Whole Roasted Garlic Herb Cauliflower

Whole Roasted Garlic Herb Cauliflower is an elegant vegetarian main dish bursting with flavor from a butter sauce infused with garlic, fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage.

This post was sponsored by OXO.

Are you ready for your holiday dinner game to forever be changed?

Picture this: your holiday guests are due to arrive and you need a quick, efficient, yet impressive dinner on the table. One that’s not only loaded with flavor but will satisfy vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

The answer is this. This Whole Roasted Garlic and Herb Cauliflower.

It couldn’t be made more efficiently thanks to the help of several star OXO products, and it couldn’t be more delicious thanks to the VIPs named Butter and Garlic.

We can’t forget all the fresh herbs, either. There’s rosemary, and thyme, and everyone’s fall favorite: sage.

And then for the surprise ending: parmesan.

And it all roasts to cauliflower perfection. The exterior gets a bit crispy, and the interior is filled with creamy cauliflower that melts-in-your-mouth. It has all the flavor and texture.

Now the real question…

How to Roast a Whole Cauliflower

First things first: you need to prep the cauliflower and herbs.

I absolutely love using OXO’s Flexible Kitchen and Herb Snips. When I have fresh herbs growing in my kitchen, the scissors are sharp enough to cut through woody rosemary stems, yet gentle enough on even the most delicate leaves.

Which means they’re an absolute efficiency star in this recipe. Delicately cut off the rosemary and sage leaves, and away you go!

The Cauliflower

You’ll need to remove all the leaves from the bottom of the cauliflower and be sure to cut out a chunk of the thick stem.

After trimming away the large leaves, it’s all about getting in there with your hands and tearing out the rest. At least, that’s what I find easiest.

Then grab a sharp knife and gently cut a triangle shape around the stem. Wiggle it out, and onto the next step!

You do want to be careful when cutting the stem out that you don’t go into the cauliflower florets. You want them to stay intact in the whole cauliflower.

The Butter Sauce

Of course (!!!) there’s butter sauce. It’s really just melted butter with a bunch of herbs and garlic that you brush onto the cauliflower, BUT WE’RE CALLING IT BUTTER SAUCE.

Again, of course.

So when the melted butter is mixed with fresh garlic (the more the merrier) and the fresh herbs (again, the more the merrier), a beautiful thing happens.

The scent wafts up and it’s comforting, and cozy, and makes you want to say “I need this immediately”.

Best tool for this job? OXO’s silicone pastry brush, hands down. It has two different types of bristles: thicker interior bristles that have gaps and thinner outer bristles.

The interior helps transport liquids (helllloooo, butter heaven) and all the grippiness grabs the herbs and helps to spread them evenly across the cauliflower. Match made.

Now what to do once the cauliflower is coated in a luxurious mixture of melted butter and herbs? Transfer it to OXO’s roasting rack using a pair of OXO tongs for ease.

The roasting rack works beautifully with this whole cauliflower as it helps circulate the air and cook the cauliflower evenly throughout (no tough stem area here!).

The buttery juices also drip down, allowing for better basting throughout the cooking process.

And those tongs? I use them for just about everything, but they are perfect here to grasp the head of cauliflower and transfer easily and quickly.

Once it’s transferred to the roasting rack, you can shred on parmesan cheese (really, as much as your heart desires).

Then, bake for about 30 minutes covered with foil, and another 15-20 uncovered. This will result in a creamy center and a lightly crisp, textured exterior. A holiday star for sure.

What to serve with roasted cauliflower?

There’s nothing better than a holiday recipe that’s incredibly versatile, and this one takes the cake!

You can serve it as a vegetarian main alongside green beans, a brussels sprout salad, or vegetarian stuffing (and all the rest of the carbs, obv).

It also makes an excellent side dish for any holiday meal. Efficient and easy to make thanks to OXO, yet elegant and delectable! A definite crowd (and chef) pleaser!

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