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    Home Β» Vegetarian Β» Cauliflower Steaks with Orange-Basil Butter

    Cauliflower Steaks with Orange-Basil Butter

    Sep 24, 2015 Β· by Valentina Β· 38 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe

    Cauliflower Steaks are juicy, crispy, hearty and unbelievably delicious -- though a vegetable and not a steak in the true sense of the word. The Orange-Basil Butter is sweet, aromatic and melts perfectly over the perfectly roasted cauliflower. Cauliflower Steak with Orange-Basil Butter on a white plate surrounded by basil leaves.

    First, there was my Tofu "Sashimi" that didn't have a raw fish anywhere near it.

    I then presented a Red Lentil "Hummus" that -- while delicious -- was without chickpeas, and therefore isn't a true hummus.

    Today, it's the amazing (and I mean AMAZING!) Roasted Cauliflower Steaks that, um, contain no meat at all.

    The Orange-Basil Butter however, contains everything in its title. πŸ˜‰

    Roasted One large head of cauliflower with a black background.

    * Remember to pause and admire the beauty of your ingredients.*

    What is Cauliflower Steak?

    • Cauliflower steak is thickly cut cauliflower that's cooked on both sides, until it's perfectly caramelized. This gives it a "crust," much like a sautΓ© pan would give a piece of meat when it's seared. This can be achieved by roasting the cauliflower in the oven, sautΓ©ing it in a cast iron skillet or grilling it.
    • Here's the deal, this cauliflower is steak-ish. It's cut like a steak, it's juicy like a steak, and it's hearty like a steak.

    How to make Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

    What you need to know to have success . . . .

    • When you remove the leaves from the cauliflower, keep part of the root end intact. By doing this, your slices are more likely to stay together.
    • Cut the cauliflower into thick slices, about 1-inch.
    • Coat both sides of the cauliflower slices well with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper.
    • The oven must be very hot, about 500Β°F!
    • The cauliflower steaks should not be flipped over until the bottom is a deep golden brown.

    Orange-Basil Butter in a green ice cube tray.

    Orange-Basil Butter

    The super delicious Orange-Basil Butter melts over the cauliflower perfectly, just as it would on a real steak.Β  And it seeps into every crevice it possibly can, flavoring the dish beautifully.

    It's also fabulous spread over a slice of warm, rustic bread!

    Cauliflower Steaks with Orange-Basil Butter on a white plate

    These "steaks" make for a lovely side dish, but can also serve as a fantastic vegetarian main course.

    I hope you love every last, scrumptious bite of these mouth-watering Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

    Here are a few more delicious cauliflower recipes:

    • Cauliflower Bread with GruyΓ¨re
    • Mushroom Cauliflower "Risotto"
    • Creamy Cauliflower JalapeΓ±o Soup
    • Roasted Cauliflower Basil Soup
    • Yotam Ottolenghi's Cauliflower Cake
    Roasted Cauliflower Steak with Orange Basil Butter - beyond heavenly!

    Cauliflower Steaks with Orange-Basil Butter

    Valentina K. Wein
    Roasted Cauliflower Steak is juicy, crispy, hearty and unbelievably delicious -- though a vegetable and not a steak in the true sense of the word. The Orange-Basil Butter is sweet, aromatic and melts perfectly over the perfectly oven-roasted cauliflower.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print
    Prep Time 25 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 40 mins
    Course Main Course, Side Dish
    Cuisine American
    Servings 4
    Calories 165 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    For the butter

    • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
    • 2 generous tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
    • Β½ teaspoon orange zest
    • 1 teaspoon fresh orange juice
    • β…› teaspoon salt
    • a couple turns of freshly ground black pepper

