Inspired by Indian tikka masala, this easy 30-minute Instant-Pot cauliflower curry features tender cauliflower served in a spicy and hearty tomato sauce. Serve this flavorful curry over brown rice, or with naan or roti!
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Introduction
This flavorful cauliflower curry is made in only one pot and comes with a creamy masala sauce that is infused with Indian spices. The recipe is super simple and requires very little active time. It's so easy you will be surprised by how delicious it is!
🥬 Ingredients to Make Cauliflower Tikka Masala
Preparing this Instant Pot cauliflower recipe requires very basic ingredients you probably already have on hand. Here's what you will need:
- Cauliflower
- Onion and garlic cloves
- Fresh Ginger
- Diced Tomatoes, canned is best to save time.
- Spices like dried fenugreek, cumin, garam masala, coriander, and turmeric.
- Maple syrup
- Non-dairy yogurt or cream to slightly thicken the sauce and make it creamier.
🥣 How to Make Cauliflower Tikka Masala
Before starting, be aware this is an Indian-inspired dish. It is not authentic in any way, although I tried to give the sauce an authentic flavor.
This recipe starts with the tadka, also called tempering. Fry onions, garlic, and ginger for a few minutes, or until onions start to brown.
Then, add the spices. Frying the spices in oil enhances their flavors. For the spices, I went with a combination of garam masala, turmeric, cumin, and ground chili for a hint of spiciness.
Next, add the diced tomatoes and a drizzle of maple syrup to balance with the acidity of the tomatoes.
Finally, add the cauliflower florets to the pot and close the lid. You are almost done! It's time to let the Instant Pot do its job.
Just 2 minutes under pressure and the cauliflower is cooked to perfection! You obviously have to wait for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, which can take 7-8 minutes, but that leaves you time to do the laundry, set the table, or whatever you have on your to-do list.
To make the curry creamier and richer, stir in some vegan yogurt at the end of cooking. You can use coconut yogurt, almond yogurt, or even homemade cashew cream. For the toppings, you can't go wrong with fresh cilantro and roasted cashews for a little crunch!
💬 FAQ
- I do not have an instant pot, can I make this recipe? Sure! You can simply prepare the sauce in a regular saucepan or skillet, let it simmer for 5-6 minutes and then stir in boiled or roasted cauliflower.
- Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of canned diced ones? While I haven't personally tried, it should work. You might have to add some water if your tomatoes are not very juicy.
- How long does cauliflower tikka masala keep? It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- What is the size of your Instant Pot? For this recipe, I used a 6-Quart Duo Instant Pot.
- My cauliflower is overcooked/undercooked, what happened? You either cut the cauliflower florets too small or too large. Read our tips below to fix it.
📔 Tips
- Do not cut the cauliflower florets too small otherwise it will be overcooked. I recommend going with 2-inch florets. We also recommend using a very fresh cauliflower, it should not be yellow or soft.
- Depending on the brand of diced tomatoes used, you may have to add extra salt. Taste the sauce after cooking and adjust saltiness as needed, you don't want a bland sauce!
- To prevent getting a "Burn" message on the Instant Pot, deglaze the pot with a couple of tablespoons of water to remove the onions and spices that could have stuck to the bottom. This should be done before adding the diced tomatoes.
- Regarding the diced tomatoes, it seems some brands have more juice than others. If your tomatoes are on the thicker side with very little juice, I recommend adding about ½ cup of water to make sure there is enough liquid in the Instant Pot.
You can serve this cauliflower tikka masala with rice, quinoa, or tofu for a protein-packed meal. This curry is perfectly spiced, creamy, and nutritious!
More Vegan Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Creamy Masala Steel-Cut Oats
- Instant Pot Sesame & Basil Noodles,
- Instant Pot Sticky Rice with Green Curry Sauce
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Cauliflower Tikka Masala
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground chili
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with their juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 small cauliflower head cut into florets (about 4 cups florets)
- ½ cup non-dairy yogurt (or cashew cream)
- optional toppings: fresh parsley roasted cashews
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode for 7 minutes. Add the oil. Once hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions start to caramelize and become soft. Add the dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala, turmeric, chili, cumin, and salt. Continue to cook for another 2 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it doesn't burn. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and scrape the bottom to make sure nothing is sticking to it, this will prevent the Instant Pot from giving you a "burn" message.
