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Sharing my vegan twist on a classic Indian dish with this Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower. I’ve swapped the chicken for nutrient packed cauliflower, and replaced the heavy cream and butter with rich and creamy coconut milk and coconut oil. This coconut butter cauliflower is the perfect healthy, but still delicious, alternative to the traditional heavier version. It has a quick 30 minute cooking time and uses pantry staple ingredients. Making this recipe perfect for any night of the week.
My favorite thing to do is to cook for others. Creating a recipe that I know someone is going to love is such a fulfilling thing for me. It’s one of the reasons I love cooking so much. When my family was in town over Christmas, I knew that I would have to make Indian Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken is one of my brother Creighton’s favorite dishes. The rest of the crew loves a good Indian dish too.
That being said, there are a few people in the family who prefer a vegan/vegetarian diet. Enter this coconut butter cauliflower. It has all the same flavors and creamy sauce as classic butter chicken. However, it omits the chicken and replaces it with cauliflower, and is made vegan by using of creamy coconut milk.
It also happens to be much easier to prepare with just a 30 minute cooking time. So basically, it’s the perfect recipe for January.
I wanted to keep the dish as authentic as possible. So I first “marinated” the cauliflower in a mix of coconut milk, garlic, and ginger. It’s just a quick marinade to help the cauliflower soak up the garlic and ginger flavors. Once the cauliflower has marinated for 10 minutes or so, it’s time to broil. I like to do this to give the cauliflower a head start on cooking. it also gives it a nice little char before being added to the coconut butter sauce.
While the cauliflower is “marinating”, I make the coconut butter sauce to keep the recipe moving right along. The key to any good Indian butter sauce is all in the spices. I used a mix of garlic, ginger, garam masala, yellow curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper for a very well spiced sauce. It’s warming and spicy, but not in an overpowering way. If you’re sensitive to heat, just adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking.
My real secret to a delicious Indian sauce, whether vegan or not, is coconut milk. I adore using coconut milk in place of cream in any Indian style sauce I make. I find it not only to be creamier and healthier, but also every bit as delicious (if not more so) than what you might get at Indian restaurant. The coconut pairs so well with the Indian sauce seasonings. It’s always my go-to when making Indian inspired food.
By the time you have the sauce together, the cauliflower should be ready to go. Just slide it right into the sauce to finish cooking.
As you can probably guess, my favorite way to serve this is over steamed rice with a side of my homemade naan (which I’ve been making almost every other day as of late). If you’d like something a little more nutrient dense than white rice, try using steamed brown rice or quinoa.
I ended up serving this with a little mango salsa on top (just a simple mix of diced mango, jalapeño, lime, and cilantro) and it was truly delicious. I would highly recommend if you love a fruity touch of sweetness, which you know I do.
So, what was the family’s verdict?
Let’s just put it this way, all of the coconut butter cauliflower was eaten before the chicken version was touched. Trust me, I’m shocked that everyone, even the meat eaters in the family, went for the vegan version. This dish is truly loved by all. In fact, some of my harshest critics said this was some of the best Indian food they’ve eaten. Even one family member who has been to India several times.
I think it’s safe to say the recipe is a true hit. I’m sure I’ll be making it over and over again, especially since it’s so easy.
If you make this Indian coconut butter cauliflower, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
30 Minute Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower
Servings: 4 4-6
Calories Per Serving: 523 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 1/3 cups canned full fat coconut milk
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 inches fresh ginger, grated
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper ,more or less to taste
- 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- steamed rice and naan, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the broiler to high. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. 2. In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, 1/3 cup coconut milk, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, and a pinch of salt. Let sit 10 minutes to "marinate". Spread the cauliflower in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes, until the cauliflower is just beginning to char on the edges. 3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the remaining garlic and ginger, cooking another 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.4. Add the tomato paste and remaining 2 cups coconut milk. Stir to combine, bring the sauce to a boil, cook 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in coconut oil. If the sauce seems thick, thin with 1/2 to 1/2 additional coconut milk or water. Add the cauliflower and any juices on the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.5. Serve the cauliflower and sauce over bowls of rice with fresh naan and mango chutney, if desired. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on January 3, 2019
Made this as a side dish to go with grilled halibut and it was delicious. Will definitely be making again!
