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An ultra healthy vegetable-filled snack or side, this roasted cauliflower is bursting with flavors like lemon, garlic, paprika, cumin, and coriander.

Spiced Roasted Cauliflower

In the days before we started cooking, I didn’t pay much attention to cauliflower. It was one of those throw-away vegetables – the one that everyone passes up on veggie trays. I’ll admit, raw cauliflower isn’t quite as appealing as some of the other veggies on the tray. But it’s a whole different ballgame when you stick it in the oven. Roasting cauliflower brings out a flavor and texture that’s so delicious, it’s hard to resist gobbling up an entire head in one sitting!

At least, we think so. So to add to our current collection of roasted cauliflower recipes, here’s a Mediterranean-spiced version to add to your repertoire! We developed this spiced and roasted cauliflower recipe as a complement to our Mediterranean bulgur and chickpea salad, and they were the perfect match. This recipe would also work well as a side for a wide variety of main courses, or as a snack (it’s got that popcorn-like addicting quality).

Our favorite cauliflower recipe? Perfect Roasted Cauliflower

spiced roasted cauliflower in bowl

How to roast cauliflower

Roasting cauliflower is easy, and there are a few basic steps we always follow when roasting vegetables. First, it’s important that you chop the cauliflower into pieces of roughly the same size. This will ensure that the cauliflower pieces roast evenly and at the same rate. Once you’ve chopped the cauliflower, you’ll toss it in the olive oil and spices. We’ve found that 1 tablespoon of olive oil is enough for an entire head of cauliflower—remember, you want the cauliflowers slightly slick with oil, not drowning in the stuff!

The final and most important step to making roasted cauliflower is to turn your oven to a high heat. You’re looking for a slightly crispy, caramelized exterior and a fluffy, fully cooked interior. If your oven is set too low, the cauliflower will bake but won’t be properly roasted. Set the temperature too high, and the cauliflower will burn in minutes.

To brighten up this roasted cauliflower, we squeezed some fresh lemon juice over top of it. This step is totally optional, but it really does transform this dish!

cauliflower and lemon

Looking for more cauliflower recipes?

If you love this cruciferous veggie, here are some more cauliflower recipes to try:

This spiced roasted cauliflower recipe is…

Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free.

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Spiced Roasted Cauliflower

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4.3 from 4 reviews

An ultra healthy vegetable-filled snack or side, this roasted cauliflower is bursting with flavors like lemon, garlic, paprika, cumin, and coriander.

  • Author: a Couple Cooks
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Fresh ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Mince the garlic. Zest 1 lemon.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, garlic, and lemon zest with the cumin, coriander, paprika,      red pepper flakes, olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Stir to coat evenly.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cauliflower onto the sheet. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. To serve, squeeze over fresh lemon juice and if desired, add additional kosher salt to taste. Serve warm.

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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37 Comments

  1. SNL says:

    – I’m also in the camp that had no idea roasted cauliflower makes cauliflower taste 10x better. I can’t believe I’ve missed out for so long!
    – My Mum doesn’t like lemon in savoury food or roasted garlic so I omitted them both, and I also omitted red pepper flakes (never seen them in the UK). Otherwise I followed the recipe as written and absolutely loved it!
    – Next time I’ll chop the cauliflower larger than the pictures as mine were overcooked by 20-25 minutes in a fan oven, 25 degrees C lower than temperature stated in the recipe (after converting of course) as you’re supposed too. It would have been 5+ stars all the way otherwise :)






  2. Amit says:

    This recipe is the best. Goes great on its own as well as in a falafel sandwich! Yum!

  3. Leanne Lanham says:

    We made this for Easter and everyone LOVED it and wanted the recipe. I freshly ground the coriander seeds and it was the perfect flavor. This one is definitely a KEEPER.

  4. Chessie says:

    Oh hell YEAH! This is wonderful. I’m scarfing it down right now. Thanks for the recipe!






    1. Chessie says:

      Woops, how did this come out only three stars? :-( I meant to give it five. Moderator, if you can fix this, please do! Otherwise, consider this my apology.






      1. Sonja says:

        Haha! It came out as 5 stars now. THANK YOU!!! So glad you loved it :)

  5. Kathia says:

    What happens if I don’t use the sheet paper and put it straight onto the baking sheet? Trying this recipe out now! Super excited :)






    1. Alex says:

      I hope it worked out! The parchment paper just helps the cleanup process :)

  6. David says:

    This is a fantastic recipe. We served it last night for 5 guests, and all of them asked for the recipe. This time around, we put all spices and oil (used 1-2TBS of oil) in a large plastic bowl with lid, and shook it all around. It coated the cauliflower more evenly.

    Great, great, amazing recipe…for a sometimes bland vegetable. Thank you!

    1. Sonja says:

      You are so welcome! We’re so glad it was a hit! This is a favorite of ours :)

  7. Joanna says:

    Made this for dinner tonight, it was delicious! I was eating it as I dished up dinner, and as I cleared away afterwards! My 22 month old daughter loved it too, she ate all of hers before anything else on her plate, then some of mine. Seriously good! Kinda hoping my husband doesn’t like it when he gets home…

    1. Sonja says:

      So glad you enjoyed this — and your daughter too! I love hearing about recipes that kids eat up! We don’t have any (yet!), but I imagine it will be an interesting challenge learning how to please both kids and adults when that time comes. Thanks for writing!

  8. Melissa says:

    As I type this, I am eating the cauliflower in this recipe. All I can say is DELISH! It is FABULOUS! My daughter wanted some but I don’t think there is enough to share. LOL!

    1. Alex says:

      Haha! I, too, find that cauliflower always seem small when they are roasted…

  9. Laura (Tutti Dolci) says:

    I found your recipe via Pinterest and tried it out tonight – so delish! It was the perfect amount of spices and will be on rotation in my kitchen from now on. Thanks for sharing! :)

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