Air fryer cauliflower cheese is quick, easy, and delicious! It’s the perfect cheesy vegetable side dish that goes well with a variety of meals.
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I absolutely love cauliflower cheese. Always have. I could eat it on its own in a giant bowl.
I think I could easily eat a whole cauliflower if it was cheesed. Cauliflower is great anyway, so adding cheese and a creamy cheese sauce is just the best thing in the world!
Air-frying cauliflower cheese is a great way to get that golden brown cheese top quickly and without fuss!
I highly recommend it!
Why I Love Air Fryer Cauliflower Cheese
I love cauliflower cheese no matter how it’s made, but it’s even better in the air fryer. I love this air fryer cauliflower cheese recipe because:
- Air frying isn’t always cheaper. But small things that don’t have huge cooking times, like cauliflower cheese, are much cheaper when you don’t waste time and energy heating the whole oven.
- Air-fried cauliflower cheese is ready in about 20 minutes, including part of cooking the cauliflower!
- Cauliflower cheese is a great part of a bigger meal, like a Sunday roast. Air-frying cauliflower cheese is a great way to save oven space for other things.
- Air fryer cauliflower cheese is delicious!
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Ingredients For Air Fryer Cauliflower Cheese
Cauliflower – Cauliflowers are tiny at the moment, so I’d usually use one bigger than that in these photos. If yours is small-medium, you can keep the sauce quantities the same; if it’s a lot bigger than mine, multiply your sauce ingredients by one-third.
Semi-Skimmed Milk – You can use whole milk for a richer, creamier flavour.
Plain Flour
Butter
Mature Cheddar Cheese
You’ll Also Need
To make cauliflower cheese in an air fryer, you’ll need:
- Sharp Knife and chopping board to prepare the cauliflower.
- Large saucepan to part cook the cauliflower.
- Smaller pan and whisk for the cheese sauce.
- Cheesegrater.
- Air fryer – A Ninja Air Fryer Cauliflower cheese is, I’m sure, great, but other brands and types are fine, too.
- Heatproof cooking dish that fits in your air fryer and is big enough for your cauliflower. I use a silicone cake mould (affiliate link) or a glass baking dish.
How to Make Cauliflower Cheese in the Air Fryer – Step-by-Step Instructions
Full, easy-to-follow instructions and quantities are available in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step One
Cut the cauliflower into florets, removing and discarding the stalk. I like some big and some little.
Step Two
Simmer in a pan of lightly salted water for around 5 minutes. You can simmer for longer if you like a very soft cauliflower, but I like them fairly crunchy.
Step Three
Drain thoroughly and set to one side. I leave in the colander, just to make sure all of the water drains away.
Step Four
Place the milk, flour and butter in a small pan over medium heat on the hob.
Step Five
Whisk constantly as the butter melts, and the sauce comes together. Take care to remove any lumps.
Step Six
Once the sauce is simmering, continue to whisk for two minutes. You can reduce the temperature if needed.
Step Seven
Remove from the heat.
Step Eight
Add most of the cheese, retaining a handful to top.
Step Nine
Whisk until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth.
Step Ten
Preheat your air fryer to 180 degrees C.
Step Eleven
Tip the cauliflower into a small heatproof dish or bowl that fits comfortably inside your air fryer basket.
Step Twelve
Pour over the cheese sauce, covering the cauliflower as evenly as possible.
Step Thirteen
Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
Step Fourteen
Place carefully into your air fryer.
Step Fifteen
Air fry for 5-10 minutes (check after 5) until the cheese top is golden brown.
Step Sixteen
Remove carefully and serve.
Top Tips
For the best air fryer cauliflower cheese:
- Think about the size of your cauliflower and how much sauce you like.
- Keep whisking the sauce, or it will catch, and you’ll have burned bits and lumps of flour.
- Check after five minutes in the air fryer. The top will brown pretty quickly.
- I like my cauliflower to be quite uneven, with big chunks and small bites.
- Try to make sure all of the cauliflower is covered in cheese sauce so it doesn’t burn in the air fryer.
Serving Suggestions
As you can see from my photos, I love a big dollop of cauliflower cheese on a fluffy jacket potato. It’s perfect!
The cheese sauce gets right into the potato, and the different textures just work really well together. It’s one of my favourite meals, and something I eat if ever I’ve got the house to myself.
But I know that people generally serve cauliflower as a side dish with meat and potatoes. That’s fine, too!
Variations
There are a few things that you can do differently.
Add Mustard
A tablespoon of either English mustard or Dijon mustard stirred through your cheese sauce adds a lovely extra flavour.
I add mustard to my Mac and cheese.
Use Different Cheeses
I love sharp cheddar cheese and certainly recommend it as your main cheese. But you could also add some parmesan and other cheeses. Experiment!
Use Frozen Cauliflower Florets
Frozen cauliflower has already been blanched, so it doesn’t need to be boiled for as long. I’d give it 2-3 minutes just to make sure it’s defrosted before draining and adding the cheese sauce.
Otherwise, you can follow this recipe to make air fryer cauliflower cheese with frozen cauliflower.
Leftovers
You can reheat leftover cauliflower cheese in the microwave for a few minutes, or for 5 minutes at 150 degrees in your air fryer.
Storage
Leave to cool before covering and placing in the fridge for 1-2 days
Can You Freeze Cauliflower Cheese?
I don’t recommend freezing cauliflower cheese. The sauce can become watery and separate as it thaws. You’d just have a cheesy cauliflower mess.
FAQ
Yes.
Yes, you can cook frozen cauliflower cheese in the air fryer.
Place in a heatproof dish suitable for your air fryer and air fry at 160 degrees C for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the quantity.
No, skimmed milk is too watery.
Cook cauliflower cheese for 5-10 minutes in an air fryer.
Cauliflower cheese is high in fat but also high in nutrients.
If your cauliflower cheese sauce is watery, you may not have drained your cauliflower thoroughly enough.
Yes, you can melt cheese on something in an air fryer.
Other Recipes
If you like this air fryer cauliflower cheese, you might want to try some of my other air fryer recipes, too:
- Air Fryer Mac and Cheese for One
- Frozen Sausages
- Air Fried Katsu Curry
- Hash Browns
- Scrambled Eggs
- Fish Pie
- Air Fryer Chicken Burgers
- Air Fryer Cheesy Burgers
- Loaded Potato Skins
Recipe Card
Air Fryer Cauliflower Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 Small – Medium Cauliflower
- 250 ml Semi-Skimmed Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Plain Flour
- 25 g Butter
- 150 g Cheddar Cheese – Grated
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into florets, removing and discarding the stalk.
- Simmer in a pan of lightly salted water for around 5 minutes.
- Drain thoroughly and set to one side.
- Place the milk, flour and butter in a small pan over medium heat on the hob.
- Whisk constantly as the butter melts, and the sauce comes together.
- Once the sauce is simmering, continue to whisk for two minutes.
- Remove from the heat.
- Add most of the cheese, retaining a handful to top.
- Whisk until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Preheat your air fryer to 180 degrees C.
- Tip the cauliflower into a small heatproof dish or bowl that fits comfortably inside your air fryer basket.
- Pour over the cheese sauce, covering the cauliflower as evenly as possible.
- Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
- Place carefully into your air fryer.
- Air fry for 5-10 minutes (check after 5) until the cheese top is golden brown.
- Remove carefully and serve.
Notes
- If your cauliflower is large or you like a lot of sauce, increase the quantities by one-third.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
