Cauliflower Cream Sauce (Vegan)

Dedicated vegans take their faux creams very seriously, and cauliflower cream sauce is no exception.  When done correctly, you can easily transform a head of cauliflower into something on par with the most decadent of buttery cream sauces, sans the fat, calories and dairy. All it takes is a little skill and know how.

I’ve actually prepared many versions of vegan cauliflower cream sauce, yet never felt completely satisfied with the taste nor texture until now. My first triumph was finding the perfect substitute for veggie broth, which most vegan recipes use as the liquid. I’ve never liked of it in my cauliflower cream, because the broth tends to overpower the other ingredients, and you end up tasting vegetable broth instead of cream. Stumped as to what I could use as a substitute, I decided on the leftover water from the steam pot. It was genius! You would think that this would “water” down the cream, but it doesn’t at all. The water has just enough flavor that it allows the other ingredients to shine through.

Second triumph was combining Mirin Cooking Wine (a type of rice vinegar very similar to saki), roasted garlic, nutritional yeast, EVOO and brown rice flour. The cooking wine brings out the garlic, the nutritional yeast creates a buttery taste, and the brown rice flour thickens the cream just perfectly. I had to pat myself on the back for this one, as this was undoubtedly the most unique and delicious cauliflower cream sauce I had ever tasted. I cannot wait for you to try it!

 Optional additions:

• add sauteed shallots or onion
• for a little heat, add cayenne or other hot spices
• add curry or other Indian spices
• your options are limitless!

 Serve:

• add sauteed veggies for a soup
• serve over veggies as a sauce
• throw in sauteed mushrooms for a mushroom soup
• add to spinach for “creamed spinach”

Do you have any unique ideas for cauliflower cream? If so, please share in the comments section below. For more recipes, health tips, and lots of fabulous food porn, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Peace, love and cauliflower!