I am not a vegetable person, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Yes, of course, I know they are good for you, but I am the type of person who does not want to force myself to eat things simply because they are a healthy choice. I need to like it and enjoy it. Weight Watchers makes it easy to work in food I love with their daily points system, and it’s tempting to use all those zero point veggies! I’m here to tell you this loaded cauliflower bake is the answer. You will love eating your veggies with this dish!
Because cauliflower is the base of this recipe, one serving is just four points. Pair it with some zero point protein, like chicken, and you’ve got a filling, healthy meal for just a few points. The best part is, the main flavor comes from bacon and cheese – not cauliflower. Cauliflower just acts as the vehicle to get the delicious flavors to your stomach. Give it a try for yourself!
Three reasons why you need to make this recipe!
You get a load of nutrients in a very tasty way.
As mentioned above, bacon, ranch, and cheese are the main flavors of this dish. You won’t mind the cauliflower at all.
Cooked cauliflower has the same texture as potatoes.
The veggie turns into a carby base- without the actual carbs or calories! It pairs perfectly in a dish that would normally house starchy potatoes.
It’s a filling, Weight Watcher friendly side dish.
Cauliflower loaded bake is perfect for meal prep, as it’s easy to make and will give you enough for six lunches throughout the week. Pair it with a shredded rotisserie chicken for a super easy lunch or dinner option.
Ingredients you need to make Loaded Cauliflower Bake:
- 1 head of cauliflower, washed and cut
- 6 slices of Oscar Mayer center cut bacon or other low point bacon, cooked and crumbled
- ½ cup fat free sour cream
- ½ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 (28 g) package of ranch dip seasoning
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese
- Green onion, diced
How to make Loaded Cauliflower Bake (step by step):
- Boil the cauliflower florets for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375F and spray a 9×13 casserole dish with some nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix the fat free sour cream, Greek yogurt, ranch seasoning, salt, pepper, half of your crumbled bacon, and half a cup of the cheese (leave the other ½ cup and half of the bacon aside for topping)
- Add in the cauliflower and mix well.
- Place the cauliflower mixture in the casserole dish, and top with the remaining cheese, bacon, and diced green onion. Cover it with foil and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 7 minutes.
- Makes 6 servings, each weighing approx 7.5oz. Enjoy!
Makes 6 servings. Nutrition info for 1 serving: Calories 159, Fat 6 g, Saturated fat 2.93 g, Carbs 13 g, Fiber 2.9 g, Sugars 4.6 g, Sodium 556.58 mg, Protein 13 g.
WW Points
- Head of cauliflower washed and cut 0 points
- Oscar Mayer center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled 6 points
- Fat free sour cream 3 points
- Nonfat plain yogurt 0 points
- Ranch dip seasoning 2 points
- Salt and pepper 0 points
- Reduced fat shredded cheese 14 points
- Green onion, diced 0 points
4 points per serving based on the WW app recipe creator.
If you’re using an older version of WW, check out these points below.
4 PP
4 freestyle smart points per serving on all 3 MyWW programs
3 points plus, old WW program
Different ways to change up this recipe:
- Feel free to use your own seasonings rather than a ranch seasoning packet. Some great ones to consider are garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, and dried Italian seasoning.
- You can reduce the cheese if you want this to be even lower in points, or consider using Great Value fat free cheddar cheese.
Tips and Tricks for Making Loaded Cauliflower Bake:
- The recipe should freeze well, you just might have a little water content when reheating it.
- You can use frozen cauliflower if you don’t want to chop fresh cauliflower. Make sure to drain it really well after boiling it. Popping the frozen bags of cauliflower in the microwave would work as well as long as you drain it once it’s steamed.
- You could also use bacon crumble (in the package) if you can’t find low point bacon. It’s fairly low in points.
- Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to seven days.
Similar recipes you’ll enjoy:
Loaded cauliflower bake
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower, washed and cut (I only used fresh cauliflower, I think frozen will work but might have added water)
- 6 slices of low point bacon, I use center cut bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
- 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt, I used the Skyr yogurt, greek is good too
- 1 28 g package ranch dip seasoning
- Dash of salt & pepper
- 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese, I used a 3 cheese blend
- Green onion, diced
Instructions
- Boil the cauliflower florets for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375F and spray a 9x13 casserole dish with some non stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix the fat free sour cream, Greek yogurt, ranch seasoning, salt, pepper, half of your crumbled bacon and a half cup of the cheese (leave other ½ cup and half of the bacon aside for topping)
- Add in the cauliflower and mix well.
- Place the cauliflower mixture in the casserole dish, and top with the remaining cheese, bacon, and diced green onion. Cover it with foil and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 7 minutes.
- Makes 6 servings, each weighing approx 7.5oz. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you have a particular brand of bacon you’d recommend for low points? Thanks!
I use center cut but buy it in the U.S, if your in Canada you can always try bacon crumble it is pretty low points
Ok thank you! 🙂
The nutrition lists no fiber…but there is fiber in cauliflower.
The nutritional info does not incl the cauliflower since we do not count for vegetables on WW, I have since started adding them in when I do the nutrition info and letting people know they may get a different point value because of this..
This would probably be better with 1/2 the ranch seasoning. It was way too Ranch-y for us. Oh well will try again and cut the ranch in 1/2!
Everyone has different tastebuds, hope you like it more with cutting it down 🙂
I bought vanilla yogurt instead of plain, lol, do you think it would be fine to just use a cup of the ff sour cream instead?
Yes I think that will still work fine 🙂
Made it tonight. Delicious!!!
So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
We LOVE this recipe. Shared with friends and their family now LOVES it too. Delicious!
Yay, so happy to hear that Erin 🙂
Do you think it would work to prepare the night before, refrigerate overnight and bake next day?
I have not personally tried it but I would think it will be ok
When I made this, it was delicious but I found the bottom of my casserole dish watery… How can I avoid this?
Yeah cauliflower has a lot of water in it, did you use frozen by chance cause that will definitely make it more watery
I have really been wanting to try your recipes. Its hard to find the serving sizes. I have noticed its not with the nutritional info on most of the recipes.
Hi Mindy, at the very top of the recipe, under the title and the prep time and cooking time you’ll see servings.. and then usually at the end of the instructions I will say the servings/size ..hope that helps 🙂