Oh hey. Let’s stuff our faces with General Tso’s Cauliflower and pretend it’s normal. K? Yes? We doin this?
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Yum!!! These were absolutely delicious! I tricked my son into thinking they were chicken. May try baking as a healthier version next time
Okay, maybe I’m out of line. I admit to the food-blogger cauliflower-loving weirdness today.
But guys. BE RATIONAL for two seconds, puhhlease. Obviously weird and delicious are not mutually exclusive, which means PARTY IN YOUR MOUTH! With General Tso’s Cauliflower!
I mean, think about what this recipe means. It means you’re going to fry up some golden brown fried bits of cauliflower and coat them in a luscious sweet and savory sauce. Ummmmright? It is the definition of BOTH weird and delicious. Weirdlicious? No. I’m sorry. We crossed a line there.
Just delete everything except the part about the delicious party in your mouth. THAT is THIS.
HOW TO MAKE OUR GENERAL TSO’S CAULIFLOWER (1 MIN):
Here’s the deal with this recipe. You’re probably not going to make it tonight because it’s a Monday and is it just me or are Mondays always a circus? So listen to me: don’t try to make it tonight. Is that un-helpful? Just… I feel like we’re the same on this.
This recipe was not created for the Mondays of the world, unless it would involve a restaurant or a takeout box or something that wasn’t YOU in your kitchen frying a battered-up batch of cauliflower florets while simmering a made-from-scratch sauce on the side. I’m having a vision of you doing this post-work, and going to the grocery store at 5pm and finally sitting down to eat this at 10pm after sweating it out for a few hours over a hot pot of oil and then facing an epic clean up situation, and truthfully, it is all kinds of wrong. (yum tho)
So no, not for Mondays. Life gives us enough on Mondays.
BUT.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a time and a place. As of last week, there is *always* a time and a place in my life for that saucy meets crunchy meets sticky General Tso’s Cauliflower. Like, always, as often as possible, yes more please.
This recipe was made for those nights when you have a little more time (think, like, Wednesday. Wednesdays are just nicer, aren’t they?), and you maybe already have a stocked kitchen, and you’re excited to try something new, and you are feeling little more ambitious than the usual MUST GET SUSHI IN MOUTH ASAP kinda thing.*
*To concerned parties: I really do eat food besides