Spicy Harissa Baked Cauliflower Tacos with red cabbage slaw and smashed avocado, these tacos are really easy to make and are bursting with flavour. Perfect for Taco Tuesday fans!
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This recipe was first published on April 1, 2017. It has now been updated with new photos, nutritional information, and expert tips!
Tacos are the number one requested dinner at my house, which is mostly driven by my girl. A week doesn't go by without some form of tacos happening! These harissa roasted cauliflower tacos are great for a tasty family dinner. And perfect for getting more veggies in!
So, these tacos start with harissa roasted cauliflower, add that to your tortillas along with some tangy red slaw and smashed avocado and you have a very tasty taco. Finish it off with some sour cream and lime wedges and you have taco heaven!
Why This Recipe Works
- Spicy Roasted Cauliflower - roasted cauliflower is great, harissa roasted cauliflower is even better! Crispy around the edges, fiery cauliflower, so good!
- Red Cabbage Slaw - perfectly tangy red cabbage slaw is so good against the spicy cauliflower!
- Smashed Avocado - creamy and cool, tastes amazing and cools everything down.
- Tacos are life - I mean, what week is complete without tacos for dinner!
- Make it vegan - so easy to make this a vegan meal! Just sub the sour cream for a vegan version, that's it!
What You'll Need
- Cauliflower - I use a small head of white cauliflower for this recipe. Look for a head of creamy white cauliflower with densely packed florets and no brown spots. Check the leaves too, make sure they are fresh and vibrant. Fresh is best for this recipe.
- Harissa - Harissa is a North African hot chilli pepper paste, the main ingredients are roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers or serrano peppers, spices and herbs such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, and olive oil. You can make it yourself if you wish but for the sake of being quick, I usually buy a jar. You can find harissa in most supermarkets in the spice section or the world food section. If you fancy making your own this is a good recipe to try.
- Red Cabbage - perfect against that spicy cauliflower. You'll need about half a small head of cabbage. Strip off the outer leaves, wash, then slice into quarters, cut out the hard central core, then shred it finely.
- Limes - you'll need lime juice for the red cabbage slaw and for the smashed avocado. I serve some lime wedges with these tacos too, once ready they really benefit from a squeeze of lime.
- Avocado - ripe avocado is essential for the smashed avocado, which you will spread over the tortillas before you add the cabbage and roasted harissa cauliflower.
- Coriander - you will need a bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro for the smashed avocado and for serving.
- Tortillas - I use small flour tortillas for these tacos but you can use corn or gluten-free tortillas if you prefer.
How To Make Cauliflower Tacos
- Roast the cauliflower. Mix the harissa with some olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add the cauliflower to a large mixing bowl then give it a good mix, so that the cauliflower is completely covered in harissa. Then tip the cauliflower onto a baking tray and roast for about 30 minutes.
- Make the red cabbage slaw. Once you've shredded the cabbage add it to a large bowl with the apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, and salt. Toss the cabbage well then set that aside until you are ready to serve it.
- Smash the avocado. This is really easy, just add the avocado to a bowl along with chopped coriander, lime juice, and salt. Then using a fork mash it all together. Done!
- Turn the cauliflower. Make sure you turn the cauliflower florets halfway through cooking. The cauliflower should be charred at the edges and cooked through.
Tips For Making The Best Cauliflower Tacos
- Use fresh cauliflower - fresh is best for this recipe, frozen just doesn't cut it.
- Cut the cauliflower into similar sizes - this will ensure that all the cauliflower cooks at the same time, larger florets will take longer to cook and small florets will take less time.
- Heat - These cauliflower tacos are hot so if you want you could reduce the heat by using less harissa, the cauliflower will still pack a bit of a punch though.
- Extras - I add some extras to these tacos, you can use whatever you prefer. Jalapeño slices add extra heat! The tangy cabbage adds crunch and the smooth smashed avocado cools everything down a little. Sour cream is also a favourite extra at my house.
- Use store-bought harissa - I use a store-bought harissa paste to keep the time down to 30 minutes but if you have more time and fancy making your own harissa then go ahead.
If you loved these tacos then you'll really love these falafel burgers.
Have you made this Cauliflower Tacos Recipe? Rate it and leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!
Harissa Baked Cauliflower Tacos
Spicy Harissa Baked Cauliflower Tacos with red cabbage slaw and smashed avocado, these tacos are really easy to make and are bursting with flavour.
