Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with flavorful Romesco Sauce over a bed of simply seasoned lentils. A quick and easy sheet pan dinner – vegan, plant-powered, and full of flavor! With a Video. Love cauliflower? Check out our 33+ Best Cauliflower Recipes!
Oh, mirror in the sky what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin’ ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life? ~Stevie Nicks
We loved this simple vegan dinner the other night and thought I’d share. Roasted Cauliflower nestles in flavorful Romesco Sauce over a bed of simmered lentils. It’s a nutritious meal, full of flavor and goodness, that comes together quickly and easily. Truly the place where healthy meets delicious!
What I love about this recipe is how the Romesco Sauce ingredients roast simultaneously as the cauliflower. While baking away in the oven, the lentils are simmering on the stovetop, giving you a little hands-off time before dinner. Then it’s just a matter of whizzing up the flavorful sauce and assembling. A tasty, easy, vegan sheet pan dinner.
Fall has arrived and I’ve been enjoying these brisk temperatures. Something about it makes me feel very alive. When you see the falling of the leaves, the wilting of the flowers, the dying off of nature, it’s a good reminder of how precious this life is. I know it will end, and in a way, I suppose it must, for it to mean something. And then the questions begin to surface, like, have I loved deeply enough? Or dug down far enough within myself to fully experience this life, or shed enough of what is not real? Big sigh…
Cauliflower Romesco Video
What you’ll need:
- Lentils: FYI- small lentils cook fastest! I love these black caviar lentils– done in 20 minutes!
- Cauliflower- A whole large head cauliflower
- red bell peppers ( or sub roasted red peppers)
- red onion
- garlic cloves
- almonds (Marcona almonds are nice, or toasted hazelnuts)
- extra virgin olive oil
- red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- tomato paste (or sub-sundried tomatoes)
- salt , black pepper and spices: smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, cayenne
- fresh parsley for garnish
How to make Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce (instructions)
Step one
Preheat the oven and start the lentils cooking on the stovetop. These are the tiny Black caviar lentils that cook in 20 minutes- a lifesaver on busy nights!
Step two
Slice the Cauliflower into ½-¾ inch slices, then trim the leaves, leaving the stem intact. Place on a parchment paper -lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with spray olive oil. If you prefer, you can also cut into florets.
Step three
Make the quick marinade and brush it over the cauliflower and bell pepper, onion and garlic.
Step four
Roast until the stems of the cauliflower are fork-tender.
Step five
When the peppers are collapsing, make the romesco sauce.
Place the pepper, onion, garlic, almonds, spices, olive oil, vinegar, tomato paste and salt in the food processor and pulse.
Blend until well combined but not too smooth.
Optional: Place it in a pan or skillet over low heat to keep warm, and further deepen the flavor.
Step six
Season the lentils with a little olive oil , and slat and pepper to taste.
Step seven
Assemble! Divide lentils among bowls, divide romesco sauce, then top with the roasted cauliflower. Sprinkle with some fresh herbs and you are good to go.
Storage & Serving Suggestions
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The sauce and lentils can be frozen. It is a hearty meal, serve on its own or with something light like a leafy green salad!
Hope you are having a beautiful fall week.
love,
More recipes you may enjoy
- Chili Crisp Cauliflower
- Simple Romesco Sauce Recipe
- Our 25 BEST Lentil Recipes! (Plus how to cook Lentils)
- Zaatar Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Green Tahini Sauce
- Lentil Bolognese
- Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Romesco Sauce
Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco Sauce and Lentils
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: vegan, main
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Spanish
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco Sauce over a bed of simply seasoned lentils. A quick and easy sheet pan dinner – vegan, plant-powered, and full of flavor!
Ingredients
Lentils:
- 1 cup dry lentils (beluga, black caviar lentils, french green lentils, etc- small lentils cook the fastest!)
- 6 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- optional additions: garlic cloves, bay leaves, sliced onion, dried herbs ( thyme, oregano)
garnish: drizzle of olive oil
Sheet Pan:
- 1 extra-large cauliflower
- 1 large bell pepper, halved or quartered
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- 4–6 fat garlic cloves
Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Romesco Sauce
- 1/2 cup almonds (Marcona are nice, or sub toasted hazelnuts, walnuts, pinenuts, etc)
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper each, more to taste
- 1/4– 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or chili flakes- add to taste.
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2–4 tablespoons water (to desired consistency)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 F
If making lentils, place water, lentils and salt in a medium pot, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer gently until tender. See notes for additional seasonings. Drain, drizzle with olive oil.
Sheet Pan:
Spray an extra-large, parchment-lined sheet pan with spray olive oil. ( You may need two if using small pans)
Cut a whole cauliflower into ½-¾ inch slices or “steaks”, and then trim the leaves, leaving the stems. (TIP: leaving the leaves on until after slicing, helps them stay together better while you slice). Place these on the sheet pan.
Slice the onion into 1/2 inch thick rings and quarter the bell pepper removing seeds and place on the sheet pan, along with the whole garlic cloves.
In a small bowl mix the marinade ingredients together, then brush liberally over the cauliflower, getting the edges too. Brush any remaining over the onion, garlic and bell pepper.
Bake in the oven until the cauliflower steaks are fork-tender and peppers are tender and collapsing, about 35 minutes, checking on the garlic, halfway through. Remove the garlic when golden, ahead of time if need be.
Romesco Sauce: Place the roasted peppers, onion, garlic, and nuts in a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add the salt and spices, tomato paste, vinegar, olive oil and a little water. Pulse again until well combined, leaving a little texture. Add more water to loosen it and get it saucier- if you like, or keep it thick up to you. Taste and adjust salt and heat level.
Assemble your bowls. Drizzle warm, drained lentils with a little olive oil, and divide among bowls, spoon romesco sauce on the other side of the lentils, top with a couple of cauliflower steaks.
Scatter with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to season the lentils with any additional aromatics: adding garlic clove, dried herbs, bay leaves, to the cooking liquid.
Leftovers can be reheated (baked). If reheating the romesco sauce, stir in another tablespoon of water to prevent it from drying out.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: with ⅔ cup lentils
- Calories: 556
- Sugar: 7.8 g
- Sodium: 641.4 mg
- Fat: 34.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.8 g
- Fiber: 12.3 g
- Protein: 19.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Another fantastic recipe! The sauce is so addictive, it’s hard to stop eating. I let the cauliflower get charred in the oven and it was crispy goodness. Can’t wait to have this again. Thanks for another awesome recipe. 😋
Thanks Daria! So happy you enjoyed this!
Is it a good idea to toast the walnuts? Thanks! Jackie
I’ve done it both ways. 🙂
Oh my gosh, another excellent dinner! Thank you! We used half the salt and a third the oil and it was still a million bucks’ worth of deliciousness.
Perfect Cathy- glad you enjoyed it!
I have made this twice now. It it so yummy, thank you!!
Awesome Jennifer- thanks so much!
This was superb…such a perfect weeknight meal. My husband I both said we could eat this every night. Thank you for posting yet another another fantastic recipe, Sylvia!
Great to hear Sarah!
Wow!
This was truly amazing Sylvia.
Made it for lunch for my husband and I – so tasty,I am a vegetarian and he is happy to eat a veg based diet as long as it is tasty. He loved it! Thank you. I make loads of your fabulous recipes.
You are a star!
Awww… thanks Sue- glad this worked for you!
Wow Wow Wow!
This is so good I have to use restraint and not eat more so I don’t end up with a tummy ache.
Need to find other uses for the Romesco sauce—I’m almost licking my plate.
Thanks Sylvia!
Glad you enjoyed this Gina!
Just made this last night. My husband LOVED it and he’s anti-vegetables haha! It was such a flavorful, delicious and exciting meal! Pretty easy too.
I didn’t have smoked paprika so I subbed 1/2 sweet Paprika and 1/2 Chipotle Chile Powder. It was a bit spicy, but very smoky and delicious.
Will definitely be making again the next time I host a dinner. Thank you so much! What a lovely recipe!