- Add the diced tomatoes, maple syrup, and cauliflower florets. Secure the lid and close the vent to Sealing. Press the Pressure Cook button and adjust the time to 2 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure, then cook under pressure for 2 minutes.
- Once the program is finished and you have heard the beeps, wait 1 minute and release the pressure. Stir in the non-dairy yogurt and stir to combine. Taste the sauce and adjust saltiness if needed.
- Serve hot with rice, naan, or tofu, and top with fresh parsley and roasted cashews.
- This Instant Pot cauliflower will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat over medium heat in a saucepan, or in the Instant Pot on the "Sauté" or "Keep warm" function.
Just made this - It was awesome!!
Added some chickpeas for protein and topped with cilantro.
Love your recipe’s btw and your photos are amazing!
Glad to hear you liked it Emilia! 🙂
This recipe was delicious!! Made it as written and can't wait to have it again! Thank you!
Awesome! Glad you liked it Pauline 😉
Did you pressure cook canned chickpeas or add them in after the pressure cooking?
I'm going to use some left over cashew sour cream I made last night in place of the yogurt!
Looking for and, I love tikka masala!
This cauliflower masala is absolutely delicious! And an "instant pot" is not necessary - an old fashioned yet perfectly reliable and practical pressure cooker works just as well. I use my mother-in-law's which must be over 20 years old, but it cooks everything to perfection.
I don't have either! Crockpot will make the cauliflower fall apart probably. I'll just wing it on the stove.
Maybe oven roast the cauliflower?
As Elaine said you can use a regular pressure cooker. If you don't have one, boil the cauliflower until tender, drain and then add to the masala sauce.
Yes, roasting should work well too!
I roasted the cauliflower in the oven and added it to the sauce I made on the stove! I added about 1/4 cup of cashew sour cream...perfect! Amazingly easy and very good. Served with quinoa.
Thank you!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Debra!
Thanks for the feedback Elaine! 😉 You are totally right, a regular pressure cooker works well too.
Instant Pot is now just what people call pressure cookers no need to get high and mighty
This was absolutely delicious! I did't have canned tomatoes or v-yogurt tho, so I made my own cashew cream and used fresh organic tomatoes. Still turned out super yummy. Also, didn't have chili powder so opted for Red Harissa and it was absolutely banging good, delicious. Keep in mind we have only been using our instant pot since the day after Christmas and find the manual to be not so helpful so we spent a lot of time trying to get the pressure cooking right. Thank you so much for sharing this easy, delicious, healthy vegan meal with us. I'm a fan of fullofplants1.wpengine.com !!!! NOM NOM~
Thank you Lisa! I'm glad you like this curry 🙂 It can only taste better with fresh tomatoes and a rich cashew cream!
Thanks for the feedback!
How many fresh tomatoes did you use? How did you prepare them?
I made this last night and then used the Instant Pot to make your coconut yogurt. I wish there was leftover curry because they are both so good and would have been good together!
Thanks for the feedback Cathy!
i'm new to the instant pot! do you have to add any water to this at all for pressure cooking?
You don't have to add additional water for this recipe, the juice from the tomatoes is already enough.
This is the first FulOfPlants recipe I’ve made and I loved it. I used fenugreek seeds because that’s what I had.
Thanks for the feedback Steve! Happy to hear you liked this curry 🙂 Fenugreek seeds are great too!
Hi - I was wondering - what exactly is 'ground chili'? Is that a spice? Or? Also, if one leaves out the maple syrup, would that ruin the recipe? Or is there a non-sugar type replacement?
I can't wait to try this recipe! Thank you!
Hi Michelle, ground chili is a mix of spices. It usually contains cayenne pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika, etc, it's not pure cayenne pepper.
Leaving out the maple syrup won't ruin the recipe at all, especially if you don't have a sweet tooth. Otherwise, you can probably use a bit of stevia.
Thank you! I can't wait to try it!
Is there a sub for fenugreek leaves if I can’t find them?
You can use ground fenugreek, or just leave it out.
I used fresh mustard greens rather than fenugreek. The flavor is apparently similar. 4 leaves chopped up. It looked like too much going in but was just right in the end. The leaves cook down a lot.
Hi Thomas! This looks great! Can I use canned coconut milk to replace the vegan yogurt? Thank you!
Hi Alison, yes you can! And maybe add a squeeze of lemon!
do you think you could put quinoa (along with some water) in along with everything else for the pressure cooking? i'm new to my instant pot but i love "all in one" recipes!
