Super cheesy baked cauliflower [five ingredients]


I am not kidding, we must make this cheesy baked cauliflower about once a week in our house and have made this frequently for at least a year and a half now. It’s baked, super easy to make, only needs a few ingredients, a quick prep, 30 minutes in the oven and you will get this gooey, crunchy and cheesy goodness which you can share with your family. To us, it’s the perfect weeknight dinner. I, as a parent, am chuffed the kids are loading up with veggies, the kids are loving the cheesiness of this meal and it’s lovely and filling.

Plus, we have recently started making a quick tzatziki type dip (see the photo below) which I serve alongside this cheesy deliciousness. This yoghurt-based dip is perfect for cutting through the sticky cheesiness and it’s nice and refreshing as a dip or a drizzle over your baked cauliflower.
I find that my six year old son, who used to be a little hesitant eating the cauliflower on its own, has completely changed his mind now that he can dip it. Plus, eating with your fingers is a must and it’s a little messy – so there’s a lot to love about this meal for little ones too (and not just parents).

How does the cauliflower gets so cheesy?
Two things I really like about this cauliflower is how few ingredients this meal needs and that it is baked. You basically mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, while your oven is getting pre-heated, dump the whole lot into a baking tray and leave it to bake – in the meantime, you’re free to prepare your kids’ lunches for the next day at school, catch up on your emails or just relax (if you are so lucky on a weekday night).
The part which takes the longest in preparing the ingredients (but it is not hard) is to separate a head of cauliflower into florets. To do that, you can cut them with a knife or break them off with your hands. I always rinse the whole cauliflower head first too, then pat it dry with a paper towel as best I can. This helps ensure that your olive oil will adhere better, allowing the panko crumbs and cheese stick better too (though don’t expect perfection, folks).
The super cheesiness comes from the parmesan cheese (or pizza cheese, whichever you use) basically pooling around the bottom of this cauliflower florets. The reason why I warned you against expecting perfection is because while some of the crumb and cheese mixture will stay stuck on the top and sides of the cauliflower, the majority of it will fall. Gravity, you know. So, don’t expect golden cheesiness all over the top, like you would with a flat dish like pizza, when you take your dish out of the oven.
But, despite the rustic looks, I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you taste this – we all know that baked cauliflower is delicious on its own but adding panko crumbs (or bread crumbs, if you don’t have panko), a little bit of olive oil and cheese just transforms this simple dish into something quite addictive, even if I say so myself.

Cheesiness supreme
The beauty of this meal, at least to my mind, is the underbelly of the cauliflower which, as you can see in the image below, you can discover when you flip the cauliflower once it’s out of the oven and cool enough to handle.
You can see how, even though the tops of the cauliflower in the top right corner aren’t particularly golden or cheesy, their bottoms, shown through the middle (top left corner down to the right bottom corner) are just delightful.
These are the bits which my kids love and request as soon as they sit down to the table. My daughter especially is super fond of this meal and keeps asking me to put cauliflower on the shopping list, which I am very happy to do.
The recipe is slightly reminiscent of my Polish grandmother’s recipe – she used to bake or boil a whole head of cauliflower, and just before serving it, pour over melted butter and sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top. I still remember eating it as a young child – and yes, the butter and breadcrumbs made the cauliflower so so delicious. So if you have trouble getting your kids to eat cauliflower, try this!

Recipe
Super cheesy baked cauliflower [five ingredients]
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, outer leaves removed
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp garlic paste, or 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 90 g grated parmesan cheese or pizza cheese
- 45 g panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 175C. Line a large baking tin with high-ish sides with baking paper and set aside.
- Wash the head of cauliflower under a running tap and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Break the cauliflower into florets, either by cutting around the base of them with a knife (be careful) or just using your fingers. You don't need to throw the base out – you can cut it into bite sized pieces and use it with the florets.
- Place the cauliflower florets into a large bowl.
- In a small measuring cup, measure out the olive oil and mix the garlic paste or minced garlic (whichever you're using) into the oil, using a fork until dispersed.
- Pour the garlic oil mixture over the cauliflower florets and mix the whole lot with your hands, making sure all florets have some oil on them (so that the crumbs and cheese adhere).
- Add the grated cheese and mix with your hands.
- Add the panko crumbs and again, mix it all together. If some of the crumbs and cheese don't stick to the cauliflower, that's ok.
- Pour out the whole lot from the bowl into the prepared baking tin. Toss the mixture about a little with your hands, making sure that the cheesy and crumb mixture is interspersed fairly evenly amongst the cauliflower florets, but no need to be overly perfectionist about it – it'll be ok.
- Place in the oven for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the baking tin out and let it cool for at least 10 minutes, until cool enough to eat, especially if you're feeding kids.
- Serve this with tzatziki or plain Greek yoghurt on the side (optional).
Notes

Recipe notes
This recipe makes about 4 to 6 servings, depending on how hungry you are and if you’re eating with kids.
It’s also delightful cold if you happen to have any leftovers, or you can use your leftovers to top a salad. So good!
If you do have leftovers, pop them back into the oven for 10-15 minutes to crisp up again. I usually spread the cauliflower on a lined baking tray, turn the over to about 180-200C and pop the baking tray into the oven from cold. The cauliflower will warm up and crisp up as the oven is warming up, but make sure you check on it frequently so you don’t burn it. About 10-15 minutes should do, especially if the cauliflower is spread out in a single layer.
Microwaving leftovers is also an option if you’re in a rush but they end up being a bit floppy (still tasty though).
This recipe is only very lightly adapted from a fabulous recipe for Crunch parmesan cauliflower by Yumi Stynes, which you can find in her cookbook Zero F*cks Cooking – Endless Summer.


