Cauliflower Dishes You Can Make With a Food Processor

There are many different cooking appliances that can be used for your low-carb dishes, 
including a food processor. This is an integral appliance to have in your low-carb 
kitchen, not just for prep in general, but particularly for all those cauliflower dishes. It 
helps with everything from rapid meal prep of your cauliflower to making your own pizza 
crust. 

1. The Low-Carb Cooking Benefits of a Food Processor

Making sure you have the right appliances for your low-carb lifestyle is vital to staying 
on track with the dietary changes. Yes, you can get by with a few things, but eventually 
you will want to get the appliances that fit your daily low-carb needs. One of those 
appliances is a food processor. If you aren't sure how this appliance will help with your 
low-carb plans, here some of the benefits you should consider.

Ability to Meal Prep in Different Forms with One Machine

One of the largest benefits of having a food processor in low-carb kitchens comes down 
to the multiple prepping and chopping you will need to do. You will have the need to 
shred, mix, blend, chop, rough chop, and more. You can do all of this with a knife, 
mandolin, and other chopping utensils but frankly it can take a lot of time. This is 
especially true if you are prepping for three meals a day for an entire week. The food 
processor, with the right attachment blades, can do all of this for you in a matter of 
minutes.

Breaking Down Cauliflower for Different Applications

There are multiple uses for cauliflower in the low-carb world. You can make rice, pizza 
crust, mashed potatoes, and more with just the vegetable itself. However, it could take 
you a large amount of time if you are breaking down the cauliflower with traditional 
methods. Instead, you can use the food processor to help you with this low-carb option. 

Puree, Sauces, and Dressings

Another aspect of low-carb eating is creating your own puree, sauces, and dressings. 
The reason for this is due in part to the large amount of carbs that can be found in store 
bought versions of these foods. You may even find that items labeled low-carb really 
are not. This means making it home and that means using a food processor to handle 
the multiple levels and degrees of the processes for these different items. 

These are only a few of the benefits that a food processor can bring to your low-carb 
diet plan. As you delve deeper into your low-carb lifestyle, you will start to notice more 
and more how your food processor is a necessity and not just a luxury. You may find 
that multiple blade options help as well. You can find the blades in accessory packs by 
the food processor manufacturer. 

2. Mock Mashed Potatoes

One of the items that most people tend to miss when they go to a low-carb lifestyle are 
mashed potatoes. You don't realize until you have started on the lifestyle just how many 
dishes come with the mashed potatoes side dish option. You also may not realize that 
the alternative to that, especially in restaurants, is limited to other potato or high carb 
side dishes. If this is the situation you have found yourself in, you may be wondering 
what you can do. One option is to go with mock mashed potato alternative. Here is how 
to achieve that without leaving behind the texture or flavor of the dish.

Break Down the Cauliflower Properly

The first step to making sure you end up with a cauliflower mash that resembles, in 
almost every way, a potato is to break it down properly. You will need to cut up the 
cauliflower and remove the stalks. Though you can use the stalks, they tend to be more 
difficult to get a good mash out of and to break down through the different processes. 
Place the florets into the food processor and pulse until you have what resembles a 
microbead type of texture. You can steam the cauliflower after this step, but it will be 
easier to do it beforehand. 

Steam Instead of Boil

Make sure that you are steaming the cauliflower instead of boiling it. Boiling it, as you 
would traditional potatoes, may overcook it and keep too much water in the vegetable. 
Steaming it is easy to control and can give you a perfectly cooked cauliflower that will 
hold the texture both in the food processor and through the mashing process. Make 
sure you cool it down before you put it in the food processor.

Mash with Cream

When you mash the cauliflower, use the potato masher you would normally use. This 
will break down the cauliflower pellets easily. Add in some heavy cream a little at a time. 
You can also add butter during this stage as well. Make sure the salt is added during 
the mashing process so that it blends easily and evenly. 

Add Seasoning

When you finished mashing the cauliflower, and you have the right texture, it is time to 
add additional seasonings. You can add pepper, flavored butter, garlic, and bacon 
during this step. The goal here is to make sure your mash has flavor. If you have been 
adding it throughout the process then the cauliflower will absorb it and give you the full 
look and feel of potato mash. 

Though you can use other vegetables for this dish, the best and most ideal is 
cauliflower. It is what gives you the same texture and gives you the flavor you need. 
You can also try to add different flavor combinations to enhance the side dish as well.
 
3. Cauliflower Rice

Rice is a high carb option that may seem difficult to replace or create an alternative for. 
Low-carb plans tend to mention options, but it may be difficult to find how to adapt 
options to your eating habits. This is especially true when you are creating Asian based 
meals that deal with rice or cooking for a large family. One of the alternatives that may 
work for you is to use cauliflower in place of the rice. You may be wondering how you 
do this successfully. Here are the steps to creating this alternative side dish or base for 
many of your meals.