    For the cauliflower

    • 1 (approximately 2 ΒΌ-pound) whole cauliflower
    • olive oil for the baking sheet
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
    • To make the butter, in a small bowl, mix the butter with the basil, zest, juice, salt and pepper. Either fill a couple of spaces in a rubber ice cube tray with the butter, or roll it into a log in plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator to firm up, about 30 minutes. (You can really refrigerate it in any form you'd like to -- it's just easier to slice so it's pretty, from the ice tray or log.)
    • Drizzle a thin layer of olive oil on a sheet pan. Set aside.
    • Remove the outer green leaves from the cauliflower and cut just a tiny portion of the root off, keeping most of it intact. Cut the cauliflower into approximately 1-inch slices -- some might break apart, some will stay together -- both are okay.
    • Dredge both sides of each slice into the olive oil on the baking sheet. They should be well coated, so drizzle a bit more if necessary. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper and then place in the preheated 500 degree F oven.
    • Roast until it's deep golden brown, and it's tender all the way through, about 12 minutes per side. (Flip them over halfway through the cooking process.)
    • While the cauliflower is still hot, add a dab of the butter to each portion and serve.
    Keywords best vegetables to roast, great side dishes for meats and stews
    Have you tried this recipe?I'd love to see it on Instagram! Tag me at @cookingontheweekends or leave a comment & rating below.

    Cooking On The Weekends is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking toΒ Amazon.com.


    More Vegetarian Recipes

    • Slow Cooked Red Cabbage Stew
    • Halloumi Fries with Greek Yogurt Dip
    • Easy Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup
    • Crispy Smashed Cauliflower

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Shara M.

      September 24, 2015 at 5:58 pm

      Looks lovely and delicious!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 24, 2015 at 7:28 pm

        Why thank you, Shara! πŸ™‚ (Hope you try it!) xo

        Reply
    2. Cristie

      September 24, 2015 at 10:30 pm

      Oh yum, I love the sound of this. A must try.

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 7:16 am

        Hop you enjoy it, Cristie!

        Reply
    3. Sarah

      September 25, 2015 at 3:26 am

      This looks great!!! What an intriguing dish!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 7:16 am

        Thanks, Sarah!

        Reply
    4. Julia (@Imagelicious)

      September 25, 2015 at 5:35 am

      Oh, this looks delicious and I like how you made this dish unique with the flavoured butter!!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 7:17 am

        The butter is delicious on everything! Thanks. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    5. Tara | Deliciously Declassified

      September 25, 2015 at 6:12 am

      This looks delicious! I LOVE oven roasted cauliflower but have never tried it in "steak" form. The butter sounds interesting, too - I'll have to give this a go. πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 7:17 am

        Thanks, hope you try and love it as much as I do. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    6. Jenn

      September 25, 2015 at 7:20 am

      I LOVE cauliflower! These look sooooo good!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 9:36 am

        Thanks Jen! It is. πŸ˜‰

        Reply
    7. cali

      September 25, 2015 at 9:58 am

      MMmm roasted cauliflower. This looks amazing!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 2:28 pm

        Thanks, Cali. Smells yummy, too!

        Reply
    8. Vicky

      September 25, 2015 at 10:16 am

      Love love love cauliflower! So good especially with a nice char like you got on yours!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 2:27 pm

        Thanks so much, Vicky! Yes, the char is everything. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    9. Deb|EastofEdenCooking

      September 25, 2015 at 7:31 pm

      I adore roasted cauliflower! You've taken the recipe transformed it to divine, the orange butter is scrumptious!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 25, 2015 at 10:27 pm

        Thanks, Deb. Transforming something to divine is wonderful. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    10. David

      September 26, 2015 at 8:33 am

      I think this will be my new favorite veggie dinner - maybe even more than the smashed potatoes I just read about. The orange-basil butter sounds divine, but I am thinking of all kinds of things that could top the roasted cauliflower steaks! My first thought is a chunky ragΓΉ/salsa of shallots, olives, capers, and tomatoes. Yum! Thanks, and have a great weekend cooking!

