Thick slabs of cauliflower steak are delicious, well seasoned, and very satisfying. The easiness of this recipe is an added bonus!
I have quite a few cauliflower recipes on this blog that I make regularly for my family. It's such a versatile vegetable! It's easy to serve it frequently while keeping things interesting with different recipes and different ways of making it.
I especially love cauliflower steak! It's my newest cauliflower discovery, and I've been making it quite often lately. My family enjoys it too - even The Picky Eater agreed to eat it the other day! I nearly fainted.
An extra-satisfying vegetable dish
Imagine delicious, well-seasoned, creamy roasted cauliflower. Now imagine it in the form of thick, steak-like slabs.
Thick slices of roasted cauliflower are very tasty and very satisfying. I happen to think that cauliflower is awesome in general - it's so delicious and very versatile. But it's especially good when thickly sliced and roasted.
"Meaty" vegetables are great
I always think of eggplant as a hearty, "meaty" vegetable. Mushrooms too, especially portobello mushrooms. As it turns out, cauliflower can be just as hearty, when it's cut into thick steaks and roasted to perfection.
The ingredients you'll need
I love how short the ingredients list is for this recipe! Here's what you'll need (the exact measurements are included in the recipe card below):
Fresh cauliflower: You will need two cauliflower heads for this recipe.
Olive oil: I love cooking with this delicious oil, and I especially enjoy extra-virgin olive oil. But if you'd rather use an oil with a higher smoke point, you can use avocado oil instead. Melted butter is another option.
Kosher salt and black pepper: If using fine salt, you should reduce the amount you use, or the dish could end up too salty.
Spices: I like to use garlic powder, paprika, and coriander. Please make sure the spices you use are fresh! A stale spice can easily ruin a dish.
How to make cauliflower steak
It's actually very easy. Slice, season, and roast in a hot oven. It's one of the easiest cauliflower recipes I make. Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
1. After you wash the cauliflower and trim it, you cut it into thick slices. Make them about ¾-inch thick, and don't worry about those that end up falling apart (and some inevitably will). You can simply bake them as florets with the intact slices.
2. Your next step is to spray the cauliflower slices with olive oil and sprinkle them with the spices.
3. Now bake them until golden-brown and tender, 10-15 minutes per side in a 425°F oven.
The only challenge here is that when you cut the cauliflower head into slices, some of it will fall apart and turn into florets. That's why you need two cauliflower heads for this recipe, to account for the slices that fell apart on you.
Should I remove the core?
No, you shouldn't. Cauliflower stems (and the leaves too!) are edible. Removing the core, even very carefully, will cause the steaks to fall apart.
I do remove the outer leaves and trim the very bottom of the stem, but I leave the core intact, and I find that it softens nicely and it is delicious when baked.
What to serve with cauliflower steaks?
You can serve this dish as a side dish to any meat. Sometimes I serve it with fried or poached eggs, for a hearty meatless meal.
Since I roast the "steaks" in a 425°F oven, I like to serve them with a main dish that I can cook in the same oven. So I often serve them with Parmesan-crusted chicken or with baked salmon.
What about leftovers?
You can keep leftover cauliflower steak in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave on 50% power. I haven't experimented with freezing the leftovers, but I believe it can be done, for up to three months.
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Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Steak
INGREDIENTS
- 2 medium heads of cauliflower
- Olive oil spray
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder divided
- 1 teaspoon paprika divided
- 1 teaspoon coriander divided
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spray it with olive oil.
- Wash the cauliflower heads, then remove the outer leaves and trim the very bottom of the core, but keep the core intact. Slice each head into ¾-inch-thick slices. The outer slices will fall apart - you can simply roast them as florets together with the steaks. Plan on getting three steaks out of each cauliflower head.
- Arrange the "steaks" in a single layer on the baking sheet. Scatter the florets around them. Spray their tops with olive oil and sprinkle them with half the seasonings.
- Bake the cauliflower pieces for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully turn, spray with more oil and sprinkle with the remaining spices, and bake until browned and fork-tender, 10-15 more minutes.
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living.