When my husband texted a picture of his dinner when out with a few friends, I drooled….and knew it was something I had to recreate in my own kitchen! Why hadn’t it ever occurred to me to slap some meat sauce on roasted cauliflower? He raved about it for days on end so I finally gave it a-go and was soooo thankful that he said it was spot on to what he had at the restaurant!
My husband DOES NOT take pictures very often ….and food would be the last on his list if he had to make a list of pictures he would in fact take. So knowing this about him, I knew this Roasted Cauliflower w/Meat Sauce had to be good if it was photo worthy!
This meal was actually on the menu so it got me to thinking that, this might be a good swap if both cauliflower and meat sauce were on the menu separately. Just sub out the pasta for cauliflower, right? I’m definitely going to keep this in mind when dining out.
If you’re like me, you try to use some of your favorite veggies in different ways. I love cauliflower and I use it a lot …..riced, mashed, roasted and I’ve even added it to smoothies (yes, I have and it’s a super creamy and nutritious addition!) so spooning meat sauce over top of roasted cauliflower made me feel like I was eating this veggie for the first time!
My recipes are truly designed to keep things simple. There’s nothing complex about roasting veggies and adding some meat sauce …..but I do know from comments on instagram or even a few emails that I’ve received, some of you just don’t have the time to try and create/put things together to make a meal happen AND I TOTALLY GET THAT! I have been that girl who needs to follow recipes because I just want it all laid out for me. And thankfully with soooo many cook books and food blogs, it’s super easy to get meals on the table without a lot of guess work. So when I started dabbling in the kitchen many years ago because I wanted to paleo-fy some of my favorite recipes, I started jotting down what I did so I would have the info to make it again! It really never occurred to me that I would someday being sharing these recipes with all of you. Once people starting asking for a recipe about a meal I posted, I realized that some of you were being inspired and that’s when I found the love of cooking & sharing, to hopefully help you all get on the real food train….and love being on that ride!
I guess I got off on a little tangent there — but all that to say, that this meal is simple and comes together quickly. I use ground chicken & chorizo for my meat sauce but make it your own and use any ground meat that you love! In fact, use your own favorite meat sauce recipe and ladle it on some roasted cauliflower. Though I would love for you to try my recipes, my hope is that you will all just be inspired by some of the things I post and you take the ideas and make what you will out of these posts. It’s all about keeping one another motivated to stay healthy, love being in the kitchen and live life in the best way possible!
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets (or 2 - 10 oz bags of florets)
- 1.5 lbs ground meat (I used a combo of ground chicken and chorizo)
- 1 1/2 cups favorite pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup diced onions
- 2 tbsp ghee or butter
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (or favorite fat)
- 2 tsp garlic powder/divided
- 1 tsp salt/divided
- Pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- Optional: grass fed mozzarella
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- On a shallow baking sheet, toss the cauliflower florets with the avocado oil and 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt and a sprinkle of pepper. Spread out in single layer and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Toss and bake another 5 minutes.
- While cauliflower is in the oven, heat a large pan and melt butter or ghee. Add diced onions and cook til warmed through/slightly tender. Add ground meat and combine ....breaking up meat into small pieces.
- Once meat is browned, add pasta sauce and remaining seasonings. Bring to a soft boil and reduce heat to simmer about 10 minutes.
- Serve meat sauce atop roasted cauliflower and top with cilantro & cheese, if desired.
Thanks for this recipe. This is a great idea. Can’t wait to try it!!!
Thanks so much! I appreciate it <3