Cauliflower Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated March 08, 2018
Credit: Christopher Testani
Cauliflower is super versatile, and tastes 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 cheesy gratin, creamy cauliflower soup, buttery cauliflower puree and more.
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Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Florets

Credit: © Cedric Angeles
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When roasted with a little olive oil, cauliflower florets turn lusciously sweet, crisp and caramel-brown. A squeeze of lemon brightens their flavor.

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Cauliflower Casserole with Cheddar

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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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Smothered Cauliflower with Eggs

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Cookbook author and blogger Heidi Swanson poaches eggs in a yellow-tomato sauce over sweet, caramelized cauliflower steaks.

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Roasted Cauliflower and Grapes

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Grapes and cauliflower are an unexpectedly ingenious combination when roasted—the grapes turn deeply sweet and jammy, delicious with the caramelized cauliflower. The recipe comes from Food52 member Amanda KP.

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Cauliflower Gratin with Manchego and Almond Sauce

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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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Silky Cauliflower Soup

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Cauliflower Steaks with Spiced Corn

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Eat this cauliflower filet with a steak knife; it's surprisingly hefty.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Green Olives and Pine Nuts

Credit: © Fredrika Stjärne
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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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Orecchiette with Indian-Spiced Cauliflower and Peas

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Vegetables play an important role in the cuisine of India, and cauliflower and peas are a favorite combination. Here Italian orecchiette catches the peas and the sauce so that each bite is full of flavor.

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Cauliflower Pilaf

Credit: © Keller + Keller
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This fragrant side dish was born out of an argument between Bruce Aidells and Nancy Oakes on whether an entire head of cauliflower could be filled like dolma, the Middle Eastern family of stuffed grape leaves and vegetable dishes. "Nancy thought it could be done; I didn't," he says. Aidells turns the idea of dolma inside out by topping a rice casserole with cauliflower florets. "I'm the lazy, more practical cook," Aidells says. "That's why Nancy has the big fancy restaurant and I have this kitchen."

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Giardiniera with Ham and White Beans

Credit: © Stephanie Foley
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This recipe is a nod to the pickled vegetables (giardiniera) in the Gramercy Tavern salad. Grace Parisi quickly soaks baby cauliflower in vinegar and sugar, then combines it with snap peas, white beans, ham and sunflower seeds to create a unique main-course dish.

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Hot, Buttered Cauliflower Puree

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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John Besh's decadent cauliflower puree is silky and luscious because it's made with both cream and butter. Adjust the level of cayenne pepper to make the cauliflower puree more or less spicy.

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Cauliflower Fritters

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To create these wonderful tapas, José Andrés makes a batter with crunchy nubs of chopped cauliflower florets, fries spoonfuls in a skillet and then tops the fritters with yogurt sauce and a dollop of caviar.

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Parmigiano-Crusted Rigatoni with Cauliflower and Prosciutto

Credit: © Kana Okada
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Melissa Rubel Jacobson uses a few great shortcuts to make her creamy baked pasta. She starts by boiling the cauliflower and rigatoni together in one pot. Then, for a quick and supercrispy topping, she sprinkles the dish with Parmigiano-panko crumbs and broils it. The topping browns perfectly in only two minutes.

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White Gazpacho

Credit: © Hallie Burton
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Joy Manning keeps her tangy white gazpacho completely vegetarian, but it's deceptively creamy: Almonds and cauliflower give the soup a silky texture.

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Roasted-Cauliflower-and-Sesame Spread

Credit: © Joseph de Leo
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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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Curried Cauliflower and Green Bean Salad with Lemon Yogurt

Credit: © Stephanie Foley
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Here, Mark Peel flavors roasted cauliflower and green beans with a mild curry powder.

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Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Chorizo Bread Crumbs

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Sautéing bread crumbs with Spanish chorizo makes them supercrispy and infuses them with spicy flavor. The bread crumbs are an excellent topping for this sublime, velvety cauliflower soup.

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Turmeric-Roasted Cauliflower

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Su-Mei Yu roasts cauliflower with spices and slivers of kumquat. The turmeric, white peppercorns and coriander seeds are beneficial to the respiratory and circulatory systems; the kumquat, with its sour and bitter tastes, warms the chest and eases coughs.

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Pan-Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts and Raisins

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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

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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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Bucatini with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

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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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Korean-Style Fried Cauliflower

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This ultra-crispy cauliflower, a.k.a. 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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Jerk-Spiced Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower and Chickpeas

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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, but the blend is also great on shrimp and chicken.

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Sweet Cauliflower-and-Carrot Pickles

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“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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Root Vegetable and Cauliflower Tagine with Parsley Yogurt

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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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Toasted Farro and Scallions with Cauliflower and Egg

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This dish is inspired by a Moroccan porridge called herbel, which Mourad Lahlou’s mother and grandmother used to cook for him. It’s traditionally made with barley, milk, butter and cinnamon, but Lahlou likes doing it his own way, substituting other grains such as farro instead of barley.

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Scallops with Roasted Cauliflower and Raisins

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Chef Payton Curry drizzles deliciously caramelized cauliflower with vinaigrette, then tops the dish with meaty scallops.

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Cauliflower, Potato, and Pea Curry

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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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Lentil Soup with Cauliflower and Bacon

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Since the cauliflower only cooks in the soup for a short period of time, the vegetable doesn't develop that overwhelming flavor often associated with it. The flavor of bacon, though, comes through loud and clear.

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Potato-and-Roasted-Cauliflower Salad

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

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Cauliflower and Crab Ravioli

Credit: © Quentin Bacon
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These impressive supersized ravioli are constructed with large rectangles of homemade pasta that are dotted with whole parsley leaves and filled with the unexpectedly alluring combination of crab and cauliflower.

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Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa with Candied Walnuts

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This simple and elegant dish makes an easy dinner party side.

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