How to Grill Cauliflower

Looking for how to grill cauliflower? It requires a 5-minute steam before grilling, then throw it on the grill for 8 minutes until it’s tender and charred!

Cauliflower is the new sexy veggie, right? After being relegated to only being served raw on veggie trays, cauliflower is having a moment these days. Ever had buffalo cauliflower bites? Or crispy cauliflower tacos? Or cauliflower gnocchi casserole? There are endless cauliflower recipe ideas: so why not try it grilled? It’s one of Alex and my favorite cooking methods, giving it a smoky and charred flavor. Get ready for your favorite new way to eat this cruciferous veggie! Here’s how to grill cauliflower, and a few ways we like to serve it.

How to grill cauliflower

You might think to grill cauliflower, you just throw on raw florets until they’re lightly charred. Wrong! Because cauliflower has such a tough texture raw, you’ll need to cook the florets prior to grilling them. Otherwise you end up with very tough cauliflower that’s charred and blackened: not tender and delicious! So in our instructions on how to grill cauliflower, we add a step to steam it in a pan. This makes sure that it’s perfectly tender prior to grilling. We use the same technique of cooking veggies before grilling them for hard veggies like potatoes and carrots.

Here’s how to grill cauliflower

1. Preheat a grill to medium high heat.
2. Cut the cauliflower into large florets.
3. Place the florets into a pan with water. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until fork tender.
4. Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Grill for about 4 minutes per side, until tender.

See the recipe below for more details on the exact method. We’re also included a BBQ version of this grilled cauliflower that uses our Homemade BBQ Sauce. In this case, you’d paint on the BBQ sauce before grilling (instead of the olive oil), and then paint on another coat after grilling.

Video: How to cut cauliflower

Now, the only tricky part to working with cauliflower is actually chopping it into florets! Have you ever tried to chop cauliflower and get crumbles all over the counter? We have a method for you that’s much simpler: and you don’t end up with as much mess! Watch the video below to see me cutting cauliflower in our kitchen.

How to eat grilled cauliflower?

There are so many ways to eat grilled cauliflower: here are a few of our favorite ideas:

• With BBQ sauce, as a side: it would be a perfect side to grilled shrimp or veggie burgers. Here’s our BBQ grilled cauliflower — and you could use more BBQ sauce for dipping!
• With teriyaki: Use the same instructions as for BBQ sauce but use our homemade teriyaki sauce. This would be great alongside seared tuna or in our tropical mango bowls.
• In a sandwich: use the BBQ sauce method and throw the grilled cauliflower into a sandwich with blue cheese dressing like this Grilled Buffalo Cauliflower sandwich.
• In a taco: Instead of the crispy cauliflower in these Cauliflower Tacos with Yum Yum sauce, throw in grilled cauliflower.
• On a pita: Just like this shawarma recipe, throw the grilled cauliflower into a pita and top with crunchy veggies and tahini sauce.

Looking for more grilling ideas?

And, if you’re looking for more grilling ideas for a cookout, we’ve got you covered:

• Grilled Teriyaki Mango Skewers
• Loaded Grilled Nachos
• Grilled Eggplant Salad with Yogurt
• Greek Grilled Veggie Skewers
• Grilled Vegetable Pasta
• Grilled Eggplant with Herbed Quinoa
• Grilled Veggie Fajitas
• Pesto Portobello Mushroom Burger
• Tomato & Grilled Eggplant Stacked Sandwich
• Grilled Carrots with Lime and Cilantro
• Grilled Romaine Lettuce
• Simple Grilled Paella
• 100 Grilling Recipes
• Mint Pesto Grilled Cheese on the Grill

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.

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