Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce

Published July 31, 2021

A few years ago, my friend bought me a cookbook by Max and Eli Sussman called, “This is a Cookbook: Recipes for Real Life.”

I recently reopened this cookbook and found the recipes I bookmarked. One of them was the Sussman’s side dish of roasted cauliflower. This week, I decided to make their recipe and share my thoughts.

Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce Ingredients

I used leftover tahini from a recent hummus recipe. Onions, garlic, and olive oil are 3 of my staple ingredients, so I only had to buy the cauliflower for this recipe. I didn’t find a large cauliflower, so I used two small ones instead.

How to Make Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce

Tools for this Dish

• Cutting board and knife

• Cookie sheet and spatula

• Sauté pan and wooden spoon

• Measuring spoons and cups

Cooking Notes

Sautéing The Onions

The onions are the most time-intensive part of this dish. When you first add them to the pan — with the two tablespoons of olive oil — you don’t have to stir as frequently, since the onions have to sweat and turn translucent.

Once they turn a translucent white, you’ll see there are pieces — usually in the middle of the pan — that start to turn golden. Keep cooking, they’re not dark enough yet.

You’ll notice that the onions will shrink down and be smaller than the original mound you started with. As the onions turn a dark golden color, adjust your heat and stir more frequently. The onions are more likely to stick to the pan, so you don’t want them to burn.

I followed the ~45-1 hour cooking time for the onions. If your stove is different, go by the color. You want your onions to be dark gold and caramelized for this recipe.

Mixing The Tahini Sauce

The cookbook didn’t specify whether the tahini sauce should be made in a food processor, considering you’re using minced garlic.

In the end, I mixed my tahini sauce in a bowl. I added the lemon juice and water before the tahini, which “broke” the sauce for a moment. If you do the same, don’t worry, I quickly whisked the sauce and it came back together.

I served my sauce at room temperature, which pairs nicely with the hot cauliflower and onions. However, refrigerating my sauce overnight thickened it, which I feel is a better consistency. Feel free to serve your sauce either room temperature or chilled if you don’t mind the contrast in temperatures.

The Final Product

I was happy with how this recipe turned out. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy the taste of the tahini sauce. The sauce is what makes this side dish different from plain, roasted cauliflower. I suggest you try it even if you’re not normally a fan of tahini sauce!

When serving, I found that the flavor is better if you have a generous drizzle of sauce. The fresh parsley is a nice addition.

Recipe Score

I give the roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce recipe a 7/10 for the following:

• Recipe Level

  • Easy: There are not that many steps to make this side dish. You can stagger the steps that you need to do so that you’re not juggling multiple tasks at once.

• Ingredients

  • Depending on your pantry, I would say that all of these ingredients are easy to find, including the tahini.

• Prep

  • There is no prep involved for this recipe besides preheating the oven.

• Flavor

  • 7/10: The cauliflower in this dish is timed perfectly — it’s not crunchy or mushy. The onions are sweet and the tahini sauce is mellow. You can taste subtle hints of lemon. I added extra salt and pepper to my sauce to bring out more flavor. I personally would’ve enjoyed more garlic.

K. Martinelli Makes Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce

Do you have a favorite cauliflower recipe?

Tell me about it in the comments below! If you’re looking for more recipes to try, you can browse all of my recipes here.