Cardamom and Tea

Lebanese fried cauliflower shows that you don’t need to bread cauliflower for it to turn out golden brown and delicious. Sure, breading makes just about anything crispy. But when you skip the breading, you get something rich and chewy instead. And it only requires oil and cauliflower (just 2 real ingredients!) which means it works for almost anyone (gluten free, keto, vegan, and so on). Plus, this particular recipe uses pan-frying instead of deep-frying.

Jump to recipe to hit the ground running, or read on to decide whether this recipe is for you.

Is this fried cauliflower recipe the one for you?

Or in other words, here is a list of criticism I will not be accepting 😎

Lebanese fried cauliflower is its own thing, and it’s important to have the right expectations going in. Submitting one of these complaints would be like buying tickets to a bluegrass show and then complaining that there is too much fiddle:

Yes, it’s supposed to be somewhat oily. In reality, it absorbs a very similar amount of oil to breaded fried cauliflower. But you will notice the oil more here, since it’s not being soaked up by a bunch of breadcrumbs or batter. I like to serve fried cauliflower with something light, like lemon roast chicken. It’s also really good with a squeeze of lemon—the oil and lemon act almost like a really good dressing.
No, it’s not supposed to be crispy (but it is supposed to be chewy!). This comes down to making sure your oil is hot enough and letting the cauliflower cook for no longer than 5 minutes total. If it overcooks, it will go from chewy to mushy very quickly. If the heat is too low, the outside of the florets will get soggy instead of chewy. But no matter what you do, it will never get crispy—that’s really not the goal here. We’re going for maximum chew!
Yes it’s supposed to be deeply golden brown and caramelized. Our goal isn’t just for it to turn light golden-brown, but deeply golden brown. There should be a few spots that are even a bit dark brown.

Tips for cauliflower success

1. Your cauliflower absolutely MUST be dry before frying.

Do not give it a quick rinse and then pop it directly into the oil or you will create a very dangerous situation. Oil will splatter everywhere and it will bubble up like crazy.

Instead, you must dry your cauliflower completely—not just a quick pat on the outside, but a full spin in the salad spinner or a real serious shake-out bundled in a kitchen towel. When in doubt, dry it even more than you think.

2. You can deep fry instead of pan frying if you want to. Either way, be very careful!!

I chose pan frying when I started to develop this recipe because it is less intimidating for most home cooks. But don’t be deceived—pan frying can be just as dangerous as deep frying if you are not careful. In either case, follow safe frying protocols. Make sure there is plenty of room in your pan (so it does not bubble over), keep the pan on a back burner, have a lid nearby for emergencies, make sure kids and pets are in another room, and read about pan frying and deep frying to learn more about it if you’ve never done it before.

3. Make sure your florets are the right size.

Not too big, not too small—just right! See the photos and video to get a sense.

4. Don’t crowd the pan—work in batches.

Crowding the pan is a great way to get the temperature of your oil to drop quickly, which will result in greasy, mushy cauliflower. Make sure there is plenty of room between each floret, and work in batches to cook the whole head.

5. Carefully control the heat.

You may need to boost it a bit right after adding the florets, and then gradually reduce it as they sear. If you don’t have a thermometer, pay attention to how quickly they are browning, and make sure it never starts smoking. This will give the food a bad flavor and can become very dangerous if you continue overheating the oil.

Fried Cauliflower (2 ingredients, pan-fried)

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Note: This recipe involves pan frying, which can be dangerous. Please proceed with caution and make sure you know what you’re doing before proceeding.

Ingredients

About 2 cups high smoke point neutral oil*
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets and dried very well**
Table salt or fine sea salt

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Instructions

Pour about 1/2 inch [13mm] of oil into a wide skillet.*** It needs to be high enough to come up the sides of your florets.
Heat the oil to 375°F [190°C].
Once your oil has heated, add some of the florets in an even layer, leaving plenty of room between them. Once they turn deeply golden brown on one side (about 2 minutes), flip and let the other side sear. Control the heat to maintain 375°F [190°C] the whole time. You’ll need to boost the heat right after adding florets, and then gradually decrease it. Do not let them cook longer than 5 minutes or they will get mushy on the inside.
Once your florets are deeply golden brown all over, remove to a paper towel lined plate.
Work in batches until all your florets are done.
Sprinkle with salt and enjoy right away.

