We have a soft spot in our hearts for cauliflower recipes. Cauliflower is such a versatile ingredient, it’s really good for you, it’s delicious in its own right (but also mild enough to go with practically anything and everything!), it’s a great low-carb alternative, and it’s incredibly easy to cook up!
We’ve rounded up a variety of our favorite cauliflower recipes for you all. Whether you’re looking for a snack for yourself, a sharable appetizer, a creamy soup, savory side dish, or a whole meal we’re got you covered!
Cauliflower Appetizer Recipes
Appetizers are one of our favorite things to create and eat (we really do love snack-able foods!) and our cauliflower recipes are some of our favorite of all time!
- Not to brag of anything, but our Crispy Baked Cauliflower Tots are SO good! Like eat the entire batch to yourself and regret not doubling the recipe good.
- Giant Baked Cauliflower Arancini are our oversized version of a delicious fried rice ball, but low-carb and baked! It’s a great sharable appetizer, or a meal in itself!
- Our Spicy Roasted Cauliflower over Hummus can either be served as an appetizer or a dinner in itself! The roasted cauliflower is loaded with so much flavor and pairs so well with the simple and creamy hummus! Add a side of warm pita bread for scooping.
- Our Baked Buffalo Cauliflower recipe is the perfect appetizer for a game day get together! It’s delicious and packed with tons of flavor! Our version is baked so it’s on the lighter side.
Delicious Cauliflower Soup Recipes
Cauliflower is a perfect ingredient for soup. It can give a really creamy texture to soups without dairy. We have a couple of soup recipes we love utilizing those characteristics of cauliflower for.
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup recipe is so creamy and cozy. We love diving into a big bowl on a chilly day. One of our favorite and simple soup recipes! I personally love it with a thick piece of crusty bread for dipping.
- We love a good chowder and our Creamy Cauliflower Chowder hits the spot every single time! Top with a few oyster crackers and a dash of hot sauce for a chowder that you’ll love, but won’t weigh you down! It’s also vegan if you skip the bacon.
Cauliflower Recipes Everyone Will Love
We love the versatility of cauliflower and we feel like this section really allows that to shine! These cauliflower recipes are great to have on hand as they’re all pretty simple, so they’re great for a busy weeknight.
- The Creamiest Cauliflower “Mac” and Cheese you will ever taste! When you want something cheesy and creamy, but make it low-carb! Serve it alongside your favorite protein for a simple, great meal!
- This Vegan Cauliflower “Cream” Sauce is one of our go to cream sauce alternatives. Use our versatile sauce to drizzle over roasted vegetables, toss it together with pasta or blend it with some extra stock for a creamy pureed soup.
- Our Mashed Cauliflower recipe is a great alternative to mashed potatoes! Our recipe also includes parsnips and roasted garlic, which makes this dish extra flavorful and delicious. It’s the perfect, healthy side dish recipe!
- We love our Creamy Vegan Spaghetti Squash Bake! It’s a great faux baked pasta dish with a cauliflower cream sauce that’s just as decadent and flavor packed as the real thing!
Recipes to Make with Cauliflower Rice
We love riced cauliflower! When we are looking to get some more veggies in our meals, substituting cauliflower rice for white or brown rice is a really easy trick. You can find frozen, riced cauliflower in the freezer section of most markets. We love both Trader Joe’s brand and Whole Foods brand.
You can also easily make your own by pulsing cauliflower florets in a food processor until you get a fine, uniform texture. Then heat a pan up with some oil and sauté the riced cauliflower until tender, which only takes a few minutes. So easy!
Here are some recipes that are perfect for swapping white or brown rice for cauliflower rice:
- Carne Asada Burrito Bowls
- Garlic and Ginger Braised Chicken
- Lamb Kofta
- Thai Red Curry Chicken Thighs
- Szechuan Beef
- Sesame Chicken
Our Best Cauliflower Dinner Recipes
Dinner usually signifies the end of a day for us, so these next set of cauliflower recipes are extra comforting. It’s a great way to unwind after a long day!
- Our Vegetable Loaded Vegan Korma is one of our favorite recipes on the entire site! The flavor packed dish has tons of veggies, is creamy and so filling! Leftovers are even better the next day, so go ahead and double up on this truly delicious recipe!
- Our Spicy Vegan Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry is such a cozy dinner to enjoy. Leftovers are amazing too, when reheated for lunch the next day!
- Indian Butter Cauliflower is a vegetarian take on a dish we both love, Indian Butter Chicken.
- Our Honey Garlic Cauliflower is a riff off the popular honey garlic chicken takeout dish. We use cauliflower instead of chicken in this recipe and it makes an incredibly tasty, vegetarian friendly dinner!
More Delicious Vegetarian Recipes You’ll Love
- Easy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Roasted Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Flatbread
- Capellini with Garlic, Lemon and Parmesan
- Vegan Meatballs Over Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
- Roasted Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Falafel Salad Hummus Bowls
Check out our Cauliflower Recipe Web Story!
Check out our recipe for Honey Garlic Cauliflower below!
Best Cauliflower Recipes: Honey Garlic Cauliflower
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium head cauliflower, stem and outer leaves removed and cut into bite sized florets
- 1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced and divided
- 2 teaspoons ginger, minced and divided
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
- ¼ cup mirin
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 ½ tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sambal chile paste/sauce
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup cornstarch or tapioca starch
- 2 cups oil for frying
- 1 sliced green onion, garnish
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl toss together cauliflower, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 minced garlic clove, and 1 teaspoon minced ginger. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a sauté pan, whisk together remaining garlic, ginger, sesame oil, mirin, hoisin, oyster sauce, soy sauce, honey, sambal, white pepper, and 2 tablespoons water.
- Simmer sauce over medium-low heat until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and keep warm.
- Place a wok or tall pot over medium-high heat and add about 3 inches oil. Heat oil to 350˚F.
- Working in small batches, toss a few cauliflower florets in cornstarch until fully covered. Shake florets well to remove any excess cornstarch. Dip each floret into the beaten eggs, then dredge again in cornstarch. Shake florets very well again to remove any excess coating. (you really want a thin, light and crispy exterior and thick clumps of starch will prevent that)
- Again, working in small batches, carefully fry florets for 3 to 4 minutes or until the florets have a crispy coated exterior and tender interior.
- Transfer fried cauliflower to a cooling rack sitting atop a baking sheet. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until all florets have been fried.
- While the last batch of florets fry, place sauce back over the stove and simmer over medium-low heat.
- Add fried cauliflower to sauce and quickly but carefully toss together until all cauliflower is fully and evenly coated.
- Scoop cauliflower over plates of steamed rice and top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and sliced green onion. Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
tag @SpoonForkBacon and #SpoonForkBacon on Instagram
I can’t believe how delicious these turned out. I was worried they would be dry and there wouldn’t be enough sauce as I was stirring everything together at the end but it was perfect and so flavourful
We love hearing this thank you!
The family loved the honey and garlic cauliflower dish, very tasty
Oh I’m so happy to read that! Glad your family enjoyed it!
Love this group of recipes! I’m always looking for new ways to use cauliflower!