This Vegan Crispy Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta will literally transform you to a restaurant quality meal at home!
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We all know how easy pasta is to make; however, what isn’t always easy is figuring out what to pair with it in order for the meal to be more filing. Luckily, this vegan crispy roasted cauliflower with creamy garlic parmesan pasta takes all the guess work out of it for you.
Not only are we giving you a delicious vegan pasta recipe, but a delicious crispy cauliflower that pairs so well with it.
This recipe overall is very inexpensive when cauliflower is in season, which makes for a great, budget friendly meal as well.
VEGAN Vegan Crispy Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this easy vegan pasta dish:
For the Cauliflower
- Cauliflower – the star add in to our creamy vegan pasta dish, cauliflower is easy to find and use and takes on flavor and crisps up well. We are only using the florets for the dish, but you can use the stems for another dish or choice to use them if you desire.
- Seasonings – We have created a unique blend of seasonings that we think pair well, not only with cauliflower, but also with the pasta dish that we are creating.
For the Pasta
- vegan butter – this gives richness and creaminess to the dish that can’t be beat
- garlic – it’s a garlic pasta and yes we are using the entire bulb, that is not an error in number. We want the flavor to be deep and really get that full flavor
- coconut milk – the thickness of canned coconut milk gives a creaminess that usually people get from heavy cream
- fettuccine noodles – we love the thicker noodles here and how it takes on the sauce and pairs well with the cauliflower
- vegan parmesan cheese – our favorite is the Violife brand when it comes to vegan parm
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- Cauliflower – you could sub this with jackfruit, chickpeas or another white bean, pieces of vegan chicken (like daring) and more
- Seasonings – While we love our seasoning blend, you can switch it up by using other pre-made blends as well
For the Pasta
- garlic – you could reduce the amount of garlic used if desired
- coconut milk – any non-dairy milk will work for this dish, but we would suggest a creamier one like extra creamy oat milk for example
- fettuccine noodles – swap with any type of noodle, including gluten free if you need (be mindful of the time differences in cooking gluten free noodles though
- vegan parmesan cheese – another good parm option would be Follow Your Heart parmesan. We also have a vegan parmesan on our site that you can make with cashews or sunflower seeds; however, it doesn’t melt well which is why we recommend using one of the store bought brands.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The ingredients that we need to look at here are the pasta, vegan butter, coconut milk, and vegan parmesan.
To start, you want to use a gluten free pasta. There are so many choices available now, so just use the one that you like the best.
For the vegan butter, ensure that it is soy free. We prefer earth balance soy free when it comes to this. It comes in a red tub.
Then, we have coconut milk. While it makes the dish creamier, you can swap it with other dairy free milks. We’d suggest oat milk for this because it’s creamier.
And then we have the vegan parmesan cheese. We are use Violife in this recipe, which does contain coconut oil, but no other allergens. If you have a coconut allergen, you can use Follow Your Heart parmesan.
We also have a vegan parmesan on our site that you can make with sunflower seeds; however, it doesn’t melt well which is why we recommend using one of the store bought brands.
You can just add more vegetable stock in the beginning. It will drastically change the taste and not be as rich, but if you are used to being oil free then you will likely not mind.
We are using fettuccine in the photos and we’ve also made with linguine; however, you don’t only have to use either in this recipe.
It does do well with tubular shaped pasta, like penne, and even ones like rotini or shells that can pick up and hold onto all the sauce. Whatever you have on hand will work perfectly.
Yes! We’d recommend letting this cool completely and then storing in an air tight container for up to 5 days. If you meal prep you can split this up into individual containers.
You may want to or feel like you need a splash or two of dairy free milk when reheating.
*If you want the cauliflower to reheat crispy, then separate the two (pasta and cauliflower) and then reheat the cauliflower in an air fryer to get back crispy again.
You want a large skillet, approximately 12 inches; however, you don’t want it so large that the sauce is too spread out.
The larger the skillet the more quickly the liquid will reduce. So you want it large enough that it will evenly cook the pasta, but not so large you cook down your sauce too fast.
You could also use a large pot or dutch oven, but try to keep the size the same.
WHAT SIDES TO SERVE WITH THIS VEGAN CREAMY PASTA DISH?
There are endless possibilities but a side salad and some bread are great starting points.
Here’s some bread ideas:
- Vegan Italian Cheesy Bread Rolls
- Vegan Garlic Bread
- Easy Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Vegan Garlic Knots (shown above)
WHAT OTHER VEGAN PASTA IDEAS COULD I MAKE?
- Vegan Creamy Mushroom and Asparagus Pasta
- The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Pumpkin Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach (photoed above)
- The Best Vegan Lasagna
- Vegan Alfredo
- Vegan Cheesy Hamburger Helper Skillet
- Spinach and Walnut Pesto Pasta
- Vegan Carbonara
- Vegan Creamy Broccoli and Chickpea Pasta
More Recipes To Try
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Vegan Crispy Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
Ingredients
For the Cauliflower
- 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- ¼ cup olive oil (or other neutral oil)
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Pasta
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 1 bulb garlic (10-12 cloves), minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 16 oz can canned coconut milk (can sub for any carton dairy free milk but canned makes creamier)
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
- 1 lb uncooked fettuccine noodles (use GF if needed, can sub with other pasta noodles)
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese
- chopped fresh parsley, to taste
Instructions
For the Cauliflower
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with oil, then seasonings. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and cook for until 10 minutes.
For the Pasta
- Melt vegan butter in a large skillet or pot over medium high heat.
- When butter begins to sizzle, add minced garlic and saute, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes. Do not burn!
- Stir in vegetable broth, coconut milk salt and pepper. Combine well.
- Add in the uncooked pasta and stir together.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until pasta is cooked through. It will take roughly 20 – 22 minutes.
- Once done stir in cheese and parsley.
- Add a splash more milk if sauce is too thick for you.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat, add crispy cauliflower and serve.
This was so rich and delicious! I’ve tried a lot of your recipes, and they’ve all been great. I really appreciate your step-by-step pictures. Not a lot of other sites do that to the degree that you do. Thank you for your recipes!!
Thank you! We put a lot of work into each recipe to make them as easy to follow as possible. It means so much to hear that the work was worth the effort! We truly appreciate you supporting us and giving our recipes a try!
SO so so good!!! Absolutely loved this dish and incredibly easy to make as well. I added a can of pureed cannellini beans to the sauce to add some more fiber and protein, and added some kale at the end of the cook time to wilt. Can’t get over how flavorful and easy this dish was. Thank you for all you do! Every recipe I’ve tried so far is amazing!
So happy to hear that Shelly! Great idea with the beans and kale
The flavors are so rich and savory. My husband said this recipe is a keeper, in fact it makes his top 3 all time favorites. Definitely restaurant quality in flavor and presentation. Next day leftovers were just as good and I dreamed of dinner all day! Thank you!
Wow, such a compliment, thank you.
I just made this recently, and it was my first time trying a plant based meal. It tasted so good!! Highly recommend this it’s easy to follow!!
Can’t wait to try more of these recipes !!
So glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it. I hope you try some of our other recipes too!
This is our favorite recipe we have made from your content, it never gets old!! Thank you so much!
OMG I love hearing this, thank you!
This was excellent and so easy. It even impressed the in-laws.
yay!
OMG!!!All of your meals are delicious and easy to follow. I thank the both of you. Truly helpful in this transition!
We love this comment so much!