Main Course Recipes
Buffalo Cauliflower Steak
4 servings
This Buffalo Cauliflower Steak recipe offers a lighter, plant-based alternative to classic Buffalo wings, delivering all the bold, spicy, and fiery flavor you love. It's a hearty and satisfying main course, featuring cauliflower that is tender on the inside with a perfectly roasted exterior. Read More
Main Course Recipes
VegetarianGluten-freeLow-carb
Before You Start
Let’s talk about important parts of the recipe before you start…
How to Properly Cut Cauliflower Steaks
The first and most critical step in making a successful Buffalo Cauliflower Steak is the preparation of the cauliflower itself. To create sturdy steaks that hold together during cooking, begin by rinsing the cauliflower and removing the side leaves and any protruding stem. The recipe instructs to trim the left and right sides of the cauliflower head first. Then, carefully cut the remaining center portion into four evenly thick steaks, ensuring each is at least 1 inch thick. This thickness is essential for the structural integrity of the cauliflower steaks, preventing them from falling apart whether you decide to oven roast or grill them. Maintaining this thickness ensures you get a hearty, substantial main course, not a pile of florets.
The Importance of Even Thickness in Cauliflower Steaks
Cutting the cauliflower into four evenly thick steaks is a crucial detail in this healthy recipe. Uniform thickness ensures that all the Buffalo Cauliflower Steak pieces cook at the same rate. If some steaks are thicker than others, you risk having some that are perfectly tender while others are either undercooked and hard or overcooked and mushy. Consistent thickness, specified as at least 1 inch, allows for predictable cooking times, whether you are using the oven roast method for about 20 minutes or grilling for 5-10 minutes per side. This attention to detail guarantees a perfectly cooked, tender interior for every single steak.
What to Do with Leftover Cauliflower Pieces
A practical tip included in the Buffalo Cauliflower Steak recipe addresses the inevitable leftover pieces after cutting your main steaks. The recipe suggests that the end pieces and any florets that fall apart do not need to go to waste. These smaller bits can be threaded onto skewers for easier handling and prepared alongside the main cauliflower steaks. Alternatively, they can be placed directly on the baking sheet or grill to be cooked as bite-sized portions. This is an excellent way to ensure you use the entire vegetable, making this plant-based dish both delicious and economical. These smaller pieces will cook faster, so keep an eye on them as they roast or grill.
The Brushing Mixture: Butter vs. Olive Oil
The fiery flavor of this Buffalo Cauliflower Steak comes from the simple but powerful brushing mixture. It combines Buffalo sauce, melted butter, salt, and pepper. The recipe offers a choice between using melted butter or extra virgin olive oil. Melted butter will add a rich, creamy flavor that is classic in traditional Buffalo wing preparations, complementing the heat of the Buffalo sauce. For a different profile, or for a fully plant-based option, extra virgin olive oil can be used. The oil will provide a slightly different, fruitier flavor and will also help the cauliflower steaks to roast or grill beautifully. This choice allows you to customize the vegetarian dish to your dietary preferences without sacrificing flavor.
Oven Roast vs. Grilling: Two Methods for Perfect Steaks
This Buffalo Cauliflower Steak recipe provides two distinct cooking methods: oven roasting and grilling. For the oven roast method, the steaks are placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet, optionally topped with blue cheese, and roasted at 400°F until tender, which typically takes about 20 minutes. The grilling method offers a smokier, charred flavor, perfect for a game-day meal. When grilling, it is crucial to use indirect heat to prevent the exterior and the Buffalo sauce from burning before the inside becomes tender. Grilling takes about 5-10 minutes per side, and you can add blue cheese after the first flip. Both methods yield a delicious, tender Buffalo Cauliflower Steak; the choice depends on your preference for roasted or smoky flavor.
The Role of Indirect Heat When Grilling
For those who choose the grilling option for their Buffalo Cauliflower Steak, the recipe specifically highlights the importance of using indirect heat. Because the cauliflower steaks are thick, they require time to cook through and become tender. Placing them directly over a high flame would cause the outside to burn and the Buffalo sauce to scorch long before the inside is cooked. Indirect heat provides a more gentle, even cooking environment, similar to an oven, which prevents burning and allows the steak to cook perfectly. The recipe notes that if you desire more char, you can move the tender steaks to direct high heat for the final couple of minutes of cooking.
