Butter Cauliflower Bowls
Indian butter chicken is made healthier + heartier with nutrient-loaded cauliflower! Just as creamy and flavorful, if not better!
FINALLY!
I feel like I’m somewhat on track with this new year, new you situation. I’m just 2 weeks late. Sorry, but the red pepper shells was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
But that’s okay. It’s all about balance, right?
So it’s one night of the creamy red pepper shells, and then another night of this utterly creamy butter cauliflower bowl.
Balance, balance, balance.
And you don’t have to feel guilty about these cauliflower bowls at all.
Cauliflower is a nutrient-packed powerhouse. So don’t feel an ounce of guilt when you balance this all out with perfectly toasted naan, sopping up all that sauce.
I mean, we just agreed. It’s all balance, no?
Butter Cauliflower Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in ginger, garam masala, chili powder, cumin and tomato paste until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in tomato sauce and vegetable stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in cauliflower until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately with rice.
Did you make this recipe?
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I am glad I stumbled across this recipe I’ve stopped eating meat and this fits the bill I decided to roast the cauliflower before adding it in and it turned out delicious! So easy to make.
I tried this and this is my first ever preparation. It was yum. Family loved it.
So good! I added chickpeas and organic baby potatoes. My family loves it and it tastes like authentic butter chicken sauce
OMGoodness! This is delicious and pretty simple to make. We made this as a side dish to accompany grilled lamb chops and rack of lamb. We seasoned the meat with similar spices to this dish so it was a great compliment to the entree. We served it to friends who are from Trinidad and she loved it! In fact, she took the recipe home with her. I added some “power greens” for a splash of green color and green leafy veg and it was a nice touch. Will definitely make it again.
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now! Sooo tasty! The most recent time I made it, I added squash and collard greens to the mix and it felt even more nutritious. The time before, I added red lentils. MMMMmmmmmm
Your additions sounds amazing, Kathleen!
I cooked a vegan friendly version of this recently, substituted the butter for a nut butter and cream for coconut cream and it turned out absolutely divine. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and were lining up to take home some leftovers. Thank you again, your recipes make me look like an absolute pro in the kitchen! 😉
Great way to make it vegan, Claire! Thanks for sharing with us!
I love this so much and might possibly be addicted. I made it twice within two weeks and still wanted more. So comforting and flavorful and filling. YUM!
We love hearing that!
It was not the texture I desired after 10 minutes – I probably let it simmer almost 30 minutes. I boiled some cubed potato on the side since I wanted to make sure they had enough time to cook but it was about equal timing so I’ll mix it all together from the start next time. I also added chickpeas. This would have also been great with peas and/or green beans. I’ll probably do 1 Tbsp garam masala and maybe a little turmeric next time.
My 6 year old and 3 year old approved.
Thank you for sharing your feedback Allie!
Devouring this as we speak/type! My 1st time trying a damn delicious recipe and it’s going in the regular rotation. I doubled the garlic, bumped up the spices by 50% (except chilli – I think our chilli powder is hotter in Australia) as we like spicy food and used the creamy part of coconut milk instead of cream. Wonderful! Just as good as takeaway butter chicken but fresher tasting. Your kale pesto avo grilled cheese up next…
We hope you’ll love it!
Very tasty and very straightforward/simple to make. It took about 20 minutes for the cauliflower I used to become as tender as I like but that may just be personal preference!
Thanks for sharing!
I am a huge fan of her recipes and have tried several other butter chicken recipes and been disappointed in the lack and depth of flavor. I made this the other night for my husband and myself and it was by far the best recipe for this dish I have ever had. This will always be my go to recipe for butter chicken (cauliflower). Thank you!!!
Awesome!
I made this in the slow cooker! Sadly, this cooked for 6 hours on low (because I ran late getting home from work ), but it still tasted great; a little mushy, but great flavor. My idea was to cook on low for 4 hours, which I think I will try next time I make it. Thank you so much for your time and hard work! Can’t wait for your new book!
I made this last night. I thought it was very tasty, but my cauliflower was not close to tender in 8-10 minutes. It was just about right after 20+ minutes. Did anyone else find this to be true? I used a bag of cauliflower (already cut) and chopped it smaller instead of using a head. I think I will up all the spices a bit next time, it was a little “tomatoey” to me. I will definitely make it again! Thanks, I love all your recipes!!
I have your book and am anxiously waiting for your next one. Could you give me the smart points for this recipe? Thanks.
Hi Zena, thank you! So happy to hear you enjoy the book and recipes. We unfortunately don’t have nutritional value/smart points for this one. We recommend finding online resources to obtain such information. Good luck!
Just made this! So so good! Followed recipe to a T, as I do with all of your recipes, and it turned out perfectly. Thanks for everything, and tell Butters I said hi!
Thank you, Aliyah!
I really liked this butter cauliflower, and so did my daughter. It was very cold here today, so it’s great to have a cozy recipe like this for dinner. If I wanted to jazz it up a bit, I think a garnish of some more cilantro and some chopped cashews would be great. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Happy you liked it!
I made this tonight. Turned out fabulous! I used chicken broth because it was what I had and I used coconut cream. Great recipe! Thank you!
Sounds delicious!
Where does the chicken come in?
There is no chicken in this recipe – we replaced it with cauliflower.
Love the twist you have made. Great one ! Thank you.
Thank you!
Now that is how you serve cauliflower!!!