This sticky sesame cauliflower is batter-dipped and baked (not fried!), then drenched in a mouthwatering sweet and spicy sesame sauce. Serve it over rice for a scrumptious vegan main dish, or skewer the pieces for a killer party appetizer.
We're lucky to have a handful of vegan Chinese restaurants in the Philadelphia area. You know — places where the menu looks just like a typical takeout spot, but everything is meat-free and incredibly delicious. A lot of those dishes are made with seitan, like my vegan pepper steak, and often fried seitan, like my vegan Mongolian beef. Seitan does do an amazing job mimicking classic takeout favorites.
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But here's the thing: you don’t actually need to deep-fry anything or even use seitan to create crispy, sticky, crave-worthy Chinese takeout remakes. Cauliflower is totally up for the task. I’ve used it in recipes like my Hunan cauliflower, but it works especially well when you batter, bake, and smother it in a sweet, sticky sauce, which is exactly what we're doing with this sticky sesame cauliflower recipe.
The result is delish! And it's really easy to make in about half an hour. It's great on its own or paired with other vegan Chinese-inspired dishes, like vegan fried rice or vegan chow mein, and frankly, you won't miss that deep-fried takeout version one bit.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Vegetable oil. You can use pretty much any neutral high-heat oil you normally like to cook with, such as peanut, canola, or corn oil.
- Non-dairy milk. Use an unsweetened variety that's suitable for drinking, like soy, almond, or oat milk. Check out my guide to dairy-free milk if you need help choosing.
- Whole wheat flour. White flour also works.
- Salt.
- Baking powder.
- Cauliflower.
- Soy sauce. Tamari and liquid aminos work if you need a substitute.
- Maple syrup. Feel free to swap this out with another liquid sweetener, like agave or coconut nectar.
- Rice vinegar. Most stores carry this in the international aisle.
- Toasted sesame oil. This is also available in the international aisle.
- Fresh ginger.
- Garlic.
- Sriracha sauce. You can skip this if you prefer a milder version of the dish. If you do use it, make sure it's a vegan brand (not all are). I've linked to one that I like in the recipe card.
- Water.
- Cornstarch.
- Scallions. Also known as green onions.
- Toasted sesame seeds.
- Rice. This is optional, but a nice accompaniment if you're serving your sticky sesame cauliflower as a main dish.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Prepare. Preheat your oven to 450°F and lightly oil the bottom of a roasting pan or oven-safe skillet. Place the skillet or pan into the oven to heat up.
Step 2: Batter the cauliflower. Whisk your non-dairy milk, flour, salt, and baking powder together, then dip each cauliflower floret in the batter. Shake off excess batter, then arrange the florets on the baking sheet. Place the cauliflower into the oven to bake for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Make the sauce. Simmer a mixture of soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and sriracha for 10 minutes. Combine cornstarch and cold water, then add it to the sauce, and bring the sauce back up to a simmer. Take it off heat once it thickens.
Step 4: Turn the cauliflower. Gently flip the pieces, then lightly brush them with oil. This will help with browning. Stick them back into the oven to bake for another 5 minutes.
Step 5: Sauce the cauliflower. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower, then toss to coat. Place them back into the oven for a few minutes longer, until the sauce thickens just slightly and clings to the cauliflower.
Step 6: Serve. Give your sticky sesame cauliflower a sprinkle of chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve it over rice for a main dish, or skewer individual pieces as appetizers.
Variations
- Spicy sticky sesame cauliflower. Increase the sriracha or add crushed chili flakes to turn up the heat.
- Add veggies. This recipe makes a generous amount of sauce, so feel free to add steamed or stir-fried veggies like broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, or green beans.
- Serve over noodles. Skip the rice and instead serve your sticky sesame cauliflower over rice vermicelli.
Frequently Asked Questions
Possibly, but I haven't tested a gluten-free version. If you'd like to try it with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, just keep in mind that you may need to adjust the flour-to-milk ratio. You want the batter to be about as thick as pancake batter, so it just clings to the florets. You'll also need to replace the soy sauce with gluten-free tamari.
Skipping the step of preheating the oven and pan can cause this. The cauliflower needs to start cooking at a high temperature to stop the batter from running off.
Most of the sodium comes from the soy sauce, so reduce the amount a bit or use a reduced-sodium variety.
