These Cauliflower Taco Bowls with Creamy Vegan Cilantro Ranch are filled with brown rice, bell peppers, onion & beans. A healthy & tasty vegan dinner!
How to make Cauliflower Taco Bowls with Vegan Cilantro Ranch
These Cauliflower Taco Bowls are LOADED with all kinds of good stuff. Cauliflower, bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, brown rice, black beans...the list goes on and on. Well, not really, that's pretty much it.
BUT, even though the ingredient list is slightly long, don't worry. This recipe is still super simple. We're chopping, we're seasoning and we're roasting.
First thing to do is roast the veggies. Get it all on a baking sheet and toss with some olive oil and taco seasoning.
Next, make the sauce and prep the brown rice and beans.
How to serve Cauliflower Taco Bowls with Vegan Cilantro Ranch
Throw it all in a bowl with your favorite leafy greens and top it off with the vegan cilantro ranch. I like to add lots of cilantro to top it off!
You can easily make these ahead of time for lunch on the go. Just keep the warm and cold ingredients separate, then assemble right before eating.
These are my favorite types of dinners. You get TONS of veggies, fiber-packed beans, and a tasty sauce in one bowl.
Filling, tasty and makes for the BEST leftovers. Doesn't get any better than that.
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Cauliflower Taco Bowls with Creamy Vegan Cilantro Ranch
Ingredients
FOR THE CAULIFLOWER
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups cauliflower roughly chopped
- ½ red bell pepper chopped
- ½ red onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon taco seasoning
FOR THE BROWN RICE
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ red bell pepper chopped
- ½ red onion chopped
- 1 jalapeño chopped
- 2 cups brown rice cooked
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 15-ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 4-ounce can green chilis
- 2 tablespoon taco seasoning
- ¼ cup salsa*
FOR THE CILANTRO RANCH
- ½ cup vegan mayo
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar plus more to taste
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 5 basil leaves
- salt & pepper to taste
- water as needed
FOR THE SALAD
- 5 cups leafy greens
- 1 avocado chopped
- cilantro, lime wedges for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all of the cauliflower ingredients to the baking sheet and toss to coat evenly. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, tossing halfway.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, prepare the rice mixture.
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onion and jalapeño to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the remaining rice ingredients and toss to combine. Turn heat to low and stir occasionally until you are ready to eat.
- To prepare the cilantro ranch add all of the ingredients (except the water) to a food processor. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and vinegar to taste. Thin with water until desired consistency is reached.
- To assemble, layer greens, rice mixture and cauliflower in each bowl.** Top with avocado and cilantro. Drizzle with cilantro ranch and serve with lime wedges!
Notes
Nutrition
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Sophia
Just made this dish for Sunday dinner. OMG it is bursting with flavor. If you are not into spicy foods, I would not suggest the jalapeno and green chiles. This one will definitely be in the rotation. The cilantro ranch added a great touch.
Rene
Thanks so much Sophia!
Heather Ferguson
These look so good! Question, do you drain and rinse the black beans or just throw it in? Making today!
Rene
Hi Heather - Yes! I've updated the recipe!
Deb D
Just had this for dinner. Fantastic!
Rene
Yayyyyy - so glad you liked it Deb!
Sofia
Great recipe!! Didn’t make a lot of cauliflower though so next time I might just use the whole bag. Good with olives and Siracusa as well!
Rene
Yum - those sound like great additions!
April
This was amazing! I made it as is, except I didn't have any hot pepper. My hubby ended up stuffing everything in a hard taco shell for his second helping. Can't wait to have more for leftovers tomorrow😋
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! does the ranch keep long?
Rene
I would say 2-3 days, just because of the fresh herbs. You could use dry and it would last longer.
Suzanne
This looks so good! Do you use the ranach in any other recipes?
Rene
Yes! Here are a couple others:
https://www.thissavoryvegan.com/bbq-chickpea-lettuce-wraps/
https://www.thissavoryvegan.com/vegan-blt-summer-rolls/
Paige
This was really good! Whole family found something in thus recipe they loved. My kiddo “helped” me to make it so she knew what was in it. Then hubby and I had the bowl version. Kiddos had it compartmentalized on plates. It was a little time consuming to make since I didn’t have already made rice. Plus I’m cooking inside our RV. Changed the heat a bit for kiddos. Smoked paprika, garlic and onion spice with salt in the rice mix. Otherwise this meal was very delectable.
Rene
So glad you and your family liked this - and that that you had lots of "help" in the kitchen 😂❤️️
Nancy @ NY Foodie Family
A bit time consuming to make but so good!
Jessy
This is SO good. It takes a little bit longer to prepare than i'm used to but it is so worth it. We eat it about once a week!