Sauce was magnificent as well. I ended up adding about 1/4-1/2 Cup extra water to make my desired consistency.
So happy you both enjoyed this Amaya!
ah, this was absolutely delicious. I keep on making your recipes as i have not been disappointed once. This one is a winner, making it in my recipe rotation!
Yay- so happy you liked this!
This was outstanding and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. The flavors all worked really well together. I did not have raw almonds so I subbed roasted and omitted the salt and balanced it after everything else was in the sauce. Delicious. This one is a keeper for sure.
Yay Christian- Glad you enjoed this!
Oh my god this is exactly as delicious as it looks! Thank you for sharing all these amazing recipes for free. I’ve made and enjoyed so many. xoxo
Thanks Zoe- appreciate this! ❤️
For Thanksgiving (2021), making your turkey breast with balsamic blueberry glaze for Hubs & FIL, and then this cali/romesco/lentils dish for me! Will let you know how they come out. Now … checking whatcha got for desserts! So glad I found you. 🙂
thanks, Victoria! Have a happy Thanksgiving.
This is was an incredible meal! The flavors and textures of all the elements was spot on. Smoky and complex. So satisfying.
Glad you enjoyed this Amanda!
This was excellent. And easy. At first I thought the Romesco sauce was a bit too powerful but together with the meal/cauliflower was perfect. Thank you!
Oh good Carmen! Glad you enjoyed it!
This was really good! I was making half the recipe, and needed to add more water to get enough to blend it, but it was still very flavorful.
Thanks and glad you liked it!
You know how some recipes are greater than the sum of their parts? This is one of those. We absolutely loved it—and we aren’t even vegan. This will be a regular for us this winter.
Awesome Xan! Glad you enjoyed it!
Another keeper Sylvie!!!
The sauce is wonderful!!! Creamy, slightly sweet and well balanced flavours!
I made this and added parsnips to the sheet pan after seeing your post for parsnips with Romesco sauce. Didn’t have lentils so substituted black beans and served alongside garlic sautéed black kale with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper and plain steamed farro – very tasty, satisfying and oh Sooo healthy!!!
I love your recipes Sylvie!!! Always excited to see your new posts!!! 😀
thanks Paula!
This was amazing!! I used canned lentils as that’s all I had and mixed the sauce into them as this way it made my teenage boys eat them. They loved it and came back for more.
Awesome Michele!
Delicious! Can’t wait to make that sauce again. Also the marinade will be great for all kinds of roasted veggies.
Great to hear Florence!
Dear Sylvia,
This was delicious. I must admit that I made your emerald dal instead of just the lentils. I was afraid that the lentils by themselves would be too plain. I needn’t have worried. The romanesco sauce was incredible. And so easy.
Anyway, the emerald dal went really well with the rest….so it was one yummy dish.
Thank you so much for all your great recipes. I love them.
Glad you enjoyed this Jack and with the Emerald Dal- what a beautifully colored plate that must have been!
This is another beautiful recipe Sylvia! We loved it! And it was easy to make. Thank you for sharing 😊
Great to hear Marie! Thanks so much! 🙏
Beautiful–and unexpectedly filling. The romesco sauce was gorgeous (needed to improvise by roasting a few cherry tomatoes with the peppers as I had no tomato paste and I toasted my almonds) and I was surprised at how tasty and filling the beluga lentils were. For me, the cauliflower steak was the weakest component–and I love roasted cauliflower–as the marinade didn’t really come through. Next time, I’ll stick to tossing in olive oil w some salt and fresh rosemary–the crispy herb should be nice with this. once again, thx!
Thanks Bri!
I love the sound of this meal, but can’t eat bell peppers.
Do you have suggestions for any alternatives for this sauce?
How about adding roasted tomatoes or even sundried tomatoes ( rehydrated)?
This was just a perfect Sunday night meal! Wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you!!
Thanks Kim! Glad you enjoyed this!
It’s a fall painting on a plate–love it! Will pick up a cauliflower at the next farmers’ market to try this next Tuesday, thx!
Awesome Bri! Hope you are having a beatuiful fall. xoxo