40 Comments
Judee
I can only imagine how good this tastes with the cheese and the breadcrumbs. I’ll bet my grandkids ( who do like veggies) would LOVE this… On my list to make for them!
Katerina
Thank you so much Judee! I hope you all enjoy this recipe.
sherry
panko and parmesan are always a great combo! we love cauli in this house so this sounds like a winner!
Katerina
Thanks very much Sherry!
Naya
I love cauliflower but have never tried anything similar to this recipe. Something to try at home this weekend, I suppose! Thanks a lot for sharing these healthy and yummy recipes, Katerina xx
Naya
http://www.nayatilly.com
Katerina
Thanks so much Naya, I appreciate your lovely comment!
Linger
Whoa!! This Baked Cauliflower recipe looks “out of this world” yummy! I truly love anything with cauliflower, but all of this cheesy goodness. Oh my! Looking forward to trying this. Thanks so much for sharing Katerina.
Katerina
Thanks so much Kristy – I am so glad you think so! Hope you’ve been well.
Simone
This looks so delish omg! Very easy to do and the Tzatziki is the perfect addition, I love all the Greek food.
xx Simone
Little Glittery Box
Katerina
Thank you so much, Simone, much appreciated!
Laura Bambrick
Pinning this for sure! It looks delicious! I rarely make cauliflower because my family doesn’t like it much but I know they will love this!!
Katerina
I sure hope so! Thanks so much Laura.
2pots2cook
So pinning to make ! Super food for qurantine !
Katerina
Thanks so much Davorka!
Laura
Katerina! What a great recipe! I can’t wait to try this – my family is also somewhat divided about cauliflower, but everyone loves a cheesy dish! Love how easy this is, too! Thanks for the recipe!
Katerina
You’re very welcome, Laura! Hope you all love it 🙂
Sophie
This looks delicious, I made something similar recently with some cauliflower baked in alfredo sauce and loved it so I imagine this is amazing too x
Katerina
Thanks so much Sophie! And that sounds delicious!
Lisa
We absolutely ADORE cauliflower cheese so this recipe is a fantastic find – I’ve bookmarked it to try this weekend as I’ve just bought two medium caulis – perfect timing, thank you so much! x
Katerina
Ohhhh, that is perfect timing indeed! I hope you enjoy it!
Carrie @ Curly Crafty Mom
This does sound like such a perfect weeknight meal, especially with the tomato and cucumber salad! Oh, yum! Yeah, I am sure this is the ONLY way I could trick my kids into eating cauliflower! LOL
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Katerina
Haha.. I hope you give it a go, Carrie, and thanks so much!
Molly Pisula
Love this recipe, Katerina! My picky kids actually eat cauliflower, and I bet they’ll go nuts for this version. Pinning this to try ASAP!!
Katerina
Thanks so much Molly, I hope you all like it!
jodie filogomo
This is exactly how my mom got me to eat my veggies as a kid…cheese!!
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Katerina
So clever! Thanks very much Jodie.
Shea
Mmm! My favorite way to make veggies is to roast them with some parmesan so this sounds really good!
Katerina
You’ll love this, Shea! Thanks so much.
Kathrine Eldridge
This looks and sounds delicious! Love that you paired it with a tomato and cucumber salad.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Katerina
Thanks so much Kathrine!
Auggie
Extra crunchy and cheesy cauliflower! Looks divine and it is such a great addition of the breadcrumbs here. I think I will first dig into the underbelly too~
Katerina
Haha.. the underbelly is the best! Thank you Auggie!
John / Kitchen Riffs
Such a nice dish! Love cauliflower, and it’s terrific with cheese. But then, what isn’t? 🙂 This looks great — thanks.
Katerina
Thanks very much John!
Healthy World Cuisine
Those little crispy bits of crunchy cheese on the bottom are so addictive. This is one of these kinds of dishes where if the tray is sitting in front of you, you have just little more… just a little more, until you have eaten the whole darn thing. Great way to get the kiddos to eat their veggies too! Just pinned!
Katerina
Thank you so much – and yes, that’s been known to happen!
David @ Spiced
What an awesome recipe, Katerina! I’ll admit that cauliflower ranks pretty low on my list of favorite veggies, but I do enjoy it when we take the time to roast it. Adding in the cheese and Panko takes cauliflower up several notches for sure! I feel like it gets such a nice toasty flavor once it’s roasted. I’m always hunting for ways to “bulk up” our dinner plates, and this one looks like a good option for sure!
Katerina
Thanks very much David! If you can’t tell already, we’re very much in love with this dish!
Shannon
DELICIOUS!!!! Katerina this looks absolutely addicting. 😋. Talk about a winning combination! This cheesy cauliflower is the perfect way to get our kids to eat their veggies. I know my whole family would go crazy over this. We’re talking no leftovers haha! 😆
Katerina
Thanks so much Shannon!! Totally agree and yep, it’s very rare we get leftovers, even though I make it so often!