Instant Pot Cauliflower

Here’s a fast, easy, and healthy side dish: Instant Pot cauliflower! Flavored with lemon zest and Italian seasoning, you won’t be able to stop eating it.

Did you know that steamed cauliflower can taste incredible? We know, we know: with no seasoning, it’s nothing to write home about. But steam it in a pressure cooker until it’s just crisp tender, then mix with olive oil, Italian seasoning and lemon zest and POW! It’s in your face good. I literally could not stop eating this! (Neither could our 2 year old, which is saying something.) After all these years of thinking the only way to eat cauliflower was to roast it, we’ve found a way quicker way that works for easy weeknights. May we present: Instant Pot cauliflower!

How to make Instant Pot cauliflower: a tutorial

The Instant Pot is a quick, hands off way to steam vegetables! We’ve used the same method with our Instant Pot broccoli and Instant Pot Brussels sprouts. Essentially: chop the veggies. Throw them in with a bit of water and press Cook! Here’s exactly how to make pressure cooker cauliflower, and a little trick for the chopping part.

Step 1: Chop the cauliflower into florets.

Use a large chef’s knife to cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Here we used 1 small head of cauliflower, which is enough for 4 servings. Feel free double if you’d like: it’s still the same cook time!

Wondering the best way to cut cauliflower? Alex and I use a genius method that doesn’t end up with crumbles all over the counter! (Anyone have that issue?) Go to How to Cut Cauliflower or see the video below.

Step 2: Pressure cook on High for 2 minutes.

Place the florets in the Instant Pot with ½ cup water. Then pressure cook on High for 2 minutes. Note that the pressure cooker takes about 5 minutes to “preheat” or come up to pressure before cooking.

You may find other recipes online that state a 0 or 1 minute cook time for cauliflower in the Instant Pot. In all of our testing, we found that 2 minutes was the sweet spot that yielded the perfect crisp tender florets. If you like your cauliflower very crisp you could try a cook time of 1 minute, but we wouldn’t go less than that.

Step 3: Quick release and add flavorings.

Then you’ll perform a quick release by immediately letting all the steam out of the top valve. Once it’s come out, you can open the lid and taste your cauliflower. It comes out perfectly steamed and crisp tender!

The BEST way to serve cauliflower as a side

Want the best way to serve cauliflower as a side? For this one we went Mediterranean style. And when I tasted it, I immediately starting shoveling more bites into my mouth. It’s that good! As I mentioned, I used to think that the only way to eat cauliflower was roasted. Now I’ve been proven wrong! Here’s the best way to flavor cauliflower:

• Olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• Lemon zest
• Salt & pepper

It sounds deceptively simple, but the flavors work remarkably well. The lemon zest in particular is great for brightening up after the pressure cooker, which can dull flavors cooking at such high pressure.

What kind of Instant Pot to use?

All pressure cooker brands vary! The brand we use is an Instant Pot 6 Qt Programmable Pressure Cooker. All Instant Pot recipes on this website have been tested using that model, and we also can’t speak to other brands and types of pressure cookers. For example, Instant Pot Mini works differently, so use it at your own risk.

More quick Instant Pot side dish recipes

This Instant Pot cauliflower is one of our favorite easy side dishes! A few more we might recommend:

• Instant Pot Brocolli is another favorite: it has a 0 minute cook time! This one is flavored with feta cheese.
• Instant Pot Brussels sprouts are also fast to make and flavored with Parmesan cheese.
• Instant Pot green beans come out bright green, crisp tender and are flavored with lemon.

If you’re looking for more side dish ideas, we’ve got lots! Head to Best Vegetable Side Dishes and 25+ Favorite Side Dish Recipes.

This Instant Pot cauliflower recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, and vegan.

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