This post contains affiliate links. Please see ourĀ disclosure policy.
This Sticky Sesame Cauliflower is a crowd pleaser! Cauliflower is battered and baked , then coated in sticky spicy sesame sauce and baked again. Serve as is or with rice or in lettuce cups. Vegan Gluten-free Nut-free Refined sugar free RecipeĀ Jump to Recipe
When you need some sticky sweet tangy delicious sauced something, cauliflower fits right in. Cauliflower florets are tossed in a rice flour and starch batter and baked to crisp. The sticky sesame sauce uses sesame oil, garlic, ginger, soy/tamari, vinegar, maple syrup and some sriracha for heat for a addictive flavor profile. Brush this sticky sauce on the baked cauliflower and serve, or bake again for more sticky crispy cauliflower!
Serve it over rice, by itself or in lettuce wraps! I use sesame oil in the batter and the sauce for extra sesame flavor profile. For additional protein, add in some firm tofu, seitan or soycurls with the cauliflower. Lets make this!
Ingredients for Sticky Sesame Cauliflower and substitution options
- The Sticky Sesame Sauce has sesame oil, garlic, ginger, tamari/soy sauce, maple syrup for sweet, rice vinegar, Sriracha, and starch to thicken.
- You can use coconut aminos to make this soy-free
- Maple syrup can be subbed with sugar or other sweetener
- Omit the Sriracha for lower heat.
- The batter for the crispy cauliflower has ā
- rice flour, that makes the batter crisp and non doughy on baking. You can use a mix of half all purpose flour and half starch as a substitute.
- corn or tapioca starch to add lighter and crisp texture
- sesame oil for more sesame profile
- black pepper, salt and garlic for flavor
- garnished of lightly toasted white sesame and black sesame seeds and scallions.
How to make Sticky Sesame Cauliflower
Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet or dish and bake for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, assemble the sauce ingredients. Saute the ginger and garlic in sesame oil for a minute, then add the soy sauce, vinegar, sriracha and maple syrup and bring to a boil.
Add cornstarch slurry and cook to thicken.
Brush the sticky thick sauce on the cauliflower florets or add the florets to the sauce and mix gently. Then bake again.
Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions and serve over rice.
Tips to make Crispy Sticky Sesame Cauliflower
- For a nicely crispy result, bake the cauliflower on a baking sheet.
- Bake the sauce coated cauliflower for longer.
- Use smaller size cauliflower florets
If you plan to serve the sauced cauliflower without baking, you can add another tsp starch for extra thick sauce that will glaze the cauliflower.
More Cauliflower Recipes
- Taco Spice roasted Cauliflower
- Spicy Pepper Cauliflower Bites
- Mango Sriracha Cauliflower
- Aloo Gobi ā Baked
- Nashville Cauliflower Bites
- Kung Pao Cauliflower
Sticky Sesame Cauliflower Recipe (Gluten free Vegan)
IngredientsĀ Ā
Sesame Soy Sauce:
- 2Ā tsp. sesame oil
- 2Ā tspĀ fresh grated ginger
- 2Ā cloves of garlic, , minced
- 1/4 cupĀ gluten-free tamari , or soy sauce
- 1/3Ā cupĀ maple syrup
- 1.5 tbspĀ rice vinegar
- 1Ā tspĀ sriracha
- 2 tspĀ cornstarch or 1.5 tsp tapioca starch
- 1/4Ā cupĀ cold water
Cauliflower:
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 3 tbsp tapioca or corn starch.
- 1/2Ā teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4Ā teaspoonĀ salt
- dash of black pepper and cayenne
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1Ā small head of cauliflower, , chopped into equal size florets
- Garnish: sesame seeds and scallions
InstructionsĀ
- Sticky Sesame Sauce: Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Cook the garlic ginger for a minute. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple and bring to boil. Mix cornstarch in the water and add this cornstarch slurry and bring to a boil to thicken, Take off heat.
