Move over general tso's chicken!! Us vegetarians (and vegans) have a wonderful side dish: General Tso's Cauliflower! I ate mine as a full meal 🙂
I fully admit I am greedy when it comes to food!
My husband's ringtone on his phone for my caller id is Daffy Duck shouting "it's mine, it's all mine!"
With today's general tso's cauliflower, I won't lie: I ate 95% of this meal! My stomach kind of hated me later, but it was worth it! I would do it all again 😉
I know when it comes to general tso's sauce that the meal is usually smothered in it. It may be hard to tell in the pictures, but there is quite a bit of sauce in with the cauliflower! I think for photos I would have liked to have had more sauce just to showcase that beautiful red color. However, the cauliflower itself definitely had that bold saucy taste!
General's tso's cauliflower is a really easy side dish! I like the idea of it on my dinner table for the holidays (except my mother-in-law cannot eat cauliflower!!! More for us, then, haha!) The cauliflower is based off my oven-roasted cauliflower recipe. The sauce comes from all my previous general tso's interpretations but I use vegetable broth instead of chicken to keep it "safe" for non-meat-eaters. Meat-eaters can easily use chicken broth if desired.
I really, really love this recipe! I have another idea using cauliflower and general tso's sauce that is more of a casserole. We will see how that works out, but for now I will enjoy this fun dish! It is also gluten-free friendly if you sub in the appropriate soy sauce 🙂
📖 Recipe
General Tso’s Cauliflower (Vegan/Gluten-Free)
General tso's cauliflower can be a side dish or a vegetarian main dish!
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower, washed and cut into florets.
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ¼ tsp. red chili flakes (can omit if worried about spice!)
- 2-3 tbsp. olive oil (depending on the size of your cauliflower, you may need more!
Sauce
- 1 tsp. vegetable oil (or another flavor-less oil)
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. freshly minced ginger
- Salt and pepper
- Chili flakes if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Toss cauliflower with oil and seasonings until well coated, adding more oil if necessary.
- Place onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone liner. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tender and golden brown (you will have to toss the cauliflower frequently so it doesn't burn.)
Sauce
- While cauliflower is cooking, make the sauce.
- In a small saucepan add vegetable oil and place over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and mix constantly for 1 minute. Mix together ½ cup broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper, and dried chili flakes. Pour into pan and stir, bringing to a simmer. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix the remaining ¼ cup broth and cornstarch together, pour into pan and simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat.
- Pour sauce over cauliflower and garnish with green onions!
Notes
We are roasting the cauliflower at high temperatures so toss often to prevent burning!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 343Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 841mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 9gSugar: 18gProtein: 8g
Love this general tso's cauliflower?! Try some of these recipes:
General Tso's Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker
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