General Tso’s Cauliflower is a delicious alternative to classic Chinese takeout General Tso’s Chicken. It’s crispy, super tasty, and might just be better than the chicken version!
Cauliflower: A Great Vegetarian Stand-In
We were starting to think cauliflower recipes were beginning to go out of style, or perhaps that people had exhausted all of the cauliflower recipes they could think of (cauliflower pizza dough, cauliflower dips, cauliflower soup, etc., etc.), but, then again, that really would never happen right?
After all, cauliflower is the new kale.
So enter General Tso’s cauliflower.
I know this is technically not a new recipe, because how could a dish with healthy cauliflower combined with the popular General not already exist? Sounds improbable, but indeed some brave soul pioneered the combination.
Well, our story is that a good friend of mine invited us over to his house for an Indo-Chinese meal, and he drummed up excitement by saying I would be “pleasantly surprised.”
Now the other twist is that my buddy became a vegetarian years ago and moved on to become a full blown vegan. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and, truthfully, I was hoping he wasn’t going to serve me up alfalfa sprouts, beans, and salad.
I was pleasantly surprised when he served up delicious dishes of noodles, rice, curried eggplant and yes, General Tso’s cauliflower! He jokes around with us that we are obsessed with our blogging so I didn’t disappoint him when I said, “I’m going to blog that recipe!” Here it is, although slightly varied, since I decided not to blanch the cauliflower before frying, and instead of going with a shallow fry, I went for the deep fry.
We use cornstarch in the marinade to keep the cauliflower moist. Coating the florets in rice flour mixed with sesame seeds produces that crispy coating that everyone loves in General Tso’s Chicken!
I know what some people will ask: “hey, Bill, can you bake this recipe? The answer is that I have no idea, but one of these days I will try. Hopefully one of our intrepid readers tries it first and lets the rest of us know! For now, the healthy spin of this General Tso’s cauliflower recipe is that it is a meatless meal to serve your vegetarian and vegan guests. And trust me, you won’t be disappointed either.
So for now, we’ll just call it vegan, healthy, and even gluten free, if you use Tamari instead of soy sauce. And when someone suggests a way to get a nice crispy cauliflower from baking it in the oven, I’ll update the post and add the official hot-button word, “skinny” and call it Skinny General Tso’s cauliflower!
Here you go for all of you vegans and vegetarians who want to get in on the General Tso action. Enjoy this one!
General Tso’s Cauliflower: Recipe Instructions
Cut the cauliflower into 1- to 2-inch florets.
Mix the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, sesame oil, white pepper, water, and ¾ cup of rice flour in a large bowl until it forms a batter.
Toss in the cauliflower and fold together until the cauliflower is well coated. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of rice flour over the cauliflower, and stir until everything is sticking to the cauliflower. There should be no more batter at the bottom of the bowl. If there is, just add a little bit more rice flour. If the batter looks dry or crumbly add a teaspoon or two of water.
Next, sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds evenly over the cauliflower.
Heat the oil to 375 degrees in a cast iron pan or small pot. Fry the cauliflower in batches until light golden brown and crunchy (about 3 minutes), and transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in your wok over medium heat. Add the minced ginger, and let fry for 15 seconds. Add the garlic and dried red chili peppers. Stir for 10 seconds.
Add the Shaoxing wine, and immediately add the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and water (or chicken stock). Turn the heat down to low, letting the entire mixture simmer.
If you fried the cauliflower in advance and want the pieces to be extra crispy, re-fry the cauliflower in batches for about 20 seconds or until golden brown, and drain on paper towels.
Add the cornstarch slurry gradually to the sauce while stirring constantly, and let simmer for 20 seconds. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
Add the cauliflower and scallions, and toss the entire mixture until everything is well-coated in the sauce.
Serve your General Tso’s cauliflower with lots of rice!
And even if your General Tso’s cauliflower gets a little soft after sitting, it’s still good just like General Tso’s Chicken!
