Mexican roasted cauliflower might just become your new favorite veggie side dish. Cauliflower florets tossed with some flavorful spices and roasted until crispy and caramelized, served with a healthy squeeze of lime juice, cilantro, red onion, and maybe even some avocado for good measure. Gluten free, paleo, vegan, AND whole30 friendly!
I don’t know about you guys, but if you’re anything like me, you go crazy for just about any roasted vegetable. And roasted cauliflower has always been on the top of my list. There’s something about the way it gets all crispy, tender, sweet, and salty at the same time that makes it straight up IRRESISTIBLE to dig into.
When roasting cauliflower I usually go for the classic combo of avocado oil with salt and pepper, just because it’s easy and also totally freaking delicious. I have definitely been known to roast and devour a whole head of cauliflower solo style, but sometimes dinner deserves to be made a little more special by stepping the flavor up a notch (or two!).
This mexican roasted cauliflower does exactly that. By adding just a few little extra spices and garnishes you take a side dish that is already pretty much the best thing ever to the next level of DELICIOUS.
AKA –> craaaaazy delicious.
And seriously, I know I say this all the time, but it couldn’t be much easier.
how to make mexican roasted cauliflower
Essentially mexican roasted cauliflower is made the same way that you would make a more simple pan of this yummy veggie. All I did here was add a few spices that you most likely already have in your spice rack before roasting, and then chopped up some fresh herbs, red onion, and sliced some lime wedges to finish off the dish once it comes out of the oven.
What spices do you need?
- chili powder
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- ground cumin
- salt & pepper
And the garnishes…
- lime wedges
- fresh cilantro
- red onion
- avocado – if you really go all in
This simple flavor additions are the magic making ingredients to take your roasted cauliflower from good to CRAZY DELICIOUS.
how to make sure your cauliflower is crispy
There’s two sure fire tricks to getting crispy roasted cauliflower:
- Make sure your oven is hot enough
- Don’t over crowd the pan
If your oven is not hot enough the cauliflower will just get soft and mushy before it has a chance to crisp up and caramelize.
And then even if your oven is hot enough, if the baking pan is over crowded, the cauliflower will steam before it has a chance to crisp up.
Follow the recipe below and you will be enjoying CRISPY, tender, flavorful mexican roasted cauliflower in no time.
And to top it off this recipe is gluten free, paleo, vegan, AND whole30 friendly. A win/win for anyone your feeding – yourself, your family, some friends, or a beautiful combination of all three.
Mexican Roasted Cauliflower {paleo + vegan + whole30}
Description
Mexican roasted cauliflower might just become your new favorite veggie side dish. Cauliflower florets tossed with some flavorful spices and roasted until crispy and caramelized, served with a healthy squeeze of lime juice, cilantro, red onion, and maybe even some avocado for good measure. Gluten free, paleo, vegan, AND whole30 friendly!
Ingredients
for the cauliflower
- 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets (mine was about 2 1/2 pounds – if you’re using a smaller cauliflower, reduce the amount of avocado oil, salt, and spices every so slightly. You can always add more salt after it’s done cooking)
- about 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon back pepper
To finish the dish:
- cilantro
- red or green onion
- fresh lime wedges
- avocado
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Toss cauliflower florets with avocado oil, dried spices, and salt + pepper. Make sure the spices look pretty well distributed.
- Spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat and roast for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip cauliflower so it can brown evenly, and roast another 10-12 minutes or so, until tender, crisp on the edges, and nice and caramelized.
- Remove from the oven and serve topped with fresh cilantro, red or green onion and lime wedges + avocado for some extra healthy fat!
6 comments
Can I sub a different oil? I have coconut, peanut, olive but not avocado. What do you think would taste the best? the no bake peanut butter cookies were awesome, I made them the other day. I just love your blog and I make recipes from it 2-3 times per month 🙂
Hi Janette! I would substitute coconut oil or peanut oil since they’re both good for high heat. Olive oil would work, too, but it’s not as stable for high heat cooking. I think they all would taste just fine ☺️ If your coconut oil is virgin (or unrefined), it might impart a coconut taste, but refined coconut oil has a fairly neutral flavor.
Thank you so much for commenting and making recipes!! I hope you enjoy this cauliflower – it’s one of our favorite side dishes!!
This roasted cauliflower is amazingly delicious a real explosion of flavor on your taste buds, thank you for sharing this healthy and scrumptious recipe!
Yes absolutely!! So happy you enjoyed the super delicious veg recipe!
This was a great recipe all the way. I loved the addition of red onion and cilantro. This is a new staple for us!
★★★★★
Aww YAY! So happy you love it. Fresh garnishes always have a way of adding that extra *something* to a basic recipe 🙂