Orange cauliflower is a vegetarian friendly take on Panda Express’s popular Asian orange chicken recipe. Loaded with a sweet and spicy orange sauce, this lightened up take out classic will have your family happily eating their vegetables!
LET’S BE FRIENDS ON PINTEREST! WE’RE ALWAYS PINNING TASTY RECIPES!
Jump to:
What is Orange Cauliflower?
This is a vegan alternative to orange chicken. Orange chicken uses a sweet and spicy, thick sauce as a coating to the chicken. My orange cauliflower recipe uses breaded and air fried or baked cauliflower to make a healthy version of the well-known chicken recipe.
Replace chicken with cauliflower for a Vegan Orange Chicken Recipe
You’ll never miss the chicken with this orange cauliflower. Cauliflower makes a wonderful replacement for chicken. Its mild taste allows it to pick up the flavor of the scrumptious orange sauce, giving you the perfect vegetarian alternative.
How to make Orange Cauliflower Vegan?
This recipe is very simple! Let's break it down into a few key parts:
- Prep the cauliflower
- Cook the cauliflower in the oven or in the air-fryer
- Make the sauce
Prep the cauliflower
First wash and cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Set the cauliflower aside. The whisk together the water, flour and salt. When the ingredients form a batter, dip each piece of cauliflower into the batter and let the excess batter drip off.
Cook in the Oven
If you are cooking the cauliflower in the oven, preheat it to 400 degrees F. As it heats up, arrange the cauliflower pieces on a non-stick cooking sheet.
Or Cook in the Airfryer
If you are using an air-fryer or air fryer lid for the Instant Pot, place the pieces of cauliflower into the basket.
When using an air fryer cook the cauliflower for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. When using a CrispLid for the Instant Pot, cook the cauliflower for 12 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Make the Orange Sauce
While the cauliflower is cooking, you can make the orange sauce. It only takes a few minutes to make, so you can wait until there is about 5 to 10 minutes left on the cauliflower before making it.
To make the orange sauce, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet or pan over medium heat. When it is hot, add the garlic, ginger and red chili flakes and stir together.
Once the spices are well combined, add the vinegar, orange juice, sugar and soy sauce.
Let the mixture come to a boil cooking over high heat for about 1 minute.
In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch and water to form a paste. Add the paste to the orange sauce and whisk until it is well combined. Once the cornstarch is mixed in, cook the sauce for about 2 to 3 additional minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken.
After the sauce thickens, stir in the sesame oil and reduce the heat. When the cauliflower is cooked, add it to the pot and toss until it is well coated. Serve the orange cauliflower hot with your favorite rice or noodles.
Is Orange Cauliflower Vegan?
Orange cauliflower is a vegan take on orange chicken. It is a great way to enjoy the flavor of orange sauce without eating chicken.
Can I Bake Orange Cauliflower?
If you don’t have an air fryer or air fryer lid for your pressure cooker, you can make delicious orange cauliflower in the oven. To make orange cauliflower in your oven, preheat it to 400 degrees F. Arrange the cauliflower on a non-stick cooking sheet, leaving a little bit of space between each piece. Cook the cauliflower for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is golden brown.
Can I use an Air Fryer to make Orange Cauliflower?
I love air-fryers because they cook food fast and give them a bit of extra crunch and crispiness. To use your air fryer, set the temperature to 375 degrees F and cook for 15 minutes. Make sure you leave a little room between each piece to make sure all sides get crispy.
Can I use CrispLid to make Orange Cauliflower?
Yes, you can use the CrispLid to make this recipe. To do so, make sure you use the air fryer basket and provide enough space between the pieces. You will need to adjust the cooking temperature to 375 degrees F and cook for 12 to 15 minutes.
What do I serve Orange Cauliflower with?
You can serve this with other Chinese or Asian inspired recipes. Or you can simply serve it over rice. One of my favorite pairings is to serve the cauliflower with this Fried Rice Recipe.
If you prefer noodles, you could also try this with my Garlic Noodles recipe or my Chow Mein recipe. Both are sure to delight your family.
Can I make the Orange Cauliflower recipe Gluten Free?
You can make this gluten free. To do this, use a gluten free flour instead of whole wheat flour for the breading on the cauliflower.
Can I make the cauliflower more crispy?
You can make cauliflower crispier in the air fryer by tossing the coated veggie in breadcrumbs. To do this, add some bread crumbs to a medium bowl and gently place the battered cauliflower on top of the breadcrumbs. Gently turn the cauliflower until the outside is lightly coated with bread crumbs.
You can also use an oil based cooking spray or cooking spray bottle filled with oil to lightly coat the outside with oil.
More Delicious AIR - FRYER recipes you will enjoy:
- Cauliflower Steak
- Banana chips
- Gobi Manchurian
- Onion rings
- Potato chips
- Samosa
- Crispy Tofu Buffalo Bites
- Apple chips
- Kurkure Bhindi
- Onion Bhaji
If you make this Orange cauliflower you make this recipe, Don’t forget to come back and leave your feedback and star rating. We would be THRILLED if you would take a pic and tag us on Instagram @dbellyrulesdmind or Facebook @thebellyrulesthemind
Orange Cauliflower Recipe
Asian Inspired Orange Cauliflower
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Diet: VegetarianDiet
Description
Orange cauliflower is a vegetarian friendly take on Panda Express’s popular orange chicken recipe. Loaded with a sweet and spicy orange sauce, this lightened up take out classic will have your family happily eating their vegetables!
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup flour - gluten free or almond flour for keto version
- salt to taste
- Half head of cauliflower, cut into 1 ½ inch ( 3 cm) florets
FOR THE SAUCE
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic- minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon water
- GARNISH
- 1 teaspoon sesame seed
- 1 scallions- thinly sliced -for garnish
Instructions
- Wash and cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and water.
- One at a time, dip each cauliflower floret in the batter to coat, let the excess batter drip off.
- Arrange the battered cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet, or in your air fryer making sure they aren’t touching one another.
Air fry -375 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Instant pot Airfryer lid - 375 Degrees F for 12 - 15 minutes
Bake- Pre heated oven 400 degrees. bake it on middle rack for 20- 25 minutes
ORANGE SAUCE
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet or pan over medium heat, add garlic , ginger , red chili flakes and give it a stir.
- Next goes the orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce.
- Cook for 1 minute on high flame and let it come to a boil
- In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch with water to form a paste.Add it to the orange sauce and whisk together.
- Continue to cook for 2 -3 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Once the sauce is thickened, add in the sesame oil, and lower the heat .
- Toss the cooked cauliflower florets in the sauce until well coated.
- Serve the cauliflower over rice and garnish with the scallions and sesame seeds
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 389
- Sugar: 27
- Sodium: 474
- Fat: 5
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 4
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 78
- Fiber: 6
- Protein: 10
- Cholesterol: 0
