This Bang Bang Cauliflower is quick, healthy and easy. Made with Roasted Cauliflower, it’s spicy, a little sweet and totally delicious. This recipe is lighter than standard deep-fried and breaded Bang Bang Cauliflower recipes – it uses much less oil by oven roasting the cauliflower florets. The result is a lightly caramelized, nutty and roasted cauliflower flavor, which is cooked with cashews in a light but punchy Bang Bang sauce. Served over rice and topped with sesame seeds and green onions, this Bang Bang Cauliflower is a wholefood plant based dinner you’ll go back to time and time again.
Jump to:
What is Bang Bang Cauliflower?
Bang Bang Cauliflower is a plant-based version of Bang Bang Chicken, a popular Chinese dish. It’s typically fried and served as an appetizer, but this version is a lighter option that’s delicious as a main meal served over rice. It doesn’t require any batter or frying, but it still has that satisfying sweet and spicy taste.
Ingredients
The flavors of this Bang Bang Cauliflower recipe are a mix of sweet, savory and spicy. It doesn’t have a long ingredients list but has SO much flavor. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements of all ingredients. But for now, here’s a shopping list of everything you’ll need:
- Head of cauliflower
- Garlic
- Red chilli
- Raw cashews
- Maple syrup
- Soy sauce
- Rice wine vinegar
- Spring onion
- Sesame seeds
- White rice
Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements of all ingredients.
Instructions
Follow along with this step-by-step guide to make your Bang Bang Cauliflower. You’ll find all the exact times, temperatures, and measurements in the recipe card below:
Step one: Chop your cauliflower into bite-size florets, toss with oil, season, and roast until golden and crisp.
Step two: Sauté garlic and chilli, then add the sauce ingredients and simmer until slightly thickened.
Step three: Toss the roasted cauliflower and cashews into the sauce and stir to coat.
Step four: Serve it over rice and top with spring onion and sesame seeds.
Substitutions & Variations
- Maple syrup – if you don’t have maple syrup on hand, you can swap it for brown rice syrup, agave syrup, or even honey (if you’re not vegan).
- Rice wine vinegar – rice wine vinegar has a sweet flavor. If you need to swap it out, use regular white vinegar or apple cider vinegar muddled with 1/2 tbsp of sugar to add sweetness.
- Soy sauce – can be swapped with tamari for a similar savory flavor. For something less salty, you could use coconut aminos. Remember that coconut aminos are less savory than soy sauce, so this will affect the final flavor of the dish. Therefore, you may season with extra salt. If you’d like to make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce.
- Tofu – if you want to make this meal even more filling, pan fry some tofu cubes and add to the sauce along with the cauliflower. I’d suggest around 200g of extra firm tofu.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave with a tiny splash of water to stop the sauce from becoming too dry. You can also freeze this for up to 2 months in an airtight container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
FAQs
Yes, you can make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos.
I highly recommend keeping the cashews because they add a nice richness that balances out the sweet and acidic flavors of the sauce. If you can’t eat cashews, you could try replacing them with raw peanuts or macadamias in a pinch.
Video – Watch Me Make This Recipe
I hope you love this Bang Bang Cauli recipe, let me know what you think by leaving a star rating and review below. You can also tag me on Instagram to let me know what you thought – I’m @glowdiaries___ 🙂
Bang Bang Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 small head of cauliflower
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 long red chilli
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
To serve
- spring onion sliced
- sesame seeds
- cooked white rice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C, cut cauliflower into small bite-size florets, coat in oil, season with salt and pepper, place on a baking tray, cook in the oven for 18-20 mins until golden. *Tip – if you'd like to use the whole cauliflower, place the leafy stems into the oven at the last 8 minutes.
- Finely chop garlic, and fresh red chilli (de-seed to preference). Heat oil in a pan on a medium heat, sauté garlic and chilli for 2-3 minutes, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, water and combine, leave sauce on a low heat for 2-4 minutes until it thickens slightly, then turn off and set aside.
- Once cauliflower is cooked mix into the sauce, along with cashew nuts, cover completely.
- Serve the cauliflower over a bed of rice, sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with spring onion.
Amelia says
Love this! Easy and delicious. I subbed tamari for the soy sauce to make it gluten free.
Will make it again!
Susan Gustafson says
I made this for dinner. My husband asked, can we have this tomorrow too? So good!!
Liz says
Haha I love it when male partners like veggie food!! Always a great compliment. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review Susan 🙂
Sarah says
So much flavour, my family loved it!!
Karina Banno says
Really simple to make. A light weight mid week dinner.
Stephanie Swartz says
Delicious! This has become a regular rotation in our house!
Gareth Tan Yiam Leem says
Enjoyed this heaps 🙂
Sarah says
Been trying your recipes all week and I’m hooked! This one tops the list.
Sarah says
Adore the simplicity of your recipes.
Hong Nguyen says
Love this. Cauliflower is my favorite, so good to have a go-to vegan version!