Cauliflower: The Keto All-Rounder for Rice, Pizza and Mash

Is cauliflower recommended for keto?

Without reservation, yes. At 3 g of net carbs per 100 g, cauliflower has one of the best ratios of volume, satiety and carbs of any vegetable. A medium head weighs around 600 g and carries only 18 g of net carbs in total, spread over three to four servings. For comparison, 100 g of cooked white rice has 28 g of carbs and potatoes around 15 g. The neutral, slightly nutty flavor soaks up butter, cheese, cream and spices willingly, which is why cauliflower mainly serves as a carrier for fat in the keto kitchen. 🥦 Practical tip: Cauliflower tastes far better roasted than boiled. At 425 °F (220 °C) in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper it develops roasted aromas and loses the sulfurous smell many people associate with the cooking water. If you do boil it, keep it al dente and drain immediately, otherwise vitamin C and flavor leach out.

Cauliflower as rice, pizza crust and mash

For cauliflower rice, break the head into florets and pulse them in a food processor until the pieces resemble grains of rice. Then fry them in a hot pan with butter or coconut oil for 5 to 7 minutes rather than boiling, or the rice turns mushy. For mash, boil or steam the florets until soft, drain very thoroughly and blend with butter, cream and salt. The crucial step is squeezing out the water: cauliflower is 92 percent water, and only a dry mash turns creamy instead of watery. For a pizza crust, raw cauliflower rice is briefly pre-cooked in the microwave or a pan, pressed firmly in a clean kitchen towel and kneaded with an egg, shredded mozzarella and parmesan into a dough. The crust is pre-baked at 425 °F (220 °C) for about 15 minutes before the toppings go on. Frozen cauliflower rice works well for skillet dishes, but fresh cauliflower is better for pizza crust because frozen florets release even more water.

What pairs well with it?

Cauliflower loves fat and seasoning. The classic pairing is cheese: a gratin with cheddar and bacon, mac and cheese without the macaroni, or cauliflower gnocchi with gorgonzola. With butter and cream it becomes the mashed potato substitute that goes with roasts, stews and meatballs. In Asian cooking, cauliflower rice is the base for fried rice with egg, soy sauce and scallions, or for a curry with coconut milk. As a roasted vegetable it pairs with turmeric, cumin, garlic cloves and lemon juice, and from the air fryer with buffalo sauce as cauliflower wings. Even hummus can be made from roasted cauliflower with tahini and olive oil, at a fraction of the carbs of chickpeas. And a cream of cauliflower soup with bacon bits is one of the easiest keto lunches there is: simmer florets in broth until soft, blend with cream, season with nutmeg. Each bowl stays around 7 g of net carbs.

Pros & cons of organic

Pros: Conventionally grown cauliflower is regularly treated with pesticides against cabbage worms, cabbage root fly and flea beetles. Residues are rarely found at concerning levels, though, because the outer leaves are removed and the head grows protected inside. Organic produce avoids synthetic pesticides and mineral nitrogen fertilizer, which tends to lower nitrate content. Cons: Organic cauliflower is often smaller, occasionally shows minor insect damage and usually costs 30 to 60 percent more. If you eat a lot of cauliflower, weigh up the value: conventional cauliflower from a regional farm is usually better for the environment than organic heads trucked across a continent in winter. In the northern hemisphere, field season runs from late spring to late fall, with California, Arizona and Europe supplying the winter months. At farmers markets you can often get regional organic heads cheaper than at the supermarket during peak season.

Intolerances & allergens

Cauliflower is a high-FODMAP vegetable: it contains the sugar alcohol mannitol and raffinose, which are fermented in the large intestine. With irritable bowel syndrome, as little as 75 g can trigger bloating and abdominal pain. Broccoli is the more tolerable alternative in that case. The sulfurous smell during cooking comes from glucosinolates and is harmless; short cooking times and roasting instead of boiling reduce it considerably. A second topic is goitrogens: cruciferous vegetables contain compounds that can inhibit iodine uptake by the thyroid when eaten raw in very large amounts. For healthy people with adequate iodine this is irrelevant; anyone with hypothyroidism should prefer cooked cauliflower and avoid daily raw-food quantities. A true cauliflower allergy is very rare, though cross-reactions occasionally occur in people allergic to mugwort or mustard. If you are new to keto and suddenly eat large amounts of cauliflower, increase slowly so your gut flora can adapt.

Where to buy online or locally

Cauliflower is available year-round in every supermarket and discount store, and in season from local farms. A fresh head has a firm, tightly closed, creamy white curd without brown spots and crisp green wrapper leaves. Yellowish discoloration and loose florets are signs of age. In the fridge, cauliflower keeps unwashed in the vegetable drawer for 5 to 7 days, cut florets in a container for 2 to 3 days. For your stockpile, blanch florets for 3 minutes, cool in ice water and freeze; they keep for 8 to 12 months. Ready-made frozen cauliflower rice is now stocked by almost every grocery chain for around 2 to 3 dollars per 12 oz bag and saves the food processor step. Colored varieties such as romanesco, purple or orange cauliflower have practically identical nutrition and add color to the plate. Online, organic produce boxes and vegetable subscriptions deliver regional heads to your door.

Nutrition values

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