Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (2024)

Cauliflower recipes are super versatile and taste great in everything from roasted side dishes to comfort food-inspired casseroles. Whether you're looking for a vegetarian-friendly entree or an easy appetizer, these savory cauliflower recipes are great for any occasion. Some of our favorite recipes for cauliflower include cauliflower tinga tacos, sausage-spiced cauliflower steaks, cheesy gratin, and more.

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Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Florets

When roasted with a little olive oil, cauliflower florets turn wonderfully sweet, crisp, and caramel-brown; a squeeze of lemon brightens their flavor.

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Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes get an elegant upgrade with this combination of Yukon Gold potatoes and cauliflower. Cauliflower lightens the mash, emulsifies beautifully into the potatoes and keeps the mixture from turning gummy.

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Aloo Gobi

Our version of this curry, a favorite combination of vegetables in India, unites cumin, coriander, turmeric, and red-pepper flakes. Fresh cilantro provides an herbal note. Serve the curry as a generous side dish or with rice for a meatless main dish.

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Three-Cheese Cauliflower Gratin

A powerhouse of English cheeses — Montgomery's crumbly and nutty cheddar; Ogleshield, a washed-rind Jersey cow-milk cheese; and buttery, blue-veined Colston Bassett Stilton — blankets cauliflower florets in a béchamel.

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Charred Cauliflower Tacos with Romesco Salsa

A smoky, mildly spicy romesco salsa seeps into the filling of charred cauliflower florets in this well-balanced vegetarian taco.

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Cauliflower Okonomiyaki

Tender and nutty sheets of cauliflower, held together with eggs and plenty of ginger and scallions, form the base of this savory pancake.

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Sausage-Spiced Cauliflower Steaks

A quick spice blend of roasted fennel seeds, black pepper, and orange zest lend a sausage-like flavor to these roasted cauliflower steaks — without the meat. Browning the cauliflower before adding the toppings and melting the cheese ensures a tender, sweet, and nutty bite. Be sure to flip the cauliflower during roasting to ensure there are plenty of caramelized florets under the marinara and melty cheese.

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Slow-Grilled Cauliflower with Tahina and Zhough

Serve this dish as a hearty main course or as a side with herbal zhough and bright tahina sauces, garnished with sumac onions and herbs.

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Cauliflower Tinga Tacos

Cauliflower works best in this saucy dish. It takes on the flavor of the spiced tomato sauce while maintaining its delicious bite. If you want a smokier, spicier sauce, you can add a canned chipotle in adobo sauce to the mix.

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Miznon's Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (10)

In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best: The cauliflower served at Miznon in New York City calls for the best quality ingredients, each essential for creating the dish. Here's how to prepare fresh cauliflower with tight, closed florets surrounded by a crown of crisp leaves.

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Root Vegetable and Cauliflower Tagine with Parsley Yogurt

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (11)

For Aida Mollenkamp, spiced Moroccan tagines are a dinner-party staple because they can be made in advance. "In case something impromptu happens," she says, "you're not stressed about the main dish." And tagines are incredibly versatile. This version is vegetarian, but lamb or chicken could be added.

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Korean-Style Fried Cauliflower

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (12)

This ultra-crispy cauliflower, aka KFC, is a signature dish at Hong Kong’s Yardbird. After being battered and fried, the cauliflower florets are tossed with a sweet and fiery sauce made with gochujang, the pepper paste that is a staple of Korean cooking.

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Bucatini with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (13)

Marc Vetri sautés cauliflower and brussels sprouts with onion, garlic, anchovies, and herbs until they're charred and flavorful, then tosses them with long, thick strands of bucatini. The best part: the crispy bread crumb topping.

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Cauliflower Casserole with Cheddar

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (14)

This dump-and-stir casserole recipe could not be easier. Fresh thyme and smoked paprika give the cauliflower great flavor, without having to add loads of heavy cream and butter.

