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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.
Recipe looks so good! I was wondering if it could possibly be prepared oil free?
yes 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.
SO DANG TASTY!! This was seriously amazing!
awesome!
Fabulous recipe!! The sauce was perfect and same for the crispiness and flavors of cauliflower where I had batter. I had trouble making the breading adhere to the cauliflower uniformly. I used whole wheat Panko and I added extra water but it wasn’t runny. Any suggestions? I’d definitely prepare again but I’d like more uniform breading on the cauliflower. Thanks for all of your fabulous recipes. I have your cookbooks and I refer to those frequently!
I have a peanut and tree nut allergy. Will the recipe be just as good without the nuts? Will any seed substitutions work?
yes, try some sunflower seeds for the nutty flavor
What a tasty recipe! I’m not usually a cauliflower person, but this is phenomenal! I made double batter and sauce, thinned the batter a tiny bit, and only dipped the floret heads in the batter. I had the perfect amount of batter for this method. This recipe is going in my regular cycle for sure. Thanks!
I made this tonight and it was so good! I love the sauce. (Because I can’t handle very much heat, I skipped the chilies altogether and halved the chili flakes). I think I would probably halve the cayenne in the batter next time too. But I’m pretty wimpy. 🙂
I had similar issue with the batter as some commentors above- it didn’t seem very thick but it didn’t really stick to the cauliflower and i ended up having to make a second batch. I was thinking next time I’ll try doing the dry bowl and wet bowl to make it more like a nugget coating and coat dry, wet and back to dry again. I’m thinking I might need to double the batter.
The sauce was delish- I definitely want to to double that next time so I can really drizzle it on.
This was so good. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. (I love that it was baked cauliflower too),
This cauliflower recipe is AMAZING!!!! Sooooo delish! So many yummy flavors…I’ll be making this again and again!
Hi!
This recipe is absolutely delicious!
I made it with arrowroot starch instead of corn. I did add a 1/2 cup of water and reduced the amount of starch to get the same consistency as in the video.
Such a clever recipe to batter the cauliflower. After baking it, it comes out perfectly! My husband and mother love this recipe!!
I made this using chunky peanut butter in the place of the peanuts. Sooo delicious!
This might be my husband’s favorite recipe. Dipping the florets was a pain, though. Instead, I make the batter in a large bowl and just dump the raw cauliflower in it and stir it until each piece is coated. Works great and is so much faster and easier!
Awesome!