This bang bang cauliflower is spicy, sweet, and incredibly easy to make. It's bite-sized pieces of cauliflower breaded and baked until golden and then tossed in a homemade bang bang sauce. It's a delicious vegetarian appetizer, snack, or side dish, and it's ready in just 40 minutes!
Ingredients
1largecauliflower, cut into florets
¾ cupmilk of choice
½ cupflour, gluten-free if needed
1teaspoonEACH: sweet paprika, garlic powder and onion powder
½ teaspoonsalt
2cupspanko, gluten-free if needed
Spray oil
Chives or green onions and black or white sesame seeds, to serve
The Bang Bang Sauce
½ cupmayonnaise, can be light
¼ cuphoney
2teaspoonssriracha
1teaspoonrice vinegar
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. (See notes) In a large bowl, mix the flour, milk, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat.
¾ cup milk of choice, ½ cup flour, 1 teaspoon EACH: sweet paprika, garlic powder and onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 large cauliflower
Place the panko into a shallow bowl. Add a few pieces of cauliflower to the panko and toss to coat - see notes. Put the breaded cauliflower on the baking sheet then continue until all of the cauliflower is breaded. Spray the top of the cauliflower with oil.
2 cups panko, Spray oil
Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the cauliflower is brown and crispy.
While the cauliflower is in the oven, prepare the bang bang sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
½ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup honey, 2 teaspoons sriracha, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
When the cauliflower comes out of the oven, put it into a bowl and pour the sauce over the top. Toss to coat then serve it with some chives and sesame seeds on top.
Notes
Depending on the size of your baking sheet, you may need to use two. Make sure that the cauliflower is spread out a little so it crisps rather than steams. When breading the cauliflower, keep one hand for putting the wet, battered cauliflower into the panko and the other hand for breading the cauliflower and moving it to the baking sheet. This helps keep your hands clean and makes the panko last longer since it's not getting wet from your battered fingers.