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!
This is delicious!!! Super easy, super flavourful. Served it with rice.
This my new favorite meal! The flavor is incredible and it’s perfect for lunch or dinner. I like to toss in some cubed or shredded chicken for a little extra protein, but you honestly don’t even need it for this meal to be satisfying. I definitely recommend using some garlic naan to add some extra goodness!
I make this all the time, it’s become a weeknight go-to! Super easy, mostly ingredients I keep on hand anyway. This tastes amazing as written but I like to add a squirt of honey or a spoonful of sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomato a little. Totally not necessary, though! Another banger from budget bytes.
I love this recipe. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do not even miss meat eating this dish. So hearty and filling. The flavor is spot-on!
So good! I used coconut milk (closer to 1/2 cup) and a can of crushed tomato instead of sauce (close enough) and it was delicious. I have a go-to chickpea masala, but I like this more :) Guess I have a new go-to.
Excellent! I made this dairy free by using canned coconut milk, and it’s a good thing I doubled the recipe because everyone liked it! I used fresh cauliflower, dried ginger, and chipotle powder instead of cayenne (I was out of cayenne). It came out really well and will stay in the rotation. I like the suggestion to add spinach at the end – will probably try that next time! Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.
Very delicious, but are you sure you meant two TABLESPOONS of Garam Masala, rather than one tablespoon?
Yep, that’s how much I use. :) But every spice blend is unique, so if yours is stronger you can certainly use less. :)
I’m glad someone asked. I think this is a good recipe overall, but the 2 tablespoons of garam masala completely drowned out the other flavors in mine. This was also my first time cooking with garam masala, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was curious if it was a misprint and should have been teaspoons. I think I’ll try again with a lot less garam masala.
This is so SO good. The spice blend is absolutely delicious. I’d make this again in a heartbeat. The only change we might make is to add another can of chickpeas, but that is because we like them so much. :) Thank you for an AMAZING recipe!!
This is one of my all-time favs. It’s great to make at the start of the week for lunches (it usually lasts me 3 meals when accompanied by some bread or rice). I do add fresh spinach at the very end to make it a little greener & cut the cayenne in half so it isn’t quite as spicy for me :) Thanks, Beth!
I used ground ginger and had to blanche a head of fresh cauliflower, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly, and just wasn’t thrilled with the results – I found it very tomatoey and acidic compared to tikka masala takeaway. I made the coconut lentils as well, and ended up with a bunch of leftover masala and no leftover lentils for a family meal, so I know what is and is not going to be made again.
Very tasty!! I must have had curry on the brain cause I did accidentally think it said curry powder instead of cumin for some reason lol so mine got both. I had a couple partial bags of other frozen veggies in the freezer, decided to throw those in (one of broccoli and one half broccoli /half cauliflower, and a bag w some de shelled edamame), in addition to the bag of cauliflower lol so I did increase the spices a little and added a little more water since I added extra veggies.. everything else was the same though :) cheated and bought some naan, microwaved w a moist paper towel for 30 seconds, then put it on a hot cast iron skillet for 20 seconds each side.
Served over rice cause we like our carbs lol totally could have just done the naan if we had enough of it though.
Definitely gunna add this one to the rotation :) Almost used coconut milk but remembered I had a half a pint of heavy cream to use in the fridge. Oh and I added quite a bit of fresh cilantro which was great.
Thanks so much! Great recipe like always!!
This has become a staple for my family – I probably make it 2x a month. It’s truly one of my boyfriend’s favorite meals (a meat eater). I use coconut cream instead of heavy cream and always serve with basmati rice and naan.
I used about a cup of coconut milk but otherwise made the recipe as written. Delicious and satisfying withing being heavy. Will make again!
Forgot to leave my rating!!
My dad really loved this. He said “this should go in the rotation so we make it every week.” We don’t even have a rotation so that tells you how much he loved the flavors. Followed the recipe as is though I had to cook the frozen cauliflower for much longer than 5 minutes to heat it through. I guess my electric stove is to blame or maybe i should have had the bag sitting out while I completed the other steps. Adding a lid helped it along for that part. The cauliflower delay didn’t stop us from really enjoying it. I served it with store bought (and heated naan) and we also happened to have salmon. A really easy and delicious dish! Great to have another recipe to use my garam masala spice that I’d purchased for another recipe from this website. Did I mention all my recipes tend to come from here nowadays? Top notch stuff.