This easy Cheesy Vegan Baked Cauliflower side dish might just become the main dish for your next meal. Better than fries! Seriously, kids and adults alike gobble this healthy cruciferous veggie like it's some kind of amazing!!
Grab one of those gorgeous fluffy looking white heads of cauliflower at the grocery store and prepare an addictive cauliflower experience that easily rivals french fries and might even make you think of vegan nuggets!!
Related recipe: Vegan Cheesy Rice and Cauliflower Casserole
What You'll need to make this Vegan Baked Cauliflower Recipe:
It's a short list, just five ingredients, plus the cauliflower.
- Extra Virgin Olive oil - yup, a little of this goes a long way.
- Seasoned Salt - I try to use a no-added-MSG version such as Johnny's.
- Smoked Paprika - this is your secret smoky weapon - if you don't have this you must try it! YUM!
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes - this is the light 'cheesy' component. It's not strong, but it's pretty undeniable. SO good.
- Garlic Powder - what would be do without garlic powder???
Related recipe: Crispy Pan-Fried Cauliflower with Vegan Seasoned Breadcrumbs
Steps to making amazing, mouth-watering, addicting baked cauliflower:
First, you gotta chop it up! Remove the outer leaves and chop the whole head into quarters. Slice off a little of the inner core areas, and then cut the rest of the head into bite-sized florets. Place in a large mixing bowl.
Sprinkle yeast flakes, smoked paprika, seasoned salt, and garlic powder over the cauliflower florets and pour olive oil over all.
Mix with a spoon until all the cauliflower pieces are well-coated with the seasonings.
Transfer coated cauliflower to a prepped baking tray with either pan spray, a brush of olive oil, or a layer of parchment paper.
Shake the tray to somewhat even distribute cauliflower florets and place in the oven at 450 for approx 20-25 minutes. Stir once, half-way through baking period.
When the cauliflower is fork-tender and slightly cartelized around the edges, you're set!! Remove from the oven and enjoy as a side dish, a snack, or even the main dish if no one's watching! This stuff is truly tasty and satisfying!
Cooking tips:
Set your tray of cauliflower on a mid-to-upper rack depending on your oven. This ensures browning on the top of the cauliflower as well as the bottom.
Baking at this temp ensures that you can get a little of that nice caramelized browning while still keeping a little of that crispy crunch that makes cauliflower so amazing.
If you prefer softer cauliflower, decrease the baking temp to 425 and increase the baking time to 30-35 minutes! Voila!
How to eat this yummy Baked Cauliflower:
- Right off the tray - yes it's hot so please be careful!!
- dipped in my all-time favorite Nacho Cheese Sauce
- as a side dish for Tender Vegan Steaks or crispy Vegan Lentil Cakes
- with some Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Pasta
- shoved inside of soft tacos along with other veggies and beans
- next to my favorite Smoky Veggie Mushroom-Oat Burger
- as the veggie side dish with this tasty Vegan Brown Rice Loaf
That's all for now friends! I'm totally hungry now so need to hit the store for some more cauliflower!!!
IF YOU LIKE THIS POST YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
- Roasted Brussels sprouts with maple balsamic dressing
- Vegan stuffed acorn squash
- White bean butternut squash mash
- Chickpea and cauliflower curry
- Creamy fresh vegan tomato soup
- Vegan nacho cheese
- Best vegan egg salad
If you’ve tried this Vegan Baked Cauliflower or any other recipe on my blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I LOVE hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food!!!
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Easy Cheesy Baked Vegan Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb Cauliflower , (or approximately 1 Head)
- 3 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Seasoned salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare baking sheet by spraying with pan spray or oil with pastry brush or cover with parchment paper.
- Remove leaves and large part of core from Cauliflower head. Break into large bite sized pieces in a large mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle salt and seasonings over cauliflower, pour olive oil over all. Toss well to coat.
- Spread somewhat evenly on baking sheet (Just pour it all on there and shake the sheet a bit to even things out.)
- Slide it into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until fork-tender, stirring once after 10 minutes.
Delicious! I’m going to try putting the nutritional yeast on after they come put of the oven next time to hopefully give it some added crisp. They are amazing in the original recipe, though 🙂
That's a good idea!!
Oh my goodness....yummy!! 'nough said. :).
Thank you so much!!
I think there is something missing from this recipe. It did not come out cheese at all.
Hi Beth! It's not meant to be cheesy in the sense that it has melted cheese, but the seasonings are meant to resemble a savory Parmesan roasted cauliflower flavor, which tastes cheesy to me!
Made this once using a small cauliflower (without garlic as didn't have). I used a pan and fried at medium heat. This is amazing ate it and made it again right away!!
Glad you enjoyed!! I usually try to make a large batch of cauliflower because it disappears quickly!
The crack of cauliflower bites! I have to make sure I have someone else to eat these with me because I will eat them until I get sick. So good I can't stop! Is this wrong?
Definitely need to double, maybe triple the recipe!!! So good!
I agree!!
So good!! We had the pan almost gone before it had completely cooled off. Made a double batch the second time around!
Thanks so much for the comment! This stuff is sooo addictive!
Super super yummy! We ate it right off the pan before dinner!!
Right?!!! I hear you. I always want to do the same thing! Thanks for your comment!
I had this at Marijke's house, it was so yummy!
Awesome! So glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment!