I’ve really really been trying to curb my pasta dependency (addiction?) lately. One of the easiest ways to do that is to just swap vegetables for the pasta, but I’m not really into spiralizing or zoodles, so I’m exploring other ideas. (You may have noticed my Roasted Eggplant with Meat Sauce last week, same idea.) This week I was craving mac and cheese and I know a lot of people do cauliflower mac, but I decided to take it up a notch and roast my cauliflower with a spicy and smoky blend of spices first. OMG WIN. This Spicy Roasted Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce is the 💣.
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Adjust the Heat
If you don’t want spicy, simply leave the cayenne pepper out of the spice mix and you’ll still have a deliciously smoky and garlicky cauliflower that will go really well with the cheese sauce. 👍
No-Roux Cheese Sauce
I made a “quick” cheese sauce for this, which uses evaporated milk to emulsify the cheese instead of a flour and butter roux. If you don’t want to go that route, you can make my 5-Minute Nacho Cheese Sauce instead. My only regret with this quick cheese sauce is that because I made such a small amount I have 2/3 of a can of evaporated milk leftover, which I now I have to find a use for. Any ideas??
Evaporated Milk is a MUST.
And no, sadly, you can not use almond, coconut, cashew, or even plain milk for this. Evaporated milk is needed to get the correct emulsification action. If you’re looking for a vegan cheese sauce, this one from Minimalist Baker looks good, although I haven’t tried it. She’s really good about testing, re-testing, and testing recipes again until they are 💯, though.
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce
Servings 2Ingredients
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1 lb. frozen cauliflower florets ($1.59)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
Quick Cheese Sauce
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
- 4 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded ($0.90)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
- Spread the frozen cauliflower florets out onto a baking sheet (no need to thaw first), then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the spices over top. Toss the cauliflower in the oil and spices until they are fairly evenly coated.
- Transfer the seasoned cauliflower to the preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes, stirring once half way through.
- About half way through the roasting time, begin the cheese sauce. Add the evaporated milk and butter to a small sauce pot. Heat over medium, while stirring, until the butter has melted and the evaporated milk is hot. This should only take a couple of minutes.
- Turn the heat under the evaporated milk to LOW and begin whisking in the shredded cheddar, one handful at a time, making sure the cheese is fully melted before adding the next handful. Once all the cheese is melted into the evaporated milk the sauce will thicken. If it’s still very liquidy, keep the sauce over low heat and whisk constantly until it thickens. Often the cheese appears to be completely melted, but it has not yet totally emulsified. Remove the cheese sauce from the heat until ready to serve.*
- Once the cauliflower has finished roasting, divide it into bowls or place it in a serving platter, then pour the cheese sauce over top. Serve immediately.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Roasted Cauliflower with Cheese – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl combine 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Place a pound of frozen cauliflower florets (no need to thaw) on a baking sheet and drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil over top. Sprinkle spices onto the cauliflower and then toss them until they are coated in oil and spices. Roast for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring once halfway through.
Toward the end of the roasting time, begin the cheese sauce. This sauce is SO FAST and easy, but it does get a little grainy as it cools, so make sure to make it just before serving. It does smooth out again if gently heated and whisked, though.
Add 1 Tbsp butter and 1/2 cup evaporated milk to a small sauce pot. Heat and stir over medium heat until the butter is melted and the evaporated milk is hot. Once hot, turn the heat down to low and whisk in 4 oz. shredded sharp cheddar, one handful at a time, making sure the cheese is fully melted before adding the next handful. Once all the cheese is melted in and the sauce is hot, it will thicken like the photo above. If the sauce gets too thick, simply whisk in another splash of the evaporated milk.
When the cauliflower is finished roasting, plate it up and pour the cheese sauce over top. Serve immediately. If the cheese sauce has cooled too much to pour before the cauliflower is finished, it can be smoothed out again by whisking over low heat.
DIG IN! Seriously so delish. Oh, and these servings are pretty big. If you are doing this as a side it would be more like 3 or 4 servings.
I make this quite frequently! I love to add rice and or vegan chicken. So Delicious!
I don’t usually like cheese vegetables but this was so DELICIOUS
I used fresh cauliflower and I didn’t have the hot spices so I used a tablespoon or two of sriracha chili sauce (not the hot sauce, the other one)
I cooked it the same amount of time with fresh cali
It was yummy. I did change the cheese sauce; I made a roux with 1/2 T butter and 1/2 T oil, added 1/2 c fat free half and half and 1/2 c milk; simmer and stir until bubbly, added the cheese. It was delicious. Will try the evap milk version next time. I used fresh cauliflower b/c that is what I had. Frozen would be much cheaper.
Fantastic recipe. The cheese sauce was perfect. And love how the Smokey cauliflower tasted with it. I also added in some peas and crumbled impossible meat- just the vegetable heavy, mac and cheese replacement I was looking for.
I had broccoli and cauliflower so did both.m on one big tray. Works great!
Easy and delicious! I love budget bytes and tell everyone about it
Yum!! I was a bit skeptical since I’ve been underwhelmed by roasted cauliflower in the past, but this was great. The spices and cheese combined to be greater than the sum of their parts!
The cauliflower was AMAZING! My 6 yr old, who loves all veggies EXCEPT cauliflower, ate 3 helpings of this!
I will say, however, that no one enjoyed the cheese sauce :(
My hubs who hates vegetables actually likes oven roasted cauliflower. This is a nice variation with the cheese sauce! No leftovers here!
YUM. Made this with fresh cauliflower and subbed paprika (I was out) for chili powder. Delicious! Curious to see how the leftovers will hold over
For the cheese sauce, you can substitute evaporated milk for butter, heavy cream, and almond milk. Comes out just beautifully.
My only regret with this quick cheese sauce is that because I made such a small amount I have 2/3 of a can of evaporated milk leftover, which I now I have to find a use for. Any ideas??
Brazilian Lemonade
You could freeze it in an ice cube tray to use another time.
For anyone else wondering about the leftover evaporated milk. I’m using it for a mini portion of the Peach Balsamic ice cream from this site. :)
Just made this as a side for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Though, I think in the future I will at least double the batch to get some leftovers.
I did make a few changes: I omitted the cayenne (I’m a wimp when it comes to spice), I used fresh cauliflower (the cooking time was about 40 minutes), and I made the cheese sauce using butter and flour instead of the evaporated milk.
The fiancé and I tried this recipe tonight and wow, what a winner! I already knew roasted cauliflower is delicious, but that. Geese sauce: SO GOOD.
Looking forward to try out more of your recipes :)
Question. How do you all come up with the pricing of these meals?
I use my receipts to calculate the cost of the portion of the ingredient used (except I use a generous estimate for spices, since the quantities are so small). I wrote up a little guide on how to do it because I think it’s a really insightful practice, even if people only do it once: How to Calculate Recipe Costs.