Quick And Easy Roasted Cauliflower Cheese Steaks

It’s a whole new way to serve that family favourite, cauliflower cheese. Deliciously tender roasted cauliflower steaks with the creaminess of the cheese sauce, crunch of walnuts and fresh tang of spring onions make this simple yet hearty vegetarian dish a winner any day of the week.

How to give old fashioned cauliflower cheese a new lease on life!

Why you’ll love this cauliflower recipe

• This is so simple to make, you are cutting the cauliflower and roasting it in the oven while you make the cheese sauce.
• Cauliflower steaks take on all types of flavours, so you can add your own style to this dish very easily.
• This is a quick and easy midweek meal ready in about 30 minutes.
• It’s so versatile, you can serve your cauliflower cheese steaks as a main meal or a side dish and add extras too.

Cauliflower is very healthy

Cauliflower may look a little bland but is one of those vegetables that is just packed with nutrients and goodness. It contains a great many nutrients and is high in fibre.

Cauliflower is low on the calorie scale and packed with antioxidents.Cauliflower is low in carbs so makes a great replacement when you are on a low carb diet.

How to make full use of cauliflower

I love using cauliflower in all sorts of recipes from the standard cauliflower cheese to soups. But sometimes I like to use it is different ways like in this simple Mixed broccoli and cauliflower rice or using it to Make cauliflower pizza base. Then of course there is soup – like my curried caulliflower, potato and kale soup. Use cauliflower to replace mashed potatoes, just steam and mash the cauliflower with butter and seasoning.

Ingredients for cauliflower cheese steaks

There are very few ingredients for this simple vegetarian dish;

A large cauliflower, cheese (the choice is yours), butter, flour and milk. Plus some seasoning, some walnuts for crunch and a few spring onions or chives to add a bit of greenery when serving.

What type of cheese to use for the sauce

You can go for a standard cheddar cheese for a traditional cauliflower cheese sauce.

Or try blue cheese for a really rich and creamy grown-up sort of sauce.

I have used a mixture of cheese for my sauce as I’ve been clearing out bits and pieces of cheese in the fridge.

I’ve used cheddar, mozzarella and a bit of blue cheese for my cauliflwer cheese sauce.

How to cut cauliflower steaks

Cauliflower steaks sounds like an odd term, but really it just means thick slices of cauliflower that lay flat so look like a steak.

Cut the leaves off the cauliflower at the base and stand it upright on your chopping board

Slice the cauliflower into slices about 2cm thick. Don’t slice it any thinner than that as you want to have a crispy exterior and creamy tender middle to your cauliflower steaks.

Don’t worry about the outside florets breaking off, you just roast those as well as they go all lovely and crispy and yet another dimension to this cauliflower cheese dish.

What knife to use for cutting cauliflower

I use my biggest knife to cut these cauliflower steaks. Using a big knife means you can make one clean cut right through the cauliflower. This is especially important if it is one of those really big cauliflowers.

Using s small vegetable knife just makes an easy job a wee bit more difficult as there is more chance of the cauliflower breaking up as you take more and more hacks at it to cut the thick slices/steaks.

How to roast cauliflower steaks

Simply place the cauliflower pieces on to a baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with some salt and pepper too.

Roast the cauliflower at 200C for approximately 20 minutes till the cauliflower steaks are golden and a fork goes into them easily.

Flavouring the cauliflower steaks

You don’t need to settle for simple salt and pepper when seasoning your steaks. Get creative and add some harissa paste into olive oil and brush this on the cauliflower steaks for an amazingly spicy alternative.

Here’s how to make your own harissa paste.

Want a bit of a curry vibe? The sprinkle these vegetarian steaks with curry spice before roasting them.

Here’s how to make your own curry spice blend.

How to make the cheese sauce

Melt butter in a pan and stir in flour to create a roux. Now gradually stir in milk to loosen this up to create a sauce and add grated cheese as you go.

Save some of the cheese to scatter on top of the cauliflower steaks once they have the sauce on them.

Making the cauliflower cheese steaks

While the cauliflower is roasting in the oven make your cheese sauce as shown above.

Now simple remove the cauliflower steaks from the oven and pour over your cheese sauce and sprinkle with the grated cheese that you saved earlier.

Add some broken up walnuts for extra crunch.

Pop the cauliflower cheese steaks under a preheated grill to get it all to bubble up.

Serve the cauliflower cheese steaks sprinkled with some finely snipped spring onions or chives to add a bit of greenery and freshness.

How to serve cauliflower cheese steaks

You can serve these vegetarian steaks as a main course just as they are with their creamy cheese sauce.

Serve the cauliflower cheese steaks as a side dish when doing a Sunday roast or with gammon steaks.

For a non-vegetarian version try adding a slice of ham between the cauliflower steaks and the cheese sauce, delicious!

Can you freeze cauliflower cheese steaks

Yes, you can freeze this dish just as you would ‘normal’ cauliflower cheese. It will freeze well for about 4 months. Defrost and reheat till piping hot.

Looking for more super easy and tasty vegetarian recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;

Super easy pumpkin and sage risotto

Chickpea gnocchi with tomatoes and pesto

Moroccan spiced stuffed aubergine/eggplant

Savoury cheese and tomato clafoutis

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.