General Tso’s Cauliflower
Ingredients
For the cauliflower:
- 1 small head cauliflower
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup rice flour
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- 2 to 3 cups peanut or canola oil (for frying)
For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons ginger (finely minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 5 whole dried red chili peppers (optional)
- ½ tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup water (or chicken stock)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
- 1 scallion (cut at an angle into half-inch pieces)
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into 1- to 2-inch chunks. Mix the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, sesame oil, white pepper, water, and ¾ cup of rice flour in a large bowl until it forms a batter. Toss in the cauliflower and fold together until the cauliflower is well coated. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of rice flour over the cauliflower, and stir until everything is sticking to the cauliflower. There should be no more batter at the bottom of the bowl. If there is, just add a little bit more rice flour. If the batter looks dry or crumbly add a teaspoon or two of water.
- Next, sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds evenly over the cauliflower. Heat the oil to 375 degrees in a cast iron pan or small pot. Fry the cauliflower in batches until light golden brown and crunchy (about 3 minutes), and transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in your wok over medium heat. Add the minced ginger, and let fry for 15 seconds. Add the garlic and dried red pepper. Stir for 10 seconds. Add the Shaoxing wine, and immediately add the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and water (or chicken stock). Turn the heat down to low, letting the entire mixture simmer.
- If you fried the cauliflower in advance and want the pieces to be extra crispy, re-fry the cauliflower in batches for about 20 seconds or until golden brown, and drain on paper towels. Add the cornstarch slurry gradually to the sauce while stirring constantly, and let simmer for 20 seconds. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Add the cauliflower and scallions, and toss the entire mixture until everything is well-coated in the sauce. Serve!
Made this dish. Added some more water to make the batter less crumbly as a few others have mentioned. It was absolutely delicious. This will remain on high rotation at our house. Thanks!
Hi Elia, you’re welcome and thanks for your comment as it helps to improve and clarify our recipes! I added a note to add a little more water in case people encounter the same problem of a dry or crumbly batter.
How strictly necessary is the baking soda?
Hi Nick, it helps to lighten the batter but you could try going without it.
You really make it appear so easy along with your presentation but I in finding this topic to be actually something that
I feel I’d by no means understand. It kind of feels too complex and
extremely large for me. I am looking forward on your next put up, I will try to get the cling of
it!
Hi Dawna, this dish does require deep frying, which makes it a bit more difficult.
My family enjoyed this recipe. Having said that I had to add at least another cup of water for the consistency of batter. Seeing other reviews with the same problem I think depending on the brand of rice flour, there are differences in either the rice the flour is made from or how finely it is ground. (I grind my own.) I also had to double the recipe for a normal size head of cauliflower.
Hi Doreen, thanks for your useful comment! I’ll have to revise and update the recipe soon so it’s more precise.
The batter was a little too dry and crumbly at first, so we added a little more water. And I think we used a rather large cauliflower, because the batter was not enough to coat all the pieces. So we ended up almost doubling the recipe. We doubled the ingredients for the sauce too, execpt for the dried chillies, because I only had two of them. It was the first time we made this recipe and it was delicious!! We will definately be making this again.
A lot of thanks from the Netherlands
Thank you Marielle for your comment and feedback. Glad you adjusted and that you enjoyed the dish. :)
Hi,
I was wondering what does “small” head of cauliflower equate to in more precise measurements? I have few bags (12oz each) of frozen cauliflower florets, and I am not sure how many bags to use. Thank you for your time!
Cheers,
Begümhan
Hi Begümhan, Use 16 ounces. Thanks for pointing this out – I will measure and revise the recipe soon.
Very tasty especially for a vegetarian meal.
Hi S Chandler, glad you enjoyed this General Tso cauliflower – some of the best dishes just happen to be vegetarian as well.
Hi,
Should the “batter” for the cauliflower be like pancake batter? Mine was very dry and crumbly so not sure if I missed something or if this is the correct consistency.
Thank you!
Hi Ali, it should be dry and crumbly and not as wet as pancake batter – more like a pancake batter that is too thick. So just add a splash of water to it until it is not dry and crumbly but clings to the cauliflower.
Thank you so much, Bill! I am looking forward to trying it again. We love the recipes and advice on your site!