Sous Vide Whole Cauliflower with Jerk Glaze & Brain-Boosting Magic

posted by Sharon Chen on Jul 30, 2025 0 comments »

Sous vide whole cauliflower gets a bold jerk makeover! Perfectly tender inside, charred outside—plus brain-boosting benefits.

Living in Hong Kong means mastering the art of tiny-kitchen cooking. When I was learning about brain health on MasterClass, I came across James Beard award-winner Gregory Gourdet’s stunning oven-roasted Jerk Cauliflower recipe, and I almost jumped out of my chair. I immediately knew that I had to replicate it with sous vide. It would deliver that perfect tenderness, while a quick broiler finish would lock in the Chef’s signature jerk glaze. The result? A fiery, brain-boosting showstopper born from my countertop sous vide setup and a toaster oven.

Table of Contents hide

Why Sous Vide Wins in Small Spaces (and Beyond)
Brain Fuel in Every Bite
Sous Vide Whole Cauliflower Temperature and Time
Method Comparison: Gourdet’s Original vs. My Sous Vide Hack
Essential Ingredients
- For the Cauliflower
- For the Jerk Sauce
Equipment Checklist
Step-by-Step: Sous Vide Whole Jerk Cauliflower
What to Serve with the Sous Vide Whole Cauliflower
Chef Gregory Gourdet’s Jerk Cauliflower Recipe
Sous Vide Whole Cauliflower with Jerk Glaze
- Made it? Rate it.
About the Author
- Sharon Chen

Why Sous Vide Wins in Small Spaces (and Beyond)

Look, roasting a whole cauliflower is glorious. Chef Gourdet’s method creates caramelized edges and a tender core that’s worth every minute. This post is not about convincing you to cook whole cauliflower sous vide and never turn on your oven again. It’s about having another option, especially if you are working with:

A tiny kitchen (trust me–you don’t want your conventional oven on for over an hour in the summer heat.)
A toaster oven (hi! It’s me) or no oven at all
Or just want guaranteed doneness without babysitting

Sous vide offers unique advantages in small spaces when appliances are scarce:

Edge-to-edge tenderness: No raw cores or overcooked edges.
Space-free cooking: Your stovetop (and sanity) stays free.
Timing flexibility: Hold cauliflower at temp for 30 more minutes if needed.
Make-ahead magic: Sous vide pre-cooks it, so charring takes minutes.

Brain Fuel in Every Bite

In the same MasterClass, standing by Chef Grogery, Harvard-trained nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo revealed why this dish is genius beyond flavor. Here’s the science in your skillet:

Cauliflower’s Sulforaphane:
A potent antioxidant that fights brain inflammation and balances hormones.
Gut-Brain Connection:
Shallots, garlic, and scallions provide probiotic fiber that feeds your gut microbiome. Healthy gut = happier mind.
Spice Cabinet Medicine:
Ginger (anti-nausea), chilies (pain-relieving capsaicin), and nutmeg (calming) aren’t just flavor – they’re anti-inflammatory agents targeting gut-brain axis health.

Sous Vide Whole Cauliflower Temperature and Time

185°F (85°C) for an hour is the optimal temperature and time combination for sous vide cooking a whole head of cauliflower. In fact, it works for most vegetables, such as corn on the cob, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus etc.

Method Comparison: Gourdet’s Original vs. My Sous Vide Hack

I’ve included Chef Gourdet’s original recipe at the end of this article.

Element	Chef Gourdet’s Version	My Sous Vide Adaptation
Primary Cooking	Oven-roasted (55-60 mins)	Sous vide @ 185°F (85°C) for 1 hr
Core Prep	“X” cut into the base for even cooking	No scoring needed
Jerk Sauce	Brown sugar + Scotch bonnet	No sugar + bird’s eye chilies
Charring	Broiled 10-12 mins in skillet	Broiled 10-12 mins in skillet
Total Time	65-72 mins	70-72 mins

Why I tweaked the sauce:

Omitted brown sugar to let the coconut aminos’ umami shine (and keep it low-glycemic). However, note that the sugar will help with charring. If the black and carbonaceous residue is something you must have on your cauliflower, go ahead and add the sugar to the jerk sauce.
Swapped Scotch bonnet for accessible bird’s eye chilies (still packing heat!).

Now, here comes the full ingredient list.

Essential Ingredients

For the Cauliflower

A whole head of cauliflower in a skillet ready to be seasoned with olive oil and salt

A whole head of cauliflower, about 3 pounds
Olive oil
Salt

The oil will help the salt to cling to the cauliflower.

