This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, visit my Disclaimer Policy.
Last night for dinner, I made a Cauliflower Pizza Casserole with some Parmesan and Herb Chicken Breasts on the side. I have made a variation of this casserole many times over the past several years, and we really like it.
Cauliflower Pizza Casserole with Garlic Herb Chicken Breasts
What to Do with Cauliflower
Cauliflower isn’t my favorite vegetable, but when I see it on sale at the store for some reason it always sounds good. When it comes time to actually cook with it though, I get stuck. We like it roasted in the oven with olive oil and seasoning, but that’s about it. So, this recipe is a great way to use cauliflower, and it’s delicious too.
My version is inspired by this recipe from I Breathe I’m Hungry – but I have heavily adapted it to include lots of vegetables and ricotta or cottage cheese. The first time I made it years ago, I followed their recipe exactly and it was good – but we prefer it with all of the ‘extra’ stuff in it. It’s all about what YOU like when you make it for yourself, that’s the beauty of cooking!
Scroll down to see the full ingredient list and recipe instructions …
Kitchen Essentials Used for this Recipe
A few kitchen essentials that help make this meal quick and easy are: my Cuisinart 7-Cup Food Processor, my 12-inch Lodge Cast Iron Pan that I used for both the sauteeing of the vegetables and then for the chicken breasts we had on the side, and my Round Fiesta Casserole Dish with Lid. It’s such a great large size and cleans up so easily after dinner is over.
The Recipe!
Cauliflower Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 sweet bell pepper, diced
- 6-8 baby Bella mushrooms, diced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 handful baby spinach or greens of your choice
- 6 ounces pepperoni, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella (or cheese of your choice)
- 1 cup cottage or ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3 Tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Trim the leaves and hard bottom stem from the head of cauliflower. To cook, I just put the whole head in my vegetable steamer, stem side down, and let steam on high for about 10 minutes. Drain steamer and set cauliflower aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, preheat a skillet (I use cast iron but whatever is your favorite works!) Chop all of your vegetables and sautee them, in the same order as they are listed (i.e onions and peppers first, as they take longest to cook ... greens last.) Add the dried basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Sautee until vegetables are tender and heated through, about 15 minutes total. Remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees right around this time of the process.
- When the cauliflower has cooled, pulse it in a food processor to get it finely chopped to a rice-like consistency.
- Now, you are ready to mix everything together. Mix your riced cauliflower, sauteed vegetable and seasoning mixture, cheeses and milk. Put into a baking dish and cover. Bake for 45-60 minutes. I usually take it out and stir it up about halfway through.
- Remove from the oven and let cool a bit before serving. While it cools, you can add the freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
If you like this recipe, you will also love my other recipes!