The Optional but Flavorful Addition of Blue Cheese
A classic pairing with any Buffalo-flavored dish is blue cheese, and this Buffalo Cauliflower Steak recipe includes it as an optional ingredient. You can sprinkle crumbled blue cheese over the cauliflower steaks before they go into the oven or after flipping them on the grill. The tangy, sharp, and creamy flavor of the blue cheese provides a cooling contrast to the spicy kick of the Buffalo sauce, creating a balanced and complex flavor profile. While the recipe is delicious without it, adding blue cheese elevates this vegetarian dish into a truly classic game-day experience. The amount can be adjusted from ½ to 1 cup, depending on how much you love its distinctive taste.
Popular questions
What is a Buffalo Cauliflower Steak?
A Buffalo Cauliflower Steak is a vegetarian and vegan-friendly main course that captures the spicy and bold flavors of traditional Buffalo wings. It involves cutting a large head of cauliflower into thick, steak-like slices, which are then coated in a zesty Buffalo sauce and cooked until tender on the inside with a perfectly roasted exterior. It's a hearty, plant-based alternative that is both flavorful and satisfying.
Buffalo Cauliflower Steak
Ingredients:
Click any ingredient to learn moreMain Ingredients:
1 PC of cauliflower
½ cup of Buffalo Sauce (store-bought or recipe here)
¼ cup of butter - melted (or extra virgin olive oil)
½ TSP of salt
Pinch of pepper - ideally freshly ground (adjust if needed)
Optionally: ½ to 1 cup of blue cheese - crumbled (adjust if needed)
Final Touch:
of chives or parsley - finely chopped (adjust if needed)
of Salt and pepper - ideally freshly ground (adjust if needed)
Tools:
Click any tool to learn more1x Chef’s knife
1x Whisks
1x Grill (Optionally)
1x Tongs (for grilling)
Nutrition per 1 Serving:(recipe split into 4 servings)
EstimatedCalories 177
Protein 3.1 g
Fat 11.6 g
Saturated fat 7.2 g
Carbohydrate 17.5 g
Sugars 11.1 g
Fiber 3.2 g
Sodium 587 mg
Cholesterol 29 mg
VegetarianGluten-freeLow-carb
Estimated. Worked out from the ingredients above using the United States Department of Agriculture’s FoodData Central reference data. An estimate, not a measurement — brands, sizes and how much of a marinade actually ends up on the plate all move it.
Directions:
1.Cauliflower Preparation:
Let’s start the preparation of the Buffalo Cauliflower Steak by preparing the cauliflower.
1.1.
Thoroughly rinse the cauliflower under cold water.
1.3.
Trim the left and right sides of the cauliflower, then cut the cauliflower into 4 evenly thick steaks, each at least 1 inch thick.
Tip: The end pieces, as well as any pieces that may fall apart, can optionally be placed on skewers and further processed, or placed on a baking sheet or grill and prepared as bite-sized portions.
2.Brushing Mixture:
2.1.
Prepare the brushing mixture by placing the following into a small mixing bowl:
½ cup of buffalo sauce
¼ cup of butter – melted
½ TSP of salt
A pinch of pepper
3.Cauliflower Steak Preparation:
3.1.
Set the oven or grill to preheat to 400°F.
3.2.
Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4.Oven Roast or Grill:
4.1.
Oven Roast:
4.1.1.
Optionally, sprinkle all four cauliflowers with blue cheese crumbles.
4.1.2.
Place it in the oven and roast until done – the cauliflower is cooked and tastes tender (usually for about 20 minutes).
Important: Perform a taste test before you stop cooking.
4.2.
Grill:
4.2.1.
Place the cauliflower steaks on the indirect heat of the grill, close the lid, and grill on one side until a nice sear is reached (usually 5–10 minutes).
Notes:
- Since cauliflower steaks are thick and take time to become tender, it is best to cook them over an indirect or low flame. This method prevents the outside from burning before the inside is cooked through. It also helps prevent the buffalo sauce from scorching, as the sauce can drip and ignite over a stronger flame, charring the cauliflower.
- However, if the cauliflower is tender but you’d like more color, you can place the steaks over high direct heat for the last couple of minutes of grilling to achieve a perfect char.
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