This versatile Cauliflower Shawarma recipe is easy to make and full of spicy flavor. Perfect for bowls or tucked into pita with zhoug and tahini sauce. Vegan & gluten-free.
Cauliflower shawarma is a delicious vegetarian addition to your Middle Eastern feast! Roasting cauliflower with shawarma spices is heavenly! The flavors are clean and lively, with a gorgeous golden color, creating a beautiful presentation. Create savory cauliflower shawarma bowls with lentils, basmati rice, cucumbers, and tomatoes; or tuck into warm pita bread with veggies, zhoug, and tahini sauce for the perfect finish. This would also make a great side dish!
Why You’ll Love This
- Incredibly nutritious. Cauliflower is packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals!
- So versatile. Serve in a pita, wrap, as a hearty bowl or a savory side dish!
- Warm, robust flavor! Seasoned with a fragrant homemade shawarma spice blend.
Cauliflower Shawarma Ingredients
- Cauliflower: an extra large head, cut into florets, or roughly two pounds florets.
- Olive oil: for richness and crispy texture.
- Spices: Ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, garlic powder, ground ginger, allspice, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
- Optional additions: Pita bread, diced cucumber, sliced red onion (or pickled onion) diced tomato, Israeli Salad, Lebanese slaw, arugula, microgreens, spinach, olives, basmati rice, quinoa, barley, simple braised lentils, roasted vegetables, grilled vegetables, Tahini Sauce, Zhoug, or Zhoug Yogurt, Hummus, Hot Sauce or Baba ganoush and fresh lemon.
How to Make Cauliflower Shawarma
Preheat oven to 425F.
Step 1: Prepare the shawarma spice blend. Whisk spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic powder, ginger, allspice, cayenne, salt, black pepper) together in a small bowl.
Step 2: Toss the cauliflower. Add cauliflower florets, olive oil, and spices to a large bowl and toss well.
Step 3: Roast. Transfer to a parchment-lined (or well-oiled) baking pan. A rimmed baking sheet makes it easy to gently toss halfway through baking. Roast for 25 minutes on the medium or bottom oven rack, or until golden brown on the edges and tender.
How to Make a Cauliflower Shawarma Wrap
- Warm up pita bread (or a tortilla) until pliable. Cut in half, and open the pockets.
- Spread with hummus or baba ganoush (optional).
- Add cauliflower shawarma and your choice of fillings; diced tomato and cucumber, onions or pickled onions, greens, or microgreens.
- Drizzle with tahini sauce and zhoug or make a zhoug yogurt (blend yogurt with zhoug).
How to Make a Cauliflower Shawarma Bowl
- Place warm grains (rice, quinoa, millet, etc) and lentils (or chickpeas) in a bowl.
- Add cauliflower shawarma and any additional veggies: diced cucumber, bell pepper, avocado, tomatoes, onions, etc. (or add roasted vegetables in colder months).
- Drizzle with tahini sauce and zhoug (or zhoug yogurt), add a squeeze of lemon juice, and scatter parsley or fresh herbs.
What to Serve with Cauliflower Shawarma
- Tahini Sauce
- Homemade Shawarma Spice
- Zhoug or Zhoug Yogurt
- Baba ganoush
- Hummus
- Pickled red onions
- Hot sauce
FAQs
Shawarma typically refers to a Middle Eastern street food dish that consists of chicken, beef, or lamb slow-roasted on a spit. It is served wrapped in pita with sauces and vegetables. This oven-roasted variation uses cauliflower instead!
Start by trimming away the leaves, then cut the head into quarters. Cut the bulky stem from each quarter, then use your hands to break apart large florets. Some pieces may be good as is, or you may want to chop into smaller florets.
The roasted cauliflower will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
This Cauliflower Shawarma recipe is so easy and delicious! Enjoy!
