Inside: The MOST delicious roasted frozen cauliflower recipe ever. Your family will LOVE this Indian- spiced, healthy cauliflower recipe.
I feel like we eat a lot of cauliflower these days. It’s a pretty versatile vegetable, and if you’re watching your carbs or avoiding potatoes and rice, it’s a pretty easy choice. Cauliflower, with its mild taste, can be mashed, riced, or even magically morphed into a pizza crust.
The problem, at least for me, is that cauliflower isn’t always a cheap option. All that ricing, mashing, pizza-crust-making takes a bunch of time.
Related: How to make cauliflower rice and FIVE delicious recipes to try!
So for those of that are watching our pennies and don’t have 5 billion hours to make everything from scratch every night, this is the recipe that is going to save the day.
Frozen cauliflower regularly goes on sale at my local grocery store, and often you can snag bags of frozen cauliflower for as little as ONE DOLLAR. I always pack my freezer full of the stuff whenever I see it on sale.
If a bag of frozen cauliflower conjures up images of boiled, steamed, bland, watery mush, fear not, my culinary friends!
This super simple recipe totally elevates the humble bag of frozen cauliflower into something that you would pay like $12 for at your local Indian joint. Perfectly roasted on the edges, with a gorgeous hue AND full of flavor?
I could eat this every.dang.day.
If you’re wondering how on earth to transform a bag of frozen ice-cubes into a this magical roasted frozen cauliflower dish – keep reading.
Roasted Frozen Cauliflower Recipe
Before we get to the recipe, I’d like to talk a bit about the ingredients because they deserve it. There aren’t a ton of ingredients needed, but you might be unfamiliar with some of the spices.
Nigella Seeds
This is one of favorite spices. It goes by many names, including kalonji or black cumin. Used in Ayurvedic medicine as well as cooking all over India and the Middle East, this tiny seed has many benefits. It’s been shown to reduce blood pressure, and lowers total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL while also raising HDL.
Nigella has also shown to help fight inflammation and protect against cancer.
Pretty amazing, right? They have a delightful onion-peppery-oregano flavor and add a savory kick to whatever you toss them in.
You can find these at any Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store, or I found a great option on Amazon for less than $5. Here’s a link.
Tumeric
Another powerhouse spice – tumeric needs no introduction. In addition to its potent anti-inflammatory capabilities, there are SO many health benefits associated with this wonder spice that I’m too lazy to list them all here. But here’s a handy link to learn more about how it can improve your health. This is a widely available spice so you should be able to find it in your grocery store, but if you’re like me and love when boxes are delivered to your house like delightful foodie presents to be opened, it’s also available for less than $3 on Amazon.
Garam Masala
This is a blend made up of lots of different spices. Typically, each Indian family has their own family recipe and grinds it weekly to keep it fresh. It’s a bit of a process – you take a handful of various spices, lightly toast them, and grind ’em all up. My mom still won’t tell me what’s in her secret garam masala mix, although she will share some of freshly ground spices if I keep asking how to make it. While you COULD substitute a “curry powder” blend for this in a pinch, the two spice mixes are different.
Here’s a great organic option on Amazon:
Roasted Frozen Cauliflower - Indian Spiced and EASY RECIPE
A super simple recipe using a bag of frozen cauliflower. This dump and go recipe has all the flavors of India without all the work or the need to go to your favorite Indian restaurant. Low carb recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen cauliflower florets
- 2 tbl olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 tsp nigella seeds
- 1/2 tsp tumeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp whole cumin seeds (or sub ground cumin)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
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Open bag and dump frozen cauliflower in a large bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir well to combine.
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Spread out on a large, lined cookie sheet.
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Roast for 15 minutes, and flip or shake cauliflower and continue roasting for 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes
*For the onion - if you like little bits of crispy, browned onion, chop into smaller pieces. If you prefer less crispy pieces, chop larger.
Frozen Roasted Cauliflower Recipe in Pictures
Open bag of frozen cauliflower
Chop onion and garlic
Measure out spices
Dump everything in a bowl and mix
Spread out on a large cookie sheet
Flip Roasted Frozen Cauliflower after about 15 minutes
Enjoy!
(Add a few sprigs of cilantro to be fancy, totally optional)
pin me!
I’ve been obsessed with cauliflower lately. Can’t wait to try this!
Let me know what you think!
Absolutely delish, my new fave
Thank you so much! I appreciate you trying my recipe and leaving feedback!!
Made this just as written except using scallion instead of onion. I don’t think it would make a difference if you didn’t use Nigella seeds. With the strong flavors of the spices, it was hard to tell they were even there, so I wouldn’t let the lack of having those seeds stop someone from making this recipe. I would use less salt next time. I like salt but this was a bit too salty. Otherwise, great recipe and so easy!
Thank you so much for trying my recipe and leaving feedback!
I didn’t have the nigella seeds, but added 1/4 t of coriander. Also roasted for an additional 10 minutes. Delicious and beautiful.
That sounds tasty! Thank you for your feedback and for trying my recipe!!
I’ll happily make this delicious meal for one again! The crispy edges of the cauliflower was just what I was in the mood for. I did add a half teaspoonful of Panch Phoron (a pre-made mixture of 5 types of whole seeds, which consists of: 2 parts each of mustard, cumin, and charnushka aka nigella sativa, to one part each of fennel and fenugreek), to your recipe. The cauliflower was fantastic, though I had needed to add a little more olive oil in order to make the extra spices coat the mixture of vegetables. I just discovered your site, and will be trying more of your recipes, starting with the roasted okra. Thank you so much. You make complying with the Plant Paradox Diet much quicker and easier with your dump & stir recipes that start from frozen vegetables.
Thank you so much. And what a great idea to add the panch phoron spice. I love the flavors of Indian food. I’m a mom who works full time so I get it – the more “dump and go” type of recipes I can create, the better.
I’m on a low carb diet and made this as a side dish to a chicken tikka Masala instead of cauliflower rice, which I find faffy and time consuming. Wow, so easy and absolutely delicious ! Just mix it up and throw it in the oven! My kind of cooking! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe , I will use it again and again!
Thank you so much for trying my recipe and giving your kind feedback. So happy you enjoyed this!
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can benefit me. Thank you