Cauliflower Recipes & Ideas

It's been a favorite ever since I was a kid.

The power of cauliflower! How to pick it, cook it, rice it, turn it into your own cooking super power.

Plus, how to ensure your oven-roasted cauliflower turns out extra crispy — and not soggy.

Breadcrumbs usually lie like a lazy blanket on top of pasta or casseroles. For this quick dish, I toasted them up in flavored olive oil, tossed them with roasted cauliflower, and let them shine as a main ingredient. Cauliflower and breadcrumbs alone can be bland, so I added flavor by first roasting the cauliflower in the oven. Do be sure to take the time to cut the cauliflower into tiny, bite-sized florets.

Are you excited for grilling season? Personally, vegetables get me the most excited for grilling — not hamburgers or steak. Vegetables get so sexy and glamorous with a good set of grill marks, a little char around the edges, and that outdoorsy smoky flavor. These cauliflower “steaks” demonstrate that more than almost anything else I’ve grilled; their tongue-in-cheek name is a good indicator of how satisfying a centerpiece they make on any table, vegetarian or not.

Each one only needs two ingredients.

Cauliflower fried rice that tastes just like the real stuff.

Vegetarians will rejoice. (And so will die-hard carnivores).

If you get the colors right in any food, you can almost guarantee the flavors are going to be good. When I first discovered all the varieties of colorful cauliflower, I knew the common white type might be forever banned in my kitchen. This flavorful dip is shocking purple and changes colors before your very eyes, thanks to a hit of lemon juice.

This recipe makes me want to change out of my farm clothes, put on a dress, and head to a dinner party armed with a batch of these fritters. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen anytime soon since our organic farm is in full swing for the season and our free time is rare. Last weekend, I was so grateful for all the extra hands helping us out on the farm that I decided to treat everyone to these delicious cauliflower fritters.

Wholesome indulgence at its finest.

I had several positive takeaways from Whole30, but none were as good as this cauliflower fried rice.

What's not to love about an extra dose of veggies on the table?

This creamy coconut curry has just about everything you could want in a healthful meal.

It's packed with salty, spicy, smoky flavor.

Don't forget the avocado crema!

If you’ve never met a loaded baked potato you didn’t like, you’re about to meet your new favorite dinner casserole. It’s inspired by loaded potatoes, but calls for roasted cauliflower as the base. The florets are drenched in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce, mixed with plenty of crispy bacon bits and chopped scallions, and baked until bubbly and golden. Decadent isn’t often a word used to describe vegetables, but the rules change when cheese sauce gets involved.

What these veggie tacos lack in meat, they make up for in big, bold flavors. Bite after bite your tastebuds are treated to a medley of textures and tastes that hit all the high points you expect. From the lightly charred and spiced cauliflower florets to the crispy, tangy pickled cabbage, to the cool avocado-yogurt crema, this is how to tackle Taco Tuesday, veggie-style.

Because sometimes you just need some extra veggies in your life.

While it certainly is possible to modify takeout and restaurant food to fit your keto lifestyle, it’s not easy. Many of the classic and easily available foods like sandwiches and tacos or burritos just don’t hold up when you eliminate the carb components. (Can it still be a taco if it doesn’t have the tortilla? I rest my case.) Even Chinese and Thai food can be tough, as they often contain sugar or are noodle/rice-dependent.

Braising is not just for carnivores. Although I do enjoy a good pot roast, I love braising vegetables, and feel this is often the best way to play up their flavors. The other advantage of vegetarian braises? They are much, much quicker than meat. For example, this cauliflower gets browned in olive oil and garlic, letting a thin golden crust form on its firm white stalks.

Ever since we tried roasted cauliflower, we’ve been absolutely hooked on the caramelized, sweet, and nutty florets. Roasting deepens the vegetable’s flavor and gives it a texture that’s both crispy and tender. A little olive oil is really all you need to roast cauliflower, but there are countless ways to add variety with herbs and spices. Have you tried turmeric and ginger? How about capers?

The humble cauliflower might not seem like the most exciting vegetable, but cut one into thick slabs and roast it with spices, and you can transform it into quite the fine dish. Rich with the colors and flavors of turmeric, ginger, cumin, and cilantro, these cauliflower “steaks” feel fancy enough for a dinner party, yet they’re simple enough for an everyday supper as well. Roasting cauliflower turns it into something magical — nutty, sweet, and not boring at all.

