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Mashed Instant Pot Cauliflower Mash

This easy Instant Pot cauliflower mash is so much fun to make and eat! It tastes like mashed potatoes but with made with a head of white or purple cauliflower! Packed with a ton of flavor, creamy, and you can use any color cauliflower you can find like purple!

instant-pot-cauliflower-mash

Tell me this naturally purple Instant Pot cauliflower mash isn’t totally cool! I will tell you that if your kids aren’t really fans of vegetables, I bet they will try these!! Special thanks goes out to Kitchen Deluxe for sponsoring this post, it’s one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes for beginners. (originally published 8/17, affiliate links present)

Purple Cauliflower Mash

This Coliflor Recipe is only just a fun vegetable side dish but it’s really tasty too. They’re rich, creamy, and put a smile on everyone’s face in our house. You can use any color your store offers, it doesn’t have to be purple. White is just as delicious.

You can make it in a Crockpot Express or as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe as well. All these pots basically work the same. You just need the high pressure function and a basket to hold the vegetable so it doesn’t sit in the water.

FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! Now let’s start with a few basic tips:

For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

star wars instant pot

Ninja Foodi Mashed Cauliflower

We will share here how to make Instant Pot mashed cauliflower, how to cook a whole head of cauliflower in your multi cooker, as well as a cheesy version I’m addicted to. You can use your Ninja Foodi for any of these as well.

What does cauliflower taste like?

While cauliflower is a mild tasting vegetable, it doesn’t have the same neutral flavor you get with rice. In my opinion it’s highly ignored and not served as often as it should be. Coming in a few different colors, white is the most common.

Pressure Cooker Cauliflower

Ninja Foodi cauliflower mash

You could make them orange, green or yellow too depending on what color cauliflower you find at the store. I used purple because I have 3 girls and well I thought that it would be “totally cool”!

  1. Instant Pot or pressure cooker
  2. Kitchen Deluxe vegetable steamer use code TYPICALM for 15% off (safety hook included)

If you already have one of these vegetable baskets at home then use yours, you just don’t want to use a trivet. Reason is the florets will fall off into the water and become a mushy mess that are water logged.

instant pot vegetable steamer basket

Is cauliflower keto?

YES!! Cauliflower is a vegetable of choice if you’re on the ketogenic diet. The plant is low in carbs and can replace potatoes, rice, and even pasta. BUT with this you still get the taste of a feel good food you’re probably craving.

I’d suggest this as a side dish and if you want a heartier one that could be served as a vegetarian meal our Instant Pot cauliflower curry is great too.

Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower 

  1. Head of cauliflower (white, or color of your choice)
  2. Butter
    1. or margarine, but real salted butter is much better
  3. Cream cheese or sour cream (I use what I have on hand)
    1. if using cream cheese to smooth it out ensure it is room temperature when added
  4. Parmesan cheese
  5. Green onions & garlic powder – optional
  6. Salt and pepper to taste
    1. really, add any and all seasonings you would normally put into your mashed potatoes

Use a potato masher as once they are steamed and softened you’ll treat them just like mashed taters.

instant pot steamer basket

This vegetable steamer is great for just about any veggie you want to make.

  • Just pour about 1 1/2 cups of water into the bottom of your Instant pot.
  • Open the steamer basket up as you see here
    • It includes a safety tool too that makes lifting the steamer out of your pot easier and safer too
  • Add your cauliflower florets
  • Close the lid and set to manual setting, pressure high for 3 minutes cook time
  • Release the pressure with a quick release once done
  • Remove the lid and put veggies into food processor or use potato masher to smooth

If you don’t have any of these you can find them on my list of favorite Instant Pot accessories. They aren’t expensive and I use them every week, totally worth it.

instant pot mashed cauliflower

Once your cauliflower is nicely steamed and super soft you just pour it into a bowl, add your goodies, mix on low/medium to smooth it out, and serve!

Surprise them one night with this as a side item, I guarantee you’ll get a big “What??!! Cool!”….and they will try it!

How do you thicken cauliflower puree?

If left inside your Instant Pot and mashed you can thicken by cooking down further while stirring often while on the saute function or inside a nonstick skillet. To thin it out just whisk in additional liquid such as broth, cream, or water.

There you have it. In just about 15 minutes total you can have yourself a fun vegetable Instant Pot dish that is fun and flavorful!

Looking for more vegetable recipes?

steaming vegetables in instant pot

How long does mashed cauliflower keep?

Properly stored, cooked cauliflower will last for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator. To further extend the duration, freeze it!

Can you freeze pureed cauliflower?

Of course! Cooking from frozen actually works great most of the time like with air fryer frozen cauliflower. Just make sure you freeze leftovers in a covered airtight container or heavy duty freezer bag. You can also wrap what’s left with heavy duty aluminum foil or freezer wrap. We rarely have any left, it’s that good.

Don’ t forget to grab your own helpful Instant Pot vegetable steamer here and get started!

instant pot cauliflower mash

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5 from 4 votes

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mash

This naturally purple Instant Pot cauliflower mash is so much fun to make and eat! Like mashed potatoes but with cauliflower, packed with flavor and color!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword cauliflower, cream, instant pot, mash, mashed, pressure cooker, whipped
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 minutes
Total Time 14 minutes
Servings 5
Calories 159kcal
Author The Typical Mom

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Rinse and cut your cauliflower into pieces removing leaved, bottom portion.
  • Pour 1.5-2 c. water into the bottom of your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
  • Open vegetable steamer and place in your Instant Pot.
  • Place cut floret pcs. of cauliflower into your steamer basket.
  • Close steam valve. Set Instant Pot to manual, pressure, high, for 3 minutes. 
  • Do a quick release.
  • Pour steamed cauliflower into a bowl. Drain and discard water in pot.
  • Add your butter (softened), cream cheese (will make it a bit stiffer than sour cream) or sour cream, parmesan, salt, and chives or green onions.
  • Use a hand mixer on low/med. to blend until you get the desired consistency.
  • Enjoy! Add more parmesan and/or onions to top.

Video

Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Cauliflower Mash
Amount Per Serving (3 oz)
Calories 159 Calories from Fat 144
% Daily Value*
Fat 16g25%
Saturated Fat 9g56%
Cholesterol 45mg15%
Sodium 241mg10%
Potassium 20mg1%
Carbohydrates 1g0%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 560IU11%
Vitamin C 0.7mg1%
Calcium 99mg10%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
how to cook purple cauliflower
Recipe Rating




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Sara

Sunday 4th of October 2020

I was skeptical about it actually tasting like mashed potatoes but it really does! Delicious and much better for you. Plus, who doesn't like eating purple food?!

The Typical Mom

Tuesday 6th of October 2020

I know right, so fun

Danna

Thursday 9th of January 2020

This will be perfect for since I have to start in a kidney disease diet. I will have to eliminate the dairy in it but I’m sure I can find something to substitute for that.

Krystle

Monday 29th of April 2019

The perfect side dish. Looks amazing and tastes great too!

Shadi Hasanzadenemati

Monday 29th of April 2019

We made this the other day and everyone loved it. Going to make it again for a family gathering this weekend!

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