For the Jerk Sauce

Jerk sauce ingredients for the sous vide whole cauliflower

Equipment Checklist

A sous vide immersion circulator. I used an Anova Precision Cooker to cook the whole cauliflower.
A large pot or a sous vide container. I would recommend a proper cooking container if you sous vide often. The Anova sous vide machine paired with this Anova sous vide cooking container forms my default setup on my kitchen counter. It holds up to 16L of water with a removable lid and a rack, which can accommodate pretty much anything.
A vacuum sealer. When it comes to sous vide vegetables, I’d highly recommend using a vacuum sealer as it produces the best results, keeps the vegetables fresh for longer, and avoids freezer burn if you want to save it for later.
Vacuum-sealer rolls. For this recipe, I used vacuum-sealer rolls to custom-cut the bags according to the size of my cauliflower. If you wonder how to choose the right bags for sous vide, read Sous Vide Bags 101.
Colander: A decent-sized colander helps weigh down floating cauliflower as well as drain it after sous vide cooking.
A cast-iron or heavy-duty skillet. To finish the cauliflower, broil it in a cast-iron skillet.

We’ve got our bases all covered by now. Let’s cook!

Step-by-Step: Sous Vide Whole Jerk Cauliflower

Phase 1: Sous Vide (The Hands-Off Hero)

Prep Cauli: Rub a 3-lb head with olive oil + salt. No need to score the base – sous vide’s magic penetrates deep.
Bag It: Slide into a vacuum-sealer bag. Seal tightly.
Submerge & Weigh Down: Place in 185°F (85°C) water bath. Top with an inverted colander to stop floaters. Cook 1 hour.

Whole cauliflower weighed down in the sous vide bath by an inverted colander.

Phase 2: Jerk Sauce (5-Minute Blitz)

While cauliflower cooks:
Add all ingredients for the jerk sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.

Phase 3: Broiler Char (The Grand Finale)

Drain & Dry: Remove the cauliflower from the bag, drain, and pat dry (key for charring!).
Sauce Generously: Place in skillet. Brush jerk sauce everywhere – get under those florets!
Broil 10-12 mins: 10 inches from the heat until blackened spots appear. Rotate once for even blistering.

Finish up the sous vide whole cauliflower under the broiler

What to Serve with the Sous Vide Whole Cauliflower

Slice into thick wedges (like steak!). Drizzle reserved jerk sauce. Garnish with:

Chopped parsley + scallion greens
Lime zest for brightness
Toasted coconut flakes (optional crunch!)

Pair it with:

Easy beans and rice (absorbs extra sauce beautifully)
Black beans + mango salsa
Crispy toasted chickpeas (brain-healthy fiber boost!)

Chef Gregory Gourdet’s Jerk Cauliflower Recipe

Here’s the chef’s original recipe from MasterClass.

Ingredients

For the jerk sauce:

¼ cup avocado oil
¼ cup coconut aminos
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or ½ tbsp dried
½ tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp allspice berries
2 dried or fresh bay leaves
1 moderately spicy fresh red chile, such as Fresno, stemmed
1 scallion, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled
1 small shallot, roughly chopped
½ Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, stemmed
1-inch knob of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced against the grain
¼ whole nutmeg, grated, or ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp kosher salt
Zest and juice of 1 lime

For the cauliflower:

1 large head of cauliflower (about 3 pounds), leaves removed
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp kosher salt

Instructions

Roast the cauliflower

Set an oven rack 10 inches or so from the broiler. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Trim the base of the cauliflower so it can sit flat. Flip the cauliflower base-side up and cut a deep “X” into the base, stopping when you reach the stems or the florets. This helps the core and base cook at the same rate as the rest of the head.
Rub the cauliflower all over with the olive oil, then season the cauliflower all over with the salt. Set the cauliflower in a large, heavy ovenproof skillet (11- to 13-inch works best). Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast to soften the cauliflower (it’ll go from white to cream in color) for 30 to 35 minutes. Pour ½ cup of water directly into the skillet and keep roasting until the water has evaporated and the cauliflower has patches of light golden brown and is just tender enough to easily be pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Make the jerk sauce

While the cauliflower is roasting, combine the sauce ingredients, including the finely grated zest and the juice of the lime, in a blender and blend on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute.

Make the dish

When the cauliflower is tender, remove it from the oven and heat the broiler. Use a flexible spatula to rub the top and sides of the cauliflower (don’t neglect those lower sides!) with the blended mixture.
Broil the cauliflower—basting it after 5 minutes with the juices that have accumulated in the skillet and trying your best to get that flavorful liquid in all its nooks and crannies—until the top has spots of black char, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

You can find the sous vide version of the above recipe below, and if you like this recipe, I think you’ll also dig this Sous Vide Cauliflower Steaks with Gluten-Free Soy-Ginger Sauce.

Again, this isn’t about sous vide replacing ovens – it’s about adapting brilliance to your reality. Chef Gourdet’s recipe is stellar – but when spatial constraints hit, we find our workarounds. By marrying his jerk genius with sous vide precision and Dr. Naidoo’s brain-boosting wisdom, we get a dish that’s rebellious, nourishing, and unapologetically bold.