Here’s a delicious recipe for Italian roasted cauliflower that is very easy to make. Cauliflower often gets a bad rap, but this is one of the best ways I love to eat this healthy vegetable.
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This recipe for roasted cauliflower can be made as a simple snack or as a side dish to a larger meal.
Recipe Summary
This recipe was inspired by my Sicilian mother-in-law many years ago, although I’m not sure she ever made it this particular way. I think if she were still alive today she’d be very pleased!
It’s a super easy recipe – simply chop the cauliflower into florets, coat with olive oil, bake it in the oven and top with cheese part way through. The end result? Soft cauliflower that is aromatic and tastes amazing.
Ingredients
To start, you only need three (yes three) ingredients. Exact measurements are in my recipe card below.
- One fresh head of cauliflower (do not use frozen)
- 3-4 Tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- Grated Romano (or other) Italian cheese. If you don’t have Romano, you can use another Italian grated cheese instead, like Parmesan.
- Cracked black pepper (optional)
How to Make Italian Roasted Cauliflower
Here are the steps and instructions for making Italian roasted cauliflower.
Step 1. First, preheat the oven to 425F
Step 2. Cut the cauliflower into very small pieces as shown below and place in a 13×9 baking pan. I like to line my baking pan with parchment for easier clean up.
Step 3. Once finished, drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower and using a spoon or your hands make sure that all the cauliflower is coated with the olive oil. You can also use a plastic zip lock bag if you want.
Step 4. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is slightly tender when you pierce it with a fork. In other words, you don’t want it to be mush, but you also don’t want it to be difficult to insert a fork.
If the pieces are as small as in my image and video, then you will be fine.
Step 5. At this point, remove pan from oven and sprinkle the cheese all over the cauliflower and top with the black pepper. Then bake for another 10 minutes or so. By now you should be really smelling the awesome aroma of the cheese and the cauliflower and it smells… mmm mmm delicioso!
Step 6. When ready, remove from oven and enjoy.
You will want to keep the cauliflower warm until you are ready to serve it, so turn off the oven and keep the dish in there. If concerned with overcooking, then remove it from the oven until about 10 minutes before serving and place back in oven.
PRO TIP: When done, do not cover the cauliflower tightly with foil to keep warm. This will cause the cauliflower to continue cooking and become mushy. However, what you can do is place foil loosely on top so the steam can escape.
Recipe Video
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Recipe Card
Roasted Cauliflower with Romano Cheese
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
- 3-4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 head cauliflower chopped do not use frozen
- 2 Tbsp Grated Romano or Parmesan.
- dash cracked black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Place chopped cauliflower florets in a 13×9 baking dish.1 head cauliflower chopped
- Drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower, and mix so the cauliflower is coated with the oil. You can also do this in a bag and then add it to the baking dish.3-4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is slightly tender when you pierce it with a fork.
- Remove pan from oven and sprinkle cheese over the cauliflower and bake another 10 minutes or so.2 Tbsp Grated Romano
- When ready and cauliflower tenderness is to your liking, remove from oven and enjoy. You will want to keep the cauliflower warm until you are ready to serve, so turn off the oven and keep the dish in there.
Notes
- Adjust the quantity of cheese and oil according to how much cauliflower you have. Since cauliflower heads come in various sizes, it’s hard to have an exact measurement.
- You can use frozen cauliflower but it may not come out as “fresh”. I like to use frozen cauliflower for recipes that require sauteing or casserole type dishes.
Nutrition
Ways to Use Italian Roasted Cauliflower
Surprise, surprise, there are plenty of ways to use roasted cauliflower in your meals. Cauliflower has a distinctive and strong flavor, so you want to make sure to pair it with noncompeting flavors. The Italian flavor of the Romano cheese makes it a great side dish for any pasta or meat recipe.
You can also incorporate the roasted cauliflower in with pasta directly. Just follow my recipe for pasta with cauliflower, and just use the roasted cauliflower instead of steamed cauliflower.
Cauliflower Benefits
Cauliflower is a part of the broccoli family; that’s why they look so much alike.
Cauliflower gets such a bad name, but it truly shouldn’t. It is high in vitamin C, B-6, Magnesium and Potassium. Of course, however, the best way to get the benefits of this or most vegetables is to eat them raw.
I don’t know how much nutrition is left after roasting it as I do in this recipe, but I do know it’s still better than most snacks or prepared foods found at the grocery store. If you want to start eating healthier (even just snacks), the first place to start is in the produce section!
Additional Cauliflower Recipes
Try these fried and battered cauliflower for a delightful snack.
For a pasta dish, I like to have cauliflower and pasta together.
Other Similar Side Dishes
If you enjoy this type of recipe, you’ll also really enjoy these. Check out more of our Italian side dishes here.
Enjoy this cooked Italian green beans recipe with olive oil and garlic. Easy and simple
Roasted red potatoes with rosemary is a great side dish perfect for meats and chicken meals.
Enjoy!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also enjoy our Italian Broccoli recipe or our Broccolini which are both healthy, easy and delicious!
I like to add green & red bell peppers & a large sweet onion cut into 1″ pieces. The peppers & onion become sweeter as they cook. We love cauliflower cooked this way.
Thank you, Colly! I’ve never had it with peppers, but sounds delicious. I’ll have to try that combo!