Thank you so much Cathy! xTieghan
Tieghan—can the grated ginger be left out? Or would that completely change everything. I’m not a ginger lover. Reduce by half or leave out options? Thanks so much—this sounds delicious!
Hi Kimberly,
You can reduce or leave the ginger out, either way is fine:) I hope you love recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
You nailed this one! I added chicken in another bowl and broiled that first, then broiled the cauliflower. Delicious dinner.
Thank you so much Emily! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Turned out amazing. Marinated the cauliflower longer. Added a slightly more spices than the recipe and peas. Was a big hit!
Thank you so much Alnoor! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Oh! Wow! Second time I’ve made this, and it’s so delicious! A question though: can you suggest an alternative to broiling? It doesn’t quite get the cauliflower “done”….other than that, I’m going to be making this again and again! Tmrw, trying your kung pao cauliflower recipe. Thank you for your recipes and help!
Hi Sandhya! The broiling should not cook the cauliflower all the way, it mainly cooks throughout the recipe. I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I made this last night while making my actual dinner so I could have a healthy lunch throughout the week. I made a few minor adjustments – I used light vs full fat coconut milk, didn’t roast my cauliflower first, added a can of chickpeas, and tried to cook it in my Instant Pot to avoid having to be hands on with it on the stove.
– For the coconut milk, it was good with light, but I might try with full fat to see if it’s a little richer.
– The Instant Pot did *not* work. I tried to do Manual for 4 min, but it wouldn’t come to pressure. I re-opened the lid, stirred around, and tried again but same issue. It would count down, but never actually came to pressure. No biggie, I scraped the bottom and ended up just simmering for a few more min till the cauiflower was cooked. I wasn’t sure when the liquid was coconut milk if it would work, but I wanted to try anyways.
Overall it’s super delicious, a little spicy, and the perfect healthy, one bowl lunch! I would probably make naan if it was dinner bc YUM. Highly recommend, thanks for a great recipe!!
Thank you so much for trying this Beth! I am so glad it turned out so well for you!! xTieghan
Amazing! My (usually critical) family loved it. Definitely putting this in my regular line up. Thanks!
Thank you so much Robyn!! xTieghan
Makes great leftovers!
Thank you Renee! xTieghan
I just made this! I’m the only vegan in my family and we’re actually Hispanic so this was a new experience. I’ve had similar dishes from restaurants but this was so easy to make and my family loved it
Hi Rae! I am so glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe!! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
Followed the recipe exactly and the flavor was just off. The tomato paste had left a tart flavor and the cauliflower was very undercooked, and I had small florets.
Hi Sam! I am sorry to hear that! Please let me know if there is anything I can help with! xTieghan
Sam,
I would suggest adding a looot of salt to bring out the spices and reduce the tart flavor from the tomato.
Added some Thai chili peppers to spice it up and this dish really packs the flavor. So tasty!
Thank you so much! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
We made this for dinner last night, along with the homemade naan bread and rice as recommended. Both were amazing! The cauliflower was deliciously spicy. We found ourselves making a list of all of the other things that would be delicious with the sauce, including chicken and eggplant. The homemade naan was also very successful and quite easy to make. No more grocery store naan for us!
Thank you so much Ann! I am glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I was excited by the vegan option but pretty disappointed with how this turned out. I would cut the tomato paste significantly next time. It overpowers they spices and the coconut milk isn’t able to cut it with creaminess. The result is a cauliflower in tomato sauce. I also didn’t have an oven that could broil cauliflower in 3-4 minutes, so I’d look into other options for baking it.
Hi Jess! I am sorry about that! Please let me know if you have any other questions! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this with less tomato sauce! xTieghan
This is freaking amazing! I LOVE many of your recipes, but this one is in the top 3!
Love that! Thank you so much Lisa! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan!
I have been so excited to make this recipe, but I only have tomato paste concentrate (that comes in the tube). Do you think that would work? Given that its concentrate, I would just use less, but I wasn’t sure how that would impact the sauce.
Thanks so much!
Hi Megan,
Yes this is totally fine to use! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan