This cheesy cauliflower recipe is a quick and easy vegetable side dish recipe that you can make in an air fryer without any oil. Air fry the cauliflower florets until they are tender and the cheese melts for a healthy side dish.
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Jump to RecipeEasy, Adaptable Cauliflower Side Dish
I grew up eating cauliflower stir-fried Chinese-style which is good but I enjoy oven roasted cauliflower more. The other day I made chicken wings in my air fryer and needed a vegetable side dish. Instead of turning on the oven, I decided to use my air fryer to cook a cauliflower.
The cheesy cauliflower made in my Instant Vortex Plus turned out fantastic. Each floret was tender crisp, with a little bit of cheese for an umami taste. And I loved that I didn’t have to clean an extra pot or baking sheet since I only needed to clean the air fryer basket once.
I season the cauliflower florets with onion salt with parsley and with black pepper. Sometimes if our other dishes are salty or well seasoned, I use ground paprika, garlic powder and/or onion power.
About half way through the cooking time I stir the cauliflower for even cooking and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese (or other available cheese). One family member loves cheese. Another family member doesn’t like cauliflower. And adding a little bit of cheese to the cauliflower seems to be a happy compromise for all.
How to Prep Cauliflower
Remove the tough outer leaves which are edible but a little chewy, you can save them in your freezer for making vegetable stock. You can also save the smaller leaves for stock too but they’re actually quite tender and delicious.
Turn the head of cauliflower upside down so that you can see the stem. Remove the leaves until you can see the floret and break them from the stem. Some florets might be too big, use a paring knife to split the stem and pull the sides apart.
I once watched someone chop a cauliflower from the top down, which resulted in a lot of little pieces and scraps that basically went down the sink drain. That was the inspiration for my demo on how to chop cauliflower. Please do not chop your cauliflower from the top down.
If you want to save time, you could buy a bag of prepped cauliflower florets. They do cost a tiny bit more and might spoil faster. I recommend cooking them soon after purchase.
Air Fryer Tips
I love my Instant Vortex Plus 4QT Air Fryer, it’s so easy to use with minimal clean up.
I add all of the florets from one head of cauliflower. Even though it’s more than one layer of cauliflower, I give the florets a stir once during the cooking time. Program the Instant Vortex to air fry for 10 minutes total and after 7 minutes it beeps to remind me to turn the food. At that point, I stir the cauliflower and then add grated cheese on top.
After 10 minutes, the cauliflower looked cooked, tender, and steamy but the cheese needed a little bit of browning so I programmed the Instant Vortex to broil for 1 minute. I checked it after 30 seconds and thought it looked perfect. You can adjust accordingly depending on your preferences and also the size of your cauliflower.
The florets cooked evenly, tender crisp, and just slightly browned. I loved that the Instant Vortex is much faster than my oven, a shorter cooking time preserves nutrition, and uses less electricity.
Allergy Aware Air Fryer Cauliflower
This recipe is free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, wheat, and sesame as written. The main allergen is cheese, which you can omit or substitute with a dairy-free cheese that does not contain your other allergens.
My favorite dairy-free cheese brand is Follow Your Heart, which has two allergen charts available on their website’s FAQ. I’ve sampled a few of their delicious cheeses at a food show but I haven’t tried melting them. Remember to check other brands of dairy-free cheese ingredients for tree nut milk such as almond or cashew.
Air Fryer Cauliflower with Cheese Recipe
This cheesy cauliflower recipe is a quick and easy vegetable side dish recipe that you can make in an air fryer without any oil. Air fry the cauliflower florets until they are tender and the cheese melts for a healthy side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt with parsley or similar seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
Trim 1 medium cauliflower into bite-sized florets (cut from the stem) and transfer to a large bowl.
Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon onion salt with parsley and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper on the cauliflower florets and gently toss to combine.
- Program air fryer to 400°F and set timer for 10 minutes. Allow the air fryer to preheat and when it’s ready add the florets.
After about 7 minutes, toss the florets in the basket or use a wooden or heat-safe silicon spoon to stir the florets so they will cook evenly. Sprinkle 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated on top and return the basket to the air fryer.
- When the air fryer finishes cooking, you may optionally use the broil setting on the air fryer to broil 30-60 seconds if desired (you might need to set it for 1 minute and check after 30 seconds).
Recipe Notes
Nutrition facts are an estimate.
Related Recipes
If you happen to be turning on your oven anyways for different recipe, you might like to try my oven roasted cauliflower recipe instead.
Some other air fryer recipes that I have on my blog include Make Potato Home Fries in an Air Fryer which is a great side dish for any meal and you might also enjoy my recipe for Air Fryer Tofu Bites, An Easy Nut-Free Recipe.
Are you looking for simple vegetable side dish recipes? I have a bunch of familar vegetables cooked with some Asian inspiration:
- Broccoli Stir Fry with Ginger and Garlic Sauce Recipe
- Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce: Fast, Easy Recipe
- Stir-Fried Iceberg Lettuce with Oyster Sauce
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