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Blackened Cauliflower
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
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- Total Time
- 55 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1cauliflower head (about 2 pounds), core and leaves removed, head cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- 1teaspoon onion powder
- 1teaspoon garlic powder
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- ½teaspoon dried thyme
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- ½teaspoon sumac (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place a rack in the center of the oven.
- Step 2
Add cauliflower pieces to a large bowl with oil and all seasonings; mix together. Add the cauliflower florets to a 13-by-18-inch rimmed sheet pan in a single layer, spacing them out as much as possible.
- Step 3
Bake on the center rack until deep golden brown and cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Delicious and easy weeknight veggie side! Great spice blend. I cooked mine at 425 so as not to turn the cauliflower to complete mush, and it turned out blackened and crisp.
If I roasted cauliflower at 450 for 40 minutes it would be blackened into charcoal. I've made a variation of this recipe (without the onion and garlic powder-one tsp of each sounds like to much to me.) I heat my electric oven to 425 and roast no longer than 20 minutes. Roasted cauliflower with smoked paprika is yummy, but be aware of oven settings and timing. I honestly think this recipe is incorrect.
Air fryer instructions would be helpful for this, and any other vegetable that goes in the oven
Exactly how we prepare Southern Firecrackers, only using cauliflower instead of Saltines. This would work with any combination of dried herbs & spices. Cooking time depends on how toothy you prefer it of course, but once we went to the charred and creamy side we never looked back.
I make this sort of thing all the time, and Jean is correct that the cook time listed here is way too long.
My cauliflower was completely cooked after 20 minutes at 425 convection. For maximum browning, cut the cauliflower into slices about 3/4 inch thick and turn over after 10 minutes. I line the sheet pan with parchment for easy clean-up.
This kind of flavorful cauliflower (blackened, curried, or shawarma-spiced, and then roasted) makes one of my favorite sandwiches ever: Whole grain bread, spread with hummus (I use jalapeño hummus), then cauliflower, and if you want, a slice of melted provolone cheese. YUMMMM... :-)
Cooked @400 for 30 minutes. Perfect!
And open fire, and InstaPot, crock pot, BBQ grill.... low calorie version, extra creamy version, deluxe party version....
Such a great dish. I use this as a base for vegetarian tacos - these are very popular at my house.
Garlic will burn and ruin the dish if added at the beginning. Taste-wise, garlic and onion powder are more than acceptable. If garlic and onion powder are anathema because they're processed, you could mince the garlic, mush it with salt (so that it releases its liquid), and let it sit in the oil you add to the cauliflower. (I'd fish out the garlic before adding.)
I recommend roasting at 450* for 30 minutes to get the right texture/crispness and nice roasted flavor.
In general, so excited to try this! To Lorne and others: I’ve copied a restaurant side dish that’s like this by roasting thinly sliced lemons along with the cauliflower and then drizzling on tahini mixed with lemon juice at the end. Keep an eye on the lemon slices if you do this. Thanks for the reminder!
Delicious and easy. I was worried that it might be too spicy for me so I added a can of chickpeas. They added a nice crunch. This went down great with a glass of beer.
Great recipe!
Use less salt
Goodness. So delicious. 25 minutes at 400, we didn't have sumac. The cauliflower gets wonderfully tender with a vibrant flavor. A keeper for sure.
Agree with other readers; time stated is too long. Roasted mine at 450 for 20 minutes and it still had a little crunch and was nicely browned. Delicious.
Add lemon zest on top! So yummy
A half-teaspoon red pepper flakes go a long way.... A delicious dish that needs no cheese!
Delicious, but I think I will be using only half the amount of salt the recipe calls for next time. The salt was a bit overpowering for my taste.
Cut the amount of salt in half and it will be 😘
Following what others have said, I lowered the temperature to 425, and accidentally kept the dish in the over for nearly an hour. Utterly delicious, nonetheless. A great side dish!
This is absolutely delicious. I made exactly as written, including sumac. I will be making this again and again.
We did half cauliflower and half carrots. Cooked at 450, it was done in 25 minutes. SO delicious!
Tried this twice with two of the largest cauliflowers I could find at Aldi- way too salty. But great flavor, overall.
Easy and delicious. I cooked it exactly as written at 450 and can report that it didn't turn into charcoal or mush, it was perfect.
terrific. cooked 30 min at 450, came out tender and spicy.
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