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.
Jen H says
This was so good! I added chickpeas for extra protein and it worked out perfectly.
Kay says
Yum!! Best vegan curry I’ve tried. I may try tofu instead of cauliflower next time. Thanks!!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed!
Megan says
This was absolutely delicious! I used raw almonds instead of cashews (due to an allergy), and it worked great. I highly recommend!
Michael says
Sam,
Thanks for this recipe, which I made tonight instead of another cauliflower recipe of yours that I originally went to your site for. It was different, and good. A couple comments:
1. Please include English units (ounces, cups), so we don't have to look up what a 156 ml can tomato paste is.
2. I recommend cutting the cauliflower smaller.
3. It took me much longer than 10 minutes to get the cauliflower soft enough. I would recommend cooking them as long as you can without the sauce sticking, so they get as soft as possible, which is different than the texture you were shooting for.
4. I was tempted to include potatoes, but held off since this was the first time cooking this recipe, but will consider that and other suggestions like tofu and seitan next time.
Karen says
I make something very similar to this, with potatoes and chickpeas.
Darcie McCabe says
I am curious if you might have ideas to make the sauce just as creamy but without using nuts or seeds? My husband cannot eat either one (or lentils for that matter) I would love to try this out!! Help!?!?!?!?!?
Tasmia says
Hi Darcie, I don’t know if you’ll see this reply as it has been months, but considering your husband can’t have lentils or nuts, two of the most essential ingredients in South Asian cuisine, then this style of cooking may not be right for the family (I’m sorry). You could try coconut cream, but that will lend the dish a very different taste which doesn’t necessarily align with butter chicken’s flavour profile. It would still be delicious though and I recommend it if you ever do make this recipe! You may need to increase the spices though.
Lindsay says
Hi,
I really want to try this recipe but can’t have tomatoes. Is there anything that can replace it?
Thanks!
Tasmia says
Hi Lindsay,
Unfortunately the whole flavour of butter chicken is in the tomatoes, so this dish would not work without them. I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer. I recommend looking into other curries which don’t need tomatoes! Best of luck.
Jen D. says
Ok, Sam, so you may just tell me this isn’t the right recipe for me, but I’m still going to dare to ask this question, lol. If I don’t like Indian spices, is there an alternate version that you think could still be yummy, where I make this as you describe, except for those spices or substituting others, like maybe smoked paprika or rosemary or thyme or something like that? Btw, I’m loving your emails and your first cookbook! I use your vegan mozzarella recipe the most and have even tried it with walnuts, which I like a lot! I make the crunchy chickpeas (without the hot spice in there—cause I just have no tolerance for heat/spiciness, unfortunately), but love the thyme, which I had never thought of before! I plan to get the black salt, soon, to try your eggy recipes. Thanks for all of these great, creative, expertly tested ideas.
Tasmia says
Hi Jen, I’m not Sam but I’m still happy to answer the question if you’re okay with that. I won’t lie, as a South Asian woman, your comment did make my eye twitch a little...why search for Indian recipes if you don’t like Indian spices?
However, I can’t be genuinely annoyed given I understand they can be overwhelming for a lot of palates; there are some traditional dishes I don’t even enjoy myself and I was raised on this food.
Unfortunately, the entire flavour of South Asian cuisine relies heavily on the right spices in the right amounts; it’s simply not our food if it doesn’t have garam masala, etc. You simply cannot make this dish without the spices.
However, you absolutely could try reducing the spices (although I don’t know if it would turn out good), OR take inspiration from the techniques used in this recipe and use them to make a new one with the spices you like. You could make a delicious creamy cauliflower pasta with thyme, using the cauliflower to replace chicken!
Best of luck.
Michele says
Just reduce or omit the chili powder—Indian food is flavorful, but not necessarily hot. If you like paprika & rosemary, cumin and garam masala are similarly spicy (not hot!) if you are dead set against exploring, you could certainly make the same dish with Italian spices
Dale says
Made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! Used a bag of fresh broccoli and cauliflower blend since I wasn’t sure my husband would like the cauliflower. Served a rice blend and naan bread with it. Well, my husband literally thanked me at least six times for such a delicious dinner.
We usually follow Dr. Esselsten and don’t use oils (had some vegan butter left over from Christmas I wanted to use), what would you suggest to keep the wonderful flavor and try to keep it oil free?
Sharon says
Hi, this looks great but I have a nut allergy, what could I replace the cashew with?
Gillian says
I don’t know if you can do hemp hearts, but I just made it with those when I realized I was out of cashews and it worked great!
Ann M. says
WOW!!! As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it; and tonight was the night that I did! My husband and I occasionally go out for Indian food, but I never dreamed I’d ever make any thinking it would be too complicated. Well, Sam, thanks to you it wasn’t! This recipe was so easy to make, but it tasted like I had cooked for hours! THANK YOU, Sam! Keep the deliciousness coming!
Sam Turnbull says
You're so welcome, I'm so happy you enjoyed!
Melody says
Hi, how big is each serving size? How much equates to 195 calories? Is it 1 cup?
Rysia says
Would this recipe work well if I added tofu for some extra protein?
Jane says
We're trying to eat more plant based foods, so not vegan yet, but it's great to discover your recipes! We really enjoyed this Vegan Butter Cauliflower, and had a feast tonight which included this recipe, a spinach and sweet potato curry recipe of our own, along with pilau rice and naan - delicious!
Ann says
Hi Sam I’m in Australia & just wanted to check what you call tomato paste coz we call some things different down under Is it thick like a concentrate paste, or a bit looser like a store bought pasta sauce? (Which we call pasata) Just wanna get it right coz I lurv your recipes!
Lynne says
In Canada tomato paste generally comes in a small can and is very thick.You have to spoon it out of the can because it's too thick to pour.
Julie Trujillo says
As always, this is delicious! I have yet to be disappointed by any recipe of yours. And so easy! Added chickpeas for protein, and used sunflower seed cream in place of the cashews and water b/c I had some that needed to be used up. But other than that, I followed your recipe and it is so good! I will absolutely make this a regular part of our rotation. Thanks again, Sam!
Elaine Bryant says
Superb recipe! I love how easy it is to make and that is successfully replaces the desire for buttered chicken. I love cauliflower and it is an excellent choice for this vegan dish. My husband also likes this recipe so if you knew my husband you'd know that was quite the compliment! Thank you!!
Jennifer says
This was so delicious! Other than using a full head of cauliflower, I did not change a thing and it did not disappoint. Incredible recipe!
Ezgi Sarioglu says
It has become one of our favourite recipes! My Indian roommate said it tastes like home! 🙂 Thank you for this.
Julie Ann Gardner says
Although I make a lot of Indian food, I have never made or had Butter Chicken and therefore didn't know what to expect. It was delicious and so quick to "knock up". I think cauliflower is an ideal.choice of vegetable and another dry dish eg aloo gobi could be added with the rice, bread and chutney.
elizabetg says
This is wonderful. Made it last night and my husband adored it - told me to put it in the permanent rotation.
Two things I'll do differently next time. Double the salt. Toast the spices in the pan with the garlic instead of adding them to the sauce. This will amp the flavor.