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 26, 2015 at 2:27 pm

        Thanks, David. I'm loving where you're going with the olives and capers. I love that vibe! πŸ™‚

        Reply
        • David

          September 29, 2015 at 2:00 am

          We had this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I really love this method for cooking cauliflower. The shallot-tomato-olive-caper ragΓΉ was great with it. I definitely want to try the orange basil butter next time! xo

          Reply
          • valentina

            September 29, 2015 at 9:11 am

            Thanks so much for the report, David! LOVE hearing this, and I will try it with a ragΓΉ like yours next time. πŸ™‚ XO V

            Reply
    11. Nataliya | Not From A Packet Mix

      September 28, 2015 at 11:44 am

      This looks divine, I will be buying cauliflowers asap! Thanks for the recipe. πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • valentina

        September 28, 2015 at 1:55 pm

        Excellent, Nataliya! Hope you enjoy! πŸ™‚

        Reply
    12. Ciao Florentina

      October 01, 2015 at 7:05 pm

      Cauliflower never looked this good. Thanks for the inspiration, I needed a new idea πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 02, 2015 at 7:49 am

        Thank you! I hope you try and enjoy!

        Reply
    13. Emily | Rainbow Delicious

      October 02, 2015 at 2:49 pm

      I just tried my first "cauliflower steak" recipe last week (with cheddar and green onions) and it was so good! This one looks amazing and a little lighter and I can't wait to try it... I can't believe how delicious and filling roasted cauliflower is. I tried it once with coconut oil instead of olive oil or butter and it was great.

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 02, 2015 at 9:58 pm

        Thanks Emily! The coconut oil sounds like a delicious idea. I'll have to give that a go.

        Reply
    14. Flgirl

      April 13, 2016 at 7:22 pm

      Excellent! I made this for dinner tonight and it was delish! The orange butter sauce is to die for. ?

      Reply
      • valentina

        April 13, 2016 at 9:13 pm

        Thanks so much for sharing -- you made my day! I love the butter too -- it's also so delicious spread on crispy toast. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    15. Athena

      June 25, 2016 at 9:10 pm

      This recipe is devine! I did make some minor changes though. I didn't have any oranges on hand, so I used lemon zest and fresh lemon juice instead. It's also scorching hot here in northern Arizona since it's mid-June, so I chose to grill the cauliflower rather than turn my oven on. The result was delicious and super easy to make. In the future, I'll make the butter and couple hours before I start cooking to allow it enough time to solidify. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

      Reply
      • valentina

        June 26, 2016 at 12:40 am

        Thank you, Athena! You made my day. πŸ™‚ I love the idea of grilling the cauliflower and I'm definitely going to try that this summer. I imagine the added smoky/char flavor is excellent, and lemon is lovely.

        Reply
    16. flgirl

      April 30, 2019 at 3:45 pm

      3 years later, I'm still making this! Just had to come back and tell you this is an EPIC recipe. It's in heavy rotation at our house. πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • valentina

        May 01, 2019 at 1:22 pm

        Hi there, You've made my day! πŸ™‚ I'm happy to hear you love this recipe -- it's one of my favorites, too. Enjoy, and thank you for sharing. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    17. Karen

      July 29, 2019 at 11:02 am

      Excellent! I always google cauliflower steak with orange butter because this is my favorite recipe. As I am trying to go vegetarian, this is a must have recipe!!

      Reply
      • valentina

        July 30, 2019 at 1:10 pm

        Karen, thank you! This makes me so happy. It's my favorite cauliflower recipe, and I appreciate you sharing. Cheers! πŸ™‚ ~Valentina

        Reply
    18. Frank @Memorie di Angelina

      February 27, 2022 at 1:46 pm

      The crust on that cauliflower looks amazing, Valentina! I would have sworn you'd seared it in a skillet rather than in the oven. Gotta try this.. !

      Reply
      • valentina

        March 01, 2022 at 8:39 pm

        Hi Frank! Thanks so much for stopping by, and for the compliment on this recipe. Hope you love it. πŸ™‚ ~Valentina

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Valentina, certified chef, owner, recipe developer and photographer at Cooking on the Weekends. I'm also a mom of two boys and a Los Angeleno. I use seasonal whole foods to create unique and comforting recipes for casual entertaining.

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