Today’s recipe is straight out of Leanne Vogel’s book, simply called The Keto Diet. Leanne is a passionate nutrition educator, host of The Keto Diet Podcast, four-time bestselling author, and has the largest keto resource on YouTube.
She runsThe Healthful Pursuit blogwhere you can find even more low-carb awesomeness going down in her kitchen. Her new book isyour guide to eating high-fat, low-carb food that’sdelicious, and this bacon mac ‘n’ cheese is the perfect example.
This is a fabulousmeal for those of you following a low-carb diet or anyone just craving some good old-fashioned comfort food. You can check out more of our favorite keto dinner ideas here.
If you’re curious about keto and have some questions about the how’s and why’s of it all, Leanne was kind enough to give us some insight in our recent !
Now for this dish! While you may not think that a pasta-free, cheese-free mac ’n’ cheese would be any good, I’d like for you to make this and have me prove you wrong.
When I make this recipe again, I’m going to prepare it in single-serving ramekins so that each person gets their own and can’t steal my portion! Yes, I’m speaking to you, dear husband…
Because this dish contains gelatine, it will congeal when chilled. Simply use the reheating instructions below to return it to cheesy goodness. It’s pretty good at room temperature, though!
Nutrition information (per serving)
calories: 440 | calories from fat: 244 | total fat: 27g | saturated fat: 8.8g | cholesterol: 128mg
sodium: 973mg | carbs: 14.6g | dietary fiber: 6.6g | net carbs: 8g | sugars: 4.8g | protein: 34.6g
4.7 from 11 reviews
Keto Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese
Save Print
Author: Leanne Vogel
Recipe type: Main
Ingredients
- Coconut oil, for the dish
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 1 & ⅔ pounds / 750 g), cored and broken into ½-inch (1.25-cm) pieces
- ⅓ cup (22 g) finely chopped fresh parsley
- 6 strips bacon (about 6 ounces/170 g), cooked until crisp, then crumbled (reserve the grease)
- 2 cups (475 ml) unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon finely ground gray sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup (22 g) nutritional yeast
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
- 2 ounces (60 g) pork dust or ground pork rinds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a shallow 1½-quart (1.4-L) casserole dish with coconut oil. Set aside.
- Place the cauliflower, parsley, and bacon in a large bowl and toss to combine.
- Place the reserved bacon grease, milk, gelatin, lemon juice, onion powder, salt, and garlic powder in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Once boiling, continue to boil for 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the nutritional yeast, eggs, and mustard and gently cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the “cheese” sauce over the cauliflower mixture. (If you’ve overcooked the sauce or didn’t whisk it well enough, you may end up with small pieces of cooked egg; for an ultra-smooth sauce, pour the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer.) Toss with a spatula until all the cauliflower pieces are coated in the cheese sauce.
- Transfer the coated cauliflower to the prepared casserole dish and smooth it out with the back of a spatula. Sprinkle the pork dust evenly over the top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cauliflower is fork-tender, checking with a sharp knife on the edge of the casserole.
- Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.
- STORE IT: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- REHEAT IT: Microwave until the desired temperature is reached. Or place in a covered casserole dish and reheat in a preheated 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until warmed through. Or reheat in a frying pan, covered, on medium-low.
- PREP AHEAD: Prepare the cheese sauce up to 2 days in advance. Bring it to a light simmer before continuing with Step 5.
- SERVE IT WITH: Add a dollop or two of mayonnaise.
Pin it for later!
Alex
Music, mountains, dogs, travel, food and friends.
Tags
You may also like
Simple ways to incorporate more movement and exercise into your day
Simple ways to incorporate more movement and exercise into your day
How to create a peaceful and calming home environment (or at least to try!)
How to create a peaceful and calming home environment (or at least to try!)
Leave a Reply
This is great to help with a low carb diet and satisfy my kids desire for mac and cheese! And not to mention the bacon lol. Who doesnt love bacon?
More perfect impossible! Has the most delicious ingredients that are, irresistible.
I will definitely use it! Thank youI never thought of using gelatin to thicken my cauliflower Mac and cheese before!! Great idea! Will definitely try this!
My entire family loves this and they don’t even complain about the vegetables! Next time I will make a cornstarch slurry instead of the gelatin so the consistency is still thick but doesn’t have the “wobble” of gelatin.
The bacon is amazing! This is great mac and cheese. I thought I would hate the cauliflower, but it ends up being surprisingly tasty.
Not your average Mac and cheese, but tasty nevertheless. No guilty feeling after eating this.
This is not your usual mac and cheese recipe; this is one of the best around. The best part is adding bacon. Tasted so good that I’m glad there were leftovers.
A one of a kind mac and cheese recipe, never thought a gelatin can be a part of it but still having its marked tasts. It’s awesome tasty!
Amazing recipe!! One more great meal in my Keto diet. Handful of tastes!
My brother is a week and a day into keto. This will really gave him something new to eat, will be trying this for sure. I have seen many Mac n Cheese versions before but I like yours the most. Thank you for a great recipe.
You can never go wrong with mac and cheese. This was a personal favorite
Is the nutritional yeast necessary? Can I leave it out or is there something I can use instead?
