This was my first thought as well, I got some exposure to Windows Server Nano edition (basically an officially supported headless Windows version if unfamiliar)

This was my first thought as well, I got some exposure to Windows Server Nano edition (basically an officially supported headless Windows version if unfamiliar) when I was unfortunate enough to work on a project with native Windows containers, where Nano edition provides the stripped down Windows runtime etc. I had some headless browsers running in Windows Server Nano edition at one point, worked after I installed a few random missing pieces.