Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted cauliflower is a tasty and tender-crisp side dish you can make with four ingredients in about 30 minutes.

It's delicious on its own, or you can use it to make other delicious cauliflower-based recipes, such as our scrumptious cauliflower pasta, Alfredo sauce, and cauliflower salad.

Cauliflower

We make this recipe with a large head of white cauliflower, but you can also use orange cauliflower, green cauliflower, and purple cauliflower.

Although these varieties are less popular, they are still delicious and richer in antioxidants.

Olive oil

We prefer cooking cauliflower with heart-healthy and fruity extra virgin olive oil instead of melted butter.

Extra virgin olive oil is stable at high temperatures and rich in antioxidants. Regular olive oil is your next best alternative.

Salt and Pepper

We like to keep this recipe simple and use sea salt (or kosher salt) and freshly ground black pepper to season our baked cauliflower.

The advantage of a simple seasoning is that you can add flavors on top of the cauliflower once it's baked, or you can use it for making other recipes.

Lemon and Parsley

Try serving baked cauliflower with a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of fresh flat-leaf parsley, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

This is how they eat it in the Mediterranean, where the cauliflower is from. The lemon and parsley make it fresh, zesty, and aromatic.

Drizzle with a quick homemade tahini sauce and toasted shaved almonds for a richer, nuttier taste and a creamier and crunchier texture. That's popular in Middle-Eastern countries.

Other Ingredients

If you'd like to add your touch to this recipe, try adding a teaspoon of your favorite spice to the cauliflower before roasting it.

Some great options are garlic powder, onion powder, sweet paprika, chipotle powder for a hot and smokey taste, curry powder, or turmeric powder.

You can also add a couple of crushed garlic cloves, sliced onions, grated parmesan cheese, or dairy-free cheese a few minutes before taking it out of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Rinse the head of the cauliflower and pat it dry with a kitchen cloth. Discard the leaves and the stem, then separate the florets with a paring knife.

Tip: cauliflower leaves and stems are edible, and you can use them to make cauliflower soup or cauliflower rice.

Season with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper and toss with your hands; then arrange the florets on a single layer without overlapping.

Tip: there's no need to season the cauliflower in a large bowl. You can season it straight into the baking sheet.

Bake at 400°F or 200°C for 20 minutes, then turn the florets around with a spatula and bake for another 10 minutes, or until browned outside and tender-crisp.

Transfer onto a serving platter and optionally serve the baked cauliflower with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Serve roasted cauliflower as an appetizer or side dish, or use it to make other recipes.

Appetizer: make a platter with Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern-inspired dishes that go well with cauliflower. Try chickpea hummus, eggplant dip, zaalouk or eggplant salad, tabbouleh, or Shirazi salad.

Side dish: serve aside one of our delicious plant-based dinners, such as tofu cacciatore, tofu with mushrooms, vegan fish, and mushroom risotto. It's great with our chickpea stew, Italian bean stew, and lentil soup.

For pasta recipes: make a delicious roasted cauliflower pasta or a creamy red pepper pasta with roasted cauliflower. Add it to our quick and easy pasta aglio olio, rigatoni arrabbiata, or cauliflower Alfredo.

Add it to salads: you can add baked cauliflower florets to many salads to make them even more tasty and nutritious. For example, add it to a sweet potato salad, Italian salad, Moroccan carrot salad, tabbouleh, cauliflower salad, and creamy tofu salad.

Mix it with lentils and cumin

Try our roasted cauliflower recipe mixed with lentils and an easy cumin dressing.

It'll take you no time to put this together, and the result is an incredible, quick, aromatic, and ultra-delicious cauliflower lentil salad that will wow your guests.

This is one of our favorite ways to eat baked cauliflower. Check out our lentil cauliflower salad recipe.

Oven-roasted cauliflower steaks

Cut the cauliflower head into 1-inch thick slices, arrange it on a baking sheet, and rub the flat sides with salt, pepper, olive oil, and garlic powder.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F or 200°C for 30 minutes until the cauliflower stakes are brown and slightly charred.

Optionally, add grated parmesan or dairy-free cheese on top 5 minutes before the cauliflower is ready.

Storage

Store leftover baked cauliflower leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days. Reheat in the microwave. We don't recommend freezing it.

If you are looking to add more cauliflower to your diet, check out our delicious:

• air fryer cauliflower
• roasted cauliflower salad with creamy dressing
• Mediterranean cauliflower lentil salad with cumin dressing
• roasted red pepper pasta with cauliflower
• easy cauliflower rice with lemon and parsley

More Vegetable Sides

For more vegetable side dishes, check out:

• roasted sweet potato cubes
• sweet potato wedges
• roasted eggplant
• oven baked zucchini
• steamed artichokes
• oven-roasted artichokes and potatoes
• roasted Brussel sprouts with maple syrup
• oven roasted broccoli