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Sharing my healthier twist on a classic Chinese dish with this Better Than Takeout Kung Pao Cauliflower. Oven-roasted cauliflower tossed in a sweet, spicy, and sticky kung pao sauce. I’ve swapped the chicken for nutrient-packed cauliflower, and replaced the deep frying with oven roasting. This kung pao cauliflower is the perfect healthy, but still delicious, alternative to the traditional heavier sugary version. It has a quick 30 minute cooking time and uses pantry staple ingredients. Making this recipe perfect for any night of the week.
This feels like a very appropriate Monday recipe. Vegetarian? Check. Gluten-free? Check. Healthy? Check. Vegetable filled? Check. Delicious? Absolutely.
Aside from possibly a salad, this is the ideal Monday night dinner. It’s beyond good, super easy, and pretty dang healthy too. Yet, it tastes more like guilty pleasure take-out style food. So it’s also crave-worthy.
Promise it’s not too good to be true. It’s all in the uniqueness of a head of cauliflower. And yes, I know cauliflower is being used a lot right now, but I’ve shared several cauliflower recipes over the past six years. Including these popular sriracha buffalo cauliflower bites and this Indian coconut butter cauliflower.
And like the rest of the world, I’ve been obsessed with cauliflower ever since I realized how many different foods it can be substituted into. I’m not sure why I haven’t shared this recipe sooner. It’s one that has been on my list for a few months now. Think of your very favorite takeout style Kung Pao chicken. Swap the deep-fried chicken for lightly breaded and roasted cauliflower. Swap the sugar-filled sauce with a less sweet and much healthier version. Put the two together and you have the BEST vegetarian Kung Pao recipe that doesn’t even taste “healthy”.
It’s SO GOOD.
I don’t have a whole lot to ramble on about…except this recipe…so let’s jump right in!
As you might guess from all the above, this is a really simple recipe, with only two parts…
Step one is all about preparing the cauliflower. To keep this recipe light and healthy, I skipped the breading and deep frying and instead tossed the cauliflower in a light “batter”. Then I threw it under the broiler to give it a quick char. I find this method to work SO well, and I actually prefer it to deep frying. Which yes, I did try and ended up not liking very much. Cooking the cauliflower in the oven allows for it to hold its shape and retain flavor. With frying all I tasted wad the oily breading…roasting is tastier, easier, and healthier too.
Into it!
While the cauliflower is cooking, start step two, the Kung Pao sauce. Not going to lie, this is what this recipe is all about. Yes, the cauliflower is good, but it’s really just a vessel for the sauce to “stick” to.
And trust me, this sauce is so very good.
It’s a mix up of salty soy sauce, sweet and tangy hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and green onions. The hoisin sauce is the key, it lends a sweet and tangy flavor that sets the sauce apart from others. It’s addictingly good and a condiment I always like to have on hand for easy Chinese inspired recipes at home. It’s not the healthiest sauce to buy store-bought though. So when I have time I really like to make homemade hoisin sauce via this recipe on Bon Appétit. It allows me to control the ingredients going into the sauce and make it tangier and/or spicier too!
When I don’t have time to make my own hoisin, this one is my favorite from the store. A little goes a long way!
Aside from the hoisin, this sauce is hinted with garlic, ginger, and green onions, making it incredibly flavorful.
The sauce comes together in about 5 minutes on the stove-top. Then slide in the cauliflower, toss to combine, add salty roasted peanuts, and DONE. Yes, it’s that easy and quick. In fact, it’s so quick that you can probably make the entire dish and have it ready before your rice is finished cooking. Hint, start the rice before you get to work on the cauliflower.
The sauce coats the cauliflower and it’s beyond perfection. Sweet, sticky, salty, tangy, and a touch spicy…you don’t even realize you’re eating a vegetable.
Serve over your favorite steamed rice, or even quinoa. You’ll have a vegetable-filled dinner that’s satisfying and so delicious.
Monday night takeout…only made at home, made healthier, and honestly, better than the real deal takeout.
Looking for other “better than takeout” style recipes? Try my coconut butter cauliflower, 20-minute peanut noodles, szechuan noodles with sesame chili oil, or my favorite weeknight udon noodles.
Next up on my takeout style recipes? Thinking about chicken fried rice. Thoughts?
If you make this Better Than Takeout Kung Pao Cauliflower, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Extra Sticky Kung Pao Cauliflower.
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 283 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons canned full fat coconut milk
- 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup or honey
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame or peanut oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 4 green onions, chopped, plus more for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1/4 cup salted peanuts, chopped, plus more for serving
- steamed white or brown rice, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with parchment.2. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with 1 tablespoon cornstarch to coat. Add the coconut milk and 2 tablespoons soy say, tossing to evenly coat all the florets. Spread the cauliflower in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes, until the cauliflower is just beginning to char on the edges. Reduce the oven temp to 425 and bake another 5 minutes, until just tender. 3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Combine the remaining 1/3 cup soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, and a pinch of pepper. Add 1/4 cup water and the remaining 1 tablespoons cornstarch, whisking until combined and smooth. 4. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and green onions, and cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low. Add the cauliflower and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the peanuts. 5. Serve the cauliflower and sauce over bowls of rice. Top with additional peanuts and green onions. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on June 10, 2019
Read reviews before I made it. Made my own hoisin sauce as many said using store bought made the recipe too salty. ——- the recipe was very salty for me (and my husband). I’d still make my own hoisin based on the recipe as it was easy and yummy- but lessen the amount of soy sauce and vinegar in the cauliflower recipe.
