Recipe This | Instant Pot Cauliflower (2024)

Perfectly cooked instant pot cauliflower. Using the instant pot pressure cooker to do steamed cauliflower and then use it as a quick side dish for lunch or dinner.

Forget boiled cauliflower, this is the most flavoursome and easiest way to cook a whole cauliflower and then use it in many different recipes.

Cauliflower Instant Pot

If there is a veggie, we cook the most in the Milner house it would be cauliflower. Its our go to in so many different recipes. We love our cauliflower cheese, cauliflower pizza crust, cauliflower soup, cauliflower mash and so many others.

Or when the kids are at school Dom will do this recipe for steamed cauliflower in the instant pot and we will have it as a quick side dish alongside some air fryer frozen salmon and it makes the perfect, quick working lunch.

If you are starting out with the instant pot, or just want an easy way to cook cauliflower, then it doesn’t get any better than instant pot cauliflower.

You can chop a whole cauliflower into florets, or even do two full cauliflowers at once and its easy to scale this cauliflower recipe up or down.

We also have several other instant pot veggie recipes mentioned for you today, so you can try this cauliflower instant pot recipe first and then try out some others and then learn more about instant pot steaming. Especially, for those hectic evenings when you know you need to get veggies on the dinner table, and you can quickly get a batch of them going in the instant pot.

Today, we are going to show you how long to steam cauliflower, teach you all about steamed cauliflower, is it better to boil or steam cauliflower, cauliflower serving suggestions and so much more.

If you are looking for more delicious cauliflower recipes do try: air fryer frozen cauliflower, soup maker cauliflower soup, cauliflower in microwave, microwave cauliflower rice, instant pot cauliflower mash or our personal favourite instant pot cauliflower cheese.

Are You New To The Instant Pot?

Plus, as well as our extremely popularinstant pot mini coursewhich teaches you the instant pot basics in 5 days, we also have ourinstant pot bucket list. That is loaded with 30FREEbucket list worthy instant pot recipes.

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Can You Cook Cauliflower In The Instant Pot?

Yes, you can cook cauliflower in the instant pot, and you will love instant pot cauliflower.

We usually cook a full whole cauliflower that we have cut into cauliflower florets and then steam it in the steamer basket inside the instant pot.

Is It Better To Boil Or Steam Cauliflower?

Steaming cauliflower is so much better than boiled cauliflower. I have not boiled cauliflower or any other veggie for many years and you can taste the difference.

It takes me back to Christmas 2007 and we bought a veggie box. It was our first taste of organic fruit and veggies and we just couldn’t believe the flavour on the veggies when boiled compared to ones bought from the supermarket.

Fast forward to 2011 and buying our first steamer and cooking steamed cauliflower and we got that taste back.

Steamed cauliflower is better because it retains the flavour and the nutrients and how after steaming it will taste like the best cauliflower you have ever eaten.

How Much Water Do You Steam Cauliflower?

When we steam cauliflower in microwave, we need just one tablespoon. This is either a tablespoon in the bottom of your steamer basket or in a zip loc bag.

But the instant pot only works when you add enough water to bring it to pressure. Therefore for instapot cauliflower you will need 1-1.5 cups (240-360ml) of water or stock to steam the cauliflower.

Instapot Cauliflower With Water Or Stock?

Now this is the next question I always get asked. Should you steam cauliflower in instant pot with water or with stock?

I always reply with…. It depends.

It depends on how you plan to use your instant pot cauliflower once you have cooked it.

For example, if you are steaming cauliflower just to serve it as a quick side dish, then just add water.

But if making a cauliflower cheese and you need some of the liquid to make a cheese sauce with, then I highly recommend using our instant pot veggie stock recipe.

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Cauliflower Instant Pot Ingredients

Cauliflower – We recommend a medium or large cauliflower that you have chopped into cauliflower florets.

Liquid. You can opt for filling the instant pot with water or stock for you to take the instant pot to pressure. I usually use water if just steaming cauliflower, but if I want to transform the cauliflower into cauliflower cheese, then I will opt for stock.

Seasoning – Then you will need some seasoning. You can keep it simple with salt and pepper, and of course add any of your favourite dried seasonings. Mixed herbs or oregano are my favourite as you always have them in and they taste so good with this steamed cauliflower recipe.

Can You Recommend An Instant Pot?

I often get asked which electric pressure cookers we recommend and which one we use. In 95% of our instant pot recipes, we use either this instant pot duo (we have both the 6qt and 8qt) or the Ninja Foodi air fryer and pressure cooker in 1. You can click on the links above and read up on them.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our instant pot recipes category as we have many electric pressure cooker recipes and have been using instant pots for 5 years.

How To Steam Cauliflower In Instant Pot?

• Pour. Add to the instant pot inner pot water or stock, that is enough to bring the instant pot to pressure.
• Prep. Next cut the whole cauliflower into florets.
• Load. Add to the instant pot the steamer basket and then spread over the steamer basket the prepared cauliflower florets. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook. Place the lid on the instant pot then cook cauliflower in instant pot for 4 minutes, followed by a quick pressure release.
• Serve. The cauliflower instant pot recipe just needs a fork test now to make sure they are fork tender and then you can serve with some butter and your favourite seasonings.

How Long To Steam Cauliflower?

The recommended cauliflower steam time is JUST 4 minutes and this is based on larger cauliflower florets. If your cauliflower is small florets, I would reduce the cook time to 3 minutes.

Or if you are doing instant pot steamed cauliflower to make a soup with, then we would recommend 6 minutes to make the cauliflower nice and soft.

Listen To Instant Pot Cauliflower

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What To Put On Steamed Cauliflower?

You can keep your steamed cauliflower recipe simple and just season with salt and pepper. Another favourite of ours is some curry powder, or why not add a little cheese and let the cheese melt over the cauliflower?

More Instant Pot Vegetable Recipes

• Instant Pot Turnips
• Instant Pot Butternut Squash
• Instant Pot Broccoli
• Instant Pot Parsnips
• Instant Pot Brussel Sprouts
• Instant Pot Carrots
• Instant Pot Swede/Rutabaga
• Instant Pot Mushrooms
• Instant Pot Cabbage
• Instant Pot beginner recipes!

This cauliflower instant pot recipe is an updated post and we originally shared with you how to steam cauliflower using the instant pot back in 2018.

Your cauliflower in instant pot recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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