Low carb mac and cheese isn’t impossible — and this recipe is made in a few minutes in the microwave. Cauliflower stands in for the pasta in this Atkins friendly recipe.
Isn’t food in a jar cute? It’s all the rage on Pinterest now. It seems like you can find about anything in a jar?? I’m waiting for the Filet Mignon in a jar, personally.
Food in a jar isn’t anything new. A lot of us have used those nifty canning jars for decades. I mean, what else are you going to do with them when canning season is over and you start emptying them out? I ?must have 200 canning jars stored in my high cupboards and I don’t have time to garden or can anymore.
If you ask someone who is low carbing what food they miss most they are likely to have macaroni and cheese on the list, right? Well, I haven’t been happy with the various faux mac and cheese recipes. The texture was weird, the flavor wasn’t what I was looking for… you know the story.
You know what I did, right?
Yup. I made my own. But not just that. I made mac and cheese that you can cook in a jar. One cheesy serving that you can take to work and cook in the microwave. One comforting meal that has just a few carbs, smells delicious and goes anywhere. You can even make several jars and keep them in your refrigerator for instant meals.
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If you want to freeze the jars you can but you will need to blanch the cauliflower before adding it to the jar, ‘k?
It isn’t exactly mac and cheese?? I mean that’s a lot to ask of cauliflower. It is delicious and I bet is completely curbs those cravings for… you know. That stuff.
Table of Contents
Recently there have been a lot of comments that the calorie count was much higher than I figured. This was due to a typo in the recipe which called for 1/4 cup of cheddar or 4 ounces… 1/4 cup cheddar is only one ounce – my mistake and I do apologize. The nutrition info is correct. Thanks.

Faux Mac and Cheese in a Jar (Induction)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cauliflower broken into small florets
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon of water
- 1 tablespoon cream cheese broken into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon spicy mustard
- A couple of drops of hot sauce
- 1/4 cup smoky cheddar or extra sharp cheddar
- Salt
- Coarsly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mix the cream, water, mustard, and the hot sauce and put into the bottom of a half pint wide mouth jar.
- Add a pinch of the cheese and a few crumbles of cream cheese.
- Add a layer of the raw cauliflower.
- Add a layer of cheese and cream cheese.
- Repeat ending with a layer of cheese.
- Sprinkle with salt and generously add pepper.
- Cover the top with plastic wrap and then the screw on jar lid.
- Store in the refrigerator
To Serve
- Take the lid off.
- Leave the plastic wrap on and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Shake the jar well.
- Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes more - or until as tender as you like.
- Shake the jar to mix the cheese and sauce.
- Let sit for 1 minutes.
- Carefully remove plastic wrap and enjoy
Notes
Nutrition
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The 4 oz are by volume not weight. But 1/4 cup is 2 oz by volume I believe. Anyway I am going to try it. Hungry for a good low carb casserole
Let me know what you think.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS
You’re welcome!
If you don’t have extra sharp cheddar cheese, you could add a little grated Parmesan to taste. — maybe 1 tsp for this recipe. It’ a good work around.
What a great idea!
114 calories in 1 oz. of cheddar. I googled it.
🙂
Awesome recipe! any ideas what I can use instead of heavy whipping cream?
thank you
Sarah you could use greek yogurt or try coconut milk.
I used whole milk and it came out great!
Thanks!