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Sweet Cauliflower-and-Carrot Pickles

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (15)

"These came from an overzealous trip to the farmers' market," says chef Naomi Pomeroy. "When I see something beautiful like purple cauliflower, I can't resist." She marinates the vegetables in a mixture that includes sugar and Cointreau, and sometimes honey, too. The sweet pickles can be served as a snack, in salads, or on a charcuterie plate.

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Panfried Cauliflower

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (16)

Chef David Tanis ensures sweet and nutty cauliflower with gorgeous and delicious browning by pan-frying it. He writes, "To get sweet caramelized cauliflower, pan-fried is the way to go. Some cooks make this dish with grated cauliflower, but I prefer to make irregular thin slices, which brown beautifully. Make it as spicy as you wish."

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Jerk-Spiced Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower and Chickpeas

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (17)

Jonathon Sawyer makes a fantastic jerk spice blend to sprinkle on a mix of chickpeas, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts after they've been roasted. You'll have some left over, and the blend is great on shrimp and chicken.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Green Olives and Pine Nuts

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (18)

Roasting cauliflower caramelizes the florets, making them supersweet. Tossed with crunchy pine nuts and salty olives and capers, this dish is perfect with roasted chicken or steamed fish.

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Quinoa and Cauliflower Salad with Popped Sorghum

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (19)

Sorghum, a type of grass, has seeds that can be popped like popcorn. Chef Daniel Patterson tops his nutty, crunchy quinoa salad with popped sorghum, which gives it a buttery flavor.

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Cauliflower Fried Rice with Sausage

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (20)

Throw away your takeout menus, tonight we are making fried rice with a twist. Spiced with chile, ginger, and garlic, cauliflower and sausage pair beautifully in this rice dish.

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Curried Cauliflower and Green Bean Salad with Lemon Yogurt

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (21)

Here, Mark Peel flavors roasted cauliflower and green beans with a mild curry powder.

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Pan-Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts and Raisins

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (22)

The late Armenian cookbook author Arto der Haroutunian, who taught Paula Wolfert this dish, caramelized cauliflower on the stove before baking it with eastern Mediterranean flavorings: chopped tomatoes, plumped raisins and Marash red pepper flakes. You can use any cazuela or flameware pot, but Wolfert likes the unglazed black La Chamba roasting pan from Colombia, which she says imparts sweetness to the dish.

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Baked Shells with Cauliflower and Taleggio

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (23)

High-quality pasta makes a big difference in this decadent dish: The shells retain their beautiful texture instead of turning mushy as they bake.

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Potato-and-Roasted-Cauliflower Salad

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (24)

Cauliflower florets are a sly substitute for half of the baby potatoes in this creamy salad. The white-on-white combo gets a zingy lift from briny capers, mustard, and freshly grated horseradish.

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Cauliflower Korma with Blackened Raisins

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (25)

Meera Sodha, author of Fresh India, adds ground almonds to her version of this yogurt-based curry, then folds in nutty roasted cauliflower. Toasting the almonds and the raisin garnish adds a striking smokiness and texture to the finished dish.

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Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa with Candied Walnuts

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (26)

This simple and elegant dish makes an easy dinner party side, and caramelizing the walnuts only adds 5 minutes.

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Cauliflower Soup with Herbed Goat Cheese

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (27)

This luscious, creamy cauliflower soup from star chef Anne Burrell gets a delicious topping of crispy roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts.

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Dijon-Roasted Cauliflower

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (28)

A few tablespoons of Dijon is what makes this recipe sing.This mustard hugs the cauliflower as it's roasted, creating a bold yet pleasant taste. Use this roasted cauliflower to garnish chef Steven Satterfield's Silky Cauliflower Soup.

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Roasted-Cauliflower-and-Sesame Spread

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (29)

Jerry Traunfeld toasts and grinds whole coriander seeds before pureeing them with roasted cauliflower, tahini paste, lemon and cilantro. At home, use ground coriander from a bottle to season this bright, tangy recipe.

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Cauliflower Gratin with Manchego and Almond Sauce

Our 30 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes (30)

This outrageously rich sauce, flavored with salty, nutty Manchego, gets poured on sautéed cauliflower and baked until it's golden and bubbling.

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