This firecracker cauliflower is sauced with a spicy blend of sriracha, peanut butter, vegan butter and miso, then baked to perfection. The outside is fiery, rich and full of flavor while the inside is soft and tender. Serve it with vegan ranch or bleu cheese dressing and experience an explosion of flavor!
I’m not sure why I had urge to crank up my oven during late August here in Boston, but I had a head of cauliflower and a craving for some sriracha, so this firecracker cauliflower happened.
How to make this recipe
Start with a big ‘ol head of cauliflower to make your firecracker cauliflower. The cauliflower head should be firm and pale, with no brown spots.
If you cut away some of the stems and bones around the core, you’ve created a little cavity to pour in some spicy sauce. This one’s got vegan butter, garlic, peanut butter, sriracha and miso.
Double the sauce!
Something I wish I had done for this recipe: doubled the sauce! It all soaks into the cauliflower, but some extra + warmed sauce on the side would have been a bonus.
Once the cavity is filled with sauce, paint your cauliflower. Get into those nooks and crannies.
This is the position it will start out roasting in. I left the end unsauced, so it wouldn’t burn.
Making the perfect firecracker cauliflower
Once it’s baked for about 30 minutes, flip in your cast iron pan and paint the top all over with the sauce. Roast for 30 minutes more, or until it’s toasty and perfect. During these last 30 minutes, remove from the oven, tip the pan to the side so all the liquid collects in one end. Dip in a large spoon and repeatedly toss all over the top until there is no liquid left. Do this twice!
How to serve this dish
Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Vegan bleu cheese or vegan ranch dressing on the side for dunking goes perfectly here.
This will fill your kitchen and belly with goodness. Sriracha FTW.
More delicious recipes that use cauliflower!
Cauliflower and Mushroom Curry
Cauliflower Puree with Roasted Mushrooms
Print
Firecracker Cauliflower
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Firecracker cauliflower that’s been roasted in a garlic, vegan butter, sriracha, miso and peanut butter sauce. It’s perfectly spicy and easy to make!
Ingredients
for the firecracker sauce
- 2 TB olive oil
- 4–6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
- 1/2 cup sriracha
- 2 TB miso (I used chickpea miso, but any kind would work)
for the cauliflower
- one head of cauliflower
- 2 TB olive oil
- medium-sized pyrex dish filled halfway with water
to serve
- extra firecracker sauce
- fresh parsley, chopped
- vegan bleu cheeze or ranch dressing
Instructions
to make the firecracker sauce
- Warm the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir to coat.
- Allow to soften for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, ensuring that it does not brown.
- Add in the vegan butter and allow to fully melt. Add in the peanut butter and allow it to fully melt, stirring as needed to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add in the sriracha, stirring to combine, then add in the miso and stir until completely smooth. Remove from the heat.
to roast the cauliflower
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Cut away any green leaves from the base of the cauliflower, but keep the base intact.
- You are going to pour some of the sauce into the cauliflower while it’s upside-down. To allow that, cut away any cauliflower stems that allow space for that (just minimal cutting and removal).
- Grease a medium-sized cast iron pan with the oil. Place the cauliflower inside (stem-side up). Pour one-third of the sauce evenly into the cavity. Using a pastry brush, brush the sauce all over. Leave the part that’s face-down free from sauce.
- Place the cauliflower into the oven (top rack) and place the pyrex with water on the rack below. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and flip (I used two big spoons) and brush the top with the sauce until well coated.
- Check to make sure the pyrex still has water – refill if needed.
- Bake for 30 minutes more, or until the top is slightly charred.
- During this bake time, remove twice from the oven. Tip the cast iron slightly to the side so the sauce pools on one side. Using a spoon, douse the top evenly with the sauce.
- Once done, allow to slightly cool.
- Serve immediately with any of the leftover firecracker sauce, vegan bleu cheeze or ranch dressing and fresh parsley.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours
- Category: Dinner, Side
- Method: Baked, Basted
- Cuisine: Asian, American
Keywords: firecracker cauliflower, spicy cauliflower, vegan cauliflower recipe
Stephen Furry says
I made this last night and I loved it! A thousand times better than the Buffalo Cauliflower restaurants/caterers serve.
★★★★★
erinwyso says
Stephen, thanks for your kind words, so happy you enjoyed. 🙂
Amy says
I’m wondering what I could swap for the vegan butter?
I’m WFPB, so the butter and oils are out.
Do you think mashed Avocado would work?
Or any other suggestions?
Thx
erinwyso says
Hi Amy, Sorry I’m not really familiar with the WFPB diet, so I can’t really say. If you try with mashed avo with good results, I’d love to know. Good luck!
Hannah says
This was SO GOOD! The sauce was definitely thick so there’s wasn’t much to spoon onto the cauliflower in the pan. It really didn’t matter though because all the sauce stuck really well to the cauliflower. I used crunchy PB and am so glad I did. I served with some garlicky orzo and Follow Your Heart Ranch !
★★★★★
erinwyso says
So happy you enjoyed, Hannah! Pairing with orzo and FYH ranch sounds amazing!
Uptowngirl602 says
Heck to the YES!!!
This was AMAZING! I was licking my plate.
I did change up the recipe because I didn’t have everything. I used Franks RedHot extra spicy. I used 1/3 cup of coconut oil and no olive oil or vegan butter. I added way more garlic then called for in the recipe and 1/4 cup of water (maybe more). I did not use the Pyrex water in the oven.
I only put enough marinade to cover lightly and took out the cauliflower every 15 and added more marinade each time. I even used the marinade for my baked blooming onion. It all came out so GOOD it was ridiculous.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Would love to add a photo but that’s unfortunately not an option.
★★★★★
erinwyso says
So happy you enjoyed! Can’t go wrong with extra garlic … glad you were able to use the marinade in another application too. Thanks so much for your kind feedback!
Lilly says
I loved this recipe. I never think ‘cauliflower’ and ‘hot’ (as in spicy) together, but it works great! As I could not get Sriracha I used sambal olek instead, which worked perfectly. Chose 200 degree Celsius – always a bit difficult to choose the correct temperature – medium rack.
I served with red rice (Camargue), fried chickpea tofu and vegan blue cheze.
Well, we had a delicious meal. Thank you for charing the recipe!
★★★★★
erinwyso says
Lilly, it’s such a great combo and that sounds like and amazing meal. Thanks so much for your kind feedback!