Creamy, buttery mashed cauliflower combined with plenty of garlic and chives makes for one super flavorful side dish! Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower with Garlic and Chives is the perfect low carb alternative to mashed potatoes, and made in a fraction of the time, thanks to our Instant Pot.
MY FAVORITE INSTANT POT MASHED CAULIFLOWER RECIPE
The yummiest cauliflower you’ll ever eat! Cauliflower is cooked in the Instant Pot until soft and then mashed with butter and sour cream. This is an easy and very quick recipe with lots of flavor.
The result is creamy, rich, and so delicious! It’s also gluten free, low carb, and keto – not a bad way to start our Thanksgiving prep. P.S. Don’t forget that Juicy Roast Turkey with Maple Gravy from the other day.
Want bacon and cheese with that cauli-mash? Jot down my other recipe for Instant Pot LOADED Mashed Cauliflower – yummmmm!
My favorite part about this mashed cauliflower deal is that you can have a great side dish in minutes. Literally. Also, this creamy, garlicky mashed cauliflower is much lighter than traditional mashed potatoes, and it just tastes so, so incredibly good!
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT MASHED CAULIFLOWER
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté and heat up a bit of olive oil; add 4 mashed garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute, or until garlic is golden brown on all sides.
- Pour chicken broth and mix and stir for 1 minute.
- Place steamer basket inside the Instant Pot and add cauliflower florets.
- Close the lid and set the valve to sealing.
- Set on manual setting and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes; quickly release the pressure and open up the lid half-way. Let stand 3 minutes.
- Drain out the liquid and transfer cooked cauliflower and garlic to a food processor or blender. Add butter, sour cream, and seasonings; pulse until blended and creamy.
- Stir in fresh chives and parmesan. Serve.
Easy Peasy. Don’t wait to make it!
MAKE AHEAD MASHED CAULIFLOWER
Mashed cauliflower can be made up to 3 days in advance.
- Let mashed cauliflower cool completely; transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
- Reheat over low heat or in the microwave. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Add more butter or sour cream, if needed.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH MASHED CAULIFLOWER
- Bundt Pan Roasted Chicken
- Tender and Juicy Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- Garlic and Rosemary Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin
- Stuffed Flank Steak with Spinach, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Feta Cheese
MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Instant Pot Barbecue Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Beef Burritos
ENJOY!
Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower with Garlic and Chives –
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower core removed and roughly cut into florets
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper or to taste
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh chives plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Set instant pot to sauté.
- Add olive oil to instant pot and heat it up.
- Stir in smashed garlic cloves; mix and stir until garlic is golden brown on all sides, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken broth and cook for 1 minute.
- Turn off the "sauté" mode and place steamer basket inside your Instant Pot.
- Transfer prepared cauliflower to the basket inside the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid and set the valve to sealing.
- Set on manual setting and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Use the quick release function to release the pressure. Open up the lid half way and let stand 3 minutes.
- Drain out all of the liquid and transfer the cauliflower and garlic to a food processor or blender. You can also put it in a large bowl and use a potato masher.
- Add butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper to the blender; process until blended and creamy. I recommend using the pulse function because you have more control over how creamy or chunky you want your mashed cauliflower.
- Transfer the cauliflower mixture to a mixing bowl or serving dish.
- Stir in parmesan cheese and chives. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Garnish with fresh chives and serve.
Notes
- Let mashed cauliflower cool completely; transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat over low heat or in the microwave.
- Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Add more butter or sour cream, if needed.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
YUM! Turned out great. I was craving mashed potatoes to complement a wild game pot roast and this mashed cauliflower hit the spot!
I don’t have a steamer insert so I simply scooped the cooked cauliflower out with a slotted spoon into the food processor. No big deal. Made the recipe as written but I added some onion powder since I didn’t have chives, yogurt instead of sour cream, and gave a good sprinkle of nutritional yeast for a nutrient boost. Will make again.
That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I made this for the first time on Thanksgiving and I can’t get over how delicious it is. Much creamier than the other times I’ve made mashed cauliflower. I modified it to make it vegan and can’t wait to serve it to our guests. I will definitely be making this recipe again!
That’s great! I’m very happy you loved it! Thank you for chiming in! 🙂
My husband and I both loved this recipe. I didn’t have any sour cream so substituted plain Greek yogurt. Will surely make it again.
I’m very glad you and your husband enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This was fantastic! Made it vegan, using vegan butter, vegan cream cheese rather than sour cream, and omitted the Parmesan. The texture was spot-on, and flavor was so delicious. This will be on a regular rotation at our house!
That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I was just looking for the instant pot cook time, the 3 min was perfect for cauliflower purée! It soaked up SO much water, I don’t think you need to worry about wasting precious broth 🙂
I made this tonight … It was so creamy.. only thing I did was add little more sour cream and Goya seasoning…definitely a keeper.. so much for flavor than boiling cauliflower
I’m confused about the garlic and broth that are not used at all …how much flavor do they impart by just steaming, not touching, the cauliflower??
Dianne B., I was thinking the exact same thing! It would be better to steam with water, prepare garlic in another vessel, then add garlic after cauliflower is cooked. The broth serves absolutely no purpose. I make all of my broths, and would hate to just pour it down the drain.
The garlic is used (read the directions again) but apparently the broth is not. I agree that seems like a terrible waste of good broth. I think I will just use water and add extra seasoning after cooking if needed and see how it turns out.
Made this alongside your Air Fryer Chicken Breast and both were fantastic! This is the easiest and quickest cauliflower mash I’ve ever made and from now on will be my go-to recipe! Thanks!
Have made this many times and one of my favs. Especially if you are on the LCHF diet and can’t have potatoes. It’s great just like the recipe, or by adding bacon, cheese, scallions, even smoke pork or smoke chicken as stuffing. YUM
What constitutes a serving size? Half a cup, one cup??
If you follow the recipe exactly this is the method I use when recipes do not have an exact measurement per serving. The one ingredient that is variable is the size of the head of cauliflower.
So when I made this tonight I ended up with five 1/2 cup servings from the recipe. So to calculate the calories for that 1/2 cup serving take her calorie count (113) and multiply it by her 4 servings (452 calories for the entire batch) and then divide that total (452) by the number of servings you ended up with (in my case 5). So for my 1/2 cup serving it was (90 calories).
I do this all of the time for all of the nutrition facts (not just the calorie count) when the serving size is unclear or variable due to the size of an ingredient (in this case how big your head of cauliflower happened to be).
Hope this is helpful! It’s a great recipe!
So the broth does not get used in the mash after it’s cooked? It’s just discarded?
Hi!
Yep, that’s right. It will be way too much liquid, and if you use it, you’ll end up with mush.
This was so good we’re going to do it for thanksgiving this year
I love this idea! So simple and pretty! Love this so much!
I need to make this ASAP! Looks so delicious…you wouldn’t even miss the potatoes!
I love it! It looks so good!! Can’t wait to give it a try!
Oh my goodness, this looks so delicious! I’m seriously drooling over this. so quick and easy!
This looks so rich and creamy! I can’t wait to try this recipe myself!
Garlic, sour cream and butter! Oh, wow! These are fabulous mashed cauliflower, Kate!
I can’t believe this is cauliflower! It looks so rich and creamy! Trying this soon.
This looks so creamy and delicious! I love how quickly it comes together using an IP and frees up stovetop space.
This is seriously making me hungry! This looks totally awesome!
Such an awesome cauliflower mash!
Great instant pot idea! Perfect for Thanksgiving when the stove and oven are full!
Love this low carb option! Looks so easy and delicious!
I honestly think this is the best cauliflower mash I have ever seen. Awesome job!