Turn a head of cauliflower and a jar of harissa into a flavorful fusion taco dinner with this easy 30 minute recipe! Roasted cauliflower is a hearty and flexible vegetarian taco filling, and harissa paste gives it a deep smoky sweet flavor. Lime yogurt sauce makes a perfect easy sauce to drizzle on top, and the recipe can be easily made vegan if required!
Cauliflower and harissa paste are my new taco dream team…
Mexican ingredients are hard to come by in Scotland, and sometimes I order expensive imports to get the ingredients I need for Mexican and Tex Mex recipes, but some days I just work with what I can easily find. Because fusion tacos are a lot of fun! So as untraditional as this is, we’re going to make tacos with harissa today.
Harissa paste is a North African chili pepper paste. While it doesn’t taste like a Mexican taco or fajita seasoning, it does have that complex sweet / smoky / spicy quality that makes it slot into Mexican style cuisine really well. Roasting cauliflower in harissa paste is pure magic, because the cauliflower crisps up and caramelizes in the sticky sweet harissa sauce, and it just feels like they were made for each other. Turning a humble cauliflower into a substantial taco filling is no easy feat, but the harissa makes a really simple job out of it.
What to Know About Your Ingredients
- Harissa paste can come in a range of spice levels so find something that suits your preference. I use the Al’fez brand which is fairly mild, full of flavor but not too hot. Feel free to use a hotter paste, or a rose harissa if you wish.
- I always recommend 100% corn tortillas for tacos, because I love the flavor! But they can be hard to find in the UK. Lately I am using the Cantina brand from Sainsbury’s, though the ones pictured are from the US (I have family members bring me big packs to freeze). Use flour tortillas if you need to.
- The sweet red pepper is optional. Cauliflower is the main event here and I have tried and liked these tacos without any pepper, so don’t let it be a deal breaker if you don’t have one. But if you can swing it, the addition of melt in the mouth roasted peppers is quite lovely.
- I love to mix up a quick garlic lime yogurt sauce for this recipe, but you’re welcome to use any kind of crema recipe you wish. If you want vegan tacos, you will of course want to find a vegan lime crema recipe to try.
- My other toppings of choice are avocado slices, diced red onion (you could use pickled onions), lime wedges and fresh cilantro (coriander). Instead of lots of separate toppings, you could put together a Cherry Tomato & Avocado Salsa to serve with it – this gives you creamy, sweet and tangy elements all together (my recipe is for green tomatoes but you can use any color).
Variation: Adding Chickpeas
If you’d like to add some protein to the plate, you can reduce the cauliflower and add some drained canned chickpeas to the roasting pan. Just make sure you pat the chickpeas dry, because moisture on the baking tray will stop the cauliflower from roasting as well as it could. I would also recommend chopping the cauliflower fairly small if you do this, because larger pieces of cauliflower will take longer to roast than chickpeas, and you would end up needing to take it out of the oven before the cauliflower was done.
What to do with Leftover Harissa Cauliflower Filling
This is an excellent problem to have! Store your leftovers in the fridge and then when the time comes, you can make:
- Quesadillas. Chop the cauliflower filling into smaller pieces, mix with cheese and press between a large flour tortilla until the cheese is melted.
- Tostadas: Heat some corn tortillas in the oven until they are starting to crisp. Chop the cauliflower into smaller pieces, add it to the top of the tortillas with some cheese, then bake until the cheese is melted.
Use up your jar of harissa…
Harissa Cauliflower Tacos – Easy 30 Minute Recipe!
Ingredients
Harissa Cauliflower
- 1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
- 1 sweet red pepper, sliced into rings
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons harissa
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 clove garlic
Garlic Yogurt Lime Sauce
- ½ cup (120 ml) greek yogurt
- 1.5 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- ½ clove garlic, crushed
For serving
- 12 corn tortillas
- ¼ small red onion, finely diced or sliced
- 1 handful cilantro (fresh coriander), chopped
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, harissa, honey and garlic.4 Tablespoons olive oil, 2 Tablespoons harissa, 2 teaspoons honey, 1 clove garlic
- Add the cauliflower florets and sliced peppers, and toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.1 medium head cauliflower, 1 sweet red pepper
- Scatter over a metal baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure to space out the cauliflower and pepper pieces as well as you can, so they will crisp up more effectively. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Prepare the toppings.Whisk together all ingredients for the garlic yogurt lime sauce in a small bowl and place on the table.1/2 cup greek yogurt, 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, 1/2 clove garlic, 1.5 teaspoons olive oil
- Use this time to chop the onions and cilantro, slice the avocado, and cut the lime into wedges. Once the cauliflower is almost ready, warm those tortillas in the microwave, on a hot pan, or over a gas flame.1/4 small red onion, 1 handful cilantro (fresh coriander), 1 large avocado, lime wedges, 12 corn tortillas
- The cauliflower and peppers are ready once they are charring around the edges and the peppers are soft and melty. You may wish to rotate the pan in the oven if the things are cooking unevenly but I personally don't bother flipping the cauliflower – I am happy enough with it being more cooked on one side, I like the varied texture!
- Remove the cauliflower from the oven and assemble your tacos! Spoon them over corn tortillas, tuck in a slice of avocado, drizzle with sauce and scatter with onions and cilantro. Enjoy!