Leftover sticky sesame cauliflower will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days. Fair warning: the coating will suck up sauce and get soggy. It'll still taste good, though.
More Cauliflower Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Sticky Sesame Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or as needed, divided
- 1 ¼ cups unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large cauliflower crown, broken into florets
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
- ¼ cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For Serving
- 2 scallions, chopped
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Cooked rice, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F (preheating is crucial here, so don't skip it). Coat the bottom of a large roasting pan or oven-safe skillet with one tablespoon of the oil, then place it into the oven while it preheats.
- Whisk the milk, flour, salt, and baking powder together in a small bowl to make the batter. Dip the cauliflower florets in the batter to coat. Gently shake off any excess batter, then arrange the cauliflower florets in a single layer in the roasting pan or skillet. Bake the cauliflower for 10 minutes.
- Make the sauce while the cauliflower bakes. Combine the soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and sriracha in a small saucepan, then place it over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk or stir the cornstarch and cold water together in a small container. Once the sauce has simmered for 10 minutes, stir in the cornstarch mixture, then return the sauce to a simmer. It will thicken quickly once it begins simmering — remove the pot from heat once it does.
- Remove the cauliflower from the oven after it has baked for 10 minutes. Flip, then lightly brush the florets with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Return the cauliflower to the oven and bake 5 minutes more, until the florets are lightly browned.
- Remove the cauliflower from the oven and pour the sauce over the florets. Gently toss to coat the cauliflower in the sauce. Return the cauliflower to the oven and bake 3-4 minutes more, just until the sauce becomes very sticky and clings to the florets.
- Serve over rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.
Notes
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This looks amazing! I will definately give it a try!
I hope I will manage as I am not a great cook!
Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!!
I made this tonight and doubled the recipe so I could have leftovers and I only have a few measly pieces left because it was SO good! My five-year-old son was very skeptical at first, but he tried the sauce on rice and then dug in (both daughters had no hesitation). Even my very carnivorous hubby loved it! My batter stuck to the cauliflower perfectly and only pulled off in tiny spots on the ones where I was impatiently flipping. The sauce was absolutely perfect. I think I might try to roast a pan of broccoli next time without batter and kick up the heat in the sauce for a play on General Tso’s. Thank you, Alissa! Love it! :)
Yay!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And I LOVE the idea of using broccoli - I might try that out myself next time. Thanks Sarah!
I made this once and my kids and I loved it!!
Making for a second time but I didn't realize I was out of rice vinegar :-( what can I substitute?
Thanks!!!
I think you could get away with another type of vinegar - white, apple cider or red wine should work!
Just made the recipie above and feel really satisfied by the result.
I use to be very cautious with internet recipies cause most of them are not correct.
Did not happen with this one though!
Thanks for sharing this exotic touch to my cook book!!
I'm so glad you liked it!! Thanks Sophia!
I love making (and eating!) a fried version of this so was excited to try a baked variation. However, like many other commenters the cauliflower just wouldn’t crisp up even though I gave it a good bit of extra time, the batter pooled on the sheet despite adding extra corn flour, and the sauce wouldn’t thicken even after 10 minutes longer on the hob. I ended up with a tasty enough dish but no trace of batter, no crunch, and no stickiness! Going to stick with fried when I want to eat this dish I guess!
Ok...something went really wrong for me. First, I'd like to say that it was delicious. Love a good soy-ginger-garlic sauce. Such a great combo. But not only did my dish not look at all like your picture, my cauliflower was mushy instead of crispy. I followed the recipe to the letter. My batter came out very thin and didn't coat my pieces well. My sauce came out good except that it never got any thicker and when I poured it over the cauliflower, it just dripped over it and a lot of it ended up in the pan. My end result was mush but very tasty florets. I have no idea why everything was so watery. I followed the recipe to the letter.
Thanks for any help.
I'm sorry to hear that! The only thing I can think of is to check your oven temperature. It needs to be super hot for the sauce to thicken up, and if it's a few degrees too cool I could see it not working.
This was absolutely delicious!!! Will definitely be making it again! Thank you!
I'm so glad to hear that!! Thanks Lyndi!
