Enjoy cauliflower in its nearly unadulterated glory with these Cauliflower Steaks with Smoked Paprika Spice Rub. Step aside cauliflower rice, pizza crust, and all that craziness, and let's embrace this glorious vegetable!

If your meatless Monday needs an upgrade or your weeknight vegetable sides are boring and lame, give these Cauliflower Steaks with Smoked Paprika Spice Rub a try. Loaded with flavor and topped with crunchy pistachios and salty capers, you don’t want to miss this dish.

There are a few reasons I wanted to use cauliflower to create something special, but the main inspiration for this recipe was to showcase the heck out of it! Yes, cauliflower is mild and kind of lame, but recently, cauliflower has been doing some crazy shiz. It’s passing itself off as pizza crust, rice, and all sorts of wild stuff! Cauliflower can really transform, but let’s not forget that cauliflower is beautiful and delicious just the way it is! Yes, I did call this a “steak” which may feel like I am passing this vegetable off as something other than what it really is, but read on, and you will see that this recipe truly is about embracing cauliflower in all its glory. Each “steak” is simply a spice-rubbed, roasted, gorgeous slab of otherwise unadulterated straight cauliflower.

Sure, cauliflower can do some magical stuff and be passed off as something else, but let’s just reign that in for a minute to appreciate this beautiful veg.

 

Ingredients

1 medium head of cauliflower
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp raw cane sugar
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp smoke paprika
½ tsp black pepper
1/2 cup pistachios
1/4 cup capers

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 F
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, sugar, and spices to form a paste.
  3. Slice head of cauliflower by placing the stem down and slicing 1 1/2 to 2 inch slabs
    1. Note: I recommend keeping as much of the stem on in order to help hold the steak together.
  4. Spoon the paste evenly over each side of each steak.
  5. Place steaks on a greased baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
  6. Garnish with pistachios and capers and enjoy warm.
Enjoy cauliflower in its nearly unadulterated glory with these Cauliflower Steaks with Smoked Paprika Spice Rub. Step aside cauliflower rice, pizza crust, and all that craziness, and let's embrace this glorious vegetable!
Enjoy cauliflower in its nearly unadulterated glory with these Cauliflower Steaks with Smoked Paprika Spice Rub. Step aside cauliflower rice, pizza crust, and all that craziness, and let’s embrace this glorious vegetable!
If your meatless Monday needs an upgrade or your weeknight vegetable sides are boring and lame, give these Cauliflower Steaks with Smoked Paprika Spice Rub a try.
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If your meatless Monday needs an upgrade or your weeknight vegetable sides are boring and lame, give these Cauliflower Steaks with Smoked Paprika Spice Rub a try. Loaded with flavor and topped with crunchy pistachios and salty capers, you don't want to miss this dish.
Author: Maddie Augustin
Ingredients
  • 1 medium head of cauliflower
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp raw cane sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp smoke paprika
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 cup pistachios
  • 1/4 cup capers
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 F
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, sugar, and spices to form a paste.
  3. Slice head of cauliflower by placing the stem down and slicing 1 1/2 to 2 inch slabs, keeping the stem on to hold the steak together.
  4. Spoon the paste evenly over each side of each steak.
  5. Place steaks on a greased baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
  6. Garnish with pistachios and capers and enjoy warm.