Whole roasted cauliflower is a delicious, Whole30-friendly, keto, and vegan side dish! Plus, this recipe only uses 3 ingredients!
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A foolproof whole roasted cauliflower recipe!
Haven’t yet spotted roasted whole cauliflower on a restaurant menu? Trust me: you will soon. Gorgeously crusted on the outside, tender on the inside, this visually striking preparation of a whole head 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!
Ingredients
- Whole cauliflower head: Don’t pick a super big one, a 2 pound one is perfect for this recipe!
- Extra virgin olive oil: You can also use melted ghee, avocado oil, or your favorite fat of choice.
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
How to make whole roasted cauliflower
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 of the entire head of cauliflower (both top and bottom) until the cauliflower is well coated.
Sprinkle 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 or lemon juice and fresh herbs.
Not too shabby for a three-ingredient recipe! It’s fancy enough for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner or humble enough for a weeknight side!
How to save leftovers
You can save leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. I wouldn’t freeze the leftovers because the roasted cauliflower can get a little mushy when you thaw it from the freezer.
More cauliflower recipes
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes 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 2022).
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.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This turned out so good. Love the crispy parts best. Did have some challenges cutting out the core but turned out great
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
So good. Love the crispy parts!
Has anyone tried this in an air fryer or is the cast iron pan key to all that yumminess?!
I’ve never tried it in an air fryer but I have baked in a regular sheet pan (instead of cast iron) and it turned out great still!
This is the only way I make cauliflower since I found this recipe a few years ago. So much easier than cutting off the stalks and turns out better as well because there are’t smaller parts that get get burned, while other parts are too hard.
This was sooooo good. I did the recipe exactly as is.
So simple and delicious!
I am following your recipe and I am a fan of your easy to understand and excellent recipes!!
Yummy! This was easy to prepare. I was reluctant to “make it rain” with the salt, but I added more than I was comfortable with and it was delicious. Having to cook it for so long is my only complaint because I’m not usually available to start dinner 2 hours early.
Way easier than cauliflower steaks, and the basic ingredients let the flavor of the cauliflower come through. It’s also a good base for sauces or other seasonings.