Cauliflower tacos are a healthy way to get a taco fix plus the flavorful meatless taco filling cooks on a sheet pan for easy clean-up. Top your cauliflower tacos with all of your favorite toppings for an easy weeknight dinner.
One of my favorite taco fillings is actually cauliflower. I tasted cauliflower tacos a few years ago during a weekend trip with close friends. We rented a house and cooked meals together. One night was taco night. One of my friends offered to make a cauliflower taco filling and it was life-changing. Even though there was a meat option as well, it was the cauliflower tacos that quickly disappeared because everyone loved them so much.
While making my sheet pan chicken fajitas recently, I got the idea to make the cauliflower tacos on a sheet pan instead of on the stove (to be clear, the tacos are not baked as shown).
Cooking the filling on a sheet pan is very easy and there are a few reasons I like to use a sheet pan:
- I can make more! I can make a lot more filling on a giant sheet pan than I can make in my skillet. So, the sheet pan is great if you are feeding a large group.
- Easy clean-up. I lined the sheet pan with foil and when I’m done cooking, I toss the foil and I barely have to scrub the sheet pan.
- No hovering over the stove. I can prepare all my taco toppings while the filling cooks. Normally when I prepare this on the stove top, I have to be watching over it and constantly stirring.
- Finally, cauliflower tastes so much better roasted!
How to Make Cauliflower Tacos
- Toss cauliflower florets and chickpeas in olive oil flavored with chili, cumin, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Spread them on a half sheet pan lined with foil. Roast them at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Warm the tortillas either on a separate sheet pan in the oven or on your stovetop if you have a gas range. You can heat them directly on the gas burner this way.
- Once the cauliflower is roasted and the tortillas are warm, your tacos are ready to serve!
Taco Topping Ideas
Top your cauliflower tacos with all of your favorite toppings. Need some ideas? Here are some of our favorites:
- Avocado cream sauce
- Fresh cilantro or parsley
- A squeeze of fresh lime juice
- Sliced avocado
- Cotija cheese, which is a Mexican crumbling cheese
- Other cheese like cheddar, Monterey jack or pepper jack cheese
- Shredded red or green cabbage
- Diced bell peppers
- Sliced red onions or green onions
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Salsa
If you’re looking for a way to switch up your next Taco Tuesday these cauliflower tacos are a delicious and healthy way to do it. If you are looking for more recipes you might like to browse my whole cauliflower recipes collection.
Sheet Pan Cauliflower Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower cut into bite-sized florets
- 1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans/chickpeas drained and patted dry with a paper towel
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Optional Toppings
- fresh cilantro
- 1 lime cut into thin wedges
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- cotija cheese
- shredded red cabbage
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- avocado cream sauce (see note for recipe link)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil (I used a half-sheet pan).
- In a small bowl, add chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper. Whisk together until evenly mixed.
- In a large bowl, add cauliflower. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix cauliflower until it is evenly coated in oil. Sprinkle the seasoning over cauliflower and mix until cauliflower is evenly coated in the seasoning. Add in chickpeas and give them a quick mix in the seasoning (they don't need to be as thoroughly coated; because of their small surface area they will get salty quickly if overseasoned).
- Pour cauliflower chickpea filling onto foil lined sheet pan. Spread out the cauliflower and chickpeas so there is only a single layer of ingredients. Place sheet pan into oven and cook for about 25-30 minutes, until cauliflower is soft.
- To warm up your tortillas, you have several options. You can wrap a stack of them in foil and add them to the oven about 5 minutes before your cauliflower filling is cooked. You can also lay them out on another sheet pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes in the oven. This should soften the tortillas and give them a little bit of color (as seen in prep photo above). To add even more color to your tortillas (which is what you see for the final assembled tacos in the photos), you can heat them over an open flame. I heat mine directly on my gas stove burner (heating each tortilla individually over medium heat, just a few seconds on each side).
- When taco filling is ready, assemble tacos with a few spoonfuls of filling and your choice of toppings. I added avocado slices, a little bit of bell pepper, red cabbage, cotija cheese, lime juice and cilantro.
Notes
- Click here for my Avocado Cream Sauce recipe.
- Nutrition estimate does not include the optional toppings or tortillas.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