You might associate cauliflower with colder months, but this inconspicuous vegetable has proven it can transcend the seasons. Cauliflower might not be the most attractive vegetable in the produce section: it’s a ghostly white blob that squeaks and has a funny smell. But what other vegetable can be turned into couscous, or steaks for the grill? Or puréed into soups, and used in pastas and vegetable cakes?

Cauliflower rice is something that has to be made in order to be believed. The realization that you can turn a giant head of cauliflower into something light and fluffy enough to pass for rice, all in under 10 minutes, truly deserves to be called “mind-blowing.” Need some convincing? Watch this video and witness for yourself how easy this really is.

When you think of Super Bowl Sunday, you think of all the snacks — specifically Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese dip. This combo is classic football-viewing fare, but what if you want to switch things up a bit this year? Enter: cauliflower buffalo “wings.” Let’s be honest — the best part about Buffalo chicken wings is the spicy Buffalo sauce, so it’s really not a big deal to lose the chicken here.

As this timeless trio of olive oil, lemon, and fresh parsley prove, the simplest upgrades are often the very best. This side relies on a simple combination of ingredients. When mixed together, these ingredients can really turn a bowl of plain vegetables into something wonderfully flavorful within seconds. It’s the kind of simple side you want to keep in your back pocket to go back to again and again.

Are you participating in a Whole30 right now? Do you miss the stick-to-your-ribs comfort food we all crave in the winter? Well, I’ve got good news — this pot roast with cauliflower mash is your ticket to Cozytown, USA. The chuck roast in this recipe is super-flavorful, thanks to a low-and-slow braise in a sauce made from cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, thyme, cumin, coriander, paprika, and beef broth.

A staple of Chinese Sichuan cooking, kung pao chicken is a spicy stir-fry of diced chicken, vegetables, peanuts, and chiles. It’s a delicious, satisfying dish to serve over rice. To make this weeknight- and vegetarian-friendly, we’ve swapped in a whole head of cauliflower for the chicken and employed a few easy-to-find condiments to form the sauce. The result is crisp-tender cauliflower, sweet bell peppers, and crunchy peanuts all tossed in a garlicky sauce.

Roasting a whole head of cauliflower is a transformative experience, both for the cook and the cauliflower. At first you might be befuddled as to why anyone might want to cook an entire head of cauliflower whole, but as you pull the burnished heads of tender, aromatic cauliflower from the oven, you start to understand.

I can’t get enough of cauliflower. I love roasting it and adding it to fresh salads, turning it into velvety soups, and transforming it into “rice” for easy meals throughout the week. I even enjoy it raw when dipped in something delicious on a crudité platter. Cauliflower might look kind of bland and unappetizing, but there’s magic inside that cruciferous vegetable — and it needs your help to unlock that power.

Have you tried this?

By now you’re probably very familiar with the fact that cauliflower is a magical ingredient. It no longer languishes on a sad crudité platter, waiting for some poor soul to dredge it through too much Ranch dressing to mask its rather bland flavor. It was a couple years ago that I first saw people turning cauliflower into rice or pizza crust, and then it became used as a base for mac and cheese and mashed “potatoes.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. I grew up hearing that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but from recent observation I’m pretty sure the most important meal of the day is lunch.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. General Tso’s chicken is a Chinese-American restaurant classic. It’s so iconic it’s even been the subject of a whole documentary, The Search for General Tso, which you should definitely watch if you like history, food, or thought-provoking documentaries that dive deep into familiar dishes we eat every day.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. The relative health and productivity levels of my entire week depend on the choices I make on Sundays. I’ve found that if I stock the fridge, prep a big batch of grains, and roast a bunch of vegetables on Sunday, I’ll have healthful lunches ready at hand for the rest of the week.

Just like the Instant Pot, the air fryer has skyrocketed in popularity in the last few years. The appliance all-star helps you cook food with a fraction of the oil usually needed when you deep-fry something. In a recent review of the air fryer, Kitchn’s Associate Food Editor Meghan Splawn noted it’s especially great for frozen foods, “roasted” vegetables, quick doughnuts, and chicken. Still not convinced you need one?

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. As much as it pains me to admit this to myself, a die-hard carnivore, I feel immensely better (both physically and mentally) when I eat a mostly plant-based diet.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. If you did a double take when you saw these coated cauliflower bites and thought they were boneless chicken wings, you are definitely not alone.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. I will be the first to admit that cauliflower “rice” doesn’t necessarily taste like rice, so if you’re looking for a 1:1 swap (that just so happens to be carb-less), it’s not exactly going to do the trick.

