Grain-Free Keto Spinach Macaroni Inferno is the ultimate pasta-replacement comfort food for the keto diet. With its warm, cheesy layers of both red and white sauces interlaced with spinach, you won’t notice the carb-full pasta has been replaced with cauliflower in this keto cauliflower casserole!
I started dabbling in a low carb lifestyle when my friend went through several trials of the Atkins diet. During that time, I created a lot of new meals for our family that stuck. That’s also when I started experimenting with cauliflower. Prepare to be amazed.
This Grain-Free Keto Spinach Macaroni Inferno recipe is actually not mine, so don’t direct your awe toward me quite yet. I adapted the recipe to the ketogenic diet, but the first time I had it was when one of my sweet college roommates made it for me.
Keto Cauliflower Casserole Recipe
I was blessed to have some exceptionally terrific roommates. The six of us truly became a family. As the semesters went on and some of us took semesters off or got married, we added new members to the family until I think we now number eleven.
Looking for more casseroles for the keto diet? Try this Keto Loaded Turnip Casserole for Instant Pot.
We still call each other sisters and try to get together as often as possible, even though we’ve been as far apart as Mexico, Italy, Washington, California, and Michigan (and several states in between!).
Just so you can get a sense of how much these girls were a family to me, we ate dinner together every night. We had a meeting every Sunday night and each of us took one day of the week to make dinner for everyone. It saved us money, but it also made our freezing little basement apartment so cozy.
It didn’t take long for our friendships to become cemented forever over Anna’s cheesecakes, Shellise’s Chicken Pillows (check out my keto version, Kid-friendly Open-faced Keto Chicken Pillows), Kim’s many varieties of cookies, Neoma’s Chocolate Marshmallow Peanut Butter Yummy, and Katherine’s Macaroni Inferno.
FAQ’s for Grain-Free Keto Spinach Macaroni Inferno
The Macaroni Inferno is a baked pasta dish featuring both white and red sauces and normally made with rigatoni, which I’ve swapped out for cauliflower florets and tweaked in a few other ways.
The recipe for this keto cauliflower casserole I’ve written is vegetarian, but we often add crumbled ground beef or cooked, cubed chicken as a layer. Or load it up with other veggies. Mushrooms are a great low carb addition, too.
Really, I’ve done so many different things with this basic recipe and it never disappoints. If you’re needing a carb-up or carb cycle day, add cooked red lentils to the white sauce (lots of good nutrients in those guys!). Play around with it and enjoy! Let me know if you do something different with it so I can try it too! 
Fun fact: This should make you feel pretty good about making this meal. Just for fun and out of curiosity, I plugged in “rigatoni” instead of “cauliflower” into my nutrition calculator for this dish, and instead of the 12 grams of carbs per serving, it rocketed up to 66 grams of carbohydrates! That’s in one serving! For some people on keto, that would be way over their daily limit of carbs. So feel good about choosing this delicious version of the casserole instead!
Here’s another yummy, cheesy baked dish for you! Try this Turnip Gratin!
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Grain-Free Keto Spinach Macaroni Inferno
Grain-Free Keto Spinach Macaroni Inferno is the ultimate easy pasta replacement comfort food for the keto diet. With its warm, cheesy layers of both red and white sauces, you won’t notice the carb-full pasta has been replaced with a vegetable!
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, grass-fed if possible
- 1 large onion, diced
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon chicken, beef or vegetable bouillon paste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets and pieces
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 ½ cups spinach, chopped
- 15 ounces no sugar added pasta sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Steam cauliflower pieces until just tender, about 6 minutes. Do not overcook. The cauliflower will continue to cook in the oven.
For the béchamel sauce:
- Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add diced onion and sauté until onion is transparent, about 10 minutes.
- Add almond flour and minced garlic. Cook while stirring for 2 minutes.
- Add cream, bouillon paste, and pepper. Simmer until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes.
To Assemble:
- Spread 1/3 of the pasta sauce on bottom of 9”x13” glass or metal pan. Spread 1/3 of the cauliflower pieces on the pasta sauce. Sprinkle 1/3 of the spinach on top of the cauliflower. Drizzle 1/3 of the béchamel sauce on top of the spinach, spreading it evenly with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella on top.
- Repeat these layers twice more until the ingredients are used up. Cover pan with foil.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted on top.
Recommended Products
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Marinara Magnifica Award-Winning Gourmet Pasta Sauce – No Sugar Added, Low Sodium, Gluten Free, Keto & Paleo Friendly, and Made with Whole, Non-GMO Tomatoes! (2-Pack) -
Bakeware Set, Krokori Rectangular Baking Pan Ceramic Glaze Baking Dish for Cooking, Kitchen, Cake Dinner, Banquet and Daily Use - Aquamarine, 3 Pack of Rectangular -
Kirkland Minced California Garlic, 48-Ounce -
Better Than Bouillon, Roasted Chicken Base, 8 oz. -
Hamilton Beach 70725A 12-Cup Stack & Snap Food Processor and Vegetable Chopper Black -
Anthony's Blanched Gluten Free Almond Flour (4 lb) Gluten Free
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 307Total Fat: 25.7gCarbohydrates: 14.2gProtein: 6.9g
Other Delicious Keto Casseroles to Try!
You're going to want to check out these other fantastic and easy keto casseroles for your keto dinner today!
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Grain-Free Keto Spinach Macaroni Inferno is the ultimate keto caulimac casserole comfort food for the keto diet. With its warm, cheesy layers of both red and white sauces interlaced with spinach, you won’t notice the carb-full pasta has been replaced with cauliflower in this keto cauliflower hot dish!
The whole family will love this keto macaroni and cheese casserole!
About the Author: Jenn
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I see in the directions where it says to add the cream to make the white sauce, but I don’t see any kind of cream in the ingredients list. What kind and how much? Thanks!
I’m so glad you spotted that! It’s one cup of heavy whipping cream. All fixed now. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Thanks again!
[…] This is another one introduced to me by my amazing college roommates. […]