This Cauliflower Parmesan is a vegetarian take on the classic chicken parmesan recipe and tastes fantastic! It’s tender on the inside, crispy on the outside and cheesy on top!
I’ve had this Cauliflower Parmesan recipe on my mind ever since I made this Vegan Orange Chicken recipe (that is amazing!). I’ve also been dreaming about making a cauliflower steak recipe for a while so this Cauliflower Parmesan came together perfectly!
This Cauliflower Parmesan is a vegetarian take on the classic Chicken Parmesan recipe and can easily be made vegan by using vegan cheese. It’s such a cozy dinner that your whole family will love!
What You’ll Need To Make This Cauliflower Parmesan Recipe
- Cauliflower – The main part of this recipe is cauliflower! You want to get a fairly large cauliflower so you can get four good sized steaks out of it. Cutting the steaks and having them stay together can be a little tricky so you need to make sure you can cut four from the stem.
- Flour and Almond Milk – The batter is made of flour and almond milk. I used regular AP flour but you could also use whole wheat or almond flour. I always have unsweetened almond milk on hand but you could also use regular milk or another plan based milk that you prefer.
- Panko – I love Panko in this recipe. It makes the coating extra crispy without having to use a ton of it.
- Marinara Sauce – I just used a jarred marinara that I know I like. You could also use homemade if you like.
- Cheese – I used a part skim shredded mozzarella. You can really use any kind of cheese you like here, including vegan cheese. I also sprinkled a little bit of parmesan over the top before eating.
I created this recipe before all the coronavirus madness that is going on right now. I feel strange sharing recipes at this time when there are lots of people without much food and the people who do have food mostly have pantry staples and non-perishables. But, I’m happy to say that this recipe mostly uses pantry staples like, flour, milk, bread crumbs, tomato sauce and cheese. And, if you happen to have some cauliflower on hand then you can make these tonight!
How To Cut A Cauliflower Steak
I’ve tried cutting cauliflower steaks before and they totally fell apart on me. Here are a few tips I have on how to cut the perfect cauliflower steak:
- Buy a large head of cauliflower. The larger the cauliflower, the more intact steaks you will be able to cut from it. It’s important that it has a good sized stem too.
- Carefully peel or cut the green leaves away from the stem but be careful not to cut the stem off. The stem is what will help hold the cauliflower steak together so you need to leave it on!
- Be careful and handle the cauliflower very gently. It’s known to fall apart very easily and the whole point of the steak is that it needs to stay together.
- You won’t likely be able to get steaks out of the entire cauliflower and that is ok! The sides that aren’t attached to the stem probably won’t stay together well, but you can try.
Cauliflower Parmesan
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Cauliflower Parmesan is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and full of flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, should be big enough to cut 4 good sized steaks out of
- 1/2 cup flour, I used AP flour
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon herbs de Provence or dried Italian herbs
- 56 grams panko breadcrumbs, about 1 cup
- 2 ounces shredded cheese, I used low fat mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup marinara sauce
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Carefully cut cauliflower into four similar sized steaks. See above for tips on that. In a medium sized bowl, add the flour 1/4 teaspoon salt, garlic powder and onion powder and almond milk. Whisk until a thick batter is formed.
- Pour the Panko, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and garlic powder and dried herbs onto a large plate and mix until combined. Carefully place the cauliflower steak in the batter and use your hands to make sure that the entire steak is coated with batter. There is just enough batter for four steaks so you want it to be a thin coat.
- Place the batter coated cauliflower steak in the panko and coat. You can press it down and then sprinkle some on top. Shake off any excess and then place on the baking sheet. Repeat process until finished.
- Bake cauliflower until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and starting to brown, 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and top each with 1/4 cup tomato sauce and a small sprinkle of cheese. Place back in the oven and bake another 5-7 minutes, until cheese is melted.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner, Vegetarian
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Can you include nutrition of the dish?
I am working on adding it to more recipes
I am learning to cook for our vegetarian grandson. We both liked this recipe BUT would like to see the flavor/seasoning stronger
when getting to the stem. After slicing the “steaks”, I thought I might prick the stem with a fork and infuse it with some Italian dressing a hour before coating and baking. What do you think? I used fresh mozzarella cheese in slices and it was delicious. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you.
P.S. love to do appetizers and may use this recipe without the stems and for the last 5-7 minutes, drizzle my homemade marinara over them and sprinkle with cheese before popping it back in the oven. Then sprinkle with fresh basil and serve with toothpicks! I am grateful for your recipe and look forward to learning more.
That sounds delicious!!
Looks good, however we no longer eat tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, so any alternatives to the solanacea family?
You could do a white sauce, either cheese Alfredo or cashew based cream sauce