Use the Food Processor

The first thing you are going to do with your cauliflower is put it in the food processor. 
You will need to use the pulse option manually and do several pulses of a few seconds 
each. The goal is to end up with a rice like consistency of the cauliflower. Once you 
have achieved this, add some salt and move onto the next step in the preparation 
process.

Prep Your Pan

Get a regular frying pan and place it on your stove. Coat the pan in a thin layer of oil. 
You want to use olive oil for this. When you the pan is hot, add diced onions and sauté 
until clear and tender. They will also have a slight golden brown hue to them. Add the 
cauliflower to the mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.

Additional Options

With a cauliflower rice, you have several options. You can choose to serve as is in the 
traditional manner. You can also take it a step further and turn the rice into a risotto or 
into a couscous style dish. This can be used as a main entree base in Asian style 
cooking or as a side dish or even appetizer to a much larger meal. Make sure that if you 
do go with a risotto option, you are not overcooking the rice. You only need to cook it 
long enough until it soaks up the wine. Also reduce the wine slightly for the rice. 

If you find the cauliflower rice is too bland, you can add different spices to it. You can 
also create rice dishes such as rice pilaf as well. Play around with the options by adding 
your own flavor combinations to create a base for an entree or the side dish that is the 
ideal alternative for regular rice. 

4. Pizza Crust

Pizza sounds like a great idea for a low-carb lifestyle, until you start looking at the crust. 
Even with a thin and crispy crust option, you are still getting more carbs than you likely 
want to have. In these cases, you may feel like there is no option other than to give up 
pizza. The truth is, there are several options available to you, even if you prefer thicker 
crusts. Here are those options to consider trying before you throw in the pizza making 
towel.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Cauliflower is one of the easiest alternatives to traditional pizza crust. This is especially 
true if you like the crisp and thin crust options. It is very easy to make and very easy to 
find at most stores produce sections. All you need to do is take the cauliflower and put it 
into the food processor. Use the pulse option until you get a small pebble effect. Add an 
egg and spices to bind the cauliflower. Place the mix on a pizza pan and bake for 4 
minutes. Remove the crust and add your toppings. Place the pizza back in the oven for 
5 to 8 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

Portobello Pizza Crust

If you like a thicker crust to your pizza, then you may really like what a portobello 
mushroom can bring to the table. Just use large portobello caps and clean out the caps. 
Drizzle with some olive oil and place in the oven for a few minutes. Remove and fill with 
your pizza toppings. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes. You are getting the meaty taste of 
a full-on meat pizza as well as the thickness of the deep-dish option. 

Pork Rind Crust

Pork rind pizza curst may make you turn up your nose, but if you like the taste of bacon 
and other pork products, then this may be just the ticket for you. You make this much in 
the same way as the cauliflower crust. Just break down the pork rinds until they are fully 
dusted. From that point treat them like a traditional Italian breadcrumb. Add some egg 
and some cheese to bind the pork rinds and then place them in the pizza pan. Go 
ahead and top the pizza and bake at 350 for 8 minutes. 

These bases for pizza crust are easy to find and can give you a variety of options on 
most any budget. You can also make the bases with a simple mandolin slicer, scoop for 
mushrooms or a food processor. That makes them easy to adapt into most low-carb 
kitchens and meal plans. 

5. Other ‘Potato’ Recipes

Potatoes are not just a dinner side dish for most people. For some people, they are part 
of breakfast and snacks as well. You may know how to replace them when it comes to a 
basic side dish, but what do you do about the other meals during the day. Here are 
some options you can use to create potato based recipes using a simple vegetable, 
cauliflower.

Cauliflower Potato Hash

Potato hash is a breakfast staple in many homes. This is a no go for a low-carb diet. 
However, if you really want to keep hash in your morning routine, you can still do it. You 
will need to shred cauliflower into large chunks in the food processor. You will not get 
the shreds that you would with potato, but you can come close. In fact, that is what you 
are looking for. You want as close to a hash brown shred as you can get with the pulse 
on your food processor. Once you get that, add an egg and cook as normal. 

Cauliflower Potato Skins

When you think about potato skins you may be wondering how you would get the same 
effect with cauliflower. The steps are easy, but keep in mind, you will not be getting a 
boat shape as you would with traditional skins. You will be getting more of a loaded 
potato chip. Use the cauliflower and prep it as you would for a cauliflower pizza crust. 
Instead of loading it down with pizza toppings, load it with potato skin toppings and 
enjoy.

Cauliflower Potato and Egg Salad

Egg salad and potato salad, depending on who is making the recipe will both have 
potato as part of the mix. Believe it or not, you can take cauliflower florets and cut them 
from the stalk to use as the potato. Just steam them until tender and add them to your 
salad mix. They mix well with mayo, mustard, the bacon bits normally found in the 
salads, and the other ingredients. In fact, the texture is so similar you may be able to 
pull it off to your potato loving non-low carb friends.  You can add celery and onion as 
well as different seasoning powders as well. 

You can use other vegetables, but overall cauliflower is the one that gives you a 
suitable alternative to potatoes. It holds flavorings well and can be molded into what you 
want to make and the texture you want to create. 
