These cauliflower tacos are out of this world! Spicy zhoug, fried onions, roasted cauliflower, and tahini sauce unite to make a flavorful, fun meal.
I love these tacos so much that I wish I had thought of the idea myself. I absolutely love cauliflower tacos (there’s a delicious recipe in our cookbook on page 99)… but tahini? in tacos?! That’s something that only the queen of tahini, Molly Yeh, dreams up.
This recipe comes from Molly on the Range, and I highly recommend it for your taco Thursday. Spicy cauliflower is roasted until crispy, and then topped with crunchy onions, creamy tahini sauce, and a sauce called Zhoug, which I’ve never heard of. In Molly’s book, I learned that it’s a Middle Eastern sauce that’s like a spicier version of pesto.
These cauliflower tacos are really easy to make, especially if you make the tahini sauce and the Zhoug sauce ahead of time. The tacos themselves are really simple to put together but are so so flavorful.
And now about the book! Like me, Molly grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Unlike me, she is a talented musician, married a beet farmer, and is absolutely hilarious. Her cookbook is that rare breed of cookbook where I not only drool over the recipes and photos, but I will sit down and read every word of her wonderful writing. Her journey from the burbs to the big city to living on a farm is not only entertaining but inspiring. Get this book!
pictured above: a recipe called My Ex’s Meatless Balls 🙂
pictured below: this super cute Macaroni & Cheese Chart
Molly's Cauliflower Shawarma Tacos
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1½ teaspoons vegetable broth base (I skipped this)
- 1½ pounds cauliflower florets
- 1 medium onion
- 2 tablespoons flavorless oil
- 8 flour tortillas (6-inch)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- ¼ cup tahini
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 5 jalapenos (I used 2)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup cilantro coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- black pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Make the Tahini Sauce: In a small bowl, mix together the tahini, water and lemon juice until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Make the Zhoug: In a food processor, combine the jalapeños, garlic, parsley, cilantro, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, a few turns of pepper, and the olive oil and blend until it's the consistency of pesto, adding more olive oil if desired. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or spoon into ice cube trays, freeze, and thaw as needed.
- Make the tacos: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, salt, garam masala, curry powder, and broth base. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat. Spread the cauliflower onto the baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Thinly slice three-quarters of the onion. Dice the remaining one-quarter and set aside for topping. In a skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Warm the tortillas. Assemble the tacos with cauliflower, fried onions, tahini sauce, raw chopped onion, cllantro and zhoug (if using).
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what’s a good side dish to serve with this?
SOOO good! I’m your newest fan. By far the best vegan dish I have ever prepared. The family loved them and I already have requests to make this again.
This was excellent! There are so many flavors that work well together. And just a tidbit for summer cooking…..I used my air fryer to roast the cauliflower. It turned out great and I didn’t have to heat my house on a warm day.. I also roasted some chick peas to go with these. I will definitely make these again!
Loved this! I think next time though I’ll use pita bread. Tacos are such a challenge to eat
This was tasty but a few modifications I would make. If you do the vegetable broth base don’t add any salt to the cauliflower. It was way too salty! Also just cook the onions with the cauliflower for the last 15 minutes. No need to dirty another pan. Thanks for sharing!
Oh my god. These are amazing!!! I made them with purple cauliflour and added some grilled corn! LOVE!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Could this be meal prepped?
Delicious!
We just made this last night and it was INCREDIBLE! Easily in the top 10 meals we’ve ever made. Way to go!
Just made these last night for dinner! They were soooo good! My husband loved them!
These are amazing! Quick, easy, and a creative flavor combination perfectly suited to taco format! I added some additional lemon juice to the zhoug, inspired by Sprouted Kitchen’s green harissa.
I made these using basmati rice instead of tortillas. I also threw in some thinly sliced kale and topped with chopped cashews and currants. It was delish! I don’t usually get excited about cauliflower, but I will definitely make this again–next time with tortillas. Thanks!
Hi Heather – I’m so glad you liked it! Great idea to serve it over rice 🙂
I made these last night and they were amazing. I think next time I would double the tahini sauce as it didn’t seem to go as far as the zhoug. The leftover fillings (sans tortilla) were great as well.
So glad you liked them!!
I made these over the weekend and they were delicious! It’s the first time my husband was happy about having cauliflower!! {victory dance}
Ha, I’m glad you both enjoyed them!
That looks absolutely delicious! Roasted spicy cauliflower in a taco…amazing!
I love cauliflower, this recipe looks awesome! Definitely going to try this one.
http://www.aliceadventures.co.uk
Oh my goodness yum! I am on a huge cauliflower kick at the moment, and tacos are always a good idea, so this is pretty much the perfect recipe!
Ha, they’re so so good – let me know if you give it a try!
Oh my gosh yummm!
– Natalie
http://www.workovereasy.com
Cauliflower tacos, sooooo good!!
Hi. the Zhoug is missing an ingredient – it says 1 cup chopped of something but it’s not named!
Sorry about that – cilantro!
Just made this, and added a purple cabbage slaw (lemon juice, salt, left-over parsley and cilantro) and it came out wonderful, thank you Molly for the great recipe!