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Sweet and Sour Cauliflower- an easy to make vegan meal that’s perfect to satisfy that sweet and sour chicken craving! A delicious vegan fake-out take-out weeknight dinner!
GUYS! We leave for Europe one week from today and I’m FAR from ready. Trying to give priority to getting all of our client projects wrapped up before I squeeze in a little extra blog work and THEN finally get packed to go. We’re SO EXCITED!
I’ve mentioned our trip on Instagram a few times. We’re flying in Rome where we’ll spend a few days before going to see family in Verona and then head to Venice for a couple days because we couldn’t not go. Then we’re taking a train through Switzerland, spending about 2 days in Zurich, before heading to Paris for a few days (!!!). We’ll wrap our trip up in southern England with a visit to Stephen’s grandmother. I know, I’m a bit exhausted just typing all of that out. BUT I CAN’T WAIT!!!
Let’s talk about this Sweet and Sour Cauliflower. I may or may not have wanted to do this recipe largely just so I could say “sweet and sour cauliflower” over and over again ?.
Sweet and sour chicken was always my go to dish when ordering take out. Basically every. single. time. growing up. So it was only naturally that we created a vegan, meatless version of my favorite take out dish!
How to Make Sweet and Sour Cauliflower
I aimed to make this as easy as possible and debated skipping the frying step but it just felt essential to me.
We start by tossing the cauliflower florets in a bit of oil and then adding in cornstarch and salt & pepper to the mix. That is then fried briefly in some oil before being added to a baking sheet.
The sauce is whisked together and poured over the cauliflower that is then baked in the oven for about 15 minutes.
THAT’S IT! I’m a big fan ??
I always always serve mine with some good white rice from my instant pot because I’m weirdly a little obsessed with white rice!
That’s all I have for you on this Monday morning. I hope you have a GREAT WEEK!
Sweet and Sour Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ⅓ cup oil + 3 tablespoons, divided
For the sauce:
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 tbs corn starch + 2 tbs water
- For serving: sesame seeds, green onion, and rice/ quinoa
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Place the cauliflower in a large plastic baggie (you can also do this in a large bowl) and toss in the salt, pepper, and 3 tablespoons of the oil. Give it a good shake to coat the cauliflower and then add in the 1/2 cup of cornstarch. Toss again until covered in the cornstarch.
- Heat 1/3 cup of oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add in the cauliflower and fry for about 5 minutes, tossing to cook on all sides. Once done, place on the baking sheet.
- Make the sauce by whisking together the apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic salt, and corn starch + water. Pour the sauce over top of the cauliflower and toss.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cauliflower is just starting to get crispy.
- Serve with sesame seeds, green onion, and ENJOY!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Not good. The sauce was claggy and horrible. Too sweet and too vinegary
Loved this recipe. I make a batch of sauce so it’s always on hand. Substituted the following. Tomatoe paste instead of ketchup, tamari instead of soy sauce
I loved this recips and have made it twice already – it’s delicious. Substituted tomato paste for the ketchup, and Tamara for the soiy sauce
Excellent recipe!
I just took it out of the oven and it it sooooo tasty!
I am eating it plain right now but I plan on adding some brown rice and having it again for lunch. I followed the recipe to a T. Thank you for the recipe!
With the exception of the sauce, I completed this recipe in one 12inch skillet. I prepared the sauce and set it aside then prepared the cauliflower and fried it with less oil than recommended, for about five minutes and then dumped the sauce over the cauliflower in the skillet and baked it in the oven for 10 minutes The sauce thickened in the starch covered cauliflower and resulted in an ooey gooey deliciousness.