If you want a leveled-up dinner, then this creamy Tuscan cauliflower dish will impress anyone! Even though it looks fancy, it’s easy and simple enough to make!
Are you ready to level-up your cauliflower game even more? This creamy Tuscan cauliflower recipe is for you! The hack? Pan-searing the cauliflower first to lock in that deep, golden flavor before finishing in the oven.
Then we’re pairing it with a creamy, Tuscan inspired sauce that feels restaurant worthy, but we’re still making it easy to make at home.
This is the kind of dish that looks fancy, but without the stress.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love this Cauliflower Dish:
- Cozy, but Elevated – it feels special because we’re pan searing the cauliflower first and then pairing it with a rich and creamy sauce. You’ll want this for weeknights, but it’s totally worthy for guests and holidays too
- Big Flavor with Simple Ingredients – Cauliflower, lots of spices, and a few other simple and easy to find ingredients make this dish come together
- Flexible Serving – Serve it with pasta, grains, bread, noodles, or just by itself. There’s so many ways to change it up that you never get bored with this recipe. Even the cauliflower itself could be served as quarters like shown or cauliflower steaks, florets, bite size pieces, etc
Ingredients for vegan creamy Tuscan cauliflower:
Gather your ingredients!
Cauliflower
This is the star of the dish. It sears perfectly and adds a bite and warmth to the overall dish.
Substitute: You could also do this with broccoli, chickpeas, mushrooms, and more.
Cashews
We’re making a cashew cream with raw cashews to add protein and creaminess to the dish. It also helps thicken without the need for starches or flours.
Substitute: If you can’t have nuts, we’d recommend silken tofu or white beans (like butter beans or cannellini)
Sun-dried Tomatoes
We are using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil for this recipe.
Substitute: If you use tomatoes not in water or oil, you’ll want to hydrated them first.
Chef Tip: Use some of the oil from the jar to pan sear the cauliflower for another layer of flavor added.
White Miso and Dry White Wine
These ingredients are leveling up the dish in taste even more, however, they are optional. If you don’t consume soy, you can swap the miso with more vegetable stock. And if you don’t consume alcohol, you can just omit.
Spices
We’re using a combination of fresh herbs, aromatics, and dried spices in order to bring flavor to all aspects of this dish.
Plant-Based Parmesan
We are using a plant-based parmesan to add some cheesiness and saltiness to the dish in a different way.
Substitute: You could swap this with nutritional yeast if needed.
Other Leveled-Up Vegan Meals to Try!
Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Creamy Tuscan Cauliflower
Craving a restaurant-quality meal that's easy to make? This creamy Tuscan cauliflower is it! Rich, velvety, and packed with flavor, it's the dish that is both perfect for weeknights or special occasions and holidays.
Prevent your screen from going dark
Ingredients
For the Pan-Seared Cauliflower
For the Creamy Tuscan Sauce
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 425˚F/225˚C.
-
For cashew cream: Add ½ cup each cashews and water to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth*. Set aside.
-
For cauliflower pieces: Add salt and pepper as desired to the cauliflower pieces. In a cast iron skillet, add 2 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add cauliflower pieces, flat side down. Do not overcrowd the pan, and do in batches if needed. Cook for 1-3 minutes until a nice brown, caramelized color starts to appear. Then, flip to the next cut side and cook an additional 1-3 minutes.
-
For baking: Place cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes**. Cauliflower should be just fork tender.
-
For tuscan sauce: While cauliflower in in the oven, add 2 tablespoon plant-based butter to a skillet and let melt over medium heat. Then add minced garlic and let cook for about 30 seconds. Add 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ¼ teaspoon each chili flakes, black pepper and salt, and stir, then add ⅓ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes and stir again, cook for abut 1 minute.
-
Add 1 ½ cups vegetable stock and scrape the bottom of your pot. Add in all of the cashew cream and ⅓ cup grated parmesan and whisk together. Then ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley, juice of 1 lemon, and if adding the optional 1-2 tablespoon each dry white wine and white miso. Stir together until all ingredients are well combined. If needed, thin with more stock as desired. When cauliflower is done, add it to the sauce. Serve warmed.
Notes
**If you aren’t using a cast iron pan (or an oven safe pan, place cauliflower pieces on a baking sheet for the oven time.
***Nutritional facts are only estimates. Utilize your own brands for accuracy.
***The sauce portion has been doubled from the video amounts shown. After testing a few times with our family we decided we liked more sauce. If you don’t like a lot of sauce, feel free to halve that part (keeping lemon juice and miso the same)
Video
This website uses affiliate links which may earn commission for purchases made at no additional cost to you.
Nutrition
Serving0.25dishCalories468kcalCarbohydrates34gProtein12gFat34gSaturated Fat6gPolyunsaturated Fat10gMonounsaturated Fat13gTrans Fat1gSodium1496mgPotassium1064mgFiber8gSugar7gVitamin A1611IUVitamin C101mgCalcium126mgIron5mg
Frequently Asked Questions
Vegan butter and parmesan, miso, and cashews are the ingredients we need to consider. For the vegan butter, you can just use more oil. For the parmesan, you can swap with nutritional yeast. The miso can be replaced with vegetable stock. For the cashews, depending on your allergens, you can use silken tofu or white beans (cannellini or butter beans)
This can be stored once cooled in the fridge for up to 5 days. You may need to thin the sauce if desired.
The sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months once cooled and placed in an air tight, freezer safe bag or container. However, we don’t recommend freezing the cauliflower. Instead, make that when you are ready to make the dish again.
A simple salad goes well and then we usually pick a grain like rice, quinoa, farro, or even noodles. Alternatively, mashed potatoes also pairs perfectly with it.