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Street food inspired Roasted Cauliflower Pitas with Zhug and Garlic Tahini. Roasted crispy cauliflower stuffed inside fresh pitas with all the “extras”. Delicious herby green sauce, Zhug, garlic lemon tahini sauce, spicy mango harissa, and all of the desired toppings you love. This loaded pita is SO GOOD and makes for a fun, delicious, and different weeknight dinner. Serve each pita with homemade fries for a meal that everyone will truly love – and have fun eating too.
Keeping Monday fun with some stuffed pitas! Pretty sure I said this when I made chicken gyros, but street food inspired recipes are so much fun. Especially in the late winter when you’re searching for more color, more fun, and honestly, probably travel too.
Actually, I just explained my current state of mine. So this is how I’m feeling. In an effort to not get too bored, I’m loving trying out some fun middle eastern-inspired recipes. These pitas are inspired by chicken shawarma, which you guys know we love around here, but made vegetarian, with cauliflower.
Shawarma is one of the most popular middle eastern street foods you’ll come across. As well as one of the most well-loved. Traditionally, Shawarma is made with roasted meat cut into thin slices. Originally lamb was used, but it’s now often made with chicken, beef, or pork. The meat is seasoned with spices, marinated, and then roasted vertically, rotisserie-style. It’s usually served inside a pita, or on a plate with hummus.
The thing that’s so incredible about shawarma is that when it’s served up in a pita, it’s also served with multiple toppings and sauces. I wanted to recreate that style of pita, but with roasted cauliflower!
Start with the roasted cauliflower
I kept it simple but loaded up on the spices. Lots of paprika, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, and then garlic and lemon too.
Nothing fancy, but when roasted up with the cauliflower, it’s such a delicious, hearty combination. Even some of my brothers (hello Kai and Red), really loved it! Creighton stuck with chicken, but I’ve given up on changing his ways.
The Zhug, or herby spicy green hot sauce
Zhug is a popular hot sauce throughout Israel. It can be either red or green, but either way, it’s spicy. The green version is made with herbs, chilies, and spices– mine uses cumin and turmeric.
It’s fresh and super flavorful over top of the roasted cauliflower.
Fun fact, this sauce is straight out of my new cookbook, HBH Every Day. So just a little sneak peek for you!
The “extras”
The tahini. We all love a little tahini sauce and it is so simple to make in just minutes. I usually do mine with roasted tahini, lemon, garlic, and a small amount of honey. Creamy and perfect when drizzled over the cauliflower.
And lastly, sometime last year, I read about a mango sauce called Amba, in Eden Grinshpan’s Eating Out Loud, which sounds truly like an incredible addition. Apparently, you can now buy it at Trader Joe’s? Has anyone seen it?
Basically, it’s a spicy mango hot sauce. Since I don’t have Trader Joe’s, I blended harissa with fresh mango and pickled jalapeños. It sounds super odd, but you guys, it’s super delicious. This is of course totally extra, but if you want a lot of sauce, try this, so yummy!
My recommendation is to make all the sauces and add all the toppings. Make your weeknights fun!
Looking for other easy dinners? Here are some favorites:
Sheet Pan Greek Garlic Butter Chicken and Potatoes
30 Minute Spicy Indian Butter Chicken
Sheet Pan Chicken Gyros with Feta Tzatziki
Spinach and Artichoke Pita Grilled Cheese
Lastly, if you make these Roasted Cauliflower Pitas with Zhug and Garlic Tahini 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 tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Roasted Cauliflower Pitas with Zhug and Garlic Tahini
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 713 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon smoked or sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- juice from half a lemon
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- kosher salt black pepper
- 4 fresh naan or pitas, warmed
- pickled red onion and lettuce, for serving
- lemon tahini and mango harissa (recipe in notes) (optional)
Zhug (herby green sauce)
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 large jalapeño, seeded if desired
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. 2. On a baking sheet, tossed together the cauliflower, olive oil, paprika, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, cayenne, lemon, garlic, and a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes, toss and bake another 15 minutes, until lightly charred.3. To make the zhug. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until finely chopped. If the sauce is too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time to thin. Taste and add more salt as needed. 4. To assemble, stuff/spread each pita with zhug, then lettuce, roasted cauliflower, and red onion. Drizzle over more zhug. Add tahini and harissa, if desired (recipes in notes).
