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Sharing my vegan twist on a classic Indian dish with this Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower. I’ve swapped the chicken for nutrient packed cauliflower, and replaced the heavy cream and butter with rich and creamy coconut milk and coconut oil. This coconut butter cauliflower is the perfect healthy, but still delicious, alternative to the traditional heavier version. It has a quick 30 minute cooking time and uses pantry staple ingredients. Making this recipe perfect for any night of the week.
My favorite thing to do is to cook for others. Creating a recipe that I know someone is going to love is such a fulfilling thing for me. It’s one of the reasons I love cooking so much. When my family was in town over Christmas, I knew that I would have to make Indian Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken is one of my brother Creighton’s favorite dishes. The rest of the crew loves a good Indian dish too.
That being said, there are a few people in the family who prefer a vegan/vegetarian diet. Enter this coconut butter cauliflower. It has all the same flavors and creamy sauce as classic butter chicken. However, it omits the chicken and replaces it with cauliflower, and is made vegan by using of creamy coconut milk.
It also happens to be much easier to prepare with just a 30 minute cooking time. So basically, it’s the perfect recipe for January.
I wanted to keep the dish as authentic as possible. So I first “marinated” the cauliflower in a mix of coconut milk, garlic, and ginger. It’s just a quick marinade to help the cauliflower soak up the garlic and ginger flavors. Once the cauliflower has marinated for 10 minutes or so, it’s time to broil. I like to do this to give the cauliflower a head start on cooking. it also gives it a nice little char before being added to the coconut butter sauce.
While the cauliflower is “marinating”, I make the coconut butter sauce to keep the recipe moving right along. The key to any good Indian butter sauce is all in the spices. I used a mix of garlic, ginger, garam masala, yellow curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper for a very well spiced sauce. It’s warming and spicy, but not in an overpowering way. If you’re sensitive to heat, just adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking.
My real secret to a delicious Indian sauce, whether vegan or not, is coconut milk. I adore using coconut milk in place of cream in any Indian style sauce I make. I find it not only to be creamier and healthier, but also every bit as delicious (if not more so) than what you might get at Indian restaurant. The coconut pairs so well with the Indian sauce seasonings. It’s always my go-to when making Indian inspired food.
By the time you have the sauce together, the cauliflower should be ready to go. Just slide it right into the sauce to finish cooking.
As you can probably guess, my favorite way to serve this is over steamed rice with a side of my homemade naan (which I’ve been making almost every other day as of late). If you’d like something a little more nutrient dense than white rice, try using steamed brown rice or quinoa.
I ended up serving this with a little mango salsa on top (just a simple mix of diced mango, jalapeño, lime, and cilantro) and it was truly delicious. I would highly recommend if you love a fruity touch of sweetness, which you know I do.
So, what was the family’s verdict?
Let’s just put it this way, all of the coconut butter cauliflower was eaten before the chicken version was touched. Trust me, I’m shocked that everyone, even the meat eaters in the family, went for the vegan version. This dish is truly loved by all. In fact, some of my harshest critics said this was some of the best Indian food they’ve eaten. Even one family member who has been to India several times.
I think it’s safe to say the recipe is a true hit. I’m sure I’ll be making it over and over again, especially since it’s so easy.
If you make this Indian coconut butter cauliflower, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
30 Minute Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 1/3 cups canned full fat coconut milk
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 inches fresh ginger, grated
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper ,more or less to taste
- 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- steamed rice and naan, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the broiler to high. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. 2. In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, 1/3 cup coconut milk, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, and a pinch of salt. Let sit 10 minutes to "marinate". Spread the cauliflower in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes, until the cauliflower is just beginning to char on the edges. 3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the remaining garlic and ginger, cooking another 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.4. Add the tomato paste and remaining 2 cups coconut milk. Stir to combine, bring the sauce to a boil, cook 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in coconut oil. If the sauce seems thick, thin with 1/2 to 1/2 additional coconut milk or water. Add the cauliflower and any juices on the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.5. Serve the cauliflower and sauce over bowls of rice with fresh naan and mango chutney, if desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Oh boy, this was soooo good! We didn’t miss the chicken or dairy at all.
