45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (2024)

Cauliflower is SO much more than just a low-carb substitute.

By Camille Lowder
45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (1)

If a vegetable were to have a fan club, cauliflower would be it, and Team Delish would absolutely be the president of it. Star of the veggie aisle for several years thanks to its magical powers as a low-carb substitute, cauliflower is more than capable of shining all on its own too. While we’ll forever sing its praises for replacing everything from pizza crust to bread (like in our cauliflower grilled cheese), it makes for a delicious plant-based alternative, and can easily be turned into everything from appetizers to impressive main dishes (like our brown sugar BBQ roasted whole cauliflower). Whether you’re trying to cut down on gluten, eat less meat, or just get more veggies into your diet, we’ve got a recipe for you. Check out our 45 cauliflower recipes for ideas!

If you’re not a cauliflower convert yet, you’ve got to start with the basics. Roasting cauliflower until it’s soft and lightly caramelized, with deliciously crispy edges, brings out its sweet and nutty notes—we dare you to not eat it all straight off the sheet pan. Think of it like a blank canvas, ready to take on whatever flavors you like.

Craving Italian? Try it with Parmesan or mozzarella, like in our cauliflower Parmesan, our cauliflower baked ziti, or our garlicky roasted cauliflower pasta. Need an easy weeknight dinner? Try our cauliflower tacos, our loaded cauliflower bake, or our cauliflower "mac" and cheese. Looking for a quick snack? Try our Parmesan cauliflower bites, our air fryer Buffalo cauliflower (truly, Buffalo and cauliflower are a match made in heaven), our cauliflower hummus, or our honey-garlic cauliflower. Looking to impress? Try our bacon-wrapped stuffed cauliflower, our chicken fried cauliflower, or our balsamic glazed roasted cauliflower. Trust us, cauliflower can stand up against even the fanciest of steak or chicken dinners. 😍

Want more even vegetable inspiration? Check out our favorite zucchini recipes (another low-carb dynamo), our top Brussels sprouts recipes, and our best butternut squash recipes too.

1

Cauliflower Tacos

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (3)

Looking to spice up taco night? Call in the roasted cauliflower. Loaded with crisp cabbage slaw and drizzled with a tangy lime crema, these richly spiced meatless tacos promise to shake up your weeknight dinner routine for good.

Get the Cauliflower Tacos recipe.

2

Aloo Gobi

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (4)

Aloo gobi is a classic vegetarian Indian dish translating to potatoes (aloo) and cauliflower (gobi). It's a one-pot, super-simple, comforting dish that's ready quickly—serve it as a side or over rice as a main.

Get the Aloo Gobi recipe.

3

Brown Sugar BBQ Whole Roasted Cauliflower

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (5)

If you love whole roasted cauliflower, then you have to try our brown sugar BBQ version, which is perfect for when you're craving summer BBQ flavors without the meat.

Get the Brown Sugar BBQ Whole Roasted Cauliflower recipe.

Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below

4

Roasted Cauliflower

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (6)

Cauliflower is one of our favorites to roast because, flavor-wise, it's very much a blank canvas. You can keep it simple with just salt and pepper, or go nuts with a custom spice blend. Our recipe adds just a touch of color and zesty flavor with Old Bay seasoning, but feel free to get creative!

Get the Roasted Cauliflower recipe.

5

Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (7)

There’s your average casserole and then there’s this cheesy loaded broccoli cauliflower casserole. Filled with plenty of veggies and feel-good flavors, there’s something in this dish for everyone. We packed it with enough veggies to make an easy weeknight casserole for leftovers throughout the week or as the perfect potluck side.

Get the Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole recipe.

6

Nashville Hot Cauliflower

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (8)

Nashville hot chicken may be king in the land of regional American food, but Nashville hot cauliflower is coming to steal the crown. Coated in hot sauce-spiked buttermilk batter, fried to golden brown perfection, and drizzled with the iconic spicy oil, this vegetarian dinner is crispy, flavorful, and so delicious that its status as a “vegetarian entrée” is almost beside the point.

Get the Nashville Hot Cauliflower recipe.

Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below

7

Cauliflower Tots

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (9)

These cheesy nuggets of joy might be better than the real thing. We've included an oven-baked version as well as an air-fryer version below—both are great, but we're in love with how golden the air fryer version gets!

Get the Cauliflower Tots recipe.

8

Cauliflower Parm

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (10)

Chicken Parmesan is absolutely incredible, but it can be a bit heavy. When you're trying to be healthy, but are really craving good Italian food, make this vegetarian cauliflower dish. You won't be disappointed.

