder, garlic powder and onion powder all round out the flavor of the macaroni and cheese. The one ingredient you may not have is dried mustard powder, in which case you can substitute a bit of Dijon mustard.

Fresh parsley: While this is just the garnish, I always find it necessary to point out the importance of something fresh, green and bright like chopped parsley, green onions or basil to a dish like this that’s incredibly savory and full-bodied.

A white bowl filled with creamy macaroni and cheese, topped with cauliflower florets and parsley, sits on a table next to bread, shredded cheese, and fresh herbs.

How to Make Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

The full recipe card can be found at the bottom of this post detailing the exact amounts and full instructions, but this visual walk-through can be helpful before starting the recipe so you know what to expect.

My Pro Tips

For the Best Tasting Cauli-Mac

If the mac and cheese starts to thicken too much before the pasta is fully cooked, turn the heat down and add a splash of milk.
This is best served immediately while warm. If it thickens too much as it sits, you can thin it out with more milk.
This recipe is insanely delicious with some crispy crumbled bacon or pancetta on top, similar to this Greek yogurt mac and cheese.
For to keep the recipe vegetarian but increase the protein content, use a high-protein pasta.
Quick skillet cooked chicken sausage or ground pork sausage is an easy protein addition. Or, make our sausage mac and cheese recipe instead.
I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
For a vegan option: replace the milk with your favorite creamy plant-based milk option (aka: not almond milk), use vegan cream cheese and a vegan cheddar cheese alternative.

A bowl of creamy mac and cheese garnished with chopped herbs sits on a table, surrounded by shredded cheddar cheese, cauliflower florets, parsley, and a fork.

One-Pot Wonder

The overlooked, best part of this recipe is that it’s a one-pot meal. Typically, mac and cheese recipes make the roux and sauce in one pot while the pasta cooks in another and when you factor in the strainer, that’s just too many pots to clean.

I was adamant about figuring out a way to simplify this recipe. It’s a bit of a unique twist to the par-cook the pasta in the water and then use that bit of leftover water to contribute to the sauce, but it works and hopefully you enjoy the ease of both the prep and clean-up because of it.

A close-up of a fork holding a creamy bite of cauliflower mac and cheese, with a bowl of mac and cheese in the background on a light surface.

More Creamy Pastas to Make

I linked to some of my other mac and cheese recipes above but don’t miss out on this sweet potato mac and cheese or this one-pan turkey skillet mac and cheese either.

Outside of traditional mac and cheese recipes, these pastas are super creamy and decadent as well: