This cauliflower chicken au gratin is a deep casserole dish of roasted cauliflower, cooked chicken, thick Brie cream sauce, melted cheddar, and crisp bacon. The top bakes until golden and bubbly, then the casserole rests long enough for the sauce to settle around the two textures of cauliflower underneath.
It is a later Full GAPS dinner for a household that has completed dairy introduction and already tolerates raw cream, cultured Brie, and aged cheddar. The sauce uses gelatin for body, so there is no flour, cornstarch, or grain-based thickener.
A Dinner You Can Assemble Before The Evening Rush
On weekdays I make breakfast, homeschool, work on three side businesses, and try to have lunch and dinner handled before leaving for second shift. There is not a perfect bulk-prep system carrying all of that. A dinner that can be assembled, cooled, and finished later is useful because it moves the longest work out of the tightest part of the day.
This casserole gives you clear stopping points. Roast the cauliflower. Blend the cheese sauce. Mix the casserole and add the cheddar. At that point, you can continue into the final bake or use the source’s make-ahead freezing method.
The recipe still needs a full-size dish and real time. It is not a five-minute dinner. What it gives you is one pan for eight servings and a practical way to separate assembly from the final 20-minute bake.
This Is A Later Full GAPS Casserole
Cauliflower, chicken, animal fat, mineral salt, pure pepper, and green onion all fit Full GAPS. The dairy ingredients set the timing. Use this recipe only after dairy introduction is complete and raw cream, properly cultured Brie, and aged cheddar are each already tolerated.
The card uses two cups raw cream, eight ounces Brie, and eight ounces cheddar. Cream cheese is not substituted for the Brie in this GAPS version. Use cheeses with no starch, gums, colors, flavoring, or other additions.
The bacon must be the exact form used in the WFLI bacon ruling: unsmoked bacon made with pork and salt only. Do not rely on a front-label claim while ignoring the ingredient list. The eight-ounce amount supplies both the crumbled finishing bacon and the rendered fat used to roast the cauliflower.
Why The Recipe Uses Two Forms Of Cauliflower
One head of cauliflower is chopped into bite-size florets. The second amount is 24 ounces of cauliflower rice. They roast together, but they do different jobs in the finished dish.
The florets stay visibly chunky and give each serving larger tender pieces. The rice settles between the florets and chicken, where it holds the thick cheese sauce. Using only florets would leave more open space in the dish. Using only rice would remove the larger cauliflower texture.
You can make the rice with the Full GAPS cauliflower rice method, then measure the amount this casserole needs. The casserole card still measures 24 ounces. The linked component does not replace the full head of chopped cauliflower.
Cook The Bacon And Save The Fat
Cook the bacon before starting the casserole, then crumble it and reserve three tablespoons of the rendered fat. Keep the bacon separate until the casserole has completed its final bake. Adding it before baking would soften the pieces inside the sauce.
The rendered fat coats both forms of cauliflower. Toss it through the dish with two teaspoons of the mineral salt before roasting. The cauliflower should look lightly glossy rather than sitting in a puddle of fat.
The remaining one teaspoon salt belongs in the Brie cream sauce. Keeping the salt divided matters because the roasted vegetables and the sauce each need their measured portion.
Roast The Cauliflower First
Heat the oven to 400°F. Put the chopped cauliflower and cauliflower rice into a 4-quart casserole dish with the rendered bacon fat and two teaspoons salt. Toss until the fat reaches the fine cauliflower rice as well as the larger florets.
Roast for 30 minutes. The florets should begin turning golden at their tips and edges. The cauliflower rice should remain visibly separate, with a few toasted points. There should not be water collecting in the bottom of the dish.
Frozen cauliflower rice may release more moisture at first. Keep the measured roast time and judge the endpoint by the surface. You want the vegetables roasted and beginning to color before the chicken and sauce are added.
Blend The Brie Cream Sauce
While the cauliflower roasts, heat two cups raw cream in a small stainless saucepan. Stop when the cream is hot but not simmering. The surface should remain calm without a ring of bubbles.
Put the eight ounces of Brie and the remaining teaspoon salt into a heat-safe glass blender. Pour in the slightly cooled hot cream, then sprinkle four tablespoons of plain bovine gelatin over the liquid.
Secure the lid. Blend on the lowest setting for 10 seconds, then increase to medium for another 10 seconds. The finished sauce should be thick and even, without visible Brie cubes or dry gelatin pockets. It will cling to the blender jar, so use a spatula to scrape it into the casserole dish after the cauliflower is roasted.
Assemble The Casserole Before The Final Bake
Add one and a half pounds of already-cooked bite-size chicken to the roasted cauliflower. Pour in the thick cheese sauce and add one-half teaspoon pure black or white pepper. Stir everything together directly in the casserole dish until the sauce coats the cauliflower rice, florets, and chicken.
Smooth the surface and scatter eight ounces grated cheddar across the top. At this point the cheese should still look pale, loose, and unmelted. The cooked bacon and green onion stay off the casserole until after the bake.
Return the dish to the 400°F oven for 20 minutes. The cheddar should melt into the surface, the edges should be actively bubbling, and the high points should be golden brown. The source method does not require broiling.
Finish With Bacon And Let It Rest
Scatter the crumbled bacon and the finely chopped green onion tops over the casserole after it comes out of the oven. Both belong on the finished dish. The bacon stays crisp, and the green onion remains fresh instead of baking into the cheese.
Let the casserole rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. The sauce will be very loose and bubbly straight from the oven. During the rest it settles around the chicken and cauliflower, which makes the servings hold together better.
The recipe makes eight servings. The casserole remains creamy rather than cutting into rigid squares. Use a wide serving spoon once the rest is complete.
Make-Ahead And Freezer Method
For the source’s make-ahead method, complete the recipe through mixing the roasted cauliflower, chicken, cheese sauce, and pepper. Smooth the surface and add the grated cheddar. Cool the assembled casserole completely, cover it well, and freeze it for two to three months.
To finish later, partially defrost the casserole for about four hours on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator, then bake for the final 20 minutes. You can also bake it from frozen for about 40 minutes. The endpoint stays the same: hot through, browned around the edges, and bubbly across the surface.
Add the bacon and green onion after the reheated casserole finishes baking. Rest it before serving just as you would the freshly assembled version.
Supported Ingredient Choices
Use Brie rather than cream cheese. For the grated top, cheddar or another additive-free aged cheese from the accepted source route can work in the same eight-ounce amount. Keep the dairy timing later Full GAPS.
Use already-cooked chicken. Roast chicken, gently cooked chicken, or chicken left from another plain Full GAPS meal can work as long as the meat is not coated in an incompatible sauce or seasoning.
The source suggests peppers or spinach as variations, but the exact WFLI card and photographed formula do not include them. Additions change the pan volume and moisture, so they are not tucked into this base recipe.
Equipment That Fits The Full Batch
You need a 4-quart casserole dish, a small stainless saucepan, a heat-safe glass blender, a spatula, two large spoons for mixing, a knife and cutting board, measuring tools, and a heatproof trivet. The pictured dish is the Le Creuset Heritage 4-quart rectangular dish in Artichaut.
The 2× card control doubles this into 16 servings and is larger than one 4-quart dish. Use two casserole dishes and divide every component evenly. Do not pile the doubled batch into one overfilled dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Use Brie Instead Of Cream Cheese?
Brie is the accepted Full GAPS cheese option in this formula. Cream cheese is omitted rather than offered as an equal GAPS swap.
Do I Need Both Chopped Cauliflower And Cauliflower Rice?
Yes. The source measures both. The florets provide larger pieces, while the rice fills the spaces and carries the sauce.
Can I Use Raw Chicken?
No. The measured formula uses already-cooked chicken. Raw chicken would change the cooking time, liquid, and food structure.
Why Is The Cheese Sauce So Thick?
Brie and four tablespoons gelatin thicken the hot cream. The sauce should cling to the blender and need scraping, then loosen around the cauliflower and chicken during baking.
When Do The Bacon And Green Onions Go On?
Add both after the final bake. This keeps the bacon crisp and the green onion fresh.
Can I Serve It Straight From The Oven?
Wait 15 to 20 minutes. The bubbling sauce needs that rest to settle before serving.
Cauliflower Chicken Au Gratin Recipe
Cauliflower Chicken Au Gratin with Bacon for Later Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Put the rendered bacon fat, chopped cauliflower, and cauliflower rice in the casserole dish. Add 2 teaspoons salt and toss until both cauliflower forms are coated. Roast for 30 minutes, until floret edges and some rice granules are lightly golden with no liquid pooling.
- While the cauliflower roasts, heat the raw cream in a small stainless saucepan until hot but not simmering. Remove from the heat.
- Put the Brie and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a heat-safe glass blender. Pour in the slightly cooled hot cream and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Blend on low for 10 seconds, then medium for 10 seconds, until thick and smooth.
- Add the cooked chicken, thick cheese sauce, and pepper to the roasted cauliflower. Scrape the blender with a spatula and stir everything together directly in the casserole dish until evenly coated.
- Smooth the surface and top evenly with grated cheddar. Return to the 400°F oven for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden and the casserole bubbles all over.
- Top the baked casserole with the crumbled bacon and finely chopped green onion tops.
- Rest for 15 to 20 minutes so the sauce settles before serving.
Notes
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