Get the Cauliflower Parm recipe.

9

Cauliflower Rice

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (11)

Cauliflower rice is all the rage, as a replacement for rice without the carbs. Luckily, it's super easy to make at home. A food processor is the quickest way, but if you don't have one, a box grater works just as well. We love it as fried rice, cheesy Mexican rice, and especially cheesy cauliflower bread, but you can use it almost anywhere you would use regular rice.

Get the Cauliflower Rice recipe.

Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below

10

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Possibly our favorite use of cauliflower as a culinary master of disguise is in pizza crust. It might sound crazy, but it can be a delicious and healthy alternative to the classic. In this easy, gluten-free pizza recipe, you're basically making cauliflower rice as the base for your crust.

Get the Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe.

11

Garlicky Roasted Cauliflower Pasta

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (13)

In this recipe, cauliflower gets mashed into a paste to create a light sauce for the pasta that adds a ton of flavor. It's simple, light, and perfect for summer when you want comfort without being weighed down by something overly rich.

Get the Garlicky Roasted Cauliflower Pasta recipe.

12

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (14)

This warm cauliflower salad is simple but hearty and full of color and vegetables. It's good enough to be a main dish (even if you don’t think you’re a salad person) but is also easy enough to make a great, simple side. The roasted cauliflower is perfectly spiced with just a little bit of heat, and the creamy avocado dressing helps balance everything out.

Get the Roasted Cauliflower Salad recipe.

Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below

13

Buffalo Cauliflower Kebabs

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (15)

These Buffalo cauliflower kebabs put all your favorite flavor from classic Buffalo wings onto skewers–and they're vegetarian to boot! Glaze the kebabs with more Buffalo sauce, grill until the cauliflower is tender, then drizzle with blue cheese dressing.

Get the Buffalo Cauliflower Kebabs recipe.

14

Giardiniera

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (16)

This pickled Italian relish is endlessly versatile. Try it on sandwiches, tossed into a hearty salad, or in place of olives in your martini. Serrano chiles can be very spicy, so opt for a pinch of red pepper flakes instead if you’re heat-averse.

Get the Giardiniera recipe.

15

Chili Garlic Fried Cauliflower

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (17)

This recipe was very loosely inspired by our Korean fried chicken wings, but nothing about this recipe is really traditional at all. The cauliflower florets are battered in a tempura-like batter, which does aid in a wing-like crispy coating, but you're still going to want to eat these right away—the crunch factor diminishes quickly!

Get the Chili Garlic Fried Cauliflower recipe.

Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below

16

Chicken Fried Cauliflower

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (18)

We know, we know, frying cauliflower kinda defeats the purpose of it being a vegetable and all, but it's SO DAMN DELICIOUS. We took note of how chicken fried steak is prepared and modeled this recipe after that. (Vegetarians, we see you, and you're welcome.)

Get the Chicken Fried Cauliflower recipe.

17

Best-Ever Cauliflower Soup

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (19)

Cauliflower soup on f(LEEK). 😂 Vegetarian? Skip the bacon.

Get the Cauliflower Leek Soup recipe.

18

Green Goddess Soup

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (20)

While most Green Goddess salad dressings rely on mayonnaise and one to two herbs for their creaminess and pale green color, we achieve the same flavor profile by using kale, cauliflower, 4 different herbs, and just a touch of Greek yogurt. The result? A vibrant green soup that’s pretty much a garden in a bowl.

Get the Green Goddess Soup recipe.

Advertisem*nt - Continue Reading Below

19

Cauliflower Baked Ziti

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (21)

Don't miss out on Italian pasta just because you're cutting carbs. OK, fine: There's not actually any ziti in this recipe. But you honestly won't even notice. The roasted cauliflower does a solid job of replacing the pasta, trust us.

Get the Cauliflower Baked Ziti recipe.

20

Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (22)

This cauliflower is the perfect answer when you have Buffalo wings on the brain, but need to eat more vegetables. All the Buffalo flavor you love coat these florets, which are then air-fried to perfection. It all comes together when you dip one into our perfectly creamy blue cheese dressing (but feel free to go with ranch dressing if you prefer!).

Get the Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower recipe.

45 Cauliflower Recipes To Make The Most Of Your Favorite Versatile Veggie (2024)

FAQs

Why do you soak cauliflower before cooking? ›

If you're planning to roast the cauliflower whole or slice it into steaks, slice off the thick stem at the base. Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs.

