Cauliflower steak with Chimichurri sauce (Inspired Taste photo)

Inspired Taste’s Chimichurri Cauliflower Steaks

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“At Inspired Taste, we love roasted cauliflower as shown by our cheesy roasted cauliflower, the buffalo version, our favorite soup, and this roasted cauliflower with chili and lime. As much as we love all three of those recipes, these cauliflower steaks are still the winner. The combination of toasty golden brown cauliflower and our zesty, fresh chimichurri sauce is outrageously good. Chimichurri is a simple combination of parsley, garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar, and is often found spooned on top of grilled meats, but we’re just as happy when adding it to our cauliflower steaks. It really is that good.”

Inspired Taste is a very creative food blog completely devoted to home cooking, easy recipes and informative recipe videos. Find hundreds of recipes with step-by-step photography and videos. Adam and Joanne Gallagher started InspiredTaste.net in 2009 and have been the primary creators ever since. A few years later, they created their Inspired Taste YouTube channel where there are over 50 recipe videos. They have been recognized by media outlets for their work including Glamour Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Kitchn, Bon Appetit Magazine, BuzzFeed, and more.

How to cut cauliflower into steaks

The trick to cauliflower steaks that don’t fall apart is to make sure that each steak has some of the stalk attached. You can get two thick steaks out of one medium cauliflower.

Simply slice the head of cauliflower in half through the stalk, and then trim the rounded edge of each half, leaving about 1 1/2-inch thick slices that still have the stem attached.

Cooking the steaks

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For the best cauliflower steaks, start them in an oven-safe skillet. This means that we can get the perfect golden brown sear on both sides before finishing the steaks in the oven where they become tender.

If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, don’t worry. Simply start them in a regular skillet and then transfer them to a baking sheet to finish in the oven.

How to serve them

These are hearty and can stand alone as a main meal. We like serving them next to a salad, with <https://www.inspiredtaste.net/38095/how-to-cook-quinoa/> quinoa or with rice (like <https://www.inspiredtaste.net/42876/cilantro-lime-rice/> cilantro lime rice).You also serve these as a side dish – consider splitting each steak into two to make four side portions. Serve them alongside our chopped tomato, onion and cucumber salad, black bean burgers, or a hearty salad like black bean and quinoa salad. They are also excellent alongside shrimp or meat dishes.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Steaks:

1 medium head of cauliflower

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt, to taste

4 tablespoons chimichurri sauce or more to taste, recipe below

Chimichurri Sauce (Makes about 1 cup):

2 cups (50 grams) packed parsley leaves and tender stems

3 to 4 garlic cloves (1 tablespoon minced)

1 medium shallot

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeño or Fresno chili pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup (80 ml) red wine vinegar

Preparation:

Heat the oven to 400 °F.

Remove the large outer leaves of the cauliflower and trim a small amount of the stem to create a flat base. Cut the cauliflower in half, from rounded top to stem.

To make each cauliflower steak, trim the rounded edge of each cauliflower half, leaving about 1 1/2-inch thick slices that still have the stem attached (see our video for a tutorial).

Save the trimmed cauliflower for another recipe like <https://www.inspiredtaste.net/40958/herb-cauliflower-rice/> cauliflower rice, <https://www.inspiredtaste.net/19731/simple-creamy-mashed-cauliflower-recipe mashed cauliflower or for snacking during another meal.

Heat the olive oil in a wide oven-safe saucepan over medium heat. Place the cauliflower steaks into the hot oil and cook until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. It helps to occasionally move the steaks so that the oil gets underneath. Carefully flip the steaks, and then cook another 3 to 5 minutes or until the second side is well browned. As the second side browns, season the steaks with salt as needed.

(If you do not have an oven-safe skillet, you can brown the steaks in a regular skillet, and then carefully transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.)

Slide the oven-safe pan into the oven and roast the steaks until the stems are tender and can be pierced with a fork, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve cauliflower steaks with a generous spoonful of chimichurri sauce on top. For side portions, slice each steak in half and then serve.

Make the sauce by hand: Mince the garlic and shallot, and then add to a medium bowl. Finely chop the parsley then add to the bowl along with the salt, red pepper flakes, olive oil and the red wine vinegar. Stir then taste and season with more salt or red pepper flakes as needed.

Make the sauce in a food processor (or blender): Add garlic and shallots to the bowl of a food processor (or blender), and then pulse until minced. Add the parsley, salt and red pepper flakes. Pulse until the parsley is chopped small. Scrape the sides, and then pour in the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pulse a few more times until the sauce comes together. Taste and season with more salt or red pepper flakes as needed.

Storing: The sauce is excellent the day you make it, but it will last a few days in your refrigerator (you might notice the parsley’s green dulls slightly).

 

Makes 2 servings or 4 side portions.

For this recipe, go to: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/48013/chimichurri-cauliflower-steaks/

For this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QbKz-cCDoI

For all videos:

https://www.inspiredtaste.net/category/recipes/recipe-videos/

Tip: For the chimichurri, Once you have the base recipe, you can play around with it depending on what ingredients you have on hand. Try switching parsley for cilantro, or use a combination of both herbs. A little fresh mint or oregano is also a nice addition.

Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

NUTRITION PER SERVING: Calories 325 / Total Fat 28.8g / Saturated Fat 4.4g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 678.9mg / Carbohydrate 16.6g / Dietary Fiber 6.9g / Total Sugars 5.6g / Protein 6.6g

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