Baked until crisp and bubbly, this vegan cauliflower cheese with leeks, sprouts and sausages is a whole meal all cooked in one pan for an easy dinner!

This is absolute cosy comfort food heaven.  Creamy, cheesy and baked to perfection.  Whilst cauliflower cheese is normally a side dish, I’ve been trying to make more one pan meals lately because we’re all busy (and getting busier it seems).  It’s also still very much winter and warm, cosy and most importantly easy dinners are very much needed.

I originally saw this idea on Instagram and wanted to make it vegan because it looked so delicious.  I also wanted to add my own herbs and spices and even more veggies for a full meal all cooked in one pan!  My other thought was I wanted to scale it up because whilst it’s a fab idea to create one pan meals for one, I’m also a fan of cook once, eat more than once.  Leftovers make the week just easier if you’re living alone like me.

How to make this easy dinner:

You’ll want a large oven proof skillet.  I love this stackable saucepan set from Tefal.  I got them when living and travelling around in a caravan, when space was a premium.  They’ve got a detachable handle and go straight from hob to oven simply by removing the handle.  They can even be used for baking cakes in!

If you don’t have an ovenproof pan, you can simply transfer it all to a baking dish before putting in the oven.

Start by cooking the sausages in the pan until fairly well coloured.  Use your favourite sausages.  My current go to are the ones from Richmond.  They’ve got a lovely spice to them and have all the taste and texture of an actual sausage.

Remove the cooked sausages from the pan and slice each one into a few pieces, return to the pan and cook for a few more minutes until crispy.

Melt in butter and add leeks and sprouts, cooking for a few minutes, stirring from time to time until just starting to soften.

Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute then add the nutmeg, sage, bouillon, mustard and flour and stir well.

Stir in the milk and seasoning then around 3/4 of the cheese and mix well again.

Finally stir in the cauliflower florets, making sure they’re well covered in the sauce.

Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and pop in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the cauliflower is just tender and the top is golden and lovely!

Serving the cauliflower cheese:

I wanted to make this as much of a meal in one dish as possible so just some crusty bread is perfect.  You could add other steamed vegetables or bake some potato wedges or a jacket potato while you’ve got the oven on for the cauliflower cheese.

Got leftovers?

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.  It reheats in the microwave very well making this an easy meal for another day!

Looking for even more easy dinner ideas?  Try these:

Golden Rice Pilaf

Creamy Lemon Courgette Rigatoni

Pizza Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

Spicy Indian Cauliflower Curry

Easy Tomato Risotto

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