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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Hmmm. I was really looking forward to this, but the tomato sauce flavor completely overwhelms the spices. Wish I had read the comments first. I will try it again next time with double the spices. I added garbanzo beans, too.
The spice base for this recipe is great, and super adaptable. I serve this with paneer over rice a few times a month. Thank you 🙂
This recipe is delicious!! I have made it a dozen times and it turns out perfect every single time. I have even tossed it in the freezer and it reheated wonderfully. The only changes I have made is I use whatever canned tomatoes I have on hand, fire-roasted diced tomatoes have been our favorite! And instead of heavy cream I use lactose free 2% milk. Thank you Damn Delicious!!!
My husband made this and it was delicious! Is there nutritional information for the recipe?
This dish is so good! The only change I make is to double the rice. There is plenty of cauliflower and sauce for it when making the rest of the recipe as directed.
Amazing. Added chicken for full meal and served with naan. I have small children so I was hesitant with the Indian spices. They downed it. Saving in our recipe archives to make again for us and company. I love easy and tasty and this is one of those 🙂
Delicious!!! Followed the recipe exactly except that I only had 1/2 cauliflower head to work with so added cubed paneer cheese and peas. Turned out soooo good!!! I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the local grocery store in my urban vicinity carries paneer cheese, as did a couple others I went to after making this. I would recommend others to search for Paneer in their local grocery stores. Thank you for sharing this recipe! In regards to the reviews that suggested doubling up on the spices or cutting back on the liquid – I have eaten in a several Indian restaurants in my city, and thought this recipe was pretty damn good!!! I would not have noticed the difference! I do not recommend making any changes to this recipe without trying it for yourself first.
this was absolutely scrumpdidiliumpsh. I read other reviews and I can confirm to double the seasonings for extra flavor, cut back on the chicken stock, would swap heavy cream for coconut cream, and would 100% add mushrooms, bell peppers, etc. amazing.
The flavor was great. I used coconut milk to keep it vegan. It’s rather soupy for my taste and I’ll probably reduce or eliminate the amount of stock added. Thanks for a yummy recipe!!
Maybe one of the best things I’ve cooked at home, definitely going into the rotation of staples! Added some potato and chickpeas since I only had one bag of frozen cauliflower. Thank you!
Loved this – already made it twice!
Can the leftovers be frozen?
I made this last night and it was delicious. Even more delicious were the leftovers for today’s lunch!
We have complicated diet restrictions in my house…my husband is low carb for blood sugar reasons, my daughter is vegetarian. Also, a lot of dairy doesn’t sit well with my husband’s stomach. So, I switched in coconut cream instead of regular cream, and I took half of the sauce (there was plenty) and simmered chicken in it. I also added some peas, because I love to add peas. So not exactly the original, but definitely a keeper recipe. My daughter had samosas, jasmine rice, naan, and butter cauliflower. My husband had brown rice, butter chicken, and a LITTLE bit of samosa and naan. I had some of each. It was delicious. My only complaint is that the cauliflower head I bought was too small, so not enough cauliflower. If the ones you find are small, I would suggest getting 2, especially if you are not cooking chicken in half of your sauce. Thanks so much!
How would you change the instructions for potatoes instead of cauliflower?
This recipe is a favourite in our home! But to make it a bit more authentic, we TRIPLE all the dry spices! It doesn’t make it spicy, just way more flavourful 🙂
Iv made this many times and it’s great but I was wondering; do you think I could use mushrooms instead of cauliflower?!
This was sooooo good! I added potato and frozen peas — potato with the cauliflower, just cube them pretty small to cook at the same time as the cauliflower and add frozen peas right before the heavy cream. (Did take an extra 10 minutes or so for the cauliflower and potatoes to cook than stated in recipe.) The flavors were spot on! So good! My family loved it and I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow for lunch!
My go to for butter cauli. I like to add pan sear hard tofu as well. I use my instant pot for this recipe and cook the cauliflower and tofu for 3 mins and it comes out perfect! Extra garam masala for me!
Hi! Can I use lite coconut milk in place of heavy cream? Thanks!
Delicious!!! Spiced but not spicy. The cauliflower absorbs the flavor of the tomatoes and spices. Made it with basmati rice and homemade naan bread. This was a win!
I have made this at least 3 or 4 times. We love it!
Made a double recipe this time. Does it freeze well?
This is soooo freaking good. We have made this 3 times already. The second time we didn’t use onions because of the onion recall happening at the time so that one wasn’t the best. But I wish I could eat this every week. I don’t think my husband would complain. Hmm.. haha! AND we have a lot of fun making this together. I’m of Hispanic heritage and he is of Polish descent so we have no idea if this is “legit” tasting. All I know is that it’s delicious! And this is only the second recipe we have tried from this website. The first being the Baked Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli which my Mexican mother begs us to make for her. I love how the recipes are easy to follow for us beginner cooks.