Air Fryer Cauliflower: How to Make It Crispy Every Time
Air fryer cauliflower is one of my favourite ways to make cauliflower a little more interesting. Boiled cauliflower has never exactly filled me with excitement, but give it some seasoning and crispy edges and it’s a completely different vegetable!
If you’ve come here because you just want to know the temperature and cooking time, cook fresh cauliflower at 190°C for around 12–15 minutes, giving the basket a good shake halfway through.
For really crispy cauliflower, though, there are a few little things that make a difference.
How to cook cauliflower in the air fryer
Start by cutting your cauliflower into fairly even florets. They don’t need to be identical – nobody needs to stand there with a ruler – but if you’ve got enormous pieces mixed with tiny ones, they obviously won’t cook at the same rate.
Wash the cauliflower and then dry it really well.
I think this is probably the most important bit if you want crispy cauliflower. Any water clinging to the florets creates steam as it heats, which works against the lovely roasted edges we’re trying to get.
Once it’s dry, put the cauliflower into a bowl and add a little oil and your chosen seasonings. Toss everything together so the florets have a light, even coating.
Put them into the air fryer basket, preferably in a single layer, and cook at 190°C for 12–15 minutes.
Shake the basket well after about 6 or 7 minutes and then continue cooking until the cauliflower is tender in the middle and browned around the edges.
If you like yours particularly crispy, give it another couple of minutes.
Air fryers do vary, so once you’ve made cauliflower in yours a couple of times, you’ll probably find your own perfect cooking time.
How much oil do you need?
Not very much.
For a whole cauliflower, around a tablespoon of oil should be plenty. You’re trying to give the florets a light coating rather than soaking them.
You can use olive oil or another cooking oil you usually use for roasting vegetables.
A cooking spray works too if that’s what you prefer, although I find a small amount of oil tossed through the cauliflower helps the seasoning stick nicely.
Using loads of oil won’t necessarily make your air fryer cauliflower crispier. You could just end up with greasy cauliflower instead, which isn’t quite the result we’re after!
Do you need to preheat the air fryer?
This depends a little on your particular air fryer.
Some manufacturers recommend preheating and others don’t consider it necessary, so check the instructions for yours.
If you normally preheat your air fryer, a couple of minutes at 190°C before adding the cauliflower is plenty.
I wouldn’t get too hung up on this part, though. Drying the cauliflower properly and not overcrowding the basket will make a much bigger difference to the finished result.
Why isn’t my air fryer cauliflower crispy?
If you’ve ended up with soft cauliflower rather than lovely browned edges, the first thing I’d look at is how much cauliflower you put in the basket.
It’s tempting to cram the whole lot in. I’ve done exactly the same with various things because cooking two batches feels unnecessarily annoying when surely it’ll all squeeze into one!
Unfortunately, air fryers need space for the hot air to circulate.
If you’ve got cauliflower piled on top of itself, you’re much more likely to steam it than roast it.
Moisture is the other big problem. Make sure fresh cauliflower is properly dry after washing it.
Finally, give the basket a really good shake halfway through. This moves everything around so you don’t end up with beautifully browned cauliflower on one side and pale cauliflower on the other.
If you like this sort of crunchy snack or side, my crispy air fryer chickpeas are another really easy one to try.
Can you cook frozen cauliflower in an air fryer?
Yes, so don’t worry if the only cauliflower you’ve got is lurking at the back of the freezer.
Frozen cauliflower contains more moisture than fresh cauliflower, so getting really crispy edges can be slightly more difficult, but it still works.
There’s no need to defrost it first.
Put the frozen florets into the air fryer and cook them for around 5 minutes initially. Give the basket a shake and carefully remove any excess water if necessary.
You can then add your oil and seasonings and continue cooking.
I’d allow approximately 15–20 minutes at 190°C in total for frozen cauliflower, although the exact time will depend on the size of the florets and your air fryer.
Fresh cauliflower would still be my first choice if crispiness is the priority, but frozen is incredibly handy and saves all the chopping.
Easy seasoning ideas for air fryer cauliflower
One of the nice things about cauliflower is that its flavour is mild enough to work with all sorts of seasonings.
If I’m making it as a simple side dish, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper work really well. You could add a little paprika too.
For something spicier, try smoked paprika and chilli powder. Parmesan added towards the end of cooking gives you some lovely crispy cheesy bits too.