Will be making this one over and over, great recipe!
Love that!! Thank you for trying this Michele! xTieghan
This is so delicious!! I made the original recipe a few times but I also swapped the cauliflower for potatoes and it turned out great too! All your recipes that I try turn out great – I am very impressed with this beautiful blog!! Big fan from Germany!
Amazing recipe, thank you!
Thank you so much Cally! xTieghan
Delicious and so easy to make! I saved 1 cup of the sauce and will pour it over grilled shrimp for some other time.
Changes I made: added 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar, only used 1/2 tsp of cayenne powder and used 2 full cans of coconut milk
Amazing! I am so glad you enjoyed this one so much, Rica! xTieghan
Tried but last night.
It was super delicious..yum yum ?
Quick and taste v
My husband loved it
Thank you so much for a great easy recipe ?
Thank you so much Sheetal! I am really glad this turned out so amazing for you! xTieghan
Could you make this with eggplant or a combo of Other veggies?
Hi Bree,
Yes I think that would work well! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
What to use instead of yellow powder ? Can I use kitchen king? Or where to find it in India?
Hi Sheetal,
I would use your equivalent of yellow curry powder. I hope love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
So, so good!! We all loved it! So appreciate all of your vegetarian and vegan recipes.
Thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes!! xTieghan
Where’s the butter? 😀 If I’m going for a creamy, buttery flavor, how much would you add? Thanks!
Hi Britt,
This recipe is already creamy and does not require butter. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions. xTieghan
I made this and it was a hit! My husband devoured his plate and was looking forward to having more. I have tried the recipe with the chicken this time i didn’t even miss it at all. I reduced the cayenne pepper a bit and the dish was still flavorful and satisfying.
Wow love that! Thank you so much Netty! xTieghan
We are obsessed with this dish! The only thing we had to change was that we used half the amount of cayenne because it was too spicy the first time we made it. Besides that, it’s perfect! We’ve started adding different veggies to the mix and we’ve even thrown in some garbanzo beans. Love love love this dish. Thank you for the recipe!!!
Thank you so much Sari! xTieghan
Delicious! I just made this! Doubled it first round, I had cauliflower from the garden. Roasted carrot with the cauliflower and added some frozen peas. Beautiful, spicy, delicious dish!!!
Sounds amazing! Thank you so much Tina! xTieghan
You are a magician!
Back up to a week ago, we must moved to a new city and had TERRIBLE carry out Indian. I was looking for a way to get this bad food out of our memory so decided to try this after you posted about it on Insta.
I’m a vege so I’ve never actually had Butter Chicken, but my husband loves it so I was excited to try it. This recipe has such rich, complex, deep flavors. I haven’t made much Indian food but this was so easy with accessible ingredients, simple for anyone to make.
We both like spice and used 1 tsp. cayenne which was perfect for us, flavorful without being overly hot.
The cauliflower took longer to roast for me so I just kept it in the oven until it was tender.
I was a little worried about using that much tomato paste but it was definitely delicious and melded the flavors well.
I added it to the pan after the spices bloomed and cooked it for a minute before adding the coconut milk, so for others that think it’s too tinny, maybe try this step first.
Haha no magician, but I am REALLY glad you had success with this one! Thank you for trying this out, Tiffany! xTieghan
This was so unbelievably good. I’ve wanted to make it for a while and finally did. Well, it fulfilled all of my dreams and more! I had it over rice with a side of naan and it was perfect. I ran out of yellow curry powder but used a teaspoon of cumin and a tiny extra pinch of turmeric instead and it was still delicious.
I am so glad you enjoyed. this Colleen! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Made this dish, and it was very nice for a change up!
Thank you so much Darcy! xTieghan