It's finally here, my Vegan Butter Cauliflower recipe! This is my version of butter chicken... but without the butter and without the chicken. This recipe took a lot of testing to make it oh so perfect, and I am so excited to finally share it with you.
Not only was I looking for excellent vegan replacements for both butter and chicken, but after discovering that a lot of traditional butter chicken recipes required an entire cup (!) of butter and additional cups of whipping cream, I cringed, and knew I wanted to make this one a little healthier too.
So I present you my (mostly) guilt-free Vegan Butter Cauliflower. Tah dah!
This recipe happens to be super easy too, in true fuss-free vegan style. Just add raw cashews, tomato paste, and a bunch of spices to a blender, and you've just made your sauce. Then add two tablespoons of vegan butter (I still wanted a bit of that butter taste, but reduced it by a whopping 14 tablespoons), saute up some onion and garlic in a pan, pour in the sauce, add the cauliflower florets, and simmer until tender. Yep, it's that easy peasy!
And oh man does it taste fantastic!! I've been eating this pretty much every day for a week because I'm madly in love. Creamy tomato-y goodness, packed full of spices, just so much deliciousness in a bowl it's difficult to comprehend.
Serve it up with some rice, naan bread, and a little cilantro, and be prepared for comfort food heaven.
To make Vegan Butter Cauliflower: add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
If you do not have a high-powered blender, you may want to soften the cashews first by boiling them in water for 10 minutes, draining, and then adding to the blender with all of the remaining ingredients. This will ensure a smooth sauce.
For the butter cauliflower, melt the vegan butter in a large pan or pot. When melted add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion turns translucent and just begins to brown.
Pour in the prepared sauce and stir in the cauliflower florets. Cover and bring to a simmer. Stir the cauliflower often so the sauce doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan.
Cook until the cauliflower is fork tender, about 10 minutes. Serve over rice with a side of naan and a garnish of cilantro.
Vegan Butter Cauliflower
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 2 ¾ cups water
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1 156ml can tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
For the butter cauliflower:
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ head cauliflower, cut into florets (about 6 cups)
For serving:
- cooked rice
- naan bread
- 1 handful cilantro, roughly chopped
Instructions
- For the sauce, add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If you do not have a high-powered blender, you may want to soften the cashews first by boiling them in water for 10 minutes, draining, and then adding to the blender with all of the remaining ingredients. This will ensure a smooth sauce.
- For the butter cauliflower, melt the vegan butter in a large pan or pot. When melted add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion turns translucent and just begins to brown. Pour in the prepared sauce, and stir in the cauliflower florets. Cover and bring to a simmer. Stir the cauliflower often so the sauce doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the cauliflower is fork tender, about 10 minutes. Serve over rice with a side of naan and a garnish of cilantro.
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Saraswati says
Really love this recipe! Tasty and easy to make. Thank you, Sam!
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Jenny says
Love this recipe! So flavorful and tasty!
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you like it Jenny!
Diane says
This recipe is great and has amazing flavor!And we are not Vegan. One thing I would recommend is partially cooking the cauliflower first, as it did take a long time to cook n the sauce.My 24 year old son said it was the best butter chicken sauce he’s ever had and we love Indian food.Thanks!
amy says
This sounds so good and I really want to try it, but the trouble I keep running into with creamy recipes is the cashews. I know they work so well, but my husband is allergic! such a bummer. Any chance this might work with something like coconut cream? or any other suggestions?
Kristal says
You can use equal parts white beans 🙂
Lucy says
before i go out and buy cashews can i make this using cashew milk and if so how much. i m all out of nuts!
Elaine says
This was phenomenal! So easy and SO delicious - it really tastes like it's way more work than it actually is. I can't wait to try it again (and again, and again...)
Kim from Balto says
This is absolutely delicious!! And sooo easy to make!! I did roast my cauliflower first so it only needed to be blended into the sauce. And I added the chickpeas as suggested by others. Fantastic dish that I will be making again and again! :o))
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed it!
Sarah says
Made this last night - super easy and delicious! Leftovers were even better. It took my cauliflower much longer than 10 minutes to soften. The only change I made was adding some chopped spinach (because I throw spinach in pretty much everything). I did think about adding chickpeas (as another reader suggested), but decided to try it first without them. I might even use the sauce recipe with just chickpeas and spinach for a different option. This recipe will go into the regular rotation!