Kung Pao Cauliflower
Enjoy the bold flavours of this sweet and spicy kung pao cauliflower recipe! This easy dish is ready in under 30 minutes so it’s perfect any night of the week.
Features
- dietary: vegan, can be gluten-free (use tamari instead of soy sauce)
- addictive, sticky, sweet and sour sauce
- easy to make in less than 30 minutes
- satisfying and comforting served with warm rice and topped with scallions and peanuts
What is kung pao?
Kung pao is a Chinese dish made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables and chili peppers. It has an intense sweet and sour flavour with some heat from sichuan peppers.
In North American, kung pao is a popular menu item at Chinese food restaurants, though according to Recipe Tin Eats, it’s a not what you’d find in traditional Chinese cooking but rather a westernized version of an authentic Chinese Sichuan dish.
This recipe is inspired by Westernized kung pao and is definitely not authentic in any way.
For more Asian-inspired recipes, you might like this Thai basil eggplant, eggplant stir fry, orange tofu or sweet and sour tofu.
Ingredient Notes
- cauliflower – you’ll need two small to medium sized heads
- bell peppers – the recipe calls for red bell peppers but you could use another color in a pinch
- sesame oil – key for flavor, don’t skip it!
- serrano chili – can be substituted with sichuan pepper or if you can’t find either, jalapeno will work
- low-sodium soy sauce – it’s important ot use a low-sodium variety otherwise the sauce will be too salty, for a gluten-free recipe, use low-sodium tamari
- maple syrup – agave syrup or honey (not vegan) also work here
- rice wine vinegar – seasoned or unseasoned both work, I used unseasoned
Complete list of ingredients with amounts and instructions is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Kung Pao Cauliflower
There are two parts to this recipe, roasting the vegetables and making the sauce, both are easy! We’ll cover a battered cauliflower variation below if you want to take an extra step to kick this recipe up a notch
Before you Start: To get prepped for the recipe, chop the cauliflower, peppers, garlic, ginger and Serrano pepper and get the all of the sauce ingredients ready to go.
Step 1. Roast the Cauliflower and Peppers
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Arrange the cauliflower and bell pepper in a single layer on a baking tray and roast for about 15 minutes until browned and tender.
Step 2. Make the Sauce
While the cauliflower and peppers are roasting in the oven, prepare the sauce. Here’s how:
- Start by heating the sesame oil in a skillet then sautéing the ginger, Serrano pepper for 2-3 minutes.
- Mix the maple syrup, soy sauce and 2 vinegars together in a bowl and add to the pan.
- Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat and cook for a couple of minutes to slightly reduce.
- Mix the water and cornstarch together until smooth then pour into the an, reduce heat and stir to thicken, about 1-2 minutes.
Step 3. Mix Cauliflower and Peppers with Sauce
Finally add the roasted veggies to the pan with the sauce and toss to coat.
Can I use different vegetables? Sure! Try it with broccoli instead instead of cauliflower to switch things up! The sauce is also perfect for coating crispy tofu, tempeh, seitan, plant-based chicken or chickpeas.
Serve over basmati rice, topped with scallions and roasted peanuts or cashews.
Cauliflower Batter Variation
I kept this recipe very simple and did not batter the cauliflower, however, adding a batter really takes it up a notch and it only requires a simple extra step and 2 extra ingredients.
If you’d like to try it battered, use the recipe from my buffalo cauliflower wraps (just the batter part, not the buffalo sauce!). You’ll need:
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (plus more as needed to adjust consistency)
- pinch of salt and pepper
Everything else in the recipe stays the same.
Storing
- Store on its own or with rice.
- Let cool then store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated to your preference.
- This recipe is not ideal for freezing.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kung Pao Cauliflower
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Love kung pao takeout? Try this delicious sweet and sour sticky sauce with cauliflower for a veggie alternative to kung pao chicken.
Ingredients
For the Vegetables
- 2 small to medium-sized heads cauliflower, cut into florets (1900 g)
- 2 red peppers, thinly sliced (275 g)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (15 ml)
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped (20 g)
- 2 tbsp peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger (20 g)
- 1 Serrano chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped (20 g)
For the Kung Sauce
- 2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce (160 ml)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (30 ml)
- 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar, unseasoned (45 ml)
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (45 ml)
- 2 tbsp corn starch (15 g)
- 1/3 cup water (80 ml)
For Serving
- 1 bunch green onion, sliced (50 g)
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts (125 g)
- cooked rice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place cauliflower florets and sliced red pepper on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, until slightly golden brown.
- In a medium bowl mix together the soy sauce, maple syrup and 2 vinegars and set aside for now.
- While the cauliflower and peppers are roasting, take a large sauté pan and heat the sesame oil. Over medium heat sauté the garlic, ginger and serrano chilli. Cook until garlic is golden brown, roughly 2 minutes. Be aware the heat from the chilli can be quite powerful so be careful what you touch and make sure you wash your hands well after handling.
- Pour the prepared sauce into the pan with sautéed garlic and ginger, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for a few minutes to slightly reduce.
- In the same bowl you used for the soy sauce mixture, mix the water and corn starch together until smooth and pour into the sauté pan.
- Stir the sauce until thickened, roughly 1-2 minutes.
- Remove roasted cauliflower and red peppers from the oven and add to the pan. Toss in the sauce until fully coated.
- Serve immediately over a bed of cooked rice and top with roasted peanuts and sliced green onions.
Notes
I kept this recipe very simple and did not batter the cauliflower, however, adding a batter really takes it up a notch and it only requires a simple extra step and 2 extra ingredients. If you’d like to try it battered, use the recipe from my buffalo cauliflower wraps (just the batter part, not the buffalo sauce!). You’ll need brown rice flour and almond milk to make the batter.
Storing: Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 301
- Fat: 15 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Protein: 14 g
Absolutely delicious – a restaurant quality dinner with best of all, minimal effort! I agree with others that it takes realistically @ 25 minutes to roast the cauliflower and red peppers. Those extra few minute will not deter me from making this dish again. I served it with baked tofu cubes and jasmine rice. This is definitely going into my dinner rotation. Thank you!
Wow, thanks so much, Susan! I’m so glad it was a hit. Sounds perfect with rice and tofu.
I’m wondering how I might add tempeh to this dish. Put it in the oven with the veggies? Any thoughts? Thank you.
That’s what I would do! You could also pan-fry or air fry it separately but really no need, I’d just roast with the veggies.
This was really good! Didn’t have the Serrano pepper so I used chili garlic sauce for the heat.
Tasted like something I’d order in a restaurant !! So impressed with how good it was. Took awhile to bake then stir fry the veggies but so worth it.
So glad you liked it!
Delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Soooo tasty and super easy! I had leftovers and they tasted great too!
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks, Kim! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great recipe again thanks Deryn! I did not have any rice wine vinegar so used white wine vinegar instead and that seemed to work fine.
Thanks, Kate! Glad you enjoyed it!
Deryn does it again! This recipe is so easy and sooooo delicious! Do yourself a favor and take the extra minute to use the batter recipe from her buffalo cauliflower wrap (which is excellent as well). Super quick coming together and the flavor is just what you want and expect from a Kung Pao recipe.
So great to hear, Angi! Glad the batter worked out well for you, great feedback! Thank you for the review.
This recipe was delicious, I opted for a meat free option and added peas instead. So good!
Perfect! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!