More Cauliflower Recipes You’ll Love
Cauliflower Shawarma Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Category: vegetarian dinner, vegan dinner,
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: Middle eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Versatile Cauliflower Shawarma is easy to make and full of Middle Eastern flavor. Perfect for bowls or tucked into pita with zhoug and tahini sauce. Vegan and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, 2 pounds cut into bite-size florets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Shawarma Spice Blend
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (fresh garlic cloves can burn and make the cauliflower bitter)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
Wrap or Pita option: Pita bread, cucumber, red onion, tomato, or Isreali Salad, add Lebanese slaw or greens like arugula, micro greens, or spinach.
Shawarma bowl option: cooked grain ( rice, quinoa, barley), simple braised lentils, fresh cucumber, tomatoes, red onion or more roasted veggies,or grilled vegetables.
Serve with: Everyday Tahini Sauce, Zhoug, or Zhoug Yogurt,or Baba ganoush and fresh lemon.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
- In a small bowl whisk spices together; cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic powder, ginger, allspice, cayenne, salt, and black pepper.
- In a large bowl, toss cauliflower florets with olive oil (add a little more olive oil if needed to coat well) and add shawarma spices, tossing well.
- Place on a baking sheet pan in a single layer with parchment or well-oiled. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and tender.
To Assemble:
Shawarma Pita: Warm pita or for wraps, use a warm tortilla. Add roasted cauliflower, greens (Lebanese slaw is good here) and veggies, and drizzle tahini sauce and zhoug over the top, zhoug yogurt is really nice too!
Shawarma Bowls: Layer with grain, lentils, shawarma cauliflower, veggies, drizzle with tahini sauce and zhoug or zhoug yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh parsley.
Notes
The roasted cauliflower will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup cauliflower shawarma
- Calories: 117
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 218.9 mg
- Fat: 7.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.2 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 4.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Great recipe! We are trying to eat more clean foods and I’ve found this website to have some really good options! I had frozen cauliflower and it worked just fine. Made with quinoa and a cucumber salad with the zhoug sauce on top.
Great to hear Gracie! Really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
I am excited about my menu for the week, including the cauliflower shawarma, mushroom miso pasta, spicy Mexican shrimp, and Tom kah soup.
What a great post this week.
Thanks
Yay! So happy you are inspired. Let us know how it goes!
This is definitely going into the vegetarian dinner rotation. The flavors really pop! Roasted chickpeas with the cauliflower and added fresh corn cut off the cob half way through. Made the zhoug and added a bit of yogurt to make it a little creamy. So good!
The corn sounds yummy with it! So glad you enjoyed and thanks for the review!
Yum/ I love this recipe! I served it with both tzatziki and green tahini sauce, but I preferred it with tzatziki.
So glad!
DELISH! I went a smidge heavy on the spices – the spiced cauli was even – oh-so-good – raw! Served in naan with your tahini sauce, tomatoes, cuke, pickled onion and csa greens! Very flavorful and satisfying! Even for my carnivorous husband! Thank you!
Awesome Kim, happy you all enjoyed!
The Shawarma spices are so fragrant and really spice up this dish. I made the quinoa with stock for flavor and it was a great meal! Good breakfast leftovers too!
Glad you enjoyed this one Kim!
This was delicious with all the different flavours and textures, although my tahini sauce was a little bitter. I added a teaspoon of maple syrup to balance it out. This could have been due to my tahini paste.
Yes some tahini’s can be bitter. Glad you enjoyed the cauliflower!
This was sooo good. I made the zhoug sauce and the tahini sauce ahead of time so it was pretty simple to pull together. This is definitely going in the weekly rotation!
Wonderful to hear Jennifer. Thanks so much for taking the time to review!
I made this bowl style – super simple and delicious. The tahini is a must!
Yay, so glad you liked this one Liz!
This had a lot of moving parts, but was delicious! I did make sauce, seasoning, and grain ahead to make it easier. Tahini sauce was awesome.
Yes prepping ahead is a big help. Glad yo enjoyed!