I made this and it came out amazingly delicious! Wow I will be making this again and again. It's one of my favorite vegan recipes. I used Spelt flour instead and also used grapeseed oil instead of sesame oil since I didn't have any sesame oil on hand and it still came out insanely good. Very happy I found this recipe.
I'm so happy you found it too, and really glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks so much Lee Ann!
Omg! Omg! These look so unbelievably delicious, definitely going to try this recipe out.
The Clicks looks awesome!
Halfed the recipe and made it for two! Used white flour because it's all I had and it was absolutely delicious!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Kelsey!!
I have a question-Could you substitute Honey for Maple Syrup?
I'm sure that would work just fine. :)
I made this the lazy way. I just threw the chopped cauliflower in my cast iron skillet and browned it in a little coconut oil, then added the sauce and stirred in a little gluten-free flour. I skipped the milk and coating the cauliflower. It was amazing and tasted just like the real deal! My whole family loved it!!
I'll have to give that a try next time I'm looking for a shortcut! I'm glad it worked out, and glad everyone enjoyed it!
I used garbanzo bean flour to make it gluten free and it was delicious. My Silat mat was a lifesaver. Delicious!!
Awesome! Glad it worked out!
Just had this delicious meal for dinner. Here are some suggestions...I used a cast iron skillet for cauliflower. After adding cornstarch to sauce I cooked till thickened. About 3 minutes. I left finished dish in oven till sticky and crispy. Used a metal spoon to scrape all crunchy bits off bottom when serving. Sauce and bottom crispies so yummy!!! Thanks for recipe!
Yay! Glad you liked it! I'm partial to using a cast iron skillet with this one as well. :)
This turned out amazing! OK I had to substitute a few things.... used cows milk insetad of almond, oat bran and plain flour (didn't have wholewheat), and used honey instead of maple syrup. It worked just fine, wasn't too complicated and I wish I'd made more! Thank you :)
Very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!!
One of my favorite go-to recipes!!! I use tofu instead of cauliflower, and it comes out perfectly.
Oh nice! Glad to hear it!!
Hey! Could I use tofu instead?
The sauce would be delicious on tofu, but you might be better off using a different cooking method for the tofu itself. Try rolling it in cornstarch and pan-frying - this recipe can give you some guidance. Enjoy!
This reminds me of a much healthier version of sticky honey and also sesame chicken. most definitely should evaluate out the dish. Love exactly how delicious as well as saucy the cauliflower is & that its baked!
That's exactly what I was going for! Thanks Emma!
Thanks so much for this recipe! Ive made this for my mom's boyfriends birthday tonight and everyone loved it!! At the end I was afraid the sauce wouldn't become sticky as it was reaaaallly liquid...! but it became just fine; I stirred the cauliflowers with the sauce a lot and it became just like in your pictures! so yummy!
Thanks!
I'm glad it was a hit! Thanks for stopping by to let me know. :)
Made this last night and found batter to be a bit heavy- i will use almond flour or something lighter. I used 1/2 the maple syrup (calories) and 1 tsp sesame oil. Modified for me- but recipe was AMAZING!!!! Thank you for sharing:)
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Sue!
I made this the other night and while the sauce turned out really well, the cauliflower wasn't great. The batter was really thick and despite cooking the cauliflower at a slightly higher temperature and for longer than suggested, the crust wasn't super crispy and then tossing it with the sauce made it even soggier. I would make the sauce again but I would try doing the cauliflower differently. Thanks for sharing!
Just tried it yesterday and it was sooooooooo tasty!!!!!!! Only i did`t need the cornstarch, it was thick enough without :-) Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you liked it! Thanks Johanna!
This looks SO good girl! I can't wait to try this. I've been meaning to tell you I really like your blog layout. Cheers!
Dawn
Aw! Thanks so much Dawn! I hope you enjoy this. :)
That was absolutely delicious, thank you so much for the recipe!
You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!!
I don't drink nut milk, but considering it's mostly water, could I just use water instead?
I think that would work. :)
Hi! I can't find sriracha, should I use other sauce such as Tabasco or Frank's RedHot Original?
I think either of those would be fine. :)
Aldi's now sell Sriracha.
Love this recipe and all the healthy changes you made to it! Now I am in the mood for a plate of these sesame cauliflowers...can it also be made with frozen cauliflower?
