An easy oven roasted cauliflower steak baked in the oven, crispy and spicy, flavored with only olive oil and spices, and ready in 30 minutes as a main course or side dish. Easy to make ahead and even freeze.
You'll love this oven roasted cauliflower steak if you love roasted vegetables. Just slice, season and roast or even grill this hefty roasted vegetable steak. Flavorful with a caramel coating and have it ready in half an hour. If you want to roast them in an air fryer, I include instructions to make air fryer cauliflower steaks in the recipe card for that too!
Serve with sides of fried spaghetti, chickpea salad or even grilled portobello mushroom steaks.
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Why You'll Love This
- Meaty, thick, filling vegetable steak
- Tender with a caramel coating
- Only 2 ingredients, including oil and spices
- Ready in 30 minutes
- Perfect for all diets, low carb, vegan, vegetarian, whole30, meat free and gluten free.
Ingredients
Cauliflower. One whole fresh cauliflower head will give you 3 (1-inch) steaks with about 1 cup of loose florets left over.
Olive oil. Or any oil works and is needed to help spices stick. Don't use butter which will burn.
Spices. Garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, salt, pepper.
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
For more detail, visit the complete and printable recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Step 1: Prepare the cauliflower. Remove leaves and put whole cauliflower head-side down to soak in a bowl of lemon water (1 part lemon juice to 3 parts water) for 1 minute to remove any deeply embedded dirt or debris.
Step 2: Cut the cauliflower. Place the cauliflower on a cutting board stem side up so you can see the stem. Use a sharp long knife to cut off each side of the stem - these will fall apart. Then, cut into the stem so that you get 2-3 slices around 1-inch thick.
Step 3: Mix up spice paste. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Step 4: Coat the cauliflower. Use a basting brush or back of a spoon to rub each steak with the spice paste on both sides. Lay the coated slices on a pan lined with parchment or foil. Give the loose florets the same oil and spice treatment and add to the pan.
Step 5: Roast the cauliflower. Roast or bake the pan at 425 F for 15 minutes. Gently turn the steaks over and cook another 15 minutes. Garnish with a sprinkled of fresh cut parsley and serve.
Recipe Tips
Don't skip soaking the cauliflower in lemon juice - it cleans it and brightens the flavor.
Roast the slices longer if your oven runs cold or if you want them to brown darker.
Variations
- BBQ Cauliflower Steaks. Instead of the olive oil and spice mixture, baste with your favorite BBQ sauce.
- Ranch Dressing Cauliflower Steaks. Roast with olive oil, and hot out of the oven, coat with your favorite ranch dressing.
- Italian Seasoned Cauliflower. Instead of garlic powder, use twice the amount of Italian seasoning.
How to Serve Cauliflower Steaks
- Serve as a main meal, with sides such as zucchini pizza bites or chickpea cucumber salad, or shiitake mushroom stir fry.
- Serve as a side dish with main dishes such as chickpea meatballs, fried spaghetti or grilled portobello mushroom steaks.
- Add a flavorful sauce to this meatless steak such as chimichurri, ranch dressing, thousand island dressing or green olive tapenade.
Storage
Meal Prep. Slice and season the cauliflower steaks, then keep them in a sealed container for up to 3 days before cooking.
Store cooked steaks. Allow the steaks to cool, and then store refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 1 week. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat. Warm leftovers in the microwave for 30 seconds.
FAQS
Yes, if you need more than 2-3 cauliflower steaks, you can double, triple or more this recipe.
It's not essential to soak cauliflower but soaking does help clean the vegetable and adds a bright flavor.
The slices that include the stem will not crumble, only the ends will. Add the crumbled cauliflower to the pan to roast with the cauliflower steaks.
Yes, preheat your air fryer to 375 F (190 C) for 2 minutes. Prepare the cauliflower steaks by slicing and coating. Place the cauliflower steaks into the air fryer basket with a liner or not and cook 14 minutes or until flakey and soft. You can flip them halfway through for a more even cook.
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📖 Recipe
Oven Roasted Cauliflower Steak
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
Spice Paste*
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Prepare cauliflower. Peel the cauliflower leaves off. Put the cauliflower with head downward into a bowl of 4 cups water with 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Cut the cauliflower. Place the cauliflower on a cutting board stem side up so you can see the stem. Use a sharp long knife to cut off each side of the stem - these will fall apart. Then, cut into the stem so that you get 2-3 slices around 1-inch thick.
- Mix up spice paste. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, garlic powder, ginger powder, salt and pepper.2 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt
- Coat the cauliflower. Use a basting brush or back of a spoon to rub each steak with the spice paste on both sides. Lay the coated slices on a pan lined with parchment or foil. Give the loose florets the same oil and spice treatment and add to the pan.
- Roast the cauliflower. Roast or bake the pan at 425 F for 15 minutes. Gently turn the steaks over and cook another 15 minutes. Garnish with a sprinkled of fresh cut parsley and serve.1 head cauliflower
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