- Cauliflower: Preheat the oven to 425 deg F ( 220 C). Line a baking sheet or dish with parchment. In a large bowl add the dry ingredients for the batter and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients and min until smooth.
- Add the cauliflower and mix to coat. This batter keeps thickening as it sits, so mix and toss quickly.
- Transfer to the the lined baking sheet. and bake for 30 mins. Make the sticky sauce in the meanwhile if you havent yet.
- Once baked, you can do one of the following: 1. Brush the sauce over the cauliflower florets and bake for additional 10 to 15 mins (time depends on how crisp and sticky you want the sauce)2. Wait for a few mins then transfer the florets to the sauce. Mix gently to coat. Serve immediately or transfer to the baking sheet to bake for 10 to 15 mins.
- Sprinkle black and white sesame seeds and chopped scallions and serve as is, or over rice or in lettuce wraps!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look amazing!!
Do you think I can swap out tapioca starch for corn flour?? š¬
Yes
Wonderful! I subbed all purpose flour for rice flour and it was still nice and crunchy. The sauce was delicious and think and yummy. Great recipe! Thanks!
Unfortunately I tried this last night, and had a bit of a fail. The flavor was DELICIOUS, but the cauliflower was extremely soggy. The first hiccup I had was that the batter to coat the cauliflower did largely end up pooling under the cauliflower during baking. (Is there a way to make it stick better to the cauliflower?) After the first bake, I had to pick up each floret by hand and tear the excess, rubbery pools of cornstarch blend away. The cauliflower was downright soggy, and I had used slightly smaller florets than you show in your pictures. After glazing and baking for the additional 10 min, they were still so soggy that I attempted to bake them for another 10 min, which resulted in many pieces catching and having blackened tips.
Iām determined to keep trying until I get this right and hoping you can help guide me. In the substitutions area, you mention substituting rice flour for half all-purpose flour and half starch. I used 1/4c flour and 1/4c cornstarch. Then still put the 3 additional tbsp cornstarch in as well. Did I misinterpret your substitution advice and overdo the cornstarch? I donāt know what else I could have done wrong. Please help!
oh no! the batter works really welel with rice flour for thick batter that bakes crispy. With all purpose flour, you might need to add enough tomake a batter that doesnt flow off. flour can sometimes be too fluffed up so measuring might actually give you less flour. in any case, add more flour until the batter is thick and that should help. once baked, you can keep the baked florets and sauce separate until ready to serve for less soggy result
This was so good. I subbed cassava for rice flour since what I had and was still really yummy. Definitely making this again.
Very nice crispy texture to the cauliflower; the sauce was so tasty and easy to make. We ate much of the baked cauliflower before I could coat it with the sauce, so I added the remaining sauce to firm tofu. All amazing! Thank you!
awesome
So tasty! My non vegan mom loved it.
yay
Both the floury batter and the sticky glaze melted off onto the tray for me. I used the exact ingredient quantities. How thick do they need to be?
hmm maybe something happened in the measuring or mixing? add a bit more flour to the batter. And a bit more starch to the glaze for thickening, or alternatively, bake the battered cauliflower longer until crisp andjust toss in the glaze pan to serve
OK thanks. It could have been I just didnāt know how long to let it thicken or how thick it was supposed to be but it was very tasty so Iāll definitely try it again š
This was INCREDIBLE! I am a Chinese food junkie and this was the perfect replacement for some of my faves! Because the recipe came from YOU, I already knew it was going to be amazing, so I doubled it. The only thing I did differently was to throw some of the golden cauli nuggets into the air fryer after the 30 minute bake time to really crisp them up before adding the delectable sauce- WOWSA! Thank you so much for what you do. You have no idea how impactful you have been to my plant-based transition and journey!
awesome!
WOW! This is absolutely delicious. Iām eating as I type ā we canāt stop saying how good this is. Thank you so much for this recipe! This is the second recipe of yours that I made this week ā the first was the PB&J baked oatmeal and that was SO good, too!
Thanks!
Oh myyyyy goodness this is delicious!!!!
Thank you Richa x