Easy Roasted Cauliflower (With Tahini Dressing)

Cauliflower can be anything these days—rice, pizza, you name it. We think this veggie stands up great all on its own too. That’s why we made roasted cauliflower the star of this dish.

Roasting with olive oil and salt allows the true flavor of cauliflower to stand out. We drizzle herbed tahini on top for extra flavor, brightness, and texture. 

We love this dish as a way to increase your veggie intake in a delicious way. Vegetables can be the star of the show. When cooked correctly with proper caramelization, any vegetable can be a terrific vegan/vegetarian main dish. 

Long gone are the days when steamed vegetables are served alongside your meal waiting to be picked at.

Give your veggies a good rinse, roast, and the right sauce like we do in this tahini roasted cauliflower recipe and you’ll be going back for seconds!

How Long to Bake Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a dense vegetable and can take a long time to roast.

If you follow our recipe, it will take about 45 minutes to roast bite-sized pieces until tender in a 400-degree oven.

If you are pressed for time, you can wrap the head of cauliflower in a warm damp towel, place in a bowl, and put it in the microwave for 5-7 minutes. This will soften your cauliflower by partially cooking it. You can then very easily chop your veggie into small pieces and place in the oven for browning.

This hack will shorten the cooking time to about 20-25 minutes (including time in the microwave). 

Cauliflower Roasting Tips

The best tip to getting good browning is fat, salt, and time!

Coating your vegetable with your preferred oil helps with heat transfer and allows you to get an evenly cooked vegetable.

Salt will draw out excess moisture leaving you with brown crunchy bits instead of soggy, lifeless florets.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, is time and patience.

When you leave your vegetables alone and don’t over-stir, you get what is called a “Maillard reaction,” a fancy term for the browning that occurs when amino acids and reducing sugars from the cauliflower have time to develop.

Tahini Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted cauliflower with an herbed tahini dressing makes for the perfect side dish. This recipe pairs well with your protein of choice and has a middle eastern flare.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Mediterranean

Servings 4 servings

Calories 337 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 head of cauliflower rinsed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• ⅔ cup tahini
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1 bunch of cilantro (you can also use parsley or a combination of the two)
• juice of 1-2 lemons
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½-⅔ cups of water to get desired consistency

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Chop and rinse the cauliflower.
  
• Coat with olive oil and salt on a baking sheet.
  
• Place baking sheet in the oven until browned (about 45 minutes)
  
• While your cauliflower is cooking, blend tahini, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, salt to taste, and ½ cup of water
  
• Once blended, gradually add in water in small increments until desired consistency is achieved
  
• Take cooked cauliflower out of the oven and plate
  
• Coat cauliflower with tahini sauce and serve
  

Notes

Tahini will get thicker as it sits. If you choose to make your sauce ahead of time, you may need to add more water if it sits up for too long.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 servingCalories: 337kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 10gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gSodium: 641mgPotassium: 630mgFiber: 5gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 162IUVitamin C: 72mgCalcium: 93mgIron: 2mg

Keyword cauliflower, tahini

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