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Servings: 4
Calories: 166kcal
Ingredients
for the harissa baked cauliflower
- 1 small cauliflower leaves and stalk removed, then cut into florets
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon harissa
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
for the red cabbage slaw
- 450 g red cabbage (about ½ a small head of cabbage) hard stem removed then finely shredded
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
for the smashed avocado
- 1 ½ large ripe avocados skin and seed removed
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander/cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
for serving
- small flour tortillas
- 1 jalapeno sliced (optional)
- spring onion sliced
- coriander leaves
- lime wedges
- sour cream
- watercress (optional)
Instructions
to roast the cauliflower
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.Place the cauliflower in a bowl with the harissa, salt and oil and mix well.Tip the cauliflower onto a baking tray and bake on the middle shelf for about 30 minutes. Turn halfway through cooking.
to make the red cabbage slaw
- Add the red cabbage to a bowl with the lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt apple cider vinegar and mix well.Leave the slaw to sit in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
to make the smashed avocado
- Place the avocado along with the chopped coriander/cilantro, lime juice and salt then mash it roughly with a fork.Cover and leave in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
assemble the tacos
- Heat tortillas on a skillet. Spread a spoon of smashed avocado onto a tortilla, top with some red cabbage slaw then add the roasted cauliflower.Top the cauliflower with coriander leaves, spring onion, watercress, jalapeño slices and finish with a good squeeze of lime juice and a dollop of sour cream.
Notes
- Cauliflower - fresh cauliflower is best for these tacos. Try and cut the florets into even sizes so they all cook at the same time.
- Harissa - I use a store-bought harissa paste, you should be able to find it in large supermarkets, it will be in the spice section or the world foods section. You can make your own harissa if you prefer.
- Heat - These tacos are quite spicy so please bear this is mind if serving to young children. You can reduce the heat by using less harissa and by not serving jalapeño peppers.
- Storage/freezing/making ahead - these tacos are best made and served fresh. I do not recommend freezing these. You can make the red cabbage slaw up to 3 days beforehand, just keep it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it. You can also make the smashed avocado a day beforehand, again keep this in the fridge. The roasted cauliflower really is best made fresh.
- Nutritional Information - is approximate and is calculated using an online nutrition tool. It is based on one taco including slaw, avocado and sour cream.
- Measurements - I weigh all my ingredients using an electric scale, all measurements are metric. Cup measurements are approximate.
Nutrition
Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 3.3g | Fat: 9.9g | Saturated Fat: 2.1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 176mg | Potassium: 334mg | Fiber: 5.2g | Sugar: 3.1g | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg
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Roxana
What a lovely recipe! Great combo of harissa and cauliflower. Two of my favorites.
Alison
These tacos are fantastic! I love that they are naturally vegan. The harissa and cauliflower is a match made in heaven!
Toni
Thank you so much for all the tips! Everyone at my house loved it.
Haley D Williams
This looks amazing! I love the way you can change up taco night these days! Cannot wait to try it!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
We are eating veggie a lot more now so this looks like a delicious recipe for my family! Thanks for the recipe.
Shannon @ Pass Me Some Tasty
I love everything about this recipe! It's going on my dinner plan for the week!
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Shannon, I'm so glad you like it 🙂
Mark, CompassandFork
What a great recipe and how inviting your photos are. You can just see all that goodness in the tacos.
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Mark 🙂
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago
I'm super into roasted cauliflower lately but hadn't thought of making it into tacos - this one is definitely going on my "must make" list!!
Michelle Alston
Thanks Kathryn, I hope you enjoy them x
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
These are SO gorgeous! I love vegetarian taco options!
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Ashley 🙂
Iryna
I've never tried vegetarian tacos. I imagine these have lots of flavor!
Michelle Alston
Hi Iryna, they do have lots of flavour, I hope you give them a go 😉
Lis @ The Fare Sage
What an amazing sounding recipe and just gorgeous images. I love cauliflower done interesting ways and this certainly is that. I can't to give this recipe a go. Glorious, thank you 🙂
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Lis x I hope you enjoy it x
Christine
I have a jar of harissa sitting in the cupboard. Thinking I should break it out and make these tacos!
Michelle Alston
Go for it Christine 😉 I hope you enjoy them x
Eileen
These look delicious, and your photos are gorgeous, as always.
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Eileen x
Abra
Gorgeous! What a great recipe, can't wait to try them.
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Abra, I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Patti
I love cauliflower, so the name of the recipe immediately caught my attention. Hubby loves heat, so we will be trying these.
Michelle Alston
I hope you enjoy them x
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat
YUM!! I love this recipe so flipping much! I love spicy things, especially with a good dollop of sour cream to balance it all out. So good! I don't have tacos often enough (which is crazy because I love 'em) and that needs to change soon I think! xxx
Michelle Alston
🙂 Thank you lovely xxx We have tacos every week, Abigail can't get enough of them, I'm so proud of her 😉