Park Street Deli Mashed Cauliflower

Cauliflower has been a popular substitute for starchy foods for years now. You can use riced cauliflower in place of traditional rice or even as a replacement for bread stuffing. You can also use mashed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes.

Aldi recently introduced a new cauliflower dish in the store’s refrigerated deli section. It’s mashed cauliflower, and it features “mashed cauliflower made with cream, cheddar cheese and a hint of sea salt.” With Thanksgiving and other holidays coming before we know it, this might be a good alternative to serve instead of or alongside those traditional higher-carb dishes.

Park Street Deli Mashed Cauliflower appears to be a new Regular Buy, meaning you should be able to find it all year at Aldi. I found it stocked in the refrigerated section near the cheese and dips at my local store.

We buy products for review purposes with our own funds. I paid $4.99 for a 16-ounce package at my area store at the time of writing. That comes out to about 31 cents per ounce. With about three servings per container, that’s around $1.66 per serving.

It is gluten free and keto certified.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk.

The full ingredients list includes cauliflower, cheddar cheese, heavy cream, salt, and black pepper, among other things.

One half-cup serving has 180 calories, 14 grams of total fat (18% DV), 8 grams of saturated fat (42% DV), 390 mg of sodium (17% DV), 8 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (9% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, no added sugars, and 6 grams of protein.

The package has directions for heating this in the microwave or in a hot water bath on the stovetop.

To microwave, poke one small hole in the center of the pouch. Microwave on high for 2.5-3 minutes. Remove from the microwave and let stand for 1-2 minutes. Enjoy.

To heat in a hot water bath, fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-high and carefully submerge the cauliflower pouch. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove the pouch with tongs and cool for 1-2 minutes. Carefully pour the contents into a serving dish and enjoy.

I heated this in the microwave. The directions don’t specify whether to cook the punctured pouch inside the plastic tray that comes with this product. I decided to go ahead and place the pouch in the tray during microwaving, and it didn’t melt or warp. When it was done cooking and after it had cooled for a minute or two, I carefully cut the pouch open and poured the contents into the tray.

My family admittedly really likes traditional loaded mashed potatoes, but they thought this was all right. It’s well seasoned with cheese, cream, butter, salt, and pepper. We all tried a small amount to see if we liked it, and we all went back and got a little more.

The only downside is that there isn’t a lot of food here, so you might need a couple of packages if you’re serving a crowd.

The Verdict:

Park Street Deli Mashed Cauliflower is seasoned with cream, butter, and salt. It’s a good alternative to starchy mashed potatoes, and we like the taste and texture. As a bonus, it’s quick and easy to heat up and serve.