This buttery whole roasted cauliflower starts with a whole head simmered in chicken stock for 15 minutes, so it turns tender all the way to the core. Then I move it to a baking pan, drizzle melted butter over the top, sprinkle on Parmesan, thyme, salt, and pepper, and roast it at 425°F until golden, with a quick broil at the end to brown the top. It takes seven ingredients and about 40 minutes. It looks beautiful in the middle of a holiday table.
It’s a great choice for your holiday table along with Parmesan Crusted Potatoes, Jiffy Corn Casserole, and Honey Butter Skillet Cornbread.
Most of what it needs may already be in your kitchen: butter, Parmesan, dried thyme, and chicken stock.
Because the stock does the cooking, the oven only has to brown the top. That takes about 10 minutes of baking, basted once with the pan juices, and up to a minute under the broiler.
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Ready in about 40 minutes.
- Budget-friendly ingredients.
- No chopping, since the head stays whole from the pot to the pan.
➡️ Ingredients
⏲ How to make this whole roasted cauliflower
This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Preheat Oven: Set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bring Chicken Stock to a Boil: In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring chicken stock to a boil.
- Prepare and Simmer Cauliflower: Meanwhile, using a knife, cut off the bottom of the cauliflower head and remove any outer leaves. Do not break the cauliflower apart. Transfer the cauliflower to the stock pot and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the stem.
- Prepare Cauliflower to Roast: Using tongs, transfer the cauliflower from the pot to an 8×8-inch baking pan or a large cast-iron skillet. Spoon some chicken stock atop cauliflower, drizzle on melted butter, then sprinkle on grated Parmesan, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Roast Cauliflower: Transfer the baking pan to the oven and bake until the cauliflower is golden, about 9 to 10 minutes, basting with the pan juices halfway through. Then move the pan to the highest oven rack, turn on the broiler, and broil for 30 to 60 seconds more, until the top is browned in spots.
- Serve: Remove the pan from the oven, drizzle the pan juices over the top, then serve.
👉 Ingredient substitution suggestions
- Unsalted Chicken Stock: Vegetable stock or beef stock will work here. Either can be subbed in for chicken stock at a 1:1 ratio.
- Unsalted Butter: If you only have salted butter, that will work fine; I would just suggest decreasing or altogether omitting the added salt that the recipe calls for.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese: Shredded Parmesan cheese will work here. You can also use Pecorino Romano cheese in place of grated Parmesan.
✨ Variations
- Add garlic powder or finely chopped garlic cloves to the cauliflower before baking.
- Include finely chopped fresh herbs, like thyme or rosemary, on top of cauliflower before baking.
- Add some heat by sprinkling a little ground cayenne pepper and/or red pepper flakes on top before baking.
〰️ How to serve
- Sauce: Stir together tahini, extra-virgin olive oil, and lemon juice and brush atop roasted cauliflower right before serving.
- Mains: Serve as a side to chicken tortilla casserole.
💬 FAQs
How should the roasted whole cauliflower be stored?
Store cooked and cooled cauliflower in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven at 400°F or in 30-second increments in the microwave until warmed throughout.
📚 More cauliflower recipes
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Buttery Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 4 cups unsalted chicken stock, or more (enough to cover cauliflower)
- 1 medium-sized head of cauliflower, rinsed, patted dry
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 425°F.
- Bring Chicken Stock to a Boil: In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring chicken stock to a boil.
- Prepare and Simmer Cauliflower: Meanwhile, using a knife, cut off bottom of cauliflower and remove any outer leaves. Do not break cauliflower apart. Transfer cauliflower to pot of stock and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the stem.
- Prepare Cauliflower to Roast: Using tongs, transfer cauliflower from pot to 8×8-inch baking pan or large cast-iron skillet. Spoon some chicken stock atop cauliflower, drizzle on melted butter, then sprinkle on grated Parmesan, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Roast Cauliflower: Transfer baking pan to the oven and bake until cauliflower is golden, about 9 to 10 minutes, basting with the pan juices halfway through. Then move pan to highest oven rack, turn on oven broiler, and broil for 30 to 60 seconds more, until the top is browned in spots.
- Serve: Remove pan from oven, drizzle the pan juices over the top, then serve.
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