Spanish Fried Cauliflower (Coliflor Rebozada)

This fried cauliflower is one of our favorite Spanish style tapas dishes! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and the most craveable way to eat your veggies.

Spanish fried cauliflower, or coliflor rebozada, is a popular tapas dish consisting of cauliflower florets that are breaded and fried (rebozada means “breaded”). We originally found this recipe from The Spruce Eats a while back, while we were planning for one of our tapas date nights and wanted an easy vegetable side dish.

Recently, we were sad to see that the recipe no longer exists on their site – but we’ve made it so many times that we know it by heart! And we’ve put our own touch on it at this point, blanching the cauliflower instead of steaming it to make this recipe even easier.

So this is our take on Spanish fried cauliflower, a simple yet irresistibly delicious vegetable side dish that has quickly become a go-to for us.

What This Recipe Entails

This Spanish fried cauliflower comes together with just 5 ingredients and about 30 minutes. Add in some garlic aioli as a dip and you have an easy and delicious small plate or side dish.

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 6 to 8 minutes per batch

Ingredients

• Cauliflower florets – You can either buy a whole head of cauliflower and break it up into florets yourself, or buy a bag of florets from the grocery store. If you’re breaking it up yourself, aim for consistent, medium-size florets.
• Egg and paprika – These ingredients make up the wet part of the dredge, which will help the flour stick to the cauliflower florets. A little bit of paprika gives the cauliflower extra flavor.
• Flour and salt – A simple seasoned flour makes up the dry part of the dredge, which gives the cauliflower a beautiful crispy shell after frying.
• Roasted garlic aioli (optional) – We always pair our fried cauliflower with a creamy roasted garlic aioli for dipping! If you want an easy store-bought option, we love Stonewall Kitchen’s roasted garlic aioli. But you can also make this at home with a head of garlic, some light mayo, lemon juice, and salt. We’ve included a recipe for it below.

How To Make Fried Cauliflower

1. Blanching – Boil the cauliflower florets for about 3 to 5 minutes until just barely fork tender. Then drain and let cool while you prepare the egg and flour. We found blanching the cauliflower much easier and quicker than steaming it, like some other recipes call for. This step is needed to partially cook the cauliflower before frying it. Otherwise the breading will burn before the cauliflower is cooked during frying. 
2. Dredging – Set up a dredging station with one bowl for the well-beaten egg and paprika, and another bowl for the flour and salt. Dip the cauliflower florets in the egg, let some of the excess drip off, and then toss it in the flour. We find we can do a handful or so at a time. No need to go floret by floret!
3. Frying – Preheat a half inch of vegetable oil in a deep walled, heavy bottomed pan (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat. Fry the cauliflower in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan (all the cauliflower should be in the oil, not stacked on top of each other). Fry each batch until golden and crispy, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to evenly fry all sides of the florets. 
4. Draining – When the cauliflower is a nice golden color and perfectly crispy, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon to avoid taking excess oil. Let the cooked cauliflower drain on a paper towel lined plate, or preferably a wire rack. 
5. Serving – Serve the fried cauliflower hot with a side of roasted garlic aioli (see instructions below) or your other favorite dipping sauces. 

How To Make Roasted Garlic Aioli

We love this flavorful dip for fried cauliflower! Plus, any leftovers go great on sandwiches, pizza, or fries.

1. Prep the garlic – Cut the top off the garlic (just enough to expose the cloves) and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Then wrap tightly in aluminum foil. 
2. Bake – Roast the garlic at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. Let cool until you can safely unwrap and handle it before mashing (we usually let it sit on the counter for around 30 minutes).
3. Mash the garlic – Pulverize the garlic into a creamy, smooth paste. We like to use our mortar and pestle for this. If you don’t have one, a fork will do. You can also add a little extra salt to help the process – the granules will help grind and break down the garlic until it’s smooth. 
4. Combine with mayo – Combine the roasted garlic puree with a half cup light mayo, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and salt to taste (you’ll likely want to skip the salt if you added extra during the mashing step). Keep refrigerated until serving.

Serving Suggestions

We believe our fried cauliflower is best served as a small plate or tapa. Here are some of our go-to dishes for our tapas nights that pair well with this cauliflower:

• Traditional tapas: Patatas bravas, Spanish baked goat cheese in tomato sauce, and Pan Con Tomate. 
• Small plates we love even if they aren’t Spanish: Burrata toast with tomato and basil, crispy potatoes with whipped ricotta, whipped brie with calabrian chiles, and roasted tomato and garlic bruschetta. 

If you’re interested, you can read more about how to throw a tapas party here. 

However if tapas aren’t your style, this dish (along with all our small plate recipes) works great as a side. Here are some mains we think you’ll love with this recipe:

• Burrata pizza
• Eggplant parm sandwiches
• Grilled zesty lemon chicken
• Quinoa and chorizo stuffed sweet potatoes

This recipe has quickly become a go-to for us. We both love cauliflower, especially when it’s crispy and served with garlic aioli. So it’s a great way for us to get some extra vegetables in our diet with a dish that we just can’t resist.

Give our Spanish fried cauliflower a try and let us know what you think by rating, commenting, and sharing below!

FAQs

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these other small plates recipes, too:

• Patatas Bravas
• Coconut Shrimp With Sweet And Spicy Dipping Sauce
• Open Faced Brie Sandwich with Balsamic Caramelized Apples & Onions
• Pan Con Tomate (Spanish Tomato Bread)