This spiced cauliflower shawarma with chickpeas for protein and a creamy red pepper, garlic, yogurt sauce is a delicious plant-based twist on the classic Turkish dish.

Open pita bread with orange sauce, fresh herbs, cauliflower and chickpeas.

Cauliflower Shawarma with Red Pepper Sauce (Vegan)

This spiced cauliflower shawarma with chickpeas for protein and a creamy red pepper, garlic, yogurt sauce is a delicious plant-based twist on the classic Turkish dish.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Turkish

Servings people

Calories 372kcal

Equipment

Oven
Air fryer

Ingredients

Spices

2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp sumac
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper optional

Vegetables

1 medium head of cauliflower broken into large florets
1 large red pepper (capsicum)
3 cloves garlic unpeeled
800 g canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
3.5 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice juice from about 1 lemon
1/3 cup raw cashews soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes and drained
1/2 cup natural yogurt unsweetened - I use soy or coconut
1/2 tsp salt

To serve

8 large pitas warmed
1/2 red onion finely sliced
fresh parsley leaves roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C and air fryer to 390°F/200°C.

Spices

In a small bowl, combine the spices: cumin, ground coriander, sumac, salt and cayenne pepper (optional).

Vegetables

Add chickpeas to a medium size bowl and coat with roughly 1/3 of the spice mix and 1 tbsp olive oil. Transfer chickpeas to the air fryer basket and air fry for 12-15 minutes until golden and crispy, shaking the basket half way through. *See notes for oven option.
Add cauliflower florets to a large mixing bowl and coat with 2 tbsp of olive oil and roughly 2/3 of the spice mix. Transfer to a large lined roasting tray. Place the red pepper onto the same tray, along with the unpeeled garlic cloves, use your hands to coat with 1/2 tbsp olive oil and a small sprinkle of salt.
Place the tray into the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Flip, then continue roasting for an additional 15-20 minutes until pepper is blistered and cauliflower is tender.
Wrap the pepper in aluminum foil and leave to sweat for 10 minutes. Being careful not to burn yourself, peel the skin from the pepper, remove the stalk and seeds, then roughly chop remaining pepper. Peel the garlic cloves.

Sauce

Add the garlic cloves, pepper, and all other sauce ingredients to a high-powered blender. Blend for 30-60 seconds or until smooth.

Assemble

Spread the sauce onto the pitas, then top with cauliflower, chickpeas, red onion and parsley. Serve immediately.

Notes

Chickpeas in oven - if you don't have an air fryer, you can cook the chickpeas in the oven. They won't get quite as crispy, but will still be delicious. Place them on a large lined tray (separate to the cauliflower, pepper and garlic) and roast for 20-25 minutes at 425°F/220°C or until golden and crispy.