Notes
Lemon Tahini: Combine 1/2 cup tahini, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon honey, and 1/4 cup water in a blender and blend until smooth. If needed, add water to thin the sauce as desired. Season to taste with salt.
Mango Harissa: In a blender, combine 1/2 cup red harissa sauce, 1 cup diced mango, and 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños, blend until smooth.
I’m sure this will get axed. I usually love your sauces and recipes of this style, but the harissa mango really took away from the I assumed intended this dish for both me and my husband. I know, optional, but when you recommend, I’m going to give respect to the original recipe
Hi Tina,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. I’m not sure what you mean by “get axed”? Sorry to hear the sauce was not enjoyed. Let me know if there is anything that I can help with:) xT
So good!! I’m not a fan of tahini so left that out. My mango was bad so I substituted frozen peaches. Overall great flavor and easy to prep a day ahead of time. Thanks!!
Hi Ellen,
Happy Friday!!☘️ Thanks a bunch for testing this recipe out and sharing your review, I’m so glad to hear it was delish! xx
Could I use candied jalapeno in place of pickled jalapeno for the mango harissa? I have some on hand from another recipe.
Hey Brianna,
Totally, that would work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
Literally one of my favorite recipes of all time. Obsessed with the cauliflower and zhug. I tried it with the garlic tahini the first time then traded it out for tzatziki and wrapped it in Naan instead of pita. Everything else was the same. BIG, BOLD, AMAZING FLAVOR!!
Hey Caterina,
Amazing!! I appreciate you making this dish so often and sharing your review, so glad to hear it is always a winner! xT
This was so delicious! I will definitely be making this again! [I made with frozen cauliflower as I didn’t have any fresh at the time]. Love all the flavors!
Hi Lisa,
Happy Wednesday! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing your feedback! xx
This might be a dumb question lol but when you say pickled red onions and lettuce, does that mean picked red onions and pickled lettuce? Or just regular lettuce.
Can’t wait to make this tomorrow! Will come back to review 🙂
Hi Kaylin,
It’s just regular romaine lettuce and pickled red onions, you should be able to find them near the pickles at your local grocery store. I hope you love the recipe! xx
10/10 love this recipe
My farm market had local giant cauliflower heads for only $2.40 and I’m so glad this was the first recipe that came up in my search.
I did mess up and put only water in the zhug but it was still crazy delicious, excited to try it with olive oil next time for the added richness
Hey Jessica,
Happy Wednesday!? Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was a tasty one! xxT
Should we take the parsley and cilantro off the stem or blend it all together.
Hey Brooklyn,
You can leave it on the stem:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Wowza, I had this for dinner tonight and it is absolutely delicious! The flavors are so bright and complex. I air fried my cauliflower because it was too hot to turn on the oven; it worked very well. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Hey Coby,
Amazing! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Have a great Monday! xTieghan
I forgot to rate , sorry
Thanks again Cathy:)
So delicious! I make 80% of your recipes a week and they are all delicious. You are so talented. Thank you!
Hi Cathy,
Happy Sunday!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for trying it out and sharing your review! xxT
Looks amazing – but we do not love mangoes. Any idea for a substitution?
Hi Katey,
The mango harissa is optional so you could just skip it or you could try pineapple. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
I’ve made a lot of your recipes but THIS one right here takes the cake. Holy flavor!! I did all 3 sauces and naan and even my parents who normally poo poo vegetarian/vegan meals were LOVING IT! wow. this is my new go to. thank you Tieghan!
Hi Claudia,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for your comment and making this recipe. So glad it hear it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I just made this amazing dish and absolutely loved it! Loved all the flavours mixed together and it was super easy to make. Definitely making this again. Thank you so much, all you’re recipes are delicious.
Hey April,
Awesome!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! Thanks for making it and sharing your feedback:) xx
I really enjoyed this recipe! Made all the sauces and really liked the Zhug, but LOVED the mango harissa. Like actually obsessed lol. If I make extra harissa to save for later, how long can that be stored in the fridge?
Hey Ally,
Thanks so much for your comment! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! I would say up to 2 weeks in the fridge. xTieghan
I’ve made this three times now. Really creative spices and sauces. If I ordered this in a restaurant, I’d be really happy with it! Thank you!
Wondering about trying some ancho chili powder instead of the smoked paprika. What do you think?
Hey Pam,
Thanks for your feedback! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for trying it out! Sure, I think that would be a great idea! xTieghan