Spice up your life — and your cauliflower with Cajun-inspired spices in this easy Air Fryer Cauliflower. It comes together quickly with just a handful of ingredients for an easy vegetable side dish that can’t be beat.
Serve this easy side alongside Slow Cooker Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, and Oven Roasted Asparagus for a delightfully delicious dinner. Go in a simpler direction by using the cauliflower as a base for Shrimp Bowls with Mango and Avocado.
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Not a huge vegetable fan, a family member was reluctant to taste this cauliflower the first time I prepared it. I urged him to try it since I had gone Cajun with the seasoning, which he loves.
His response? “Now, that’s delightful.”
Seriously. If you’d like someone you love to call cauliflower delightful, then you need to mix up a batch of this.
Why Make This
It’s super easy! Whether you prep this in the air fryer or go a more conventional route, this cauliflower dish is simple to prepare. No special skills required.
Air Fryer Cauliflower is delightful. Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, dill, and paprika, it’s packed with flavor and so very not-boring as cauliflower may tend to be.
It’s quick. When you make Air Fryer Cauliflower, you’re guaranteed to have your vegetable side dish ready in 15 minutes or less, with most of that being hands-free time.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make Air Fryer Cauliflower:
herbs and spices – I use garlic powder, salt, dried thyme, dried dill, paprika, and black pepper in my air fryer cauliflower but you can just as easily use a premade Cajun Spice Blend or take it in a different direction altogether, using Taco Seasoning Mix or Homemade Italian Seasoning Mix.
cauliflower – You can buy a head of cauliflower to chop yourself or buy the florets already cut.
nonstick cooking spray – Since air fryer cauliflower cooks quickly at high heat, you don’t need much fat. I use avocado oil spray, but you can use another spray oil or just drizzle oil or melted butter on the cauliflower.
Variations
Besides varying the spices you use on air fryer cauliflower, you can also top it with cheese or sauce. Consider these variations:
- sprinkling with shredded cheddar or parmesan
- drizzling with sriracha, BBQ or buffalo sauce
- sprinkling with nutritional yeast or mushroom salt
- tossing with Italian dressing and fresh chopped basil
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make Air Fryer Cauliflower:
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, salt, thyme, dill, paprika, and pepper.
- Place the cauliflower in the basket of the air fryer. Spray it lightly with the oil spray.
- Sprinkle the seasoning generously over the cauliflower. Toss to coat.
- Place the basket in the air fryer and set it to 400 degrees. Cook for ten minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
FAQs & Recipe Costs
Cheese is a great addition to air fryer cauliflower. Once the vegetables are cooked, sprinkle the top with shredded parmesan or cheddar and return the basket to the air fryer for another minute or two to melt the cheese.
Frozen vegetables are easy to cook in the air fryer. You’ll need to increase the cooking time up to 5 minutes to account for frozen vegetables. Check at 10 minutes and adjust the cooking time.
These veggies are great as a taco filling. Adjust the seasonings slightly, swapping the thyme and dill for oregano and chili powder. Serve the cauliflower as a substitute for cooked meat in your favorite tacos.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- herbs and spices – $0.10
- 1 head cauliflower – $2.88
- nonstick cooking spray – $0.10
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $3.08 for a big batch of Air Fryer Cauliflower, about $0.51/serving.
More Great Veggie Sides
Air Fryer Cauliflower
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 head cauliflower cut into bite-sized florets
- nonstick cooking spray or olive oil or butter
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, salt, thyme, dill, paprika, and pepper.
To make air fryer cauliflower:
- Place the cauliflower in the basket of the air fryer. Spray it lightly with the oil spray.
- Sprinkle the seasoning generously over the cauliflower. Toss to coat.
- Place the basket in the air fryer and set it to 400 degrees. Cook for ten minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
To make the cauliflower in a steamer:
- Steam the cauliflower in a steamer basket over a pot of water, covered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Place the cauliflower in a serving dish.
- Spray the oil over the cauliflower and sprinkle with the spice mix. Toss gently to distribute evenly. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
To roast the cauliflower:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the cauliflower on a lined sheet pan and spray lightly with the spray oil. Sprinkle with the spice mix.
- Bake for ten minutes or until tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
Notes
- sprinkling with shredded cheddar or parmesan
- drizzling with sriracha, BBQ or buffalo sauce
- sprinkling with nutritional yeast or mushroom salt
- tossing with Italian dressing and fresh chopped basil
Nutrition
This post was originally published on April 18, 2012. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Annie Kate
I haven’t posted about it, but today I made a coleslaw with some store ingredients (cabbage, carrots) and some homegrown (last year’s purple onions, this year’s chives, a tiny turnip that survived the winter, and a few handfuls of Jerusalem artichoke). Yum!
And if I have energy, we’ll have a nettle omelet tomorrow. The sting goes away if you cook nettles, and they are super healthy.
Jessica Fisher
Nettles scare me. You are brave!
Annie Kate
No, I just have gloves!
Michelle @ Simplify, Live, Love
I love cauliflower! I shared a recipe I’ve been making – buttery cauliflower that 2 out of 4 children love… 🙂
Thanks for hosting.
Emily E
That sounds yummy! We are trying califlower in our veggie garden this year so I’ll have to make this. Plus, I like anything with “cajun” in the title. 😉
JessieLeigh
That looks really tasty! Cauliflower happens to be my husband’s very favorite vegetable already, so this would just take it up an extra special notch for him. 🙂
Jen Blacker
Thank you for hosting again this week. I shared my Zucchini and Squash with Onions. I love this recipe so much I wish I could eat it more often!
Jackie Brown
Oh that looks good; how I wish my family like cauli and I wouldn’t have to eat it all myself!
Jessica Fisher
I make them each eat one piece, even the hubs, under the guise of taste testing.
Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
The cauliflower looks delicious! I don’t make this often enough!
Laura @ Stealthy Mom
Yum! I just happened to pick up a cauliflower at the store today. Cajun spice is a great idea!
There really isn’t any “spring produce” around my neck of the woods, unless you count morels and dandelions. I have been seeing fresh green beans in the store though, so shared a recipe I call Clean Bean Casserole. It is a natural version of that canned-soup-and-fried-onions dish that crops up at potlucks and holiday meals.
Bibi @ Bibi's Culinary Journey
Your cauliflower looks delicious. I love this week theme. Can’t wait to come back later and see all Spring produce recipes.