You will love this Baked Vegan General Tso Cauliflower – it is so quick and easy to prepare even on a weeknight and the flavor is just like from a Chinese restaurant or take-out joint!
Enjoy flavorful restaurant-style General Tso cauliflower at home for an easy weeknight dinner! These cauliflower florets are battered and baked, not fried. The crispy cauliflower is then coated in a deliciously sweet and sticky sauce that comes together is a cinch. You definitely won’t miss your take-out joint’s grub with this baked vegan General Tso Cauliflower recipe.
The flavors in the sauce are spot on, with the perfect balance of sweet and salty but not so much that you feel like you need to drink a gallon of water afterward. This Chinese-inspired dinner was so delicious served on a bed of rice.
Let’s talk about the General Tso sauce for a second! Other than just a mix of ketchup, soy sauce and vinegar, which many restaurants use, we start this sauce from scratch – adding fresh bell peppers, garlic and ginger to really get a deep round taste. You will want to bottle this sauce and put it on everything. Trust me!
MORE VEGAN CHINESE RECIPES FROM THE BLOG:
- Sticky sesame Cauliflower
- 1 pot Lo Mein with everyday ingredients
- Sweet and Sour Chickpeas, Broccoli and Peppers.
- Sticky Sesame Ginger Tofu & Veggies- no refined sugar
- Check out this Chinese recipe round-up
Baked Vegan General Tso Cauliflower
Ingredients
For the Cauliflower
- 1 Small head Cauliflower chopped into small florets
- 1/2 cup (80 g) rice flour
- 3 tbsp tapioca starch or use cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
For the General Tso Sauce
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 cup Chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup Chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) soy sauce
- 3-4 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp or more sambal oelek or other Asian chili sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Chop your cauliflower florets into equal sizes, and set them aside.
- In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients for the batter, until well combined, then mix in the cauliflower florets into the bowl, and toss well to coat. The batter is going to be a thick batter. It will continue to thicken as it sits. So if it's thinner when you mix it, let it sit for a few minutes before adding the florets. You can also add in 1-2 tsp more rice flour as needed to thicken it. Toss the florets until all the batter coats them evenly. There is just enough batter to coat all of the florets.
- Transfer the coated florets to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake at 400 degrees F (205 c)for 30-35 minutes.
For the sauce
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the bell peppers, and cook until they're starting to get golden on some edges.
- Add in the garlic and ginger, and mix in for a few seconds, then add in the soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, sambal oelek, and salt, and mix in.
- Cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, mix your cornstarch into the water until well combined, then add the cornstarch slurry to the skillet, and mix well. Bring this whole mixture to a good boil. Then simmer for another 2 minutes for it to thicken evenly. Let it continue to simmer for another minute if it hasn't thickened enough.
- Switch off heat, then add in your baked cauliflower florets, and toss gently to coat.
- Top the cauliflower florets with sesame seeds, and green onion, and serve as is, or over rice.
Notes
- You can use low sodium soy sauce to reduce sodium.
- You can use onion powder instead of garlic powder for the batter.
- Coconut sugar can be used instead of brown sugar.
- For even cooking, turn the baking sheet once after 20 minutes to allow for even browning on your cauliflower.
Nutrition
Ingredients for Baked Vegan General Tso Cauliflower
- Bell pepper, garlic, and ginger form the base of the sweet and sticky general to the sauce
- soy sauce, as well as salt, makes this nice and salty
- the sweet spiciness we love about this dish comes from a combination of sugar, mirin, and sambal oelek
- some rice vinegar for acidity to balance out the flavor profile
- sesame is a must-add ingredient and I not only like sprinkling the finished dish with sesame seeds but also add some sesame oil to the sauce
- Cornstarch thickens the glaze to glossy-shiny perfection
- Cauliflower – cut into equal-sized florets
- We use a combination of rice flour and tapioca starch in the batter – it bakes up crispy and keeps the cauliflower moist.
- Garlic powder salt and soy sauce are the seasonings needed for the breading
Tips & Substitutions
- You can use low sodium soy sauce to reduce sodium.
- You can use onion powder instead of garlic powder for the batter.
- Coconut sugar can be used instead of brown sugar.
- For even cooking, turn the baking sheet once after 20 minutes to allow for even browning on your cauliflower.
How to make Vegan Baked General Tso Cauliflower
Chop your cauliflower florets into equal sizes, and set them aside.
In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients for the batter, until well combined, then mix in the cauliflower florets into the bowl, and toss well to coat. The batter is going to be a thick batter. It will continue to thicken as it sits. So if it’s thinner when you mix it, let it sit for a few minutes before adding the florets. You can also add in 12 tsp more rice flour as needed to thicken it.
Toss the florets until all the batter coats them evenly. There is just enough batter to coat all of the florets.
