Our 35 Favorite Cauliflower Recipes

Chef Duskie Estes rubs aromatic seasonings and tangy sumac all over heads of cauliflower, then roasts them whole.

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.

This simple, buttery cauliflower makes a great side dish for any type of stew or ragù. If you don't have a food processor, use a box grater. For an instant upgrade, stir in chopped herbs just before serving.

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."

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

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.

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.

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.

Los Angeles chef Jessica Largey creates amazing layers of texture and flavor in her seasonal salad by combining both roasted and raw cauliflower with peppery greens, crisp radishes, chewy tart cherries, and nutty pepitas.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

"This is my take on steak and eggs, but a modern version that incorporates vegetables and makes them the star," says chef Pete Evans. "My favorite veggies for this dish are squash, broccoli, sweet potato, cabbage, mushroom, asparagus, zucchini, and Jerusalem artichoke. You can eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and it is great cold to take to work for lunch."

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.

For this excellent vegetarian game-day snack, cauliflower florets are dipped in a light batter and roasted until just tender, then tossed in buttery hot sauce and cooked until caramelized. 

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

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

This silky cauliflower soup is guaranteed to warm your soul. The soup can be refrigerated for up to two days.