Does using cauliflower in lieu of pasta and bread save a lot of carbs?

I often eat cauliflower instead of potato. It’s really quite versatile. We mash it up if we want to have mashed potato with something. I’ve not tried the pizza idea, but I’ve heard about it. I have used it on top of shepherds/cottage pie type dishes.

I put Steamed Cauliflower into MyFitnessPal. It came up with 100g having total carbs 5g.

Bread (wheat) 100g. Total carbs 49g.

@Earthbound_Misfit That’s a big difference in carbs. Although, I doubt when making something like pizza you can compare fairly by weight. I assume the cauliflower weighs more than bread if it is the same size. Meaning, I assume the cauliflower “dough” is denser. Maybe a person would eat less of the cauliflower pizza though? Since it’s denser and there is more fiber.

I personally don’t like cauliflower, which maybe is a good thing since I have thyroid troubles, but my inlaws are eating more of it lately and using it in recipes as a substitute for starch foods.

Cauliflower pizza has, per slice, 80 to 90 % less carbs. The “net “carbs are lower too, because part of the carbs in cauliflower pizza is cellulose (bulk) and can’t be converted to energy calories.

I don’t know what’s in ‘cauliflower’ dough, but it’s got to have less carbs than bread. And @Tropical_Willie has suggested it is a lot. Worth giving a go and seeing if you like it. I rarely eat pizza, so I’ve never tried it.

@Earthbound_Misfit I don’t think @JLeslie can eat cauliflower or other cruciferous vegetables because of a thyroid condition.

Oh. I thought she wanted to try this idea. You may be right @Tropical_Willie! @JLeslie, if you look at MyFitnessPal, (not sure if you can use it without being a member), it breaks down a number of different elements in each food.

I think @JLeslie can eat cauliflower, just not huge quantities. I have a thyroid condition too and I eat it (no more or less due to the thyroid, just coincidentally maybe once a month).

“My Fitness Pal” is great for comparing and looking up the nutrition in all kinds of foods, including specific brands and restaurant menu foods. They make it really easy to check by size (teaspoon, half cup, cup, two cups, etc.) so if you have three bites of something, you can easily see the nutrition in it.

As I side note, I have a Fluther question “What’s new?” that I started when I noticed that my local Walmart had shredded cauliflower in bags in the produce department. It wasn’t terribly expensive, and shredding raw cauliflower has got to be messy.

There are lot of recipes substituting it for dough and rice in recipes.

I don’t like cauliflower, but right I don’t eat a lot of veggies in that category because of my thyroid. I like cabbage and broccoli, and probably some others that have similar properties that are said to be bad for underactive thyroid conditions. I think soy is also a problem if I remember correctly. I think it has to do with iodine absorption. I’m not sure. I’ve always been told by my mom that she avoided a lot of cabbage and similar my guess is it probably doesn’t matter for Hashimotos, which she has, I don’t, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, my MIL has been eating more cauliflower and reading up on recipes.

@Earthbound_Misfit But your fitness app didn’t subtract the fiber. The actual value is 2g carb per 100 grams of cauliflower. Here are the nutrition facts.

Cauliflower makes a good substitute for mashed potatoes. It can be made into little nuggets and substitute for rice. For bread, I prefer the low-carb bread and rolls I use that have 2g carb per slice or roll. For pasta, I prefer pasta substitutes.

I love cauliflower just as a vegetable. Here’s one of my favorite recipes.

Like others have mentioned, mashed fauxtatoes is delicious. My kids are not fans of cauliflower, but they do like mashed fauxtatoes. It can be as simple as blending steamed cauliflower in food processor with butter, or adding things like garlic and a bit of cream.

Trader Joes has cauliflower rice that is a great for replacing rice in fried rice recipes and saves a ton of calories!

@Judi I’ll have to tell my MIL. I don’t know if there is a Trader Joe nearby, I’ll have to check.

If you are not fond of the flavor of cauliflower itself- or are allergic to seafood and miss your shrimp? Dip some cauliflower in red shrimp sauce (or mild horseradish sauce). Voilà – shrimp and dip- only healthier.