Transfer the coated florets to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake at 400 degrees F for 30-35 minutes.
For the sauce, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the bell peppers, and cook until they’re starting to get golden on some edges.
Add in the garlic and ginger, and mix in for a few seconds, then add in the soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, sambal oelek, and salt, and mix in.
Cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, mix your cornstarch into the water until well combined, then add the cornstarch slurry to the skillet, and mix well. Bring this whole mixture to a good boil. Then simmer for another 2 minutes for it to thicken evenly. Let it continue to simmer for another minute if it hasn’t thickened enough.
Switch off heat, then add in your baked cauliflower florets, and toss gently to coat.
Top the cauliflower florets with sesame seeds, and green onion, and serve as is, or over rice.
Eat this right away as the cauliflower gets softer over time. I love this served over rice but it would also be great with quinoa, noodles or cauliflower rice.
Hey Richa,
I made this for dinner last week for a few non vegans and it was a HUGE HIT! It was soooooo good! Pretty easy to make too! I plan to make it again this weekend for another “non-vegan” friend, who I know will also love it. Thanks for coming up with these easy and satisfying recipes.
I would love to make this, but cannot eat bell peppers. Can I just leave out or do you have any suggestions for substitutions. Thanks for all of your fabulous recipes.
Leave them out, you can add in some thinly sliced cabbage for bulking up the sauce
This was really delicious and so easy! This is definitely going into our weeknight rotation.
Rather than making the cornstarch slurry, I just used the ½ cup water to swish in the small amount of batter that was remaining after tossing the cauliflower. It worked like a charm.
good to know!
Love this recipe. It satisfies the sticky, gooey general tao chicken feeling without the chicken! Also much less fat. Yummy! I’ve made it, I’ve shared it! Definitely a keeper! Thank you!
exactly, thanks for popping in
Delicious! Made it exactly like written except used regular all purpose flour. Easy and very flavourful. Thank you! Served on jasmine brown rice with broccoli .
good to know – thank you
This is really excellent. I loved the spiciness of it. The only mistake I made was using frozen cauliflower instead of fresh. The cauliflower was soft, where I think it was supposed to have more of an al dente quality. Even soft, though, it was delicious. I think this is a good recipe especially for people who say they don’t like cauliflower.
Frozen cauliflower tends to either over cook or just bake softer in general .
I made this last night and finished it for lunch today. This is an amazing recipe! New favorite! I used oil per the recipe but I will try without next time because I try to limit oils. Also, I cannot eat gluten so was so happy to find it used rice flour!
Hi, Richa!
Is there another flour I can use in place of rice flour? Thank you! By the way, your site is by far my favorite for recipes, the flavors are always on point. 😊
You can use all purpose (doesn’t get as crispy as rice ) or a mix of all purpose and 2 tbsp semolina flour.
Made this today for dinner. My son and I both really liked it a lot! Will definitely make again.
❤️❤️ nice to enjoy together
To make the sauce thicken, I used peanut butter instead of corn starch.
sounds yummy
This was excellent! We made it as a last-minute dinner (we are just easing out of lockdown & our friends’ visit in the garden lasted a deliciously long time!). It was easy & full of flavour! The sauce would go well with anything. Definitely a keeper!
Awesome!
Hi there, I made this using less sugar and more spice. The battered cauliflower came out very nice and the sauce was good with the fresh peppers and garlic. I served it with quinoa and cilantro, and more sriracha of course. Thank you!
Excellent
This was great, my family loved it. My husband said it was what he’d be expect to be served at a good Chinese restaurant. Delicious!!!
thank you for the compliment
Family already asking me to make it again. Awesome.
Another delicious dinner! Thanks so much Richa! Only change I made was did 2 T of sugar (rather than 3-4) as none of have much of a sweet tooth. Also, I would double the whole thing for 4 people, but I do have two teenage boys in the mix.
Would all purpose flour work ok for this? Looks delicious!
no – the batter needs the starch
I made this tonight! Wow! My family was thrilled to have this new recipe in the line up. Perfect flavor , spice, heat the cauliflower was so good. Thank you.
Awesome!! Do leave a rating too!
Cauliflower and baked, love it! General Tso Cauliflower sounds awesome and the photos are beautiful. I can’t wait to try it. Bookmarked!
Thank you 🙏
We don’t eat oil. WILL the batter be ok if I omit it or is there a substitute? Thank you.
I don’t use oils either. I would say some nice, runny tahini, cashew or almond butter would be good subs.
Good idea.
Thank you!
Yes leave it out
Hi Rika,
Could I use frozen cauliflowers for this dish?
If so, what steps do I have to adjust?
Please advise.
Thank you,
Sa
thanks for your question – you sure could – just pat dry with a kitchen towel to remove any moisture