Easy 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 cauliflower. Packed with a ton of flavor, creamy, and you can use any color cauliflower you can find like purple!

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. (originally published 8/17, affiliate links present)

• Not only is this 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. 

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.

We will share here how to make Instant Pot mashed cauliflower, how to cook a whole head 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.

• 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”!

Here’s what you need to make this fun Instant Pot cauliflower mash

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

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.

This is what you need to make 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
7. Don’t forget a potato masher 

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.

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.

Here’s a video showing you how to make Instant Pot cauliflower mash

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?

• Here’s how to make mashed cauliflower on the stovetop
• Buffalo baked cauliflower
• Don’t forget to try our cheesy Instant Pot cauliflower
• Pressure cooker cauliflower soup is amazing too

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! 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!

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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

Ingredients

• 2 small/med. bunches cauliflower
• 1.5 c water for in pot
• 1/2 stick butter softened, less or more depending on taste
• 1/3 c parmesan
• 1/3 c cream cheese sour cream is good too
• 1 green onion diced, optional
• salt and pepper to taste

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 Kitchen Deluxe vegetable steamer and place in your Instant Pot.
• Place cut pcs. of cauliflower into your steamer basket.
• Close steam valve. Set Instant Pot to manual, pressure, high, for 3 minutes. (2 minutes if you like it a bit chunkier and not super smooth)
• Do a quick release.
• Empty steamed cauliflower into a bowl. Drain 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.

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