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. 
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 this amazing (and I mean AMAZING!) Roasted Cauliflower Steak that, um, contains no meat at all. The Orange-Basil Butter however, contains everything in its title! 😉
Have I totally lost my marbles here? What’s next — a chicken dish lacking in chicken!?
* Remember to pause and admire the beauty of your ingredients.*
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. Steak-ish, I tell you!
Oh, and the super delicious Orange-Basil Butter melts over the cauliflower perfectly, just as it would on a “real” steak. 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!
(As for the sashimi and the hummus, if you’re so inclined, you can see what’s going on for yourself here: Tofu “Sashimi” Recipe & Smoky Red Lentil “Hummus” Recipe)
I think you’ll find them interesting and delicious, too.
The Roasted Cauliflower Steak With Orange-Basil Butter is a lovely side dish, but can also serve as a fantastic vegetarian main course.
Enjoy every last, scrumptious bit of this mouth-watering Roasted Cauliflower Steak with Orange-Basil Butter!
Can’t get enough cauliflower? Here are a few more delicious recipes:
- Sherry Mushroom Cauliflower “Risotto”
- Creamy Cauliflower Jalapeño Soup
- Roasted Cauliflower Basil Soup
- Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake
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.
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 generous tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- a couple turns of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (approximately 2 1/4-pound) whole cauliflower
- olive oil for the baking sheet
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
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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 an empty ice cube try 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.)
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Drizzle a thin layer of olive oil on a baking sheet (one with edges). Set aside.
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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.
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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.
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Roast until it's deep golden brown, and it's tender all the way through, about 12 minutes per side. (Flip them over half way through the cooking process.)
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While the cauliflower is still hot, add a dab of the butter to each portion and serve.
Looks lovely and delicious!
Why thank you, Shara! 🙂 (Hope you try it!) xo
Oh yum, I love the sound of this. A must try.
Hop you enjoy it, Cristie!
This looks great!!! What an intriguing dish!
Thanks, Sarah!
Oh, this looks delicious and I like how you made this dish unique with the flavoured butter!!
The butter is delicious on everything! Thanks. 🙂
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. 🙂
Thanks, hope you try and love it as much as I do. 🙂
I LOVE cauliflower! These look sooooo good!
Thanks Jen! It is. 😉
MMmm roasted cauliflower. This looks amazing!
Thanks, Cali. Smells yummy, too!
Love love love cauliflower! So good especially with a nice char like you got on yours!
Thanks so much, Vicky! Yes, the char is everything. 🙂
I adore roasted cauliflower! You’ve taken the recipe transformed it to divine, the orange butter is scrumptious!
Thanks, Deb. Transforming something to divine is wonderful. 🙂
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 ragù/salsa of shallots, olives, capers, and tomatoes. Yum! Thanks, and have a great weekend cooking!
Thanks, David. I’m loving where you’re going with the olives and capers. I love that vibe! 🙂
We had this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I really love this method for cooking cauliflower. The shallot-tomato-olive-caper ragù was great with it. I definitely want to try the orange basil butter next time! xo
Thanks so much for the report, David! LOVE hearing this, and I will try it with a ragù like yours next time. 🙂 XO V
This looks divine, I will be buying cauliflowers asap! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Excellent, Nataliya! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Cauliflower never looked this good. Thanks for the inspiration, I needed a new idea 🙂
Thank you! I hope you try and enjoy!
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.
Thanks Emily! The coconut oil sounds like a delicious idea. I’ll have to give that a go.
Excellent! I made this for dinner tonight and it was delish! The orange butter sauce is to die for. ?
Thanks so much for sharing — you made my day! I love the butter too — it’s also so delicious spread on crispy toast. 🙂
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!
Thank you, Athena! You made my day. 🙂 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.