Baked Vegan General Tso Cauliflower

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

5 from 23 votes

By: Vegan Richa

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

Servings: 4

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Chinese

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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 better than anything from a Chinese restaurant or take-out joint! 

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Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the Cauliflower

• ▢ 1 Small head Cauliflower, chopped into small florets
• ▢ 1/2 cup 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 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 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 water
• ▢ 1 tbsp cornstarch

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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.

Video

Notes

• You can use low sodium soy sauce to reduce sodium..
• 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. 
• For Vegan general Tso Chicken soycurls see here 

Nutrition

Calories: 218kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 943mg, Potassium: 358mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 652IU, Vitamin C: 71mg, Calcium: 39mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this recipe? Rate and comment below!

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.