This Baked Whole Roasted Cauliflower is marinated in flavorful herbs and spices and baked to perfection to make a fabulous Holiday table option. Vegan Glutenfree Nutfree. Can be soyfree. Jump to Recipe
You all have loved making and serving my Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Makhani Sauce (Indian Butter Sauce) many times!. It will forever be a favorite of mine too. The luscious sauce makes a thick coating on the cauliflower and adds a ton of flavor which is perfect for the Holiday season.
This roasted cauliflower uses a marinade with holiday herbs such as sage, thyme, oregano. I add some spices that add a meaty flavor profile inspired from my Baharat blend. Together the flavors come together amazingly in this delicious marinade. Use the marinade over a whole cauliflower, or toss cauliflower florets and bake, or marinate some tofu or other veggies. You have to try it! There’s so much amazing flavor, you might want to make another batch of the marinade, simmer with some broth as serve as gravy. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any Holiday. See Recipe notes for make ahead.
More Holiday Mains
- Lentil Quinoa Loaf can be SF,NF and GF
- Mushroom Lentil Shepherd’s Pie. NF, GF, SF option
- Mushroom Bourguignon GF NF
- Marinated Portobello Mushrooms with Garlic Sauce. GF , NF option
- Vegan Lentil Mushroom Walnut Wellington.
Serve this with a side of my gravy, cornbread stuffing, Chickpea Loaf or lasagna bake.
You can roast the cauliflower without the potatoes on the side and serve some mashed potatoes instead with extra gravy. I baked the pictured cauliflower a few mins longer to get a nice sear on the outside. There is a lot of marinade inside for all the flavor. How do you plan to serve it!
Tips to Roast a Cauliflower Head
- Choose a small to medium head of cauliflower. Larger heads tend to not marinate as well and hence can tend to be bland in the middle.
- Make cuts if possible at the bottom and top of the cauliflower using a knife.
- Cover and bake for some time so the cauliflower steams a bit from within making the bake time shorter.
- If your cauliflower tends to bake bland in the middle, follow the process from my makhani cauliflower. ie. Blanch the cauliflower for 3 mins in boiling water+ 1/4 of the marinade. Drain, then baste with the marinade(keep the marinade thick by using 1 tbsp of water). then bake for 30 to 40 mins.
Baked Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 small to medium cauliflower
Marinade:
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1.5 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground sage
- 2.5 tbsp soy sauce, divided (use tamari if gluten-free), or coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1.5 tsp coriander (or a mix of coriander and cumin)
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp cardamom
- additional optional flavor add ins: 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp celery seed, 1/4 tsp rosemary
sides, optional
- 6 to 8 small potatoes (sliced into halves)
- 18 to 10 small carrots
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 C).
- Mix 2 tbsp soy sauce and the rest of the marinade ingredients together. Add 2-3 tbsp of water or chikn flavored broth and mix to combine the garlic and salt well.
- Using a thin knife, make some small cuts on the top and the bottom of the cauliflower. Pour half of the marinade inside the overturned cauliflower and move it around to coat the indies well. Brush the cauliflower lightly and let it sit upside down to marinate for at least an hour (marination time is optional, but helps add more flavor)..
- Once the cauliflower has marinated for an hour, and brush more marinade on the cauliflower and place in a greased baking dish or cast iron skillet.
- Mix the potatoes, carrots, salt, pepper and oil in a bowl and place on either side of the cauliflower. (You can bake these separately and add later to the serving dish with the cauliflower before serving)
- Cover with foil or another baking dish to cover just about the cauliflower dish. It is not necessary to seal the dish completely. Roast at 425 degrees F for 30 -35 minutes(longer for larger head). Add 1-2 tbsp water and the 1/2 tbsp soy sauce to the remaining marinade. Uncover and baste liberally again.
- There should be some moisture that leaks from the veggies and marinade into the pan because of covering and baking. If not, then drizzle a few tbsp water or broth around the cauliflower so the side veggies/marinade dont get scorched. Continue to bake uncovered for 20 to 30 mins. Use a knife to check if the cauliflower is cooked all the way through.
