Cauliflower belongs to cruciferous vegetables, also known as wild cabbage. Scientifically, it is known as Brassica oleracea species, belonging to the Brassica genus. It is one of the annual flowering trees. 

This wild cauliflower has many variants which were inbred, such as broccoli. Cauliflower tastes slightly sweet at the top and slightly fleshy in the green parts. Though people generally eat the white part and avoid the green part of this versatile vegetable, the tender green part is delicious with health benefits, making it edible. 

Now that we have gathered a bit about cauliflower let us move toward the next part of this article, i.e., how to cook cauliflower.

How to Chop Cauliflower? 

Though there is no rule for cutting cauliflower, you can chop as you like. The white part of the cauliflower is preferable for eating. However, certain other parts can be cattle fed or used as compost. 

Cutting cauliflower is easy. To chop the cauliflower, wash the cauliflower thoroughly and take your favourite knife. (PRO TIP – always use a sharp knife to avoid cuts and wounds.) First, remove the big leaves from the cauliflower, then break or cut the extended stems of the cauliflower. Once done, then proceed to chop off the stem from the cauliflower. After chopping the stem, you will be able to remove the stalks of the cauliflower easily by hand. If you want, you can completely remove the big tender green stalks with the help of a knife. Or you can cook to eat it as well.  

But in case you want any changes in the size, like you either want big chunks or maybe smaller chunks, then use the knife without any doubt. 

How to Cook Cauliflower?

1. Cauliflower Rice

Craving for something healthy yet tasty? Here is a very popular dish in this article, i.e., how to cook cauliflower.

This dish is extremely vegan-friendly and keto friendly. This dish is ideal for those suffering from obesity, those who want to lose weight, or anyone who wants a low-carb alternative. This dish is extremely flexible and versatile, and you can eat it with curry or any soupy dishes; combining it in healthy salad bowls is one of the great choices.

To cook this cauliflower rice, you need a lot of patience to prepare it. 

You will need a food grater, or a mixer grinder with a grating blade will also work here. Our recommendation will be when you prepare cauliflower this way, make sure you grate it not too big or too small grate its grain size, which will give it a rice-like appearance.

Ingredients

• Cauliflower
• Oil of your choice 
• Salt 
• Black pepper

This whole cauliflower rice can be both made from scratch or store-bought. But if you want to eat organic and extremely fresh, go homemade because the store-bought contains preservatives.

Recipe

• Wash the cauliflower well before, with your vegetable cleanser if required, or just plain water wash is enough if it looks good on the outside. 
• Now that we have done the basics, let us move forward on how to cook cauliflower.
• You will only be required to do the white part of the cauliflower. So you can separate the cauliflower florets or keep them intact while grating them. 
• For less time consumption, use your food processor with a grating blade; on the other side, take your sweet time to hand grate it as it grates easily and rapidly. 
• Now, this process of cooking riced cauliflower florets cannot get simpler than this. Turn on your gas stove or induction, and place your cooking pot over the cooking top.
• Now gather all the ingredients, let the cooking pot be hot, and then add the oil of your choice; for a healthier option, you can opt for avocado oil or olive oil, then rest for a few seconds to heat the oil.
• Now add salt before anything; it helps make the oil less reactive or bouncy when in contact with water droplets, lessening the chances of minor oil burns.
• Once done, you can add the grated cauliflower florets; if you like heat, you can add paprika powder; otherwise, simple black pepper also works for this simple recipe. Cover it with the pot lead and occasionally stir until it is cooked.
• Plate it in a serving dish, and it’s ready to eat.

Though this was an amazingly tasty and simple recipe on how to cook cauliflower, we have more exciting and tasty dishes on cauliflower, so read till the end.

2. Steamed cauliflower fritters

Enough eating cauliflower as the main course; let us turn the simple boring cauliflower into a healthier, tastier, yet heart-contenting snack.

This quick snack only needs some spice mix to make it more fun. Other than that, this recipe includes deep frying. So without creating much suspense, let’s dig into how to cook cauliflower as fritters.

This fritter recipe is an easy one. Though many other tasty fritters exist, such as onion and zucchini, cauliflower fritters are among the most underrated fritters ever.

