Cast Iron Roasted Cauliflower
Oven roasting is a great way to prepare vegetables. The oven browns the vegetables, bringing out their natural sweetness.
It is also a simple, hands off way to make a side dish. I use my cast iron skillet as my roasting pan, and as my prep bowl. Pour the vegetables into the pan, drizzle with olive oil, and toss with salt and pepper – they’re ready to go. Slide the skillet into the oven, and in a half an hour or so, they will be tender, browned, and delicious.1
Cauliflower is perfect for oven roasting in a cast iron pan. Roasting adds sweet notes to its mild flavor. Cauliflower is tasty with a simple coating of olive oil, salt, and pepper, but I sprinkle it with my favorite spice combo – a blend of Spanish smoked paprika and coriander. (I picked up this trick from an Indian friend’s lunch – so if you want to substitute a curry powder, that would work as well.)
Recipe: Cast Iron Roasted Cauliflower
Equipment
- Large (10 or 12 inch) cast iron skillet
Cast Iron Roasted Cauliflower
Prep Time: 5 minutes- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4-6
Category: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Cast Iron Roasted Cauliflower recipe – cauliflower florets spice rubbed and roasted in the oven in a cast iron pan.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or Diamond Crystal kosher salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Toss the cauliflower with the oil and spices: Set the oven to 400°F. Peel the leaves off of the cauliflower, cut out the core, and discard. Cut the cauliflower florets into bite sized pieces. Put the cauliflower pieces in the cast iron pan. Drizzle the cauliflower with the olive oil, sprinkle with the salt, paprika, coriander, and black pepper, and toss until evenly coated.
- Roast the cauliflower: Slide the skillet into the oven. Roast the cauliflower until browned and crispy around the edges and tender all the way through when poked with a paring knife, about 35 minutes. (If you can, toss the cauliflower every 10 to 15 minutes to even out the browning.)
Notes
If you are using the oven, even if it isn’t 400°F, add the cauliflower. This technique is flexible enough to work anywhere between 350°F and 450°F. Just adjust the timing – it will take about 45 minutes at 350°F, but only 30 minutes at 450°F.
Cutting up the cauliflower
Drizzled with oil, sprinkled with spices, ready to toss
In the oven
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Cast Iron Roasted Butterflied Chicken
Cast Iron Spiral Skillet Potatoes
Cast Iron Brussels Sprouts Saute
My other Cast Iron Recipes
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Thanks you for being the first to realize a dish like this can be a one pot wonder. You don’t need multiple prep bowls. Those chefs that do you multiple bowls must have a paid dishwasher
I’ll be buying the largest head of cauliflower I can find so that I will have leftovers to toss with a lemon vinaigrette for a salad in another meal, to stir into adult mac ‘n cheese (or chop it small to put one over on reluctant veggie eaters), or add to a leafy green salad with a sprinkling of garbanzos. Omelets, quiche, soup….the list goes on.
Forgot to add, Mike – it’s great that you mention the wide range of roasting temperatures and the timings that work for roasting the cauliflower. So flexible.
This was so awesome! I had a small head of cauliflower, so I chopped up some sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks and cooked them, along with the cauliflower, smoked paprika, ground coriander, salt and pepper at 450 for 30 minutes. It was delicious and I would definitely make again!
★★★★★