- Remove when done and baste with any remaining marinade. Garnish with fresh herbs. Slice and Serve with my mushroom free gravy or other of choice.
Laura says
October 30, 2018 at 8:40 pmThis looks amazing! Who needs beef when you have such an amazing looking dish as this? Thank you! I will knock off some socks when family sees this at Thanksgiving! WOW!
Take care…
Richa says
October 31, 2018 at 11:32 amI know right! Try it once before the event to nail the times and the cauliflower size and pairings!
Emily says
October 31, 2018 at 11:47 amI made a small cauliflower for test and O MY GOD! its amazing!. i skipped the side veggies as i’ll choose those based on other sides for serving. There was some thick gravy at the bottom when done which was so good. Sliced and served in tacos. That black pepper and the herbs and spices add so much flavor. Everyone Make this! and definitely make some gravy.
Richa says
October 31, 2018 at 3:57 pmyay!
Jen says
November 3, 2018 at 4:31 pmJust made this and my family inhaled it! I omitted the oil, cinnamon and cardamom and doubled the rest of recipe and used a big 2lb 11oz cauliflower.
Cooked it with potatoes, carrots and parsnips and served it with asparagus. Delicious! Thank you, Richa!!
Richa says
November 3, 2018 at 8:20 pmyay!!
Elliott says
November 11, 2018 at 3:53 pmThis will be our main Thanksgiving dish. I Will be sure to make extra gravy for the biscuits that will be served with it. We cook from your books often, Richa and have no doubt this will be most excellent! Cheers
Richa says
November 12, 2018 at 7:50 pmawesome! yes definitely. Try a trialrun before thanksgiving, so you can adjust the bake times, size of the cauliflower etc
Kathleen Drabik says
January 10, 2019 at 8:36 amAs a family we are committing to more frequent vegan meals. This recipe was a thumbs up by all of us and fit the “cold weather comfort food” category. I substituted sweet potatoes and used brown rice miso in place of the soy/tamari to richen the umami flavor. Thanks for sharing.
Richa says
January 10, 2019 at 11:02 amawesome!
Karen Ryce says
October 12, 2019 at 7:21 pmDid you peel sweet pot first before cooking
Richa says
October 16, 2019 at 4:56 pmi usually peel
jibblybits says
January 19, 2019 at 9:00 amthis looks amazing. is there anything else i could use instead of maple syrup? cant wait to try
Richa says
January 19, 2019 at 12:26 pmsugar
Raisa Jari says
October 14, 2019 at 10:06 amI liked this spice marinade on tofu. Though my husband was reading off the spices to me and so I didn’t add any cardamom and maybe not any cinnamon either. And he told me to add the extra tamari and water even though that was supposed to be a later step. That extra tamari made the cauliflower a bit too salty but when we used the leftover marinade the next day mixed with some flour to sliced tofu that got fried – wow! Really good thanksgiving flavoured tofu!!!!
Richa says
October 14, 2019 at 11:52 amAwesome! reduce the tamari a bit to begin with for the cauliflower. I add more as the flavor doesnt always carry through enough inside, so serve the extra flavor crust and inside together for a balance
Ginger B says
November 24, 2019 at 1:13 pmWow! This was so flavorful and will be on our Thanksgiving table. We have been eating plant based for only about 5 months and we’re so happy to have found your recipes. Thank you!
Richa says
November 24, 2019 at 4:36 pmso glad you found me too !
Soda Cran says
May 10, 2020 at 7:07 pmThis is SO DELICIOUS! I read through multiple recipes. I read through so many reviews before making a different roast yesterday (minimalist baker). It was a disappointment, sadly. I was skeptical about this one because of ALL THOSE FLAVOURS but holy damn! It’s so freaking good. It basically made a gravy at the bottom of the pan. My family loved it. Bookmarking!
Soda Cran says
May 10, 2020 at 7:08 pmAlso…I doubled the marinade for a large cauliflower head. Other than that, followed it perfectly. I used a roasting pan with a lid.