Creamy Cauliflower Sauce (Paleo, Keto, Whole30)

The Best Creamy Cauliflower Sauce (to use for everything!)! This simple recipe is paleo, keto, whole30 and designed to be a cream-free substitute for any dish calling for cream sauce. Use it on your pasta, lasagna, meats, and more!

Creamy Cauliflower Sauce is the ultimate healthier replacement for cream-based sauces like alfredo or béchamel.

All you need is a few basic whole food ingredients to make this creamy, comforting sauce that can be used in so many applications!

You know how cauliflower exploded into the limelight a few years ago, stole the stage, and made all the other vegetables jealous?

We’re making the sultriest, dreamiest cream-free cream sauce using that marvelous floret.

Cauliflower sauce can be used in about 17 trillion ways, from pasta and lasagna to serving with any type of grilled or roasted animal protein, and/or incorporating into your big bowls of food. 

This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed the deliciousness of the cauliflower sauce on this blog, but I felt the need to re-visit the subject and allow it to have its own bright and shiny moment so that we can swaddle our lives in it.

Let’s make it!

Ingredients for Creamy Cauliflower Sauce:

Cauliflower: Steamed cauliflower is the main attraction of this recipe. When blended with liquid, steamed cauliflower generates a creamy sauce. Because cauliflower is so subtle in flavor, it is easy to use for all sorts of meals and also easy to flavor in various ways.

Ghee or Grass-Fed Butter: Adding creaminess to the sauce, ghee or grass-fed butter adds flavor and silky texture. Make it entirely dairy-free by replacing the ghee with avocado oil.

Yellow Onion, Garlic, Mustard: Adding richness and tanginess, onion, garlic and mustard helps flavor the sauce in a similar way to a standard cream sauce. It gives it that flavor that mimics cheese or cream without the need for dairy. You can omit any of these three ingredients and still have a delicious sauce – it just depends on how bold of a flavor you’re going for.

Beef Broth: The liquid that blends everything together. I find beef broth yields amazing flavor, but you can also use chicken broth, vegetable broth, or even almond milk or coconut milk.

Sea salt & black pepper: Enhancing the flavor of the sauce and making it richer, we season with sea salt and black pepper. You can adjust the amount to your personal taste.

How to Make Creamy Cauliflower Sauce:

Steam the cauliflower in boiling water or using a steamer inserted into your saucepan and steam for 8 minutes, or until tender when poked with a fork. Drain and set aside until ready to use.

Saute the onion and garlic in a skillet until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. 

Transfer the steamed cauliflower, sautéed onion and garlic, broth, mustard and sea salt to a high-powered blender and blend until creamy. Taste sauce for flavor and add sea salt to taste.

For thinner sauce, add more broth. For ultra creamy sauce, use full-fat canned coconut milk instead of broth.

How to Use Creamy Cauliflower Sauce:

Oh the possibilities! Use this creamy cauliflower sauce in place of alfredo or béchamel (or similar white sauce) in any application. You can use it as pasta sauce or sauce for lasagna, and also serve with meatballs, grilled or baked chicken, zucchini noodles, and so much more! 

If you’re like me and you love whipping up big bowls of food for dinner, you can use this creamy cauliflower sauce as a sauce to tie your bowl together in creamy bliss. If you’re looking for recipes that incorporate cauliflower sauce, check out my Paleo Swedish Meatballs  or Dairy-Free Zucchini Carbonara .

Recipe Adaptations:

• Substitute the ghee or butter with avocado oil or coconut oil to make sauce dairy-free
• Omit the onion and/or garlic if you’re looking for flavor similar to alfredo sauce.
• Adjust the amount of broth depending on desired thickness of the sauce.

What will you do with this amazing sauce?

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!