Whole roasted cauliflower is a delicious, Whole30-friendly, keto, and vegan side dish! Plus, this recipe only uses 3 ingredients!
Haven’t yet spotted whole roasted cauliflower on a restaurant menu? Trust me: you will soon. Gorgeously crusted on the outside, tender on the inside, this visually striking preparation of cauliflower is popular among chefs for a host of reasons: it’s budget-friendly, ridiculously simple to make, and guaranteed to impress guests either as a centerpiece or side. Even your vegetarian friends will dig it!
Personally, I like to season a whole roasted cauliflower head with just salt and olive oil so that it’s a blank slate that can be paired with my favorite sauces and herbs. With five roasted heads sitting in my fridge right now, I’m definitely going to be using a bunch of different flavor boosters, from pesto to marinara sauce.
Why so much leftover cauliflower? ’Cause this past week, I’ve been in the thick of testing this recipe. I tried a myriad of different techniques that I’d found on the web and in my cookbook collection to see which method delivered the biggest bang for the least amount of work. I used different techniques to prepare each cauliflower head—boiling the cauliflower first (too much work), roasting it in a preheated skillet with a separate pan of water in the oven (great crust, but not quite tender enough inside), and roasting it in a covered Dutch oven for the first hour (overly mushy and inconsistent browning on the outside)—until I came up with a crazy-easy method that results in a perfectly bronzed crust and tender center.
See? Testing pays off!
Ready to check out my recipe?
Time to make Whole Roasted Cauliflower!
Makes 4 side servings
Ingredients:
- 1 whole cauliflower head (about 2 pounds)
- ½ cup (or more) extra virgin olive oil or melted ghee
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Equipment:
- Paring knife
- Cutting board
- 8-inch Cast iron skillet
- Aluminum foil
- Tongs
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375°F and place a rack in the middle position. Trim away the leaves at the bottom of the cauliflower head. Carefully cut off and remove the stem and tough core, but be careful to keep the head intact.
Rinse and pat dry the trimmed cauliflower head. Then drizzle olive oil or melted ghee all over it.
With your hands, rub the oil on the surface (both top and bottom) until the cauliflower is well coated.
Season both sides of the cauliflower liberally with salt. Make it rain!
Place the cauliflower florets-side up on a cast iron skillet, and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Put the skillet on the middle rack in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, covered.
Remove the foil from the skillet…
…and roast for an additional hour in the oven. Once the cauliflower is golden brown on the outside and tender on the inside, take it out of the oven. A knife should slide in and out without any resistance.
Transfer the cauliflower head to a platter.
Carve and serve as-is, or drizzle on your favorite sauce and fresh herbs.
Not too shabby for a three-ingredient recipe!
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 whole cauliflower head about 2 pounds
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil or melted ghee
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and place a rack in the middle position. Trim away the leaves at the bottom of the cauliflower head. Carefully cut off and remove the stem and tough core, but be careful to keep the head intact.
- Rinse and pat dry the trimmed cauliflower head. Then drizzle olive oil or melted ghee all over it.
- With your hands, rub the oil on the surface (both top and bottom) until the cauliflower is well coated. Season both sides of the cauliflower liberally with salt. Make it rain!
- Place the cauliflower florets-side up on a cast iron skillet, and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Put the skillet on the middle rack in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, covered.
- Remove the foil from the skillet, and roast for an additional hour in the oven. Once the cauliflower is golden brown on the outside and tender on the inside, take it out of the oven. A knife should slide in and out without any resistance.
- Transfer the cauliflower head to a platter. Carve and serve as-is, or drizzle on your favorite sauce and fresh herbs.
Holly Masclans says
It takes an hour and a half so I usually make this on a weekend and have it out for the kids to nibble on. Better to make in cooler months, but such a favorite I still make it in the summer.
Heidi says
This looks amazing!
Would any alternatives to a cast iron skillet work? I gave all of mine away when we get our convection stove.
Michelle Tam says
Any oven safe pan will work!
Diana Artemis Yee says
Excellent idea! We had a foot-long cauliflower, so it made for a beautiful presentation!
Victoria O'Hara says
Easy and delicious. Thanks for the perfect recipe. I found it didn’t take as long with smaller heads.
Ima says
I ate the whole thing! I didn’t mean to. I kept picking at it while my chicken was roasting and I ATE THE WHOLE THING! I will never look at cauliflower the same way. Delicious!
Kelley says
Hey Michele, I finally tried this! The outside of mine didn’t crisp quite enough and the inside was over cooked/mushy. Still yummy but not quite right. For next time, any suggestions? Maybe cook covered for less minutes? Higher temp with foil off? I think my oven is calibrated correctly. Thank you!
Michelle Tam says
I would cook less time covered and maybe broil for the last few minutes. It doesn’t get crispy, per se. It just browns!
JNOz says
This looks excellent. I’m going to give-it-a-go. I’m thinking that preheating the cast iron thoroughly at 375 roasting for 1hr may do the trick…
JNOz says
Done. I also put the cauliflower on a small round roasting rack from my multi-cooker. Very happy with the result – tender-crisp, al dente, and nicely browned head of cauliflower.
Veronica Bonilla says
My first recipe review ever because this was a hit at dinner and I liked it very much. I love the simplicity of the ingredients, the procedure is so easy and the result is fantastic 👏 👌 thank you
GraftonReed says
Very nice. My family loved it. Experimenting with sauces now.
Gen says
So yummy, we make it all the time! When it’s hot out we cook on the grill (in cast iron pan on a pizza stone). Need to keep an eye on the temp and it goes a bit faster–you have to really watch that the bottom doesn’t burn. but nice to cook without heating up the house!
Dawn Vivirito says
Favorite sauces in addition to the mentioned pesto and marinara?
Michelle Tam says
Sesame Ginger Dressing: https://nomnompaleo.com/sesame-ginger-dressing
Jenny says
What are your favorite sauces to use with this?
Michelle Tam says
Pesto is delicious!
Sue says
This turned out so good. Love the crispy parts best. Did have some challenges cutting out the core but turned out great
Sue says
Yummy. Turned out good and the crispy parts…so good. Struggled a bit cutting out the core but it all worked out. Thanks you for a great simple recipe. I don’t think it even needs any sauce
Sue says
So good. Love the crispy parts!