What brings out the Flavour of cauliflower? ›

This is true of any vegetable — boiling it will give you a flavor closer to the raw flavor, which means more bitterness and more astringency. Caramelizing it will bring out its hidden sweetness. This light, vibrant roasted cauliflower salad is a recipe I developed for the fall menu at Duo.

What is the best way to eat cauliflower? ›

Cauliflower tossed with fennel and white beans for a tangy, delicious winter salad.
  1. In a crunchy salad or slaw – Like its green cousin the cabbage, cauliflower makes a fabulous salad. ...
  2. Roasted until crispy – Whether it's plain or with toasty spice, roasted cauliflower is one of the best ways to enjoy this vegetable.
Jun 9, 2019

What does vinegar do to cauliflower? ›

Adding vinegar to the cooking water when cooking cauliflower is a common technique that can help to reduce the strong sulfur smell that cauliflower can sometimes give off while cooking. The vinegar can help to neutralize the sulfur compounds in the cauliflower, resulting in a milder aroma and flavor.

Why do you put lemon juice in cauliflower? ›

Cauliflower contains some phytonutrients, these nutrients may react with iron cookware and gives the cauliflower a brownish color. To prevent this add some lemon juice to the cauliflower or to the water in which it is blanched.

What does baking soda do to cauliflower? ›

Baking soda is often used as a natural cleaning agent, and it can be used to brighten up your veggies too. Sprinkle a little in the water before boiling to prevent cauliflower from yellowing and make corn look more vibrant.

What is the curd disease in cauliflower? ›

The growing point is severely deformed and no marketable curd is formed. This condition in cauliflower results because of the deficiency of molybdenum which occurs in acidic soils below 4-5 pH. Correction measures: It may be controlled by liming the soil which reduces the acidity and increases the soil pH up to 6.5.

What is the purple stuff in cauliflower? ›

The purple color in cauliflower is caused by the presence of anthocyanin, which is a harmless, water-soluble pigment in the curd. Anthocyanin is the same pigment found in red cabbage. Sun exposure exaggerates its effect on the developing cauliflower head.

Why do I feel weird after eating cauliflower? ›

Cauliflower, like other cruciferous vegetables, contains compounds called glucosinolates, which can be difficult for some people to digest. This can lead to symptoms such as bloating, gas, and abdominal pain.

How to cook cauliflower Gordon Ramsay? ›

Cooking instructions

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the cauliflower florets and cook for 4-5 minutes until just tender. Drain and refresh in iced water, drain again and transfer to a large ovenproof dish.

How many times a week should you eat cauliflower? ›

At a minimum, include cruciferous vegetables as part of your diet 2-3 times per week, and make the serving size at least 1-1/2 cups. Even better from a health standpoint, enjoy cauliflower and other vegetables from the cruciferous vegetable group 4-5 times per week, and increase your serving size to 2 cups.

What part of cauliflower is not edible? ›

Every part of a cauliflower is edible, even the tough outer skin. However, we do recommend peeling this part before cooking as it's a bit tough to chew.

Does cauliflower clean your gut? ›

Cauliflower contains enzymes that aid in detoxification. 19 Those enzymes act like internal garbage collectors: They scour your body for toxins and waste products, bind to them, and then escort them out of the body.

How to eat cauliflower to lose weight? ›

Cauliflower is an excellent option for weight loss as it is low in calories, around 27 and 5 grams of carbs for a single serving. You can substitute riced cauliflower for actual rice without sacrificing taste and nutrients.

How long to soak cauliflower in vinegar water? ›

Produce with rough outer skin: Items such as broccoli, potatoes and cauliflower are a little harder to clean. Soak in a solution of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water for 1 minute. For heads of cabbage or lettuce, it's best to separate the leaves first.

Is it worth marinating cauliflower? ›

Mildly Marinated Cauliflower is the perfect balance of pickling spices. There's a sweet tang that children will love and don't hesitate to add it to salads.

How do you keep cauliflower from getting mushy? ›

If you cut all the way through the floret, you're cutting through the cell structure of the curd — and when you cook it, that part will get mushy. Easier still: Place the larger florets on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a little olive oil and roast them. Michael Marks is the marketing manager for FreshPoint.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Patricia Veum II

Last Updated:

Views: 6084

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (44 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Patricia Veum II

Birthday: 1994-12-16

Address: 2064 Little Summit, Goldieton, MS 97651-0862

Phone: +6873952696715

Job: Principal Officer

Hobby: Rafting, Cabaret, Candle making, Jigsaw puzzles, Inline skating, Magic, Graffiti

Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.