So glad you enjoyed this Jena! I hope lessening the soy works better for you!! xTieghan
Delicious recipe. Loved the addition of chopped peanuts and how sticky the sauce gets. However, 1/2 cup soy sauce is too much! I used a bit less than 1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce and only 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce. The sauce was still flavorful and salty enough.
Maybe liquid aminos would be different? I’ve never had them. Other than that, great recipe.
Thank you so much Annie! Sorry that this was a bit too salty for you.. I find that liquid aminos are less salty, but I would try it out for yourself! xTieghan
We made this last night. Love, love, love your recipes but this one turned out amazingly salty. I know it sounds crazy but almost inedibly salty. We followed the recipe exactly using liquid aminos. It seems like other commenters have had similar experiences. Any ideas on changes we should make next time? We’d like to give it another go. Thanks for all the great recipes!!
Hi there! I am so sorry you had trouble!! I really have not a clue why yours came out so salty as we love this dish! Why don’t you reduce the soy sauce to 1/4 cup, then add more to your taste. I think that should be just great! If you need more sauce, add a splash of water. Really hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Just as an FYI – Soy Sauce and Hoisin Sauce both contain Gluten. This is not a GF recipe. You would need to get GF Soy Sauce and make GF Hoisin Sauce yourself.
Thank you so much Caitlin! xTieghan
This is one of the worst recipes I’ve ever made. You can’t cook cauliflower in 8 minutes. The sauce is inedible. Complete fail. Just horrible. Ruined my last beautiful cauliflower too.
Hi Krissy! I am really sorry to hear that this did not turn out well for you. Are there any questions I could help you with?? I would love to fix this! I hope you still love some other recipes on my website! xTieghan
This was delicious. My non-vegan boyfriend and family loved it! The only thing I would suggest is adding something in to make it a little sweeter. It was more on the saltier side. But still a delicious and super easy recipe!
Thank you os much Mylen! So glad you all enjoyed this recipe! xTieghan
Next time I make this…and I WILL try again!…I will use about half the rice vinegar. Otherwise a yummy recipe! Thank you.
Thank you so much Deb! I hope it turns out better for you the next time! xTieghan
HI Tieghan
Made the Kung Pao Cauliflower last night and as with all your other recipes it was absolutely delicious and the ingredients/ quantities were absolutely spot on……
As an Englishman who lives in Southern spain and tries different recipes week in, week out I always love getting your email as the recipes are excellent!
keep up the good work……..
best wishes
Rob
Thank you so much Rob! I am so glad you loved this recipe and I hope you love others of mine! xTieghan
Hello Tieghan, I’m looking at recipes for this w-end and I have a question regarding this one: I can’t find hoisin sauce where I live, can I make it myself or replace it by something similar? Thanks!
Hi Enelye!! You can omit the hoisin sauce and replace it with an equal amount of honey or maple to make up for the sweetness that the hoisin gives. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I’m not sure what happened – because I double checked my ingredients before I started – but our end result was almost too salty to eat. Actually, to be honest, it tasted like we’d just dumped soy sauce on our roasted cauliflower. We couldn’t identify any flavors other than salt. Has anyone else had this result? It’s a bummer because it looked SO GOOD. I might experiment again with the recipe and cut the soy sauce/braggs back drastically.
Hi Adrienne, I am sorry you had trouble. Was there anything you did differently at all? Any ingredients different? Method of baking this? Are the sauces you used low sodium or regular? Any info will be helpful to help me problem solve and figure out what might be happening for you. It’s hard to know without knowing any details and I have not had other readers have this issue. Hope I can help you! xTieghan
Going to be making this tonight. Any suggestions of a side with this? Like a salad or something else that would go with this?
Thanks so much!
Hey Connie! I recommend the below salad. It’s delish with this! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
https://fett-weg.today/super-green-sun-dried-tomato-herb-salad/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
https://fett-weg.today/greek-watermelon-feta-salad/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Holy moly, this is so good! Thank you so much for being amazing and coming up with all these phenominal recipes! I see us making this often.
Love to hear that! Thank you so much Jaime! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan. Made this recipe today for some leftover roasted cauliflower that I had in my fridge. It was delicious, but for our palate, I added another tablespoon of maple syrup and honey too. Perhaps if we’d been having the rice with it, we wouldn’t have needed the extra sweetness. But in any event, it is a great recipe. I have some leftover sauce and will try it on chicken or shrimp this week.
I am really glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jackie! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
This recipe is really hard to follow along. The food is good but it’s too much of a hassle to use this recipe.
Hi Lucy! So sorry to hear that. Could I answer any questions you may have? Please let me know! xTieghan
The sauce on this is REALLY good. It does take a bit longer than i expected to make, but worth it. I followed the recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing.
Thank you Anna! xTieghan