Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts (Video)

Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts is perfect when you need a special cauliflower side dish! And it’s red and green so you could definitely serve this for a low-carb holiday meal!

PIN Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts!

Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts is a festive roasted cauliflower dish that has so many great flavors. And the colors in this recipe are so beautifully red and green that it’s absolutely great for a holiday side dish! Think of this recipe during the coming holiday week when there are high-carb and ultra-rich choices everywhere you look. You might be surprised how much you enjoy making something like this for a healthier option that’s still special enough for a holiday meal.

And with the colors and all the flavors going on here from red bell peppers, green olives, pine nuts, and capers, this is cauliflower at its finest; I promise anyone who loves roasted cauliflower will love this kicked-up version even more. Of course, PINE NUTS! Don’t you agree they make everything better?

And don’t skip the green olives either, unless you have family members who just won’t warm up to them. In fact, my sister Pam told me that she never had much appreciation for green olives before she started using them in this roasted cauliflower recipe! If you like the idea of a holiday side dish that’s still a healthy choice, I hope you’ll give this a try during the holidays!

And Happy Holidays to all the loyal readers who support this site. I’ll be enjoying some time off for visiting my family during this week, but some scheduled posts will still show up here and on social media. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday week as well!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• cauliflower
• red bell pepper
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• pine nuts
• sliced green olives
• Capers (affiliate link)
• flat-leaf parsley (optional, but it adds some nice green color)
• lemon pieces to squeeze over (optional, but so good)

What if you don’t have pine nuts?

I love pine nuts so much I buy them at Costco in bags and keep them in the freezer! But if you don’t have pine nuts and don’t want to buy them I would use slivered almonds or pistachios in this dish, or just leave out the nuts.

What if you’re not a fan of green olives?

If you don’t like green olives you can definitely leave them out, although I think they add such a punch of flavor here. I’d use double the amount of capers if you’re not using green olives.

Who else loves Roasted Cauliflower like I do?

For everyone who’s also a big fan of roasted cauliflower, check out 25 Roasted Cauliflower Recipes for lots more amazing ideas for cauliflower as a side dish!

How to make Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts:

(This is ONLY a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Cut up the cauliflower and red bell pepper into bite-sized pieces and toss with olive oil, salt, and fresh-ground pepper.
2. Spread it out on a roasting pan and roast at 425F/220C for 20 minutes.
3. While cauliflower roasts prepare other ingredients.
4. After 20 minutes roasting time, toss the partially-roasted vegetables with the sliced olives, pine nuts, and capers.
5. Spread out on baking sheet again, and roast  10-15 minutes more, or until the vegetables are getting nicely browned on the edges.
6. Sprinkle with chopped parsley if you have some and serve hot, with lemon to squeeze on at the table if desired. (I highly recommend the added lemon!)

More Holiday-Worthy Cauliflower:

• Twice-Baked Cauliflower
• Cauliflower Gratin
• Roasted Cauliflower Rice Medley
• Cauliflower Rice with Basil, Parmesan and Pine Nuts
• Easy Cheesy Baked Keto Cauliflower

Continue to Content

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Yield: 6 servings

Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Roasted Cauliflower with Red Peppers, Green Olives, and Pine Nuts is as good as it gets for a special side dish!

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut up into smallish, same-size pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds cut out and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 2 T olive oil
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 3 T pine nuts, or more (see notes)
• 2/3 cup sliced green olives
• 2 T capers
• 2 T chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional, but it adds some nice green color)
• cut lemon pieces to squeeze over (optional, but so good)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C.
2. Cut the cauliflower into smallish, same-size pieces and cut the red bell pepper into half inch dice. 
3. Put chopped cauliflower and peppers into a plastic bowl and toss with 2 T olive oil, stirring so the vegetables are all lightly coated with oil.  Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and stir again.
4. Spread the vegetables out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 20 minutes.
5. While the cauliflower and peppers are roasting, slice the olives and measure out the pine nuts and capers.  Chop the parsley if using.
6. After 20 minutes, remove cookie sheet from the oven, put the cauliflower and peppers back into the same bowl, and toss with the olives, pine nuts,  and capers.  
7. Spread the mixture on to the cookie sheet again and roast an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are starting to brown and the olive pieces are looking slightly cooked.
8. Sprinkle with parsley if you're using it and serve hot, with a slice of lemon to squeeze over if desired.
9. If you don't eat this all at once it will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two. I would reheat it in a very hot dry non-stick pan instead of using a microwave.

Notes

Slivered almonds or pistachios would also be nice if you don't want to buy pine nuts.

Recipe adapted from Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2008.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 138Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 574mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Everything in this festive roasted cauliflower recipe is a low-carb ingredient, and this is suitable for low-carb, Keto, Paleo, Whole 30, dairy-free, or vegan diets as well as any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Side Dishes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2011. It was updated with better photos in 2015 and was last updated with more information in 2023.

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