How One Canned Soup Transforms Cauliflower Into A Creamy, Comforting Side Dish

On its own, cauliflower is pretty bland — but that's actually a good thing. It makes it one of the most versatile veggies, able to be the base of a pizza to a cowboy butter-battered cauliflower steak or even a substitute for crunchy boneless Buffalo wings. But you don't need to completely turn it into something else to give it flavor. Instead, just add a can of cheddar cheese soup; it helps roasted cauliflower become a cheesy side dish, making it appealing to pretty much everyone at the dinner table.

There's no need to break out the cheese grater for this cheese sauce; all the hard work is done for you. Roast the cauliflower in a little olive oil and sea salt until it gets nice and crispy (this is great for texture balance with the liquid cheese sauce). Once it's just about done, heat the cheese sauce in a pot until hot. To serve the cheesy cauliflower, you can either toss the florets in the cheese sauce or drizzle the sauce on top.

The dish is fine on its own, but if you want even better flavor and texture, add some crumbled bacon into the mix. For ease, you can purchase containers of crumbled bacon, or you can buy prepared bacon and microwave it. Add a pinch of brightness with chopped chives, and the cauliflower suddenly becomes reminiscent of a potato skin.

Any seasonings work here, too, from garlic powder to black pepper or some crushed red pepper for spice. Just be careful about adding extra salt; the cheddar cheese soup is pretty salty as is, so taste it before sprinkling any more. Add a few dashes of hot sauce to the cheese soup as it cooks for a subtle hint of heat, or create bold flavor with a small squeeze of Dijon mustard and a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Texturally, the cheesy cauliflower is best eaten as soon as it's prepared. If you have leftovers, it's best to reheat in an oven-safe dish, or a surprising way to use the leftovers is to blend them together to create a creamy cauliflower soup.