Cauliflower cheese is a popular side dish in the UK. The nutty brown cauliflower works well with the creamy cheese sauce and is often paired with meat or roast dinners.
If you're craving the comforting flavours of cauliflower cheese and seeking inspiration for accompanying dishes to create a well-rounded meal, you're in luck.
Below, we have compiled a list of some of the most delicious side dishes to serve alongside your cauliflower cheese (or some mac and cheese!).
Cauliflower cheese is often seen as quite indulgent due to its cheese sauce, a portion of cauliflower cheese is relatively high in fat and calories due to the cheese having around 200-400 calories, depending on the serving size.
Cauliflower itself is low in calories and high in fibre. To make this cheese sauce healthier, you can switch out milk for low-fat and low-fat cheese.
The best side dishes for cauliflower cheese should work well with its cheesy flavours. Whether you prefer light and fresh salads, filling grains, or crisp vegetables.
We've listed a range of ideas to give you some cooking inspo below.
Roast beef and cauliflower cheese is a match made in heaven. It gives extra richness to the dish, and the savoury flavours work well together, creating a hearty dish.
Serve this up with a simple green salad for extra nutrition.
A leafy side salad goes well with the macaroni cheese sauce on the cauliflower to break up the dish's richness, and add some extra veggies to make it healthier. Salad ideas could be tomatoes, cucumber and salad onions to make a simple salad.
Like roast beef, roast chicken is also a popular pairing with cauliflower cheese. The chicken goes well with the savoury cheese sauce on the cauliflower, making a complete meal.
This also works well with a crunchy salad to stop being a beige meal, topped with gravy and cranberry sauce for the perfect pub grub!
The perfect jacket potato always needs a knob of butter and some cheese sauce, so why not have it with cauliflower cheese? This is the ultimate comfort meal. Pair it with a spinach salad for some greens.
If you are not keen on jacket potatoes, try roast potatoes instead.
Gammon steaks are a popular combo with a portion of cauliflower cheese because the textures work well together, being chewy and crispy, and the cheese sauce goes well with the richness of the gammon.
If not cauliflower cheese, many people like to have their gammon with a cheese sauce or macaroni cheese.
Sausages, mash and cauliflower cheese, are the ultimate comfort meal. Cauliflower cheese works well with the meat here and mash since it absorbs all the cheesy sauce!
Make sure to include some veggies on the side for a nutritious meal.
If you're looking for a lighter meal, simply serving your cauliflower cheese with a roasted medley of vegetables is a great combo. This makes your meal healthier and adds different flavours to cut through the rich cream sauce.
Add some chickpeas to the roasting pan for some extra protein.
Grains like quinoa and rice work well with cauliflower cheese since they soak up all the cheesy sauce. Pair with some veggies for a hearty and healthy meal!
Like roast chicken and beef, grilled or slow-cooked, roasted lamb can work well with cauliflower cheese and some roasted vegetables since they are both savoury flavours. Serve with gravy for extra sauce and tasty goodness!
Overall, you can serve various dishes with cauliflower cheese, but the main options include roasted and grilled meats for a savoury mix, as well as crisp green salads and roasted veggies.
If you want to make cauliflower cheese lighter, we suggest using low-fat milk or low-fat cheese in your sauce to lower the calories.
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