Easy roasted sweet and spicy Instant Pot cauliflower. It makes the perfect side dish to accompany any meal, it’s naturally gluten-free, vegan and great for meal prep.
If you’re a fan of cauliflower then you will LOVE this dish. It’s so easy to make, and the flavors are just incredible!
And since it’s the soup season, make sure to check out my super easy creamy Instant Pot cauliflower soup! It’s SO good!
Table of Contents
Instant Pot Cauliflower Side Dish
I always roasted my cauliflower on a sheet pan, and still do. I find cauliflower really easy to cook and it’s so delicious that I wouldn’t mind eating it every day.
I usually just throw cauliflower florets along with other vegetables on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and perhaps some kind of sauce or seasonings and just roast it.
But recently I tried cooking a whole cauliflower head in my Instant Pot, and everyone loved it! It’s much easier than roasting in the oven, as no watching is required and the cauliflower turns out so tender that it starts falling apart!
How to Make Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower?
- Starting by removing any green leaves from the cauliflower head, and wash it.
- To make the marinade, in a small bowl whisk together the honey or maple syrup with olive oil, hot sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, or tamari sauce (for gluten-free), a grind of black pepper, and a sprinkle of salt.
- Add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the cauliflower head on a trivet in the pot.
- Using a brush, brush over the marinade and coat with it as much of the cauliflower head as possible.
- Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING.
- Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting – high pressure for 1-8 minutes (depending on the size and freshness of your cauliflower, see notes in the recipe card below).
- Allow the steam to build up and pressure cook.
- Once the cooking is finished and the Instant Pot beeps, quickly release the steam and carefully remove the lid.
- Take the cauliflower head out, glaze again and place under a broiler for 7-10 minutes to get a lovely crust.
- Garnish with chopped parsley leaves and squeeze some lemon juice.
Other Variations
This recipe is very versatile. You can simply steam the cauliflower plain in the Instant Pot, or add a different marinade or rub.
Parmesan, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper is a great idea. Or turmeric, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
What to Serve This Cauliflower With?
I usually serve this with brown rice or quinoa, but any type of rice will do. You could also serve it as a side dish next to any main.
This is the Instant Pot that I currently use and love. I have updated it since I created this post, that’s why in the pictures of this post the Instant Pot is an older model.
MORE GREAT INSTANT POT RECIPES
- Instant Pot taco pasta
- Instant Pot chicken alfredo tortellini soup
- Instant Pot potato salad
- Instant Pot steak fajitas
- Instant Pot chicken fajitas
- Instant Pot buttered potatoes
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Sweet and Spicy Instant Pot Cauliflower
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower head
For the marinade:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari sauce
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 ½ tablespoons hot sauce such as Franks RedHot
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- parsley (chopped) for serving
- ½ lemon juiced (optional)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the marinade ingredients until combined.
- Wash the cauliflower head, and using a brush just brush over the marinade until well coated.
- Add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Place the cauliflower head on a trivet inside the Instant Pot. Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting – high pressure for 1-8 minutes. If using a small cauliflower head, 1 minute might be enough. If using a large and dense cauliflower head, set at 8 minutes. For a medium cauliflower head, set at 4 minutes.
- When the cooking program ends, quickly release the steam.
- Remove the lid and carefully take the cauliflower out. Glaze again, and broil for 7-10 minutes. Garnish and serve.
Notes:
- If using a small cauliflower head, 1 minute on high pressure might be enough (we tested this recipe many times starting with a small not-so-dense cauliflower, and 1 minute worked fine). If using a large and dense cauliflower head, set at 8 minutes. For a medium cauliflower head, set at 4 minutes.
- Place on a sheet pan and brown it under the broiler for 7-10 minutes for a lovely crust. Make sure that your oven is preheated, and keep an eye on it as it’s being broiled and decide how long do you need to broil it for.
- I highly recommend glazing the cauliflower head twice for maximum flavor (after pressure cooking). Glaze then broil for a few minutes, then take it out glaze again, and broil for a few more minutes.
- The original recipe was slightly tweaked, we added ketchup to the marinade for flavor and color.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Jamie says
Thanks for this recipe. I’m excited to make it. But please don’t describe a recipe as vegan and then include honey as an ingredient. It’s misleading. And in spite of arguments to the contrary, there’s no wiggle room here. Honey production exploits and kills bees. I’ll just sub out the honey with maple syrup and it will be vegan.
TT says
@Jamie – SMH
Esther Sternberg says
So easy to make and so tasty… Yum!
Michelle says
I could only find large very dense ones. I cooked for 8 minutes on high and it was still hard. I put it back in. I am just curious if I did something wrong.
Karen says
Great new way to enjoy cauliflower. Did manual high for 2 minutes and was more done than We like. Will probably do one minute next time, broil longer on low and rotate for about 20 minutes to crisp it up.
Vanessa Crouch says
Made this for dinner and really enjoyed it. I will say that we cooked a large head of cauliflower for 1 minute and then did IPR. When we cook cauliflower in the Instant Pot normally we cook it for 0 minutes – I think 0 minutes would have been sufficient.
#littlesunnykitchen