Thanks so much! I haven't tried it with frozen cauliflower, but I think it would work. The recipe might require a little tinkering as far as cook time and such. If you give it a try please let me know how it works out! :)
This reminds me of honey-chili cauliflower or mushrooms which is usually served as an appetizer or starter in many INDO-CHINESE restaurants in India. Only thing that i don't like about that dish is frying part. I am definitely going to try this recipe in your way. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Dev! Hope you enjoy. :)
Can I use unsweetened cashew milk? Its what I have on hand. Thanks!
That should work just fine. :)
My maple syrup bill has gone up considerably since stumbling upon this fantastically delicious recipe. We are enjoying it so much, we've made it a good 3-4 times in the last 2 weeks. Thanks!
Sounds like a hit. :) Glad you're enjoying it and sorry about the maple syrup bill - that stuff can be pricey!
My batter stuck to my pan what type of pan needs to be used?
You should be okay with a regular old pan if you've got it well oiled. If you're still having trouble you could try something nonstick like a cast iron skillet, or you could lay down a sheet of parchment inside your pan.
I made this last night. It was a hit here. next time i might try it with brown sugar instead of maple syrup just because its a little cheaper. I also added broccoli to this and it was still very tasty. I can see this turning out well with a chicken like setian.
Thanks so much Erica! Glad you enjoyed it! I've done something similar with seitan (just haven't blogged it yet), and it did turn out really nice. :)
I made this recipe the other day and have to agree with the other commenters who said the breading became soggy once the sauce was added. While it was still delicous, the texture wasn't the greatest. In the future, I'll most likely broil the cauliflower until crispy and toss in the sauce instead. I will say though, the sauce was PHENOMENAL! I could eat the sauce by itself.
I made this tonight and loved it. I was out of sesame seeds so I put hemp seeds for a little protein and it was a HIT at our home. Thank you for sharing :)
Awesome! I love hemp seeds and they sound like a lovely addition. Thanks Maria!
This recipe will go into our rotation. For a vegetarian that sometimes misses meat this is a good replacement for sesame chicken. Thanks!
I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks so much Ken!!
I only used one cup of almond milk since the batter seemed liquid enough to coat the cauliflower. I didn't use any vegetable oil, instead I only put 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in the sauce and used the other teaspoon to coat the cauliflower after it had baked for 10 minutes and before putting it in again. That's all I changed, and the cauliflower got nice and crispy, even sizzling after the second go in the oven.
However, I had the same problem as the other commenters with the sauce. When I saw how runny it was in the pan after simmering for 10 minutes and sitting for a few minutes with the first tablespoon of cornstarch, I added another tablespoon of cornstarch. I let it sit some more and it was still completely watery. I poured it over the cauliflower, put it in the oven for ~10 minutes and crossed my fingers, but it still came out runny, even after letting it sit again for ~5 minutes. I had to strain the cauliflower out of it. It was still delicious and crunchy, though, but I regret wasting that much rice vinegar, maple syrup and soy sauce, because you could get away with making only half the amount of sauce (and that stuff is expensive).
How long is the sauce supposed to sit off the fire before putting it on the cauliflower? I think that should be added to the instructions, because in my case the sauce was done simmering at the same time as the cauliflower was done cooking for the second time, so it didn't have inherent time to sit.
Anyway, I will definitely make this again, but with only half the sauce and letting it sit longer. It's really good.
I'm afraid this didn't work at all. The "batter" was too runny, the cauliflower (despite cooking longer than the recipe says) never got crisp, and then (once the the sauce was on it) it never got sticky.
The batter basically turned into a layer of bread that then got stuck all over the pan. And it tasted bad too.
I wasted a bunch of time and ingredients and made myself a lot of dishes to wash. :(
These are the exact same problems that I had. It still tastes good but it's just soggy cauliflower in a sweet sauce. The batter went everywhere despite my oiling the pans and what little bit of crispy it did get just died once the sauce was added. The sauce also never thickened.
Same problem here! I had high hopes for this dish and the pic looked so good but I have no idea how she got the cauliflower to turn out like it did in her pic. I followed the recipe exactly and wound up with somewhat gummy battered califlower that stuck to the pan (despite the oil in the batter and me spraying the pan) and after the sauce had sat on it not more than 5 minutes, it was soggy. Definitely not good for leftovers!