You can cook these cauliflower fritters with other vegetables as a snack, or you can cook them solo. Also, this recipe does not include any special ingredients you must buy, but another deal is if you run out of the grocery item.

Recipe

• You can steam your medium cauliflower florets or ground them using other vegetables, like a julienned onion, and give a good spice rub and shape them into a tightly packed oval or a sphere.
• You can use spices like onion powder, salt, and pepper, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, lemon pepper seasoning, fresh parsley with fresh garlic powder, or roasted garlic in olive oil; you can add any of these spice mixes or other spice mixes of your choice, and let it sit for a few minutes.
• Now make a batter with water and all-purpose flour or gram flour. Add semolina for extra crunch and optional; then add salt and pepper if you want. Also, prepare a plate of bread crumbs.
• Take your deep fryer out, and let it warm. Dip your cauliflower florets in the batter first, then coat it well in the bread crumb and fry it until golden brown.
• Take it out: serve it on a serving plate and enjoy with a seasoning of lemon juice, salt and pepper on top. You can also opt for other condiments as per your taste.

3. Cauliflower pizza 

Another tasty option of how to cook cauliflower is baking your cauliflower pizza.

Cauliflower in pizza? Yuck!! We know you got this feeling but do not worry; we got you sorted here. It is not a cauliflower topping in pizza; rather, it is a crust.

Ingredients

• Cauliflower
• Cheese
• Herbs
• Eggs (optional)

Recipe

• Use freshly picked cauliflower or frozen cauliflower. Pick the cauliflower florets separately from the whole cauliflower. Steam the cauliflower florets.
• Now use your steamed cauliflower and put it in the food processor till rice-like consistency. Strain the excess water in a cotton cloth by hand pressing for an extra crunchy crust. 
• Now combine the cauliflower with a cheese of your choice, garlic powder, one whole egg optional, Italian herbs like oregano, and black salt pepper, if you like, to a dough-like consistency. 
• Once done, spread the dough flat and round on parchment paper and bake it in the oven. Once baked, your pizza crust is ready.
• Use the sauce of your choice. Also, you can use readymade marinara sauce or stir garlic first, followed by tomato red chill and other herbs blended in homemade sauce.
• Spread the sauce in the crust, add your favourite toppings, bake, eat, and repeat it. 

4. Indian Cauliflower Potato Stir Fry

There are many ways to cook cauliflower, but this one is our favourite, especially if you love savoury or umami flavours.

Ingredients 

• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Potato
• Vegetable Oil or extra virgin olive oil
• Whole cumin seeds
• Salt and black pepper powder
• A bit of garam masala (Indian spice and is optional)
• Chat masala (Indian spice is optional.)

Recipe 

A few amazing things about this recipe are that you can add vegetables of your choice while making this dish or skip the other items on the grocery list you don’t like. This recipe is vegan-friendly and budget friendly too. This recipe is so good that it almost goes with Indian bread or rice. You can eat this easy-to-cook meal at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is a great appetizer; you can also use this as the meal’s main course.

• Wash all the vegetables, dice them individually, and keep them separately. Now all you will do is add the spices and stir them.
• Turn on the stove, take the frying pan, add the oil of your choice, and let it be hot. ( pro tip – Once hot, add salt to the oil so the oil does not spit out of the pan).
• Add the Cumin seeds and spices and let it cook for a few seconds, then add your hard vegetables like potatoes and carrots first, followed by the cauliflower, and then the tomatoes. You can also add vegetables of your choice, as mentioned earlier.
• Then add the rest of the spices one by one. Stir fry it for a few minutes until it is softer. Also, do not let it turn brown from frying, then add enough water before covering the pan to the length of the pan so that it will get absorbed till the dish cooks fully.

Bottom Line

Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable that can be prepared in many ways. Cauliflower has many amazing dishes all over the world, each one unique and tasty.

In our article on how to cook cauliflower, we posted about these four amazing recipes. Other than that, many underrated dishes are out there; let us know in the comment section about your favourite recipe for cauliflower. 

Last Updated on March 18, 2024 by ayeshayusuf