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Crispy Kung Pao Cauliflower. Cauliflower battered and baked and tossed in spicy kung pao sauce. Super hot Appetizer for gameday. Vegan Recipe. Can be gluten-free with gluten-free breadcrumbs. Double the kung pao sauce for larger cauliflower or to serve over rice.
Sundays are shaping up for only one thing these days, Gameday! And all that excitement and 4 hours of tv calls for delicious finger food.
These crispy kung pao cauliflower bites are just that, crispy, spicy, juicy, hot, and super fun. Bake the cauliflower, make the kung pao sauce. Arrange the cauliflower in one layer in a serving plate/bowl. Drizzle the sauce just before serving.
The dish can also be served with rice or other cooked grains. The recipe is for snack kung pao cauliflower bites. Double the sauce to serve over rice, or if you have a good large cauliflower head. The sauce can get hot depending on the chilies you use. Taste before drizzling over the cauliflower. If too hot, make another batch of the sauce without the chilies and mix. For a quick recipe, toss cauliflower in salt, cayenne and oil and bake until done, or cook in a pan with a splash of water until tender, then toss in the sauce. Serve with a jar of cold water. 🙂
Whats your favorite spicy gameday food?
More Asian recipes from the blog
- Massaman Curry Veggies GF
- Sweet and Sour chickpeas, broccoli and peppers. GF
- Celery Black Pepper tofu GF
- Kung Pao Lentils GF
- Lentils & Veggies in Thai Peanut Sauce GF
- Chickpeas in Firecracker sauce with crunchy salad. GF
- Crispy Orange Cauliflower. GF
Spicy Crispy Kung Pao Cauliflower Recipe
Ingredients
For the Baked Crispy Cauliflower
- 5 tbsp corn starch , or other starch
- 6 tbsp bread crumbs, use gluten-free crumbs to make gf
- 5 tbsp or more water
- 1/2 tsp cayenne, use a 1/3 tsp for less heat
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp roasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
For the Kung Pao sauce:
- 1 tsp oil
- 8 to 10 dried red chilies, chinese red chilies, or arbol or cayenne, or use california red for less heat
- 1/2 tsp coarsely crushed sichuan peppercorns, or use a mix of coarsely crushed black pepper and red pepper flakes
- 2 to 3 tbsp chopped cashews or peanuts
- 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 2 tbsp scallions, chopped
Sauce mix
- 2.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce/tamari, use certified gluten-free sauce to make gf
- 1.5 to 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp chinese rice wine, optional
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water, use 1/2 cup for more sauce
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Chop up the cauliflower and keep aside. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220ºc. Mix the cornstarch breadcrumbs, and the rest of the ingredients to make a batter. Let the batter sit for 10 seconds to thicken if it isn't thick. The cornstarch continues to thicken the batter, so as soon as it is a good not too watery consistency, start dipping the cauliflower in the batter, tap to drop excess and place on parchment lined baking sheet. If the batter thickens too much while working, add a tsp or more water and mix in and continue.
- Bake for 30 minutes or longer until the florets are cooked through. Check with a toothpick/knife
- Meanwhile make the sauce. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the red chilies and peppercorns and cook until the red chilies are fragrant, but not overly brown, or someone starts sneezing. (For more heat, break some of the chilies into half and add to the skillet.)
- Add the nuts and mix for a few seconds. Add the ginger, garlic, reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook until the garlic is golden. 4 to 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add in the scallions, and 2 to 3 tbsp finely chopped green peppers or other veggies if using and mix in. Increase heat to medium. Cook for a minute.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and add to the skillet. Continue to cook until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens slightly. 2 mins. Carefully taste and adjust salt, sweet and spice. If the sauce is not hot enough, break a few of the chilies open or add in red pepper flakes to taste and mix in.
- Arrange the baked cauliflower in a shallow bowl in one layer. When ready to serve, Drizzle the sauce over each floret. Serve.
- To store, store the baked cauliflower and sauce separately. Heat the sauce, pour over the florets. To serve with rice/cooked grains, double the sauce mix and bring to a boil to thicken, toss in the cauliflower and serve immediately over rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Everything was fine except the batter, I follow the recipe but turned weird. Not covering at all the cauliflower. If I read again, it seems that the quantities are off.
The batter seizes up beucause of the starch, stir really well, add a tsp water if needed. The cornstarch with seize and settle at the bottom. Mix well and toss the cauliflower to coat. It’s a light coating
I forgot to say I used a different recipe for the cauliflower. It’s the batter by Klunkers Onion Rings and it uses corn meal and masa with spices and dips into Panko crumbs. Yumm.
glad you enjoyed! 🙂
My husband thought it was better than any restaurant! I just wish there was more sauce. Should I just double or triple it?
Wow! Thank you so much for the high praise! I would start with double. You can always add more sauce but can’t take away 😉
So, I was making this recipe for myself tonight. My carnivore husband who adores Kung Pao chicken said, “wow, that smells really great; maybe I’ll try it.” He loved it! Twice he used the word “superb.” I am still in shock!
Aweseome!
Question: would this work with store-bought frozen cauli? TYIA
yes you can, and someone commented about that also you could read
I too had issues with the batter. The cauliflower was larger, so I increased the batter ingredients, but it just was not right. I used arrow root instead of corn starch. I don’t think the measurements seem enough for a head of cauliflower. It was not crispy, but still tasted great.
I’m excited to try this. I semi regularly made Kung Pao Chicken back in the day. Could this work w frozen Cauliflower? Just asking cause I could make it right now without going to the store, if only frozen could work. 🤔
sure! just give them a little pat dry to remove excess moisture so that the batter adheres
This was so amazing. I’ll be using this cauliflower with other sauces in the future. Way to go! The batter was very thick after 10 mins so I just added 1/2 cup of water and I only had red pepper flakes (no chiles or peppercorns) and no scallions but it was still Vvery good!
thank you! i’m glad you liked it
Hi! I made this, and it is to die for – thank you, Richa 💛 Question: would it still be good if I omitted the oil from the batter, or used just the small amount of sesame oil? How about the sauce? Do you think it would be fine without the oil?
Hooray!! Sure – just omit the oil from the batter + breading. Dry toast the nuts and the chilies and set aside. Then saute the garlic and rest in broth and add the chilies and cashews a bit later when adding the mixed sauce.
Thank you, Richa!
This was so easy to make and really delicious. I will definitely be making it again.