Sorry it didn't work out! I've made this a few times with no problem. I'm thinking that since this is a high temperature, short bake time recipe it will be very sensitive to variations in oven temperature, so if you're oven is off by a few degrees or not completely preheated that could be the issue. That's my best guess, but I'll be testing this out in the coming weeks with a few variables to see if I can come up with what's going wrong for some people.
This is exactly what happened to mine. Except that I thought it tasted delicious and I at so much I got really stuffed. Loved the taste, but want to fix the texture.
Can honey be substituted for maple syrup? Do you think it would be the same ratio?
I think that would be fine, and I'd use the same ratio.
Made this last night, it was OMG delicious. Hubby is still carnivorous and loved it too. He said he didn't even miss the chicken. Thanks for sharing!
So happy to hear it! Thanks for letting me know!!
what are the macros of this dish per serving?
I don't generally calculate nutritional info for my recipes, but this
is a great tool if you'd like to. :)
I had the same issue with the batter, it pooled in the pan even though I tried to shake off all the excess. It was still good but only one side of the cauliflower had the batter. Please let me know what I did wrong! (followed recipe and used whole wheat flour) Thanks sooo much!
Sorry it didn't stick, but glad to hear you still enjoyed it! Next time you can try stirring in an extra tablespoon or two of flour until the batter seems to hold. It should be pretty thick. I've also seen similar recipes where you place the cauliflower right on the oven rack with a pan below it to catch drips, so you could try that too.
This seriosuly looks epic! I love asian food and I have seen flavored cauliflower so many places, I must try to make it one day soon! Thanks for the inspiration!
I made this the other night, it tasted great but I didn't get the cauliflower right....I think its because I used plain flour rather than whole wheat..The batter was too runny so the coating just pooled at the base of the pieces...Should i change the quantity of flour or should i just go buy some whole wheat flour?
This turns out to be the recipe I didn't know I was missing. ; p Mine turned out much darker because all I had on hand was dark soy so I only used 1/2 the amount but it was so good. In fact, I felt a bit guilty because hubby had to work late and grabbed something on the way home but I couldn't resist telling him what a good dinner he had missed. Is that bad?
Haha! I'm going to say it's okay, because I've done the same thing myself! Glad you liked it. :)
I made this last night and it was delicious!! So sticky and that yummy mix of sweet, salty and savoury. I substituted Gluten Free flour for the wholewheat and also used the gf flour to thicken my sauce - worked out fine ;) Will be making again
Ailsa x
I am definitely going to give this a go in the coming week - it's in the planner.
I used to order an amazing Indo-Chinese sweet and sour cauliflower starter from a much-beloved Indian restaurant in my hometown, which was deep fried and tasted so eerily like chicken that I refused to eat it the first time I ordered it. I have always wanted to mimic that lovely tangy, delicious cauliflower goodness at home without the deep fat fryer. This looks like my chance.
If it works out the first time, I might experiment and test it out using chickpea (gram) flour as I don't keep WW flour around in my student block.
Awesome! I hope you like it as much as I did! I'm thinking chickpea flour will work. I've seen similar recipes in the past that use chickpea flour, and even considered working with it for this recipe, but ended up going with whole wheat, figuring more people would have it on hand. Please let me know how it works if you try it!
This reminds me of a much healthier version of sticky honey and sesame chicken (which I always order for takeout).. definitely need to test out the recipe. Love how delicious and saucy the cauliflower is & that its baked!
Vegan and healthy sticky honey sesame chicken is exactly what I was going for. I hope you get a chance to try it out, and enjoy! :)
This has some bizarro ingredients that do not seem like they'd work together, so of course I'm going to try it. If it tastes as good as it looks, then you're my new hero.
Yeah, getting baked stuff like this to take on a texture similar to fried can require some unusual steps and ingredients. :)
Hope you enjoy it!
I made it they do work! Delicious !
I'm glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Alissa,
Thanks for the recipe, we made your vegan STICKY SESAME CAULIFLOWER creation and enjoyed it.
One modification worth mentioning, we substituted brown rice for Quinoa to add some protein and it worked out great!
Peter
Think Matcha Team
So glad you liked it! Quinoa sounds like a great sub for the rice - I've tried it myself in some similar recipes. Thanks for sharing!