Yes, I think that would work. Make sure to use a good ratio of quinoa to water so it doesn't soak up the whole sauce.
Really fabulous recipe. I'm always all about adding extras to my recipes and I think that cauliflower would be the bomb!
Finally some much needed SUN!
Thanks Ida!
Looks so yum! This may be a stupid question, but is an instant pot the same as a pressure cooker? Or a CrockPot? So many pots. I'm confused.
An Instant Pot can be used as a pressure cooker, or as a slow cooker. A CrockPot is a slow cooker but not a pressure cooker if I'm not wrong.
You can probably make this recipe using a regular pressure cooker.
Google is a very good resource
This is so good! Love that it’s so easy! I’m having a problem with the burn message though and I’m not sure what I did wrong.
Thanks Britany! Usually the burn message appears where there is no liquid left in the Instant Pot. Did you put the valve on "seal" and added all the liquids?
How can I make this in my pressure cooker if I dont have an instant pot?
It's about the same if using a pressure cooker, make sure it is in seal position. Cook for 2 minutes once the pressure cooker is under pressure. Then wait 10 minutes before releasing the pressure.
Tastes fine, but the cauliflower was seriously over cooked. I would reduce pressure cooking time at least in half.
Hi Stephen, I'm sorry to hear that! I make this recipe regularly and the cauliflower is never overcooked. My guess would be that your cauliflower florets were a bit too small?
Can i add bown lentils? Or potatoes? If so can you let me know the pressure times for each? Potato and lentil?
My family loved this. Very complex flavors. I made my Garam Masala from scratch. I served it with a BBQ’d chicken. You could easily add cooked chicken right to it at the end.
The first time I submitted my review my 5 stars disappeared. Flaw?
I'm not sure what happened, I will look into it.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback Karen! 😉
Making this tonight! I don't have a pressure cooker or an instant pot though. Are any major adjustments needed if I cook this on the stove-top besides oven cooking the cauliflower?
If using a stove-top pressure cooker, you might have to add 1-2 minutes to the pressure cooking time. Another option, cut the cauliflower into florets, lightly coat it with oil and bake in the oven until cooked. In the meantime, prepare the sauce in a skillet or large saucepan and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add the cooked cauliflower to the sauce and cook for another 5 minutes.
I’m not sure what I didn’t wrong but I’m going on my third 2 minute pressure cooking session. The cauliflower keeps being under cooked. It appears that the pot is working correctly. I’m using the manual setting at 2 minutes. Thanks so much!
What was the size of your cauliflower florets? Also, did you put the Instant Pot on the "Seal" position?
This happened to me too! See my other comment.
My cauliflower was undercoooked. It needs more time. I live in high altitude though and found that varies alot since water boils at a diff temp
Hi
Could frozen cauliflower florets be used?
It should work! I think the same cooking time will be okay.
Love this! So flavorful! The cashew cream was a perfect addition.
Thanks for the feedback Rekha! Happy to hear you liked it!
I tried this recipe, and it’s delicious. But your instructions for using the manual pressure didn’t work nor did they gibe with the instantpots instructions. I ended up using the chili/beans feature for 10 minutes of pressure. Worked great.
Hi Jacqui,
Glad to hear you liked it! Could you be a bit more specific on what went wrong for you? I made this recipe several times and 2 minutes was always enough to cook the cauliflower.
my sister love cauliflower so i will try it for her ❤
I made a double batch of this today. I was skeptical because I had read that too much tomato can lead to scorching. But I trusted the good ratings! Mine did indeed scorch but luckily I smelled it before it got too bad. The vent was on sealing and I followed the recipe. But I wonder if some brands of crushed tomatoes are thicker than others? The ones I used, which were def. crushed and not a sauce, were thick like a sauce. Anyway I caught it in time and just let it cook stovetop with a bit of water added.
I guess it depends on the brand, mines have quite a lot of juice. You could also use a can of whole peeled tomatoes and chop them, then add it with the juice to the Instant Pot.
I made this last night and it was so delicious over brown rice! Thank you for this recipe.
You're welcome! Thanks for your feedback Theresa!
Love this! Will try it with chickpeas too, as another reviewer suggested.
Delicious! Made it last night. I'm new to this whole "instant pot" cooking...Super easy recipe to follow. I recommend reading over the ingredients/recipe fully before starting & doing all the prep first...then the pot does the rest! Easier than I originally thought it would be. Thanks for the recipe!