I think it’s pretty clear that we’re obsessed with cauliflower here at Kitchn. We’ve turned it into rice, mashed “potatoes,” pizza crust, soup, mac and cheese, tacos, lettuce wraps, and more, but our favorite way to eat it might just be in bite-sized form. Here are 10 ways to spice up everyone’s favorite floret-filled veggie. These bites from Kirbie’s Cravings are coated in a honey-garlic sauce, which gets a hint of spice from Sriracha.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. Last weekend I consumed one of the top five appetizers I’ve ever eaten in my life at a semi-unexpected location: the spicy buffalo cauliflower at California Pizza Kitchen.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. If you didn’t already notice, Americans absolutely love cauliflower right now. It’s such a versatile veggie that you can sub it in for pretty much any starchy grain (think rice or potatoes) and you’ll hardly be able to tell the difference.

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. Cauliflower has been rising in the grocery store ranks for some years now. No longer limited to sad crudités platters, cauliflower can be ground as a substitute for rice, sliced into thick-cut “steaks,” and used as the filling for delicious tacos (yes, really).

Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites. There are certain words right now that make me stop in my tracks when I see them on a recipe. “Peanut” is one of them, and so is “coconut,” and also anything with “cauliflower.” Well, guess what? The recipe I’m featuring today has all three of these things. Lucky me! And lucky you.

If you believe cauliflower is a bit too bland for your liking, this recipe will certainly change your mind. It utilizes frozen cauliflower florets, which means making it can be a cinch. To top things off, it’s also covered in a creamy cheese sauce. I mean, who can say no to that? By using frozen cauliflower instead of fresh, you can pull out a bag whenever the desire for this recipe arises — it’ll taste as fresh as the day it was picked!

Although cauliflower is being served up 100 different ways than how I personally grew up eating it (plain and steamed or raw with a dip), I still have yet to cultivate the enthusiasm that says, “Today we’re cooking cauliflower!” The vegetable just doesn’t excite me. But you know what does? Maple syrup and Sriracha and the existence of the word caramelized.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of drinking a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity 3 in New York City, you might be wondering what the fuss is all about. Essentially a frozen shake that tastes like hot chocolate, it’s delicious, but it’s sure to leave you with a sugar hangover. This recipe from My New Roots puts a healthy spin on this sweet concoction, so you can drink it for breakfast and not worry about crashing a few hours later.

When you crave the creaminess of mashed potatoes blended with sour cream and butter, but still want something a little lighter and a lot faster, reach for a bag of frozen cauliflower. While you certainly won’t mistake the taste of cauliflower for mashed potatoes, its soft, creamy texture is a dead ringer. Some sour cream, a spoonful of garlic, and a pat of butter make this otherwise light veggie feel a little more rich and indulgent. Want to make it look pretty, too?

We’ve talked about cauliflower pizza crust here on The Kitchn, but have you tried topping your pizza with roasted cauliflower florets? If not, you should. This comforting pizza — with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms, fresh herbs, and sliced red onion — gives you the perfect excuse to crank up your oven on a chilly fall day. You start by roasting cauliflower and sliced mushrooms (on separate baking sheets) with whole garlic cloves and fresh thyme and sage.

If you’re looking for an easy, healthy, and absolutely delicious side dish to complete your Thanksgiving menu, look no further. (Bonus points for not taking up precious oven or stovetop space!) Can I just say that I am officially obsessed with whipped cauliflower now? My family is set in their Thanksgiving ways, which doesn’t bother me in the least.

Memorial Day is this weekend! Break out the grill and kick-off the unofficial beginning of the grilling season with some cauliflower. It just may be the best cauliflower you’ve ever had.The Austin Food & Wine Festival is a great place to learn new and surprising techniques from some of the world’s best chefs. I had so much fun at last year’s grilling demo with Chef Tim LoveWhen it comes to grilling, it’s all about heat.

After trying a version of cauliflower puree at a local restaurant a couple of years back, I just had to track down a recipe. If you want to impress your guests, you can call this classic French dish by its original name: chou-fleur purée de chou-fleur. Traditionally used as a bed for serving roasted meats, in lieu of potatoes, it also makes a great side dish sans meat. This dish is a huge crowd pleaser, even among folks (i.e.

Like so many vegetables, cauliflower is one of those that is available year round but few realize that there is indeed a season for it. Cauliflower season runs from October through April but it’s at its best starting in December. Look for compact, dense heads without any discolorization. To store, place in a plastic bag and put in the refrigerator, where it should keep for about a week.