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How to Make Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes”

Last updated January 19, 2019. Originally posted October 19, 2018 By Susan 2 Comments

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Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes”- Making cauliflower mashed “potatoes” in the Instant Pot is one of the easiest side dishes EVER! Only 3 minutes cooking time and a quick blend with an immersion blender or hand mixer and you’ve got smooth creamy “potatoes”. A healthy low-carb dish, perfect for pairing with your everyday or Holiday meals. Only 36 calories/serving (w/o butter).  {Clean Eating, Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan}
How to Make Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Cauliflower is just MAGICAL! It’s such a perfect stand in for potatoes. If you’re asking why would I want cauliflower to stand in for potatoes? Here are a few good reasons:

Calories : 1 cup mashed potatoes = 237 calories vs. 1 cup cauliflower mashed potatoes = 36 calories

Carbs: 1 cup mashed potatoes = 36 grams of carbs  vs. 1 cup cauliflower mashed potatoes = 3.3 grams of carbs

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” =  all that creamy smooth goodness you love about regular mashed potatoes with a whole lot less calories and carbs.

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes - Celery Root

What is that alien looking vegetable in the photo up above?

That my friends is the secret ingredient to making insanely good Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes! It’s a celery root, sometimes called celeriac, and it’s readily available in most grocery stores. The “beauty” in the picture up above has leafy green sprouts but many stores sell celery roots without the sprouts, so it’s quite possible you never noticed this strange looking brown lumpy root vegetable hiding out in the produce section before.

Don’t skip the celery root/celeriac! Why it makes a difference in these Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes”

Celery root helps give these cauliflower mashed potatoes the same creamy texture as classic mashed potatoes. Mashed cauliflower all on its own can sometimes be a bit watery. However, when you mix it with the more substantial texture ( and subtle celery taste) of the celery root you get a great low carb side dish that tastes like the deal! It somehow makes the cauliflower taste a little less like cauliflower and a little more like potatoes.

How to prep the celery root

First, clean the celery root with a soft vegetable brush. Then place the celery root on a cutting board and remove both the base and the top of the celery root (so you have a flat surface on the celery root to work with). Place the celery root with the base side down on the cutting board. Use a knife and carefully cut from the top of the root to the bottom, removing the skin. You can also use a potato peeler if you prefer (I think it’s a little harder but it does work). Once the skin is removed from the whole celery root cut it up into ½ pieces.

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

How to Make Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes”

1.) Add a steamer basket to the bottom of the instant pot (silicone or metal).  Add one cup of water to the instant pot. Add cauliflower florets and celery root into the steamer basket.

2.) Close the lid and set the valve to sealing position. Using the MANUAL setting, cook for 3 minutes on high pressure. Do a quick release to release pressure and steam.

3.) Remove steamer basket and cauliflower/celery root from pot. Drain the remaining water from Instant Pot and return cauliflower/celery root back to the Instant Pot. Use an Immersion blender to mix/mash the cauliflower and celery root . If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a regular hand mixer (move cauliflower to a bowl before using hand blender)  or a food processor to mash the cauliflower and celery root.

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Fresh or Frozen Cauliflower

For this recipe I prefer fresh cauliflower. The water content of frozen cauliflower is higher and I find it can make the mashed “potatoes” just a little too watery.

To keep things even quicker you can use pre-cut fresh cauliflower florets.

Add- ins and Serving Ideas

Eat these Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” just as they are or dress them up with some add-ins. So many options! Stir in 1)sour cream and chives 2)butter and cheddar cheese, 3)sage and toasted walnuts 4) garlic and Parmesan cheese 5) Ranch dressing 6) Horseradish and blue cheese just to name a few. Or try this Keto Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Mashed Cauliflower ” Potatoes” (butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon and chives).

The possibilities are endless!

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

How to Make Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Making cauliflower mashed "potatoes" in the Instant Pot is one of the easiest side dishes EVER! Only 3 minutes cooking time and a quick blend with an immersion blender or hand mixer and you've got smooth creamy "potatoes". A healthy low-carb dish, perfect for pairing with your everyday or Holiday meals. Only 36 calories/serving (w/o butter).  {Clean Eating, Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan}
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 13 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 36kcal
Author: Susan | HealthyInstantPotRecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 1 large head cauliflower cut into florets ( about 4 cups)
  • 1 small celery root ( also called celeriac) peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1 cup)
  • 1 cup water
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Butter, chives, sour cream, cheese or any other topping of your choice

Instructions

  • Add a steamer basket to the bottom of the instant pot (silicone or metal). Add one cup of water to the instant pot. Add cauliflower florets and celery root into the steamer basket.
  • Close the lid and set the valve to sealing position. Using the MANUAL setting, cook for 3 minutes on high pressure. Do a quick release to release pressure and steam.
  • Remove steamer basket and cauliflower/celery root from pot. Drain the remaining water from Instant Pot and return cauliflower/celery root back to the Instant Pot. Use an Immersion blender to mix/mash the cauliflower and celery root . If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a regular hand mixer or a food processor mash the cauliflower and celery root.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 36kcal | Carbohydrates: 6.6g | Protein: 2.6g | Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 2.6g | Sugar: 1.6g
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @healthyinstantpotrecipes or tag #HIPRecipes!

 

Filed Under: Clean Eating, How-To: Cook, Paleo, Pressure Cooker, Side Dish, Vegan, Vegetarian

About Susan

Previous Post: « Instant Pot Beef Stew
Next Post: Instant Pot “Fall-Off-The-Bone” Whole Chicken- How to Make »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shannon Villeneuve-Shulman

    April 19, 2019 at 1:32 pm

    5 stars
    WOW! So velvety and creamy. I made this for Good Friday to go along with a nice fish recipe. It’s delicious! I added Himalayan salt and pepper, unsalted butter and half and half cream. It has a nice sweet flavour too it – can’t taste any sort of celery at all. This is much more velvety than regular mashed potatoes!!! Can’t believe LOW CARB 🙂 Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Susan

      April 27, 2019 at 10:23 am

      Thanks Shannon! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love the Himalayan salt idea!

      Reply

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