You're welcome Christine! Hope you will enjoy cooking with your Instant Pot!
I followed the recipe perfectly but for some reason the instant pot was not able to reach pressure. This usually happens for me when there is not enough fluid...so I wonder if my caulifower head was too large, making the recipe dry overall. I ended up cooking it on stovetop until the caulifower was done and I loved the flavour...wondering what I can do differently next time so that I can make it in the pot. Do you think it was too much cauliflower?
It may be too much cauliflower. Did you add the juice of the diced tomatoes too?
Thank you - your recipe was delicious! I did not have diced tomatoes so I used stewed instead, just broke them up in a blender first. Thanks for the idea of using more chili powder - 1 teaspoon was perfect. I was nervous about using the IP's saute function because the IP gave me the burn warning in the past, but this time I added a little water and scaped the bottom well before proceeding to pressure cooking - it worked great! I think it's important to have all the ingredients chopped, measured and ready to go when using the IP, timing is more critical than usual.
Thanks for sharing your tweaks Holly! 😉
Loved this recipe! Super fast and easy, my husband and I really enjoyed it! Thank you!
Thanks for your feedback Tracy!
This recipe gave me a burn notice. Not enough liquid.
Sorry to hear that! Did you add the juice with the diced tomatoes?
I’ve tried this recipe twice and I LOVE it! I saw another review that suggested adding garbanzo beans. I did that and it definitely added some substance to the meal. I know this is going to be a regular on my list.
Thanks Mary! Glad to hear the recipe worked for you and you liked the flavor 😉
Thanks for the rating!
My instant kept saying "Burn" ...I added water but it still wouldn't cook....please advise...
Hi Erica,
I'm not sure what happened, for most people this recipe works great but I had a few similar comments like yours regarding the 'burn' message. Did you add the juice of the diced tomatoes?
I'm going to re-test this one once more and update it if needed.
I just re-tested the recipe this morning and didn't get any "burn" message. I'm not sure how it can happen since this is a curry and there is quite a lot of liquid. What kind of canned tomatoes did you use?
Btw, the recipe has been updated with cup measurements for the cauliflower florets.
Did not taste good at all
Sorry to hear you didn't like this recipe, can you develop?
Love the combination of spices. Great recipe! I just discovered your blog and l will definitly try other recipes.
Glad you liked it 😉 Thanks for the rating!
This recipe ended up being my favorite of four curries I made for my visiting brothers and parents--I cook Indian food a lot and having tried many easy instant pot recipes, I honestly was not expecting much! It has a great spice blend that just tastes restaurant-style to me, and is creamy while still remaining light and healthy. Loved having a big bowl for breakfast--I'll definitely be making this again as a low cal dead easy curry/stew. I used a onion-ginger-garlic puree that I had made for another recipe, and full fat greek dairy yogurt but I'm sure many variations would be delicious.
Thanks so much for the great feedback Kim! I'm happy you liked this cauliflower tikka masala! 😉
If I make this in regular slow cooker what would be the heat (high/low) and timing? Thx!
Hi Emily,
I don't own a slow cooker so I have absolutely no idea, sorry!
My daughter made this for her YouTube channel (PickyPawsMouthPiece). We had to modify a few things because we couldn't find the ingredients, It turned out delicious and was actually quite filling.
Awesome! Thanks for your feedback!
Tastes great! Unfortunately like some others I kept getting "burn" but I was able to salvage it OK. I used 4 cups of frozen cauliflower florets and 1 28-oz can of Cento San Marzano tomatoes with the juice. I tried adding 1/2 cup of water, too but still got "burn." I used an Instant Pot DUO60. It still came out OK though! I just finished it on "Saute" mode.
I re-tried this recipe many times after seeing some people had the burn message but I never get it. I assume it depends on the brand and consistency of the diced tomatoes. I'm surprised that you still got the message after adding 1/2 cup of water. Maybe it's because something already burnt at the bottom.
I think you are right about the burn message being triggered by food sticking on the bottom of the pot. After the saute function finished, I scraped the bottom, added a bit of liquid and allowed the pot to cool a minute. That eliminated the burn message for me. I love the spice blend and make this recipe often!
Awesome! 🙂
Thanks for your rating Holly!
Full of flavour and very easy to make. Thank you.
Thanks Allison! 🙂