Slow Cooker Creamy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes are a total holiday game changer. Kick things up this Thanksgiving with this easy + nutritious swap!
As if the past month of recipes weren’t indication enough, I’ll come out and say it: I’m cuckoo for cauliflower. So much, in fact, that my husband has turned into the most paranoid of test subjects. Nearly every meal that hits the table lately merits the slightest of eyebrow raises.
“So…. is there cauliflower in this?”
Hidden cauliflower. Aside from being a terrible band name, it’s apparently a subject of great turmoil for this hungry pilot of mine. He licks his plate clean either way but the skepticism remains. He truly thinks I’m out to put cauliflower in everything. So what’s a gal to do?
PUT CAULIFLOWER IN EVERYHING!
This was less of an attempt to tease my husband and more of an eureka moment. While he was about halfway done scarfing a bowl of mashed potatoes, he defaulted to his cauliflower questioning and suddenly I really wished there had been cauliflower in them. So naturally there’s only one logical thing to do…
PUT CAULIFLOWER IN EVERYTHING!
Jinx!
The following week I got to work with some help from my trusty crock-pot and made our little running joke a reality. It. Was. Delicious.
Slow Cooker Creamy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
The results were nothing short of magical. The cauliflower and veggie broth all but took over for the role of milk here, softening and thinning the potatoes just enough to give them a luscious creaminess that I’ve come to expect from mashed potatoes. Using skin-on red potatoes gave them the perfect thickness with a smashed potato texture and the garlic, greek yogurt, and cream cheese combo made them flavorful and faceplant-worthy for sure. The butter doesn’t hurt either; I’m my mother’s daughter after all!
I think there’s only one thing that’s justifiably as satisfying as the dish itself…
“Is there cauliflower in th–“
“YES!!!”
I secretly hope he never stops asking.
Slow Cooker Creamy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb cauliflower
- 2.5 lb red potatoes skin on
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup broth veg or chicken
- 4-6 TBSP butter cubed
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder if desired
- add extra salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim your cauliflower from the stem into clusters and chop your potatoes (skin on or off - I left mine on since it's nutritious + tasty!) into 1 inch cubes.
- Combine with minced garlic, broth, butter, salt, and pepper in a 4-6 quart slow cooker covered.
- Cook on high for 4 hours until tender.
- Use a potato masher (or some serious ninja skills with a fork) to coarsely mash the veggies. Don't over mash, they're fabulous thick and fluffy.
- Transfer to a large bowl and stir in greek yogurt, cream cheese, and garlic powder (I love the extra burst of garlic) plus any extras to taste. Season with salt and pepper as desired and serve hot!
Notes
Nutrition
How perfect are these Slow Cooker Creamy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes for Thanksgiving!? An easy side dish that won’t take up coveted oven real estabe AND frees up all 4 burners on your stove top? SCORE! This year I’ll be whipping up round 2 of this fluffy mash in one slow cooker and a big batch of crock-pot cranberry sauce in the other. A mini-batch of mashed sweet potatoes might need to make an appearance too because I hate having to choose between the two!
I’m a side dish junkie. I like them all to have their separate spot on the plate, but certain foods must be mixed! I like swirling peas and green beans in my mashed potatoes, adding cranberry sauce to my turkey, and dunking stuffing in sweet potatoes. Sometimes I’ll get extra feisty and attempt to snag a teeny bite of everything on one fork. It takes a little precision but the payoff is DELICIOUS!
When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner are you a side dish mixiologist or team no-foods-must-touch-EVER? Spill it!
If I don’t have a slow cooker could I just boil these the old fashioned way? Or would it mess the recipe up?
Hi Jennifer! You could absolutely make a stove-top version. I don’t think you’ll need the broth like the slow cooker recipe does (it needs the liquid to steam/cook) and could just boil both the potatoes and cauli in water like you would a standard mashed potato recipe. Let me know if you get a chance to experiment! Just be sure to get the potatoes and cauliflower nice and tender before mashing or it will be a bit more rustic vs creamy. Hope this helps!
I think they’re awesome but I don’t think it will fool my family on Thanksgiving. Mine came out not as think potato looking as your pictures. I wish it were a little thicker. Maybe less cauliflower.
This looks amazing!! Thank you!!
Thanks Britni! Hope you get a chance to ry these rice bowls soon!
These Creamy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes look so delicious! Can’t wait to try them.
Thank you Nellie! I’m so excited for you to make them!!
Yes! Cauliflower is such an excellent way making things extremely velvety without actually making use of cream. Congrats on your new little child, she’s very adorable!
Yes! Cauliflower is such a great way to make things super creamy without actually using cream. Unfortunately, my husband is on to me. Maybe if I cooked them when he wasn’t around, he wouldn’t notice. Evil cackle.
Muahahahaha! Doooooo it! 🙂 Blame it on me if you get caught! Paul was totally skeptical about the entire ordeal but wound up licking his plate and devouring leftovers the next day. I served them up mashed potato casserole style topped with roasted broccoli and cheese and he was beyond in love. Good luck! <3
Hi, I just found your website and am so happy about it. If I could take one food group on a deserted island, it would be veggies! But the rest of my family loves meat so I do make that too, I just don’t eat it. Congrats on your new little baby, she’s very cute!
Cauliflower is hit or miss for me but this looks too good (and easy!). Which is the best thing EVER when you are away from the house for 11 hours a day…which I am!
Side Note… I have been following your recipes for a loooong time (I’m talking pre-marriage and back in college, here) and I just came across a post you made from when you were moving and… Lo and Behold you are in Pensacola from a PCS. My husband is in flight school here… any chance our paths might cross? Lol!
Shut up! We just got here a few months ago! Let’s totally grab lunch sometime! My email is peasandcrayons (at) gmail (dot) com! <3
The more cauli the better! And I love using red potatoes (yes, with the skin on) in mashed! So good!