Notes

* I developed this recipe using canola, but anything that tastes neutral with a smoke point of 400°F [205°C] or higher will work here.

** See note above the recipe about how to make sure your florets are dry. They must be very, very dry before going into the oil. This is for safety, so don’t skip drying them very well.

*** This recipe uses a pan-frying technique, but you can also deep fry florets this way (see note above recipe about safety). They will take less time, about 3 minutes total.

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I developed this recipe because every edible cookie dough recipe I found uses a flour heat-treating method warned against by experts and the FDA. My edible cookie dough recipe uses a roux of hot butter and flour instead of using the microwave, oven, or dry-roasting in a pan.

As Dr. Yaohua Feng (a food safety researcher) pointed out in this article, ovens and microwaves lack the precision to ensure flour reaches an even, safe temperature to kill pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella. My roux method hits 300°F (more on that soon), evenly cooks the flour suspended in a hot liquid, and uses a centuries-old cooking technique.

I’d usually include a “jump to the recipe” link here, but it’s actually important that you read the whole post for this one so that you can decide for yourself.

Is this edible cookie dough actually safer than others?

I’m a recipe developer and cookbook author, not a food scientist. I can’t promise my recipe eliminates all risk. But here’s why I believe it’s a meaningful improvement, so you can make your own decision:

1. 300°F

Submerging flour in hot fat surrounds every flour particle with heat, rather than just hoping and praying that conduction heat will make its way evenly through a dry pile of flour.

In my kitchen testing, the roux’s temperature spends 5 minutes climbing from 200°F [93°C] to 300°F [149°C]— almost double the 160°F [71°C] threshold the FDA cites for killing pathogens. Stirring continuously means no part of the flour sits cold while the rest overheats.

2. Tradition

The method in this recipe is how cooks have been preparing flour for centuries. Béchamel, gravy, traditional flour halva, and stovetop mac and cheese all rely on the same basic technique of cooking flour in fat or fat-and-liquid before serving.

“Traditional” doesn’t necessarily equal “safe.” But I’m just saying: this isn’t just some weird method of cooking flour that I invented (like, say, zapping dry flour in a microwave). It’s one people have been using for a very long time.

Does this recipe actually taste good?

Ah okay, finally something I can speak to with authority and zero caveats: Does this cookie dough actually taste good? Yes. Yes it does. It has a nuttier flavor and slightly more rustic texture than regular cookie dough, but it is very good.

I know, you’re probably reading “mac and cheese” and “béchamel sauce” and thinking “how on earth could a roux make good cookie dough?!” The answer: a roux has 2 of the main ingredients in cookie dough: flour and butter. We’re just bringing the usual ingredients together a bit unconventionally.

Here are a few unique features of this recipe:

The milk solids in the butter start to brown by the end of the process, but this gives it a flavor very similar to brown butter cookie dough.
The flour also begins to lightly toast, which creates a different texture and flavor. The flavor is not an issue—it adds a nice nutty note to the dough. However, the texture is something to grapple with: on its own, it is slightly on the gritty side. But adding milk gives it a fluffier, doughier consistency. We’re going to add much more milk that we would if we were making a regular recipe for cookie dough. But this helps it stay soft in the fridge and gives it a doughy consistency that’s not too crumbly.
Also, to point out the obvious: do not bake this dough. It tastes like cookie dough, but structurally, it is very different and will not bake normally.

Is this recipe safe for me?

I haven’t had this method independently lab-tested. Of course, neither have the top 10 google results for edible cookie dough, which are all using methods that experts explicitly warn against (at least, at the time of this blog post’s publication).

So if you’re going to make edible cookie dough from ingredients you have in your pantry no matter what the FDA says, I do recommend using this method. But I can’t promise it is risk-free.

That being said, if you’re cooking for someone immunocompromised, pregnant, young, or elderly, the safest option is still flour that’s been commercially heat-treated and labeled as such (or just not eating cookie dough at all).