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Roasted Cauliflower with Sesame

Cooked cauliflower with tahinidipped serving spoon in blue and white bowl on splattered canvas surface.
Photo by Bobby Fisher

This dish is compulsively delicious. One adult could easily eat the entire head of cauliflower for dinner and feel good about it.

我ngredients

4–6 servings, as a side dish

1 head of cauliflower, broken by hand into florets
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon white miso
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 450°F.

    Step 2

    我n a large mixing bowl, combine the cauliflower, oil, salt, coriander, oregano, and pepper and toss well to evenly coat the cauliflower with the oil and spices. Transfer to a sheet pan and arrange in an even layer, making spaces between the pieces as much as possible. Roast the cauliflower in the oven for 20 minutes, turning the tray and lightly tossing the pieces halfway through.

    Step 3

    While the cauliflower roasts, combine the tahini, miso, vinegar, and 1 1/2 tablespoons water in a small mixing bowl, and whisk until smooth.

    Step 4

    Once the cauliflower is done, remove it from the oven, transfer to a mixing bowl, and toss with the sauce and sesame seeds to coat evenly.

FromAppetites© 2016 by Anthony Bourdain. Reprinted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Buy the full book fromHarperCollinsor fromAmazon.
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Reviews (16)

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  • My husband and I love this recipe! I make it at least once a month for sure! Sometimes I don't have Miso on hand and I will swap in coconut aminos. It still turns out great!

    • Anonymous

    • Twin Cities, MN

    • 3/27/2023

  • RITA decent side dish, made as written.

    • Lololicious

    • Toronto ON

    • 10/29/2021

  • Delicious! I followed directions except reduced the salt by half. Glad I did, as the sauce seems to intensify the salt content. The next time I will bake the cauliflower just a little longer for a more crispy exterior and use the sauce a little more sparingly, but it was delicious as is.

    • sawyerm

    • Spfld. IL

    • 2/28/2021

  • Delicious and satisfying, we've now made this several times. Used parchment lined sheet pan, which made the cleanup fast & easy. Wonderful dish for vegetarians and everyone else. Thinking of using this method for broccoli & other vegetables.

    • readingcook

    • Westchester, NY

    • 11/5/2020

  • made as directed except just a sprinkle of salt, and lemon juice instead of red wine vinegar. Would thin the dressing a touch more. Used relatively small flowerettes by hand, used parchment on cookie sheet, convect roast 450. - would reduce oven to 400 to 425 as started to char a bit and I prefer browning to char. the sesame seeds toasted made it! delicious.

    • Anonymous

    • Toronto

    • 9/3/2020

  • Delicious!! As others mentioned, I reduced the salt a little and charred the cauliflower slightly as we like it crispy on the edges. Garnished with fresh chili. Will double it next time as it was quickly devoured.

    • sasavant

    • Kobe, Japan

    • 3/11/2020

  • yummy. I would use less salt and make sure the cauliflower gets a bit more charred next time. Instead of red wine vinegar I used lemon in the sauce as that's my norm for miso-tahini sauce.

    • ecerb

    • 2/27/2020

  • Yes, this was really good and I agree that there’s too much salt in the recipe. I like the idea of salting to taste anyway, as an earlier cook commented.

    • melonlemon

    • Vancouver, Canada

    • 9/26/2019

  • 我agree regarding the salt, far too much, it ruined my first attempt. Also I should have used parchment paper in the roasting pan, the smaller pieces were overwhelmed by the sauce and were mushy.

    • donmcgillis1307

    • Canada

    • 8/28/2019

  • This is an amazing way to enjoy cauliflower. Regarding salt and roasting temp/times; I never measure out salt unless I'm baking. Salt to taste. I like my cauliflower slightly charred so I roast longer and at a higher temp. I take it out when it looks done. The dressing is excellent, followed instruction exactly and did end up thinning it a bit. Definitely a do over ... and over ... and over recipe.

    • savagesal

    • Clarksville, MD

    • 6/28/2019

  • A solid four forks! Savory, delicious, addictive. I’ve made this a dozen times. When I’m out of tahini, I substitute peanut butter and add some chili sesame oil for zip. I double the recipe and make extra dressing because we devour this cauliflower so quickly.

    • lamcnam7588

    • New Mexico

    • 5/25/2019

  • 我made this dish for an impromptu dinner party. It was so easy to make and everybody LOVED it. There was not a single piece left at the end of the night. It even impressed the vegans :) I will make this again.

    • Anonymous

    • Solana Beach, CA

    • 4/9/2019

  • Absolutely delicious - a hit at Thanksgiving. Even my 7yrold daughter said it was her favorite dish! Doubled the recipe, didn't add ANY salt (miso is salty). Sooooo easy too. Magnifique!

    • sweetchloe

    • los angeles

    • 11/24/2018

  • 昨晚我爱这个与我们的菲力牛排。我used the stated 2 tsps of salt, which seemed excessive, but it actually wasn’t too salty. I did have a huge head of cauliflower which helped. I, too, turned the oven to 400 and thinned out the sauce with more water. Also added mustard seeds for punch. Will make again!

    • janekathryn

    • San Francisco

    • 11/17/2018

  • Loved, loved, loved this. Yes, reduce the salt to 1tsp or 1/2 tsp. Definitely worth making again. I could have eaten this all by myself, but I know how to share (mostly) so I let my family have some too! Bringing this to Thanksgiving this year.

    • gambetta7294486

    • 妈妈ster, IN

    • 11/13/2018

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