Who needs beef when you could have the most tender, flavorful, lemon garlic seasoned roasted cauliflower steak!? Paired with a side of super simple fire-roasted red pepper pasta, and you’ve won dinner! Vegan, gluten-free.
Cauliflower steak is super popular right now but I don’t just jump on any food trends unless they stick around for a while. If they’re around for the long haul then that means they really are delicious and worth the time to try it!
I wasn’t sure what to expect with these cauliflower steaks. I love cauliflower, you all know that I think it’s magical! You can do so much with it:
- lemon turmeric roasted cauliflower
- alfredo cauliflower sauce
- spicy cauliflower wings
- spicy thai cauliflower soup
- cauliflower crust pizza
- ginger fried cauliflower rice
- buffalo cauliflower tacos
- cauliflower tofu tacos
How to Make Cauliflower Steak
Well, add one more delicious way to prepare cauliflower to the list.
Cauliflower steaks are seriously delicious. Somehow, they don’t taste the same as roasted cauliflower florets, they taste even better. Maybe it’s because of the way the steaks are cut? The flat edges get all toasty brown and crispy, and the inside is so tender and buttery.
The cauliflower steaks are really simple to prepare. Cut them into thick slices, season well, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on top. Roast to perfection and you’re ready for dinner!
The fresh lemon juice mixed with the garlic gives it the perfect tangy bite. It’s so simple, so fresh, and so tasty.
Fire-Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
I couldn’t serve the lemon garlic cauliflower steak by iteself. I needed to serve something colorful, filling, and easy along with it.
I knew that I had a jar of fire-roasted red peppers in the pantry. I’ve used them to make pasta sauce in the past and Travis really liked it, so I thought it would be a delicious flavor combo with the lemon cauliflower. The flavor of the fire-roasted pepper sauce is bright and intense; but when you balance the acidity with a little bit of pure maple syrup, it’s really delicious.
It’s really easy to make too, that’s another bonus. Just drain the oil/water out of the jar and put the peppers into a food processer with seasonings and maple syrup. Blend on high until its smooth and just pour it over the hot noodles. That’s it!
I also added some fresh spinach that I had leftover from dinner the night before. The spinach is totally optional but I do like the contrast of colors in the pasta.
Ingredients
Cauliflower steaks -
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder (Or more, depending on how big the head of cauliflower is)
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lemon, juiced
Red pepper pasta-
- 28 oz jar of fire roasted red peppers, drained
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (or more to taste)
- 16 oz pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice a head of cauliflower into 1-inch "steaks." Drizzle olive oil over each slice, use your fingers to rub it in all the cracks and crevices. Sprinkle garlic powder, salt, and pepper on both sides. Put the seasoned steaks on a parchment-lined tray.
- Roast for 30 minutes, flip, and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and squeeze the juice from 1/2 of a lemon over the cauliflower.
- Roast for 2-5 additional minutes, or until the edges are browned and crispy. Squeeze the remaining lemon juice over the cauliflower steaks and serve hot.
- Red pepper pasta-
- Drain the water/oil from the jar. Add the peppers, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and maple syrup to a high powered blender.
- Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Pour the sauce over hot noodles and mix to coat each noodle.
Notes
- Make sure to watch the cauliflower steaks while they’re roasting. You want them to be brown and crispy on the edges, not burnt.
- You could substitute tomato sauce instead of the red pepper sauce.
- If you have time to roast a head of garlic, you could mash it and rub it all over the cauliflower steaks instead of using garlic powder.
