This super easy, ultra creamy, and heavily spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala is my new favorite dinner! That spicy-creamy sauce is just so 👌that I have to sop up every last bit with a piece of naan. This dish comes together super fast, requires very little chopping, is insanely inexpensive, and holds up well in the fridge, so it’s great for meal prep! This one is going right into my weekly rotation. :)
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How to Serve the Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala
I’ve been eating my Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala with a piece of naan bread to scoop up that delicious sauce, but this dish would be equally as good over a bed of hot rice. Either way it’s creamy, spicy, and oh so delish!
Make it Spicy or Mild
You can adjust the heat of this sauce by increasing, decreasing, or even eliminating the amount of cayenne pepper in the spice mix. The amount listed below creates what I would call a “medium” spice level, but that’s extremely subjective, so take that with a grain of salt.
Make it Vegan
An easy sub for the heavy cream in this recipe would be full fat coconut milk (the stuff that comes in cans, NOT the dairy milk substitute). You can play around with the quantities, but I’d guess somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup would work well.
Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala
Servings 4 About 1.25 cups eachIngredients
Masala Spice Mix
- 2 Tbsp garam masala ($0.60)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly Cracked Pepper ($0.03)
Skillet Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.21)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.15)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 12 oz. frozen cauliflower florets ($1.00)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas, drained ($0.49)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce* ($0.59)
- 1/4 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream ($0.26)
- salt to taste ($0.02)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the spices for the masala spice mix (garam masala, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper).
- Finely dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Add all three to a large skillet along with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the spice mix and continue to sauté for one more minute.
- Add the frozen cauliflower florets to the skillet with the aromatics and spices, and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes more, or until the cauliflower have thawed through and are completely coated in spices.
- Add the drained chickpeas, tomato sauce, and 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine, then allow them to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. This will help mellow the acidity of the tomato sauce and allow the spices to blend. If the mixture becomes too dry as it simmers, add a couple more tablespoons of water.
- After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Give the masala a taste and add salt as needed. Serve in a bowl either over rice or with a piece of bread for dipping.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cauliflower Chickpea Masala – Step by Step Photos
Begin by combining 2 Tbsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a small bowl.
Finely dice one yellow onion, mince three cloves of garlic and grate about 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger (ginger is hard to measure, so this is flexible).
Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the spice mix and continue to sauté for one more minute.
Add 12oz. frozen cauliflower florets to the skillet and continue to sauté until the cauliflower is thawed through and coated in spices.
Next, add one 15oz. can chickpeas (drained), one 15oz. can tomato sauce, and about 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine and then let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce starts to dry out as it simmers, add a couple more tablespoons of water.
After the sauce has simmered and the tomato sauce has mellowed a bit, turn off the heat and stir in 1/3 cup heavy cream.
After stirring the cream into the sauce, give it a taste and add more salt to taste (I added about 1/4 tsp).
I garnished here with fresh cilantro, but didn’t find that it added a lot to the flavor, so that’s entirely optional!
Dig in!
Just made this tonight for dinner and OMG! It’s delicious! It was so easy to throw together and tasted as good, if not better, than my favorite Indian restaurant. Substituted curry powder for the cayenne and it was savory with a very slight bit of heat. Thank you for your site and your recipes. My 20-something son finally started cooking when I showed him your site. 😊
I normally don’t bother preparing many vegetarian main dishes because my SO is a carnivorous kinda guy, but when he mentioned a desire to eat more veg, this was the recipe that came to mind to try.
It did not disappoint! Creamy, spicy (I went heavy on the cayenne) and absolutely delicious. I left out turmeric because I didn’t have any and I’m here to report that it was still yummy. Thanks for yet another winner for dinner!
This recipe was delicious. Everyone, including teens, gobbled it up. It was a bit spicy, even though I cut the cayenne in half…but even the most sensitive person in our family loved it!
It’s amazing! I’ve made twice and two weeks, this is going to be a household staple.
This was so good! I am sensitive to spiciness so I cut the cayenne back to 1/8tsp. It was still too spicy but it was so good I suffered through it. My kids loved it. My husband loved it so much he asked me to make it again. I’m going to try leaving out the cayenne completely this time and let my husband add his own (he liked it spicy).
I wish I had read your comment before making it, my mouth is on fire! Definitely recommend to anyone who’s not a big fan of spicy foods to omit the cayenne pepper.
I am allergic to cauliflower and broccoli but I am a maniac for chickpeas, could I replace the cauliflower in this recipe with a 2nd can of chickpeas?
Yep, sure! The sauce is so good you could put just about anything in it. Haha!
This was very very good! I made it like the recipe and it was delicious!
Made It twice it in one month, this is surprisingly good considering how cheap it is!
I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly. We all loved it including the 1 year old who gobbled it up!! The only bad part is there are no left overs! 😊
I tried the vegan version and it was killer
I added one can of peas to it too, turned out delicious.
I subbed riced cauliflower for florets because that’s what I had, so the texture was a little strange but it tasted wonderful!
Is there another sub for the cream? Perhaps plain yogurt? Lactose and coconut milk alike do a number on my husband’s digestion.
You could probably use plain yogurt (I would not use fat-free, though), but it will definitely add a tangy element that the other two don’t have.
I made it with 3/4 cup of coconut milk, and it was really tasty!
This was sssooo yummy and super easy. Always love your recipes!