Grilled Cauliflower Steaks

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
25 minutes
Rating
4(285)
Notes
Read community notes

To enjoy the full-range of cauliflower in one dish, from raw and snappy to caramelized and tender, cut a head into slabs and grill only one side. Flat sides beget more charring than florets because they provide more direct contact with the grill. To ensure the cauliflower doesn’t dry out, grill just one side. The tops will remain juicy and sweet, while the undersides will become deeply browned and nutty. Before grilling, any small bits of cauliflower that would fall through the grates are added raw to a lively sauce of dill, lime juice, chile and peanuts. Feel free to swap in another sauce you like on cauliflower or grilled dishes, like buffalo, parsley-olive or a nutritional yeast dressing.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2small heads cauliflower, stems trimmed (about 1 ½ pounds)
  • ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling and greasing the grates
  • Kosher salt
  • ½cup finely chopped dill fronds and stems
  • 3tablespoons lime juice (from 2 limes)
  • 1fresh chile, such as serrano or Fresno, seeded if desired, finely chopped
  • 3tablespoons roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

206 calories; 17 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 476 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a grill to medium-high. Stand the cauliflower on its core, then slice vertically into ½-inch thick slabs. (It’s OK if they don’t stay together.) Transfer large pieces that won’t fall through grill grates to a baking sheet. Drizzle generously all over with oil and season generously with salt. For any small bits that would fall through the grates, coarsely chop them and transfer to a medium bowl.

  2. Step 2

    To the bowl of chopped cauliflower, add the ¼ cup olive oil, dill, lime juice, chile and peanuts. Stir to combine and season generously with salt.

  3. Step 3

    When ready to grill, clean the grates with a grill brush, then lightly grease the grates. Add the cauliflower slabs and cook on one side until deeply charred and crisp-tender underneath only, 8 to 10 minutes. (If using a gas grill, close the lid.) Use a spatula to transfer the cauliflower, grilled-side up, to a platter.

  4. Step 4

    Spoon the dill-peanut sauce over the grilled cauliflower. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
285 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

It’s New York, and many people do not have grills. Why not MAKE A PRACTICE of including a sentence or two about stovetop or broiler alternatives?

Oven roasted cauliflower steaks are great. I have gas and charcoal grills, but typically make several versions of cauliflower steaks, either starting on cooktop in a flat cast iron pan turning to oven or starting in oven on sheet pan. Just preheat 425 and spray or apply EVOO and seasoning/herbs/spices of choice and flip after 15 minutes for another 15 and total of 30 should brown them up nicely.

Or just look at some of the numerous roasted cauliflower recipes here. This one is for grilled, no need to double up.

Look, not everyone who reads the NYT lives in New York. And there are a ton of recipes on this site. Not all of them have to be for everyone all of the time.

You're going to need to par-steam these first for a tender enough cauliflower steak.

Love it! I took liberties, and didn't measure anything, but we will certainly make this again. Easy and really good. I didn't have dill, so used mint. Added some lime on the cauliflower before grilling. Added cayenne to the "sauce" which was really more of a topping than a sauce in my case because I used less oil. The peanuts are a spark of genius.

Made it on the grill tonight with some burgers. Maybe took more than 8 minutes, but I got 4 good slabs along with some florets, with about 1/5 of the head small pieces, so the sauce to crumbs ratio was fine. I liked it, as did my spouse.

How can I make this on the stove or oven?

This was really delicious. Paired with grilled sausages which was a perfect combo. Would absolutely make this again.

Am I missing something here? The chopped cauliflower, which was easily half the cauliflower, is served raw with the total amount of sauce? Then make another batch of sauce for the steaks?

I was skeptical that this was going to turn out well, but it was actually pretty refreshing and turned out nicely. substitutions - lemons for lime, pistachios for peanuts and red pepper flakes for serranos. Cooked the cauliflower steaks in a skillet on high heat with oil and seasoned with Italian seasoning. The topping is almost like a crunchy gremolata of sorts and was actually the best part of the meal - could use the topping for any earthy/smoky main that needs some crunch and brightness

This was easy and delicious. I also grilled tofu & zucchini and made a salad of sorts out of them. I subbed cashews for peanuts and while I'm sure the peanuts give it a kick, they were quite good too.

You're going to need to par-steam these first for a tender enough cauliflower steak.

This was a total disaster. Cauliflower did not remotely cook through in the time allocated and flavor of the sauce was not good. You made me look bad in front of my in-laws. Avoid.

This is a truly atrocious recipe. Take a beautiful head of fresh organic cauliflower, put it on a grill and burn it. ("Cook on one side until deeply charred.") How could i have expected anything but blackened, burned, tasteless waste? Then add dill and lime juice for sour, bitter flavor. Have you eve tried this? You owe us all heads of cauliflower to steam, saute in butter, etc.

My husband would've like if I had cooked it a little longer, but I LOVE this dish. I'm a veggie girl all the way, and this one is a winner. I reduced the recipe to one head of cauliflower but made as directed. Flavors are great. I made a yogurt/cucumber sauce/side, in case it was too hot for me with the serrano, but it was just perfect. Highly recommend. I will try to cook a couple minutes longer next time.

You can roast almost any vegetable; green beans, okra, peppers, asparagus, eggplant, and also cauliflower in a 400 degree oven. Just toss in olive oil before grilling and put on no stick foil in a single layer on a sheet pan. Peppers take 25 minutes and cauliflower is closer to 45. You make like it more or less brown.

Love it! I took liberties, and didn't measure anything, but we will certainly make this again. Easy and really good. I didn't have dill, so used mint. Added some lime on the cauliflower before grilling. Added cayenne to the "sauce" which was really more of a topping than a sauce in my case because I used less oil. The peanuts are a spark of genius.

Oven roasted cauliflower steaks are great. I have gas and charcoal grills, but typically make several versions of cauliflower steaks, either starting on cooktop in a flat cast iron pan turning to oven or starting in oven on sheet pan. Just preheat 425 and spray or apply EVOO and seasoning/herbs/spices of choice and flip after 15 minutes for another 15 and total of 30 should brown them up nicely.

Just put on a skillet / griddle pan instead of a bbq grill?

Coincidentally I made a variation on this this past weekend. I happened to use Mint and capers as the dressing, but the smoke, lemon and oil really made this cauliflower dish and is more delicious than you might expect. Also stands up well - I made a huge cauliflower and we grazed on it for a few days, with just a freshen up of herbs.

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