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Get ready to eat the best-ever cauliflower! This Bang Bang Cauliflower is
What is Bang Bang Cauliflower?
Cauliflower is one of the most versatile veggies. It can be transformed into Cauliflower Fried Rice, used in smoothies like these Veggie Smoothies For Beginners, to turned into crispy delicious little bites!
Seriously, who knew cauliflower could be such a chameleon. I mean, once it’s prepped and tossed up in the sweet and spicy chilli sauce it’s hard to believe that it’s even cauliflower hidden under there!
Why I love this recipe
- Cauliflower has a great dense and meaty texture, so it’s really satiating as far as veggies go.
- It also contains tons of vitamins, fibre and antioxidants.=
- This bang bang cauliflower can be served up as a main dish over
rice or served up as an Asian style appetizer. You could even serve these as a veggie option at a holiday party. Just leave some toothpicks by the bowl and let your guests pick away!
How to make this recipe
Start by prepping the batter. The batter is SUPER easy to make too. 1 part flour to 1 part milk. (I use gluten-free flour and almond milk.) There’s no eggs needed for the batter so this recipe is also vegan-friendly! Toss the cauliflower into a bowl with the batter.
Next Dip each piece of cauliflower into a bowl filled with Panko. Make sure to evenly coat each piece of cauliflower, then place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crispy.
While the cauliflower bakes, prepare the bang bang sauce. Once the Cauliflower comes out of the oven, Toss it in sauce and serve immediately (if you let it sit too long, it will lose its crispiness!)
Recipe variations & substitions
Make it gluten-free:
Use gluten-free flour for the batter and gluten-free breadcrumbs. You can also skip out on the breadcrumbs all together and just use the batter. They still turn out delicious this way
Make it grain-free
Use almond flour in the batter and skip out on the breadcrumbs.
Make it batter-free
Leave out the batter and breadcrumbs entirely. Toss the cauliflower in 1 tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast it in the oven.
Does it keep?
Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t keep that well and is BEST enjoyed fresh. While you can of course keep any leftovers to enjoy the next day, the cauliflower bites won’t remain crispy.
Tips for making this recipe perfectly
- The batter should be thick enough to coat the cauliflower and stick to it, but not too chunky. If your batter is too thin, add another spoon of flour to it. If your batter is too thick, add a touch more almond milk to it.
- When coating the cauliflower in Panko, do it one piece at a time. You want to make sure every single piece is evenly coated. If you add many pieces of cauliflower to the bowl of panko at once, they won’t turn out as well.
- You want to make sure your oven is nice and hot before baking the cauliflower bites. 425 degrees F is perfect for my oven. Depending on your oven, you may need to adjust the baking time slightly. For me, baking them for 15 minutes on one side, then flipping them and baking them for 10 minutes on the other side works perfectly.
- Only coat in the sauce right before serving. Otherwise, they won’t be crispy.
- You can also serve this Bang Bang Cauliflower as an appetizer with the bang bang sauce as a dipping sauce on the side.
More Great Recipes to try
Bang Bang Cauliflower
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Category: Main
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Cauliflower gets battered, baked and then topped off with a sweet and spicy chili sauce!
Ingredients
Cauliflower
- 1 cup flour (can sub gluten-free flour)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 cups panko
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 3 cups)
Bang bang sauce
- 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mix the flour, almond milk, salt and pepper together in a bowl until smooth.
- Toss the cauliflower florets into the batter, then dip each piece of cauliflower into a bowl of Panko breadcrumbs, making sure each piece is evenly coated.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Toss the cauliflower and sauce together.
- Serve immediately. You can optionally top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds
Notes
The batter should be thick enough to coat the cauliflower and stick to it, but not too chunky. If your batter is too thin, add another spoon of flour to it. If your batter is too thick, add a touch more almond milk to it.
When coating the cauliflower in Panko, do it one piece at a time. You want to make sure every single piece is evenly coated. If you add many pieces of cauliflower to the bowl of panko at once, they won’t turn out as well.
You want to make sure your oven is nice and hot before baking the cauliflower bites. 425 degrees F is perfect for my oven. Depending on your oven, you may need to adjust the baking time slightly. For me, baking them for 15 minutes on one side, then flipping them and baking them for 10 minutes on the other side works perfectly.
Only coat in the sauce right before serving. Otherwise, they won’t be crispy.
You can also serve this Bang Bang Cauliflower as an appetizer with the bang bang sauce as a dipping sauce on the side.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 recipe
- Calories: 154
- Sugar: 8g
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
If you tried this Bang Bang Cauliflower or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
Can this be done with frozen cauliflower?
Hi Lindsey, I haven’t tried it with frozen cauliflower so I can’t say if the texture will come out the same once the cauliflower is defrosted
Can I use this recipe and method but in the air fryer instead of oven???
Hi Neepa, I’ve never used an air fryer before so I couldn’t say!
I have to watch my sodium too. I found Chinatown Soy Sauce (Dark), 145mg per 1 tbsp. It is very good.
Any idea how much sodium?. Important to my husband’s health so I need to be careful. Looks and sounds delicious.
Hi there! there is approximately 4150mg of sodium per serving. You can omit the salt from the cauliflower batter and go for a low-sodium soy sauce if you’d like to control the sodium in the recipe!
Favourite way to eat cauliflower!!
Thank you! Glad to hear you liked the recipe!
This looks great! But word of warning: traditional soy sauce is NOT gluten free! This recipe would not work for a gf diet unless substituting a gf soy sauce like tamari, Bragg’s liquid aminos, or coconut aminos.
Hi Jenn, that is correct if you are strictly gluten-free you want to make sure to get a gluten-free soy sauce.
Great idea for an appetizer at a potluck.
Thank you Arielle! 🙂
This was SUCH a great dish to make for dinner – it’s fast, uses relatively cheap ingredients, and is SUPER delicious! Highly recommend trying it out 🙂
Thank you Julia! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Can I substitute almond or coconut flour?
Hi Zoila, I haven’t tested this recipe with almond or coconut flour so I can’t say if the batter would come out with the same consistency. If you are looking for a gluten-free option I think a gluten-free blend would work best! Otherwise any whole wheat flour works well too (I’ve made this with whole grain spelt flour..works great!)
I make a similar recipe and use cassava flour with a touch of arrowroot.
That’s a great alternative!
Looks like such a great recipe! Do you know if this will get Trump out of the White House? My girlfriend is allergic to bigotry so we’ve spent 3 years on Benadryl.
Really good! Thanks for the yummy unique recipe. I didn’t have parchment paper so substituted wax paper and the batter stuck to it. I just pulled them off the best I could and turned them over directly onto the pan and cooked for another 12 minutes and they still turned out great. The cilantro and sesame seeds are a nice finishing touch and give it a flavor boost. Will definitely be making this again without the wax paper!!
Thank you Robin! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