Five cauliflower cheese recipes sit across five Hairy Bikers cookbooks, and this one from Chicken and Egg is the version I always come back to. It bakes golden in about 50 minutes at around 310 calories, so it works as an easy comfort food side for four to six.
Si and Dave write in British Classics that they “always come back to good old cauliflower cheese,” which tells you how much this dish means to them. And the Chicken and Egg version is the one worth learning, since infusing the milk with bay, mace and peppercorns gives the sauce a depth that a plain roux never reaches.
The step most people skip is draining the cauliflower properly after boiling, and that is where a watery dish starts. So I leave the florets in the colander for a full minute to steam dry, because any trapped water thins the sauce underneath.
Hairy Bikers Cauliflower Cheese Recipe
Description
This cauliflower cheese from Chicken and Egg coats tender florets in a mustard and cayenne sauce made with infused milk, then bakes until golden and bubbling. And the infused milk is what sets it apart, since bay, mace and peppercorns give the sauce a rounder, deeper flavour.
Ingredients
For the Cheese Sauce:
For the Cauliflower:
Instructions
- Infuse the milk: Pour the milk into a saucepan, then add the bay leaves, mace blade and peppercorns. Heat gently until it almost reaches the boil, then take it off the heat and leave it to sit while you prepare everything else.
- Boil the cauliflower: Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then add the florets and cook for 4 minutes until just tender. Drain them thoroughly and leave them in the colander to steam dry, since any extra water will thin your sauce later.
- Make the roux: Melt the butter in a clean saucepan over a low heat, then stir in the flour, mustard powder and cayenne. Keep stirring for a minute or so to cook the flour out, since raw flour gives the sauce a pasty taste.
- Build the sauce: Strain the infused milk into a jug, then add it to the roux a little at a time, stirring smooth between each pour. Once it flows like a sauce you can add the rest more quickly, then stir in 75g of the cheese until melted and season well.
- Bake until golden: Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4 and tip the drained florets into an ovenproof dish. Pour the sauce over them and scatter the remaining cheese on top, then bake for about 30 minutes until brown and bubbling.
FAQs
Which Hairy Bikers cauliflower cheese is the best?
There are five versions across the collection, and each one does something different with the same dish. The Chicken and Egg recipe in the card above is the richest, since that infused milk lifts the whole sauce beyond what a plain roux can do.
Meat Feasts and Ultimate Comfort Food print the same simpler recipe word for word: a straight roux with Gruyère, nutmeg and a Parmesan crust, baked for just 15 minutes. And the Perfect Pies version is what they call their “special” one, because it folds sautéed chestnut mushrooms into the sauce and tops it with ciabatta breadcrumbs. Mums Know Best has a spiced cauliflower side, but that is a different dish entirely, not a cauliflower cheese.
Is there a spiced roasted cauliflower cheese recipe?
Yes, and it is nothing like a normal cauliflower cheese, since there is no béchamel at all. In British Classics, Si and Dave blanch the florets, then toss them in olive oil with cumin, paprika and crushed fennel seeds. They also add chopped red chilli, honey and lemon juice, then roast the lot at 190°C for about 15 minutes.
Once the florets are golden, you just sprinkle grated Emmental and Gruyère over them and put them back in the oven until the cheese bubbles. So it is a lighter, spicier way to eat cauliflower cheese as a main meal, and all you need alongside is some crusty bread.
Can I add bacon to cauliflower cheese?
None of the five cookbook versions I own include bacon, so this is my own addition that I have tested alongside the base recipe. I fry 150g of smoked streaky lardons until crisp, then scatter them over the top before baking, and the salty crunch against the smooth sauce is worth the extra step.
If you want richness without bacon, the Perfect Pies version folds chestnut mushrooms into the sauce and finishes with breadcrumbs and Parmesan. So try folding sliced mushrooms into the béchamel before pouring it over the florets, because the earthy mushroom works just as well against the cheese.
Can I use a whole cauliflower, or add broccoli?
You can bake a whole cauliflower by steaming it for 12 to 15 minutes first, then sitting it upright in a dish and pouring the sauce over and around it. And it looks impressive on the table, though the sauce does not coat the inside as evenly as it does with separated florets.
For broccoli, the Perfect Pies book has a full broccoli and cauliflower cheese pie with cheese shortcrust pastry, which is worth trying. But if you just want to add broccoli florets alongside the cauliflower, use equal weights and boil the broccoli for only 2 minutes since it cooks faster. And if you like baked sides, their dauphinoise potatoes use a similar oven technique, so try that one too.
How do I make this lighter, or use the sauce on its own?
For a low-fat version, swap the butter for low-calorie spray and use semi-skimmed milk with reduced-fat Cheddar, since the infused flavour still carries through. And the Dieters Make It Easy book takes it further with a cauliflower cheese soup at just 233 calories, which blends the florets with potato and wholegrain mustard.
The cheese sauce also works as a standalone purée that pours well over steamed vegetables or pasta, so I make a double batch at Christmas for the cauliflower, the broccoli and the leftover turkey. And for another comfort food side from the collection, their lamb chops pair really well with a cheese gratin like this.
