This spicy roasted cauliflower is a quick and easy side dish made with a whole cauliflower broken into florets and roasted in a chili powder and paprika spice blend until crispy at the edges and tender throughout.
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients
Email Grocery ListDirections
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
Cut the cauliflower into quarters. Then cut away the thickest part of the core. You can now pull the florets apart with your fingers or cut them with the tip of a paring knife. You want the florets to be 1 1/2 inches or so in size. (Cutting the cauliflower into uniform pieces is essential for even roasting. You should have about 4 generous cups florets.)
Dump the cauliflower in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, chili powder, paprika, salt, and a good grinding of black pepper. Pour the oil mixture over the cauliflower florets and toss to thoroughly coat.
Spread the cauliflower in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment and roast, stirring once, for 20 to 30 minutes. You want the cauliflower to be deep golden and beginning to crisp at the edges.
Serve the roasted cauliflower with the lime wedges and cilantro sauce, if desired. Originally published October 6, 2014.
Crisper Spicy Roasted Cauliflower Variation
The author notes that for even crisper results, you should rely on your oven’s convection setting, if it has one, and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Recipe Testers Reviews
I love cauliflower AND smoked paprika AND lime, so the combination of flavors in this spicy roasted cauliflower recipe intrigued me. Factor in the fact that the cauliflower is roasted and, well, this recipe is just heavenly. My family and I loved this.
The flavors were amazing. This is a great side dish or it could even be a main dish for a vegan or vegetarian. Totally great!
I like this spicy roasted cauliflower recipe for its simplicity and also for the smoky spicy flavors that are so good they will make even a non-cauliflower-eater change his or her mind! The squeeze of lime brightens the smoky flavor and creates a bit of a sauce with the spices.
The recipe is easy to follow and the timing was spot-on. I roasted my cauliflower at 400°F in my convection oven. As suggested, the cauliflower got a turn after 15 minutes, then another turn after another 10 minutes, when it was very tender, but not quite golden brown. After a total cooking time of 29 minutes, a beautiful golden brown hue blanketed the cauliflower.
I feel like the side dish could be elevated a bit by adding sliced fresh jalapeño and maybe even some sliced onions along with the cauliflower while roasting to give texture to the dish. But just as is, the dish is still delicious, easy, and certain to be your quick, go-to cauliflower dish.
This spicy roasted cauliflower recipe is a winner. You can have melt-in-your-mouth cauliflower within an hour.
It took about 15 minutes to prepare the dish. I used the convection setting on the oven at 425°F. The total roasting time was 25 minutes. I rotated the pan and stirred at the 15-minute mark. It’s a fine line between crisp edges and burning the cauliflower. I would recommend to start checking during the last 10 minutes of bake time. I had some extremely crisp cauliflower, but it still tasted good.
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Excellent. Will definitely make it again.
Thanks, T. Appreciate you taking the time to let us know.
Tasty. I ended up using frozen so I steamed it then roasted for 10 minutes.
Thanks so much for your comment, Denise. Really glad that you were able to find a method to make it work with frozen cauliflower.
This was great especially with pepper/lime combo!
Thanks, Kate! So glad that you loved it.
I bought myself one of those mini-smokers with a dome and have been having a blast smoking everything in sight! And, smoking my own Paprika! Killer. This recipe gets done tonight I absolutely know I will love it!
Andi, I, too, love my smoker!!
Well aren’t these just the most delectable little nuggets of deliciousness! We like serious heat in my family, so next time I’ll use ancho chile powder or spike the liquid with some cayenne pepper. If served with a dipping sauce, I feel like this cauliflower is substantial enough to stand on its own as a main dish. As a loud-and-proud carnivore, I can’t believe I just said that!
Kristen, you don’t stand alone. Many a carnivore agree with you!
What is the sauce in the picture?
Lacey, it’s a green herb sauce that’s not unlike chimichurri, just with less heat and more herbs. We like the cauliflower spectacularly well on its own, though, we gotta say!
Please print the recipe for that sauce somewhere. It looks amazing!
We’ll see if we can sweet talk the publisher into sharing the recipe with us, Suzanna…
Google “Messy Baker: Recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Green Sauce” and it will come up. It’s a cilantro dipping sauce made of 1/4 cup canola or light veggie oil, 1 T fresh lime juice, 1 T fresh lemon juice, 1 cup rough chopped cilantro, 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped, 1 tsp honey (or sugar or agave nectar), fine sea salt to taste, fresh ground pepper. Blend it in a blender and scrape down the sides as necessary. Can’t imagine why the publisher wouldn’t give it to you!
Carol, many thanks for this! We actually were able to finagle the recipe from the publisher and, per your nudging, posted the Cilantro Sauce recipe for all to enjoy! Many, many thanks for taking the time to respond with the recipe!