Rene
Yay - so glad you liked it. It is a few steps, but if you have time to prep a little beforehand, that would speed up the actual cooking process. Making the dressing ahead of time is always a good starting point 🙂
Laurie
This recipe is wonderful. I was hesitant at first but it's delicious. We will be making it again. The Cilantro Mayo makes the whole dish. We are definitely not vegan but we are cauliflower lovers so this will be added to our menu.
Rene
Awesome! So glad it was a hit. And yes, the sauce is my favorite part too 🙂
Amy
This recipe was amazing! A big hit to my vegetarian kiddo and myself! Thanks for posting
Rene
Yay! So glad it was hit with everyone!
Hildy
This was soooo delicious! Even my husband who doesn't particularly care for cauliflower loved it! Thanks so much!
Rene
So glad it was a hit for both of you! Cauliflower is one of my faves 🙂
Lindsay
This is delicious... BUT— the dressing should have maybe 1 clove of garlic with this ratio of the rest of the ingredients. We were gagging on how garlicky the dressing was! The rest? SOOOOO delicious. I’ll definitely make it again, but hooooweeee will I make it less garlicky 🙂
Jessica
This was so delicious!!! The dressing recipe is incredible, definitely using it for other things as well! I’m usually hesitant about black bean based recipes but the corn really balanced out the texture. So yummy!!!
Scud
I made this tonight with a few tweaks to the bowl. The cilantro dressing is so good! I added black beans and farro to this and fresh pico de gayo. Yum!
Christine
We are new to plant based diets and will try to eat vegan when possible. We are trying out many recipes and this one, by far, is our favourite! Our friends, who aren’t vegan also loved it.
The dressing adds so much flavour. I made a bunch to put on other things too
Rene
Awesome! So glad you are finding recipes that are making your plant-based transition easier. And I agree, I could put that dressing on everything 🙂
Deb
This is an amazing vegan recipe that the whole family will love! My 12 and 16 year old non-vegan daughters love it. The Cilantro dressing really adds a great finishing touch and makes the dish over the top delicious. I personally double up on the cauliflower recipe to make the recipe "meatier:" This will definitely be a keeper recipe in our household. Thank you!
Rene
Yay! So glad it was a hit with everyone! And that dressing is one of my faves too 🙂
Jennifer
My son and I loved this recipe. We followed it almost exactly, just left out the jalapeno, because we accidentally left it off our shopping list. It is absolutely worth the effort and will definitely be on regular rotation in our house. Delicious!
Tiffanie Tuttle
This dish was delicious! Most days I am just a plant-based eater but love to incorporate vegan dishes as often as possible. Let me tell you this is one of my favorites I have ever made. It rivals some of my favorite non-vegan/super fatty southwest or taco-style salads from various restaurants. Awesome recipe!
Teri
Incredible flavor - I'm just starting to eat vegan regularly, and this encourages me that I'm going to enjoy it. Simple to assemble and flexible for swapping for what's in the fridge.
Rene
So glad you liked it Teri! And yes, I love a meal that allows me to make swaps for whatever is in the fridge 🙂
Danielle
Wow! This was delicious. Salads don't always have to be cold. This hit the spot and my boyfriend even took the leftovers for lunch. The cilantro dressing was amazing!
Rene
Ya! So glad you and your boyfriend liked it! And yes, I love a warm salad - especially in these cold months 🙂
Melissa
One of my absolute favorite recipes! DELICIOUS!!!!
Brenda
This is a fantastic recipe, even my carnivore husband loved it, will definitely make it again. Only change I made was I didn’t mix the rice and bean mixture together.
Rene
So glad you both liked it!
Faye
Looks good. I'm low carb. What can I use in place of the rice?
Anne
“Riced” cauliflower. You can hardly taste the cauliflower in this recipe, so I don’t think it would be overwhelming.
donna niemi
Looks great do you know how many calories this is?
Crissy
This was delicious and so colorful! I used a bottled cilantro cotija dressing for the ranch. Loved everything about this!
Rene
Yay! So happy it was a hit!
Chelsea
I made this for dinner tonight and it came out absolutely amazing. Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely be adding this into the rotation.
Rene
Awesome! So glad you liked it!
Dana
Made this last night and it was a huge hit! Entire family loved it. The creamy vegan dressing was the best. Most colorful dish too. Left overs did not last long today. Even super yummy cold! Delicious and a new staple in my dinner plans.
Rene
Awesome Dana! So glad it was a hit!
Jennifer
How many calories per serving? And what is they serving size?
Wani
I just tried this recipe last night and my family really enjoyed it. The flavors in this was amazing, thank you for sharing!