Indian spices are another great option. Cumin, coriander, turmeric and a little chilli turn fairly boring cauliflower into something much more interesting and would work really well alongside a curry and some homemade roti.
You can also use the basic air fryer cauliflower method as a starting point for my teriyaki cauliflower wings, where the crispy cauliflower is coated in a sticky sauce afterwards.
I wouldn’t add a very wet sauce at the beginning if you’re aiming for crispy cauliflower. Cook it first and add the sauce towards the end or afterwards.
Can you make air fryer cauliflower without oil?
You can, although personally I think a little oil gives a better roasted texture and helps the seasoning stick.
If you’re avoiding oil, season the cauliflower and air fry it in exactly the same way.
Just don’t expect quite the same crispy, roasted finish.
Considering you only need a relatively small amount of oil for a whole air fryer cauliflower anyway, I’d generally rather use a little and enjoy the result.
What can you serve with air fryer cauliflower?
For me, this is primarily a side dish, so you can use it anywhere you’d normally serve vegetables.
Garlic and herb cauliflower works nicely with chicken, fish or vegetarian sausages, while Indian-spiced cauliflower is lovely alongside curry, rice and roti.
You can also add cooked air fryer cauliflower to a grain bowl or salad. Let it cool slightly first if you’re adding it to salad leaves unless you’re particularly fond of wilted lettuce!
It can even become the main event rather than the vegetable on the side. Add a sticky teriyaki, buffalo-style or barbecue sauce and you’ve got cauliflower bites or “wings”.
I’m not going to pretend cauliflower is actually chicken, because obviously it isn’t, but crispy cauliflower covered in a good sauce is lovely in its own right.
Can you cook a whole cauliflower in the air fryer?
Potentially, although you’ll need an air fryer large enough to fit it comfortably.
Personally, for everyday cooking I’d stick with florets.
Cutting the cauliflower up gives you far more surface area to season and brown, which means more of those crispy edges. It also cooks much more quickly and evenly.
A whole air-fried cauliflower can look impressive if you’re making it as a centrepiece, particularly with lots of spices or a marinade, but it’s a slightly different recipe from the quick cauliflower I’m making here.
Can you put cauliflower leaves in the air fryer?
Yes – don’t automatically throw them away!
The leaves around a cauliflower are edible and can crisp up really nicely.
Wash them, dry them thoroughly, remove any particularly tough pieces of stalk and add a small amount of oil and seasoning.
They’ll generally cook more quickly than the cauliflower itself, so I’d cook them separately or add them later rather than putting everything in together and hoping for the best.
It’s a nice way of using more of the cauliflower rather than putting perfectly edible bits straight into the food waste.
How do you reheat air fryer cauliflower?
Leftover cauliflower is best reheated in the air fryer if you want to bring some of the crispiness back.
I’d use around 180°C for 3–5 minutes, checking and shaking it during reheating.
The microwave will reheat it too, of course, but you’ll lose most of the crispy texture.
Store leftovers in the fridge in a covered container and use them within a suitable timeframe.
Is air fryer cauliflower good for you?
Cauliflower is a vegetable, so it’s an easy way to add another portion of veg to a meal.
It’s also a source of fibre and vitamin C.
Exactly how nutritious the finished dish is obviously depends on what you add to it. Plain cauliflower with a little oil and seasoning is rather different from cauliflower covered in cheese or a sugary sticky sauce.
And that’s fine!
I don’t think every vegetable needs to be eaten completely plain to “count”. If adding some parmesan, spices or a lovely sauce means you actually enjoy eating cauliflower, that seems like a pretty good result to me.
My quick air fryer cauliflower timings
For fresh cauliflower, cook at 190°C for 12–15 minutes.
For frozen cauliflower, allow roughly 15–20 minutes at 190°C.
Whichever you’re using, don’t overcrowd the basket and give everything a good shake partway through cooking.
For fresh cauliflower especially, make sure it’s properly dry before adding the oil and seasonings.
That’s really all there is to it.
Once you’ve got the basic method sorted, start messing around with the seasonings. Garlic and herbs one night, Indian spices another, perhaps sticky teriyaki the next.
It certainly beats boiling it until it’s grey and hoping someone eats it!
A few air fryer recipes you might like
If you are looking for more easy air fryer recipes now you have tried this air fryer cauliflower, here are some I think you will enjoy.
