This super easy, ultra creamy, and heavily spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala is my new favorite dinner! That spicy-creamy sauce is just so 👌that I have to sop up every last bit with a piece of naan. This dish comes together super fast, requires very little chopping, is insanely inexpensive, and holds up well in the fridge, so it’s great for meal prep! This one is going right into my weekly rotation. :)
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How to Serve the Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala
I’ve been eating my Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala with a piece of naan bread to scoop up that delicious sauce, but this dish would be equally as good over a bed of hot rice. Either way it’s creamy, spicy, and oh so delish!
Make it Spicy or Mild
You can adjust the heat of this sauce by increasing, decreasing, or even eliminating the amount of cayenne pepper in the spice mix. The amount listed below creates what I would call a “medium” spice level, but that’s extremely subjective, so take that with a grain of salt.
Make it Vegan
An easy sub for the heavy cream in this recipe would be full fat coconut milk (the stuff that comes in cans, NOT the dairy milk substitute). You can play around with the quantities, but I’d guess somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup would work well.
Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala
Servings 4 About 1.25 cups eachIngredients
Masala Spice Mix
- 2 Tbsp garam masala ($0.60)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly Cracked Pepper ($0.03)
Skillet Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.21)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.15)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 12 oz. frozen cauliflower florets ($1.00)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas, drained ($0.49)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce* ($0.59)
- 1/4 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream ($0.26)
- salt to taste ($0.02)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the spices for the masala spice mix (garam masala, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper).
- Finely dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Add all three to a large skillet along with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the spice mix and continue to sauté for one more minute.
- Add the frozen cauliflower florets to the skillet with the aromatics and spices, and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes more, or until the cauliflower have thawed through and are completely coated in spices.
- Add the drained chickpeas, tomato sauce, and 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine, then allow them to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. This will help mellow the acidity of the tomato sauce and allow the spices to blend. If the mixture becomes too dry as it simmers, add a couple more tablespoons of water.
- After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Give the masala a taste and add salt as needed. Serve in a bowl either over rice or with a piece of bread for dipping.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cauliflower Chickpea Masala – Step by Step Photos
Begin by combining 2 Tbsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a small bowl.
Finely dice one yellow onion, mince three cloves of garlic and grate about 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger (ginger is hard to measure, so this is flexible).
Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the spice mix and continue to sauté for one more minute.
Add 12oz. frozen cauliflower florets to the skillet and continue to sauté until the cauliflower is thawed through and coated in spices.
Next, add one 15oz. can chickpeas (drained), one 15oz. can tomato sauce, and about 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine and then let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce starts to dry out as it simmers, add a couple more tablespoons of water.
After the sauce has simmered and the tomato sauce has mellowed a bit, turn off the heat and stir in 1/3 cup heavy cream.
After stirring the cream into the sauce, give it a taste and add more salt to taste (I added about 1/4 tsp).
I garnished here with fresh cilantro, but didn’t find that it added a lot to the flavor, so that’s entirely optional!
Dig in!
I decided to finally comment because we make this all the time. My toddlers love it (we cut the cayenne down for them). Sometimes we make it with fresh cauli, sometimes with frozen, and then we buy Stonefire Naan and keep it frozen so we can have this dish on hand anytime. We have coconut and dairy allergies so instead of any cream, we throw in some Earth Balance butter and a splash of unsweetened oat milk.
SUCH a crowd-pleaser.
Normally I’m a huge fan of your recipes, and I’ve made this one a couple of times – but I must say, it is offensively over-spiced. The 2 TBSP of garam is about 4x more than you’ll find in a more traditional recipe.
Delicious!!
I used the coconut milk instead of heavy cream
I made a few changes to the recipe but still turned out great. Subbed curry powder for the garam masala, and coconut milk for the cream. We added red curry paste at the end and it definitely took it up a notch!
My wife has a gall stone so I make everything fat free if I can or low fat. I have to say I know you state full fat in things but I replace everything with either non fat milk, fat free cream cheese or fat free cheese and have never had an issue. I used fat free half and half with this and it came out great. I would say however fat free cream/milk based products tend to be more watery so adjust your amounts accordingly. I really go to your site every week to make my list. So happy I found it. Great recipe!
Do you think it’d be okay to substitute curry powder for the garam masala? I don’t have any on hand and would love to try this recipe!
Yes, the flavor will be different, but definitely still delicious!
I came back for the chickpea and potato masala recipe that used to be linked here. Could I please have it?
Thank you!
Just sent. :)
Was looking for this too… Was starting to think I was crazy remembering something that never existed. Could I get this one emailed to me as well? Thank you!
Yep, just sent! :)
Was also looking for this. Please send
What is your email?
Just emailed you. :)
Just emailed you. :)
This is one of the first recipes I ever tried from Budget Bytes and WOW. Every time I make it I am seriously so impressed with myself and can’t believe *I* made something that tastes so good. Thank you Budget Bytes for the easy, delicious recipes!
Wow, this recipe is DELICIOUS! I swapped in coconut milk for the heavy cream and kicked in some extra spices at the end. This masala paired perfectly with basmati rice. Mmmmm! Love it!
Would this freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing this one, but creamy sauces don’t always do so well, so I’d be hesitant to try.
Where’d the chickpea & potato recipe go??
I’ll email it to you. :)
I never saw this recipe people keep asking about, but I think I’d like to try it! Could up email it to me too please? Thanks!
I made this last night! I added a block of pressed tofu and used 1 cup of coconut milk and skipped the water. It was fantastic!
I have made this for my friends a few times I get asked for the recipe each time I make it. It would be really easy to make it vegan: just substitute the cream for coconut milk. I don’t know what that would taste like, but my vegan friend liked the change.
This is also a dish that is easy to make. I pre-mixed the spices for a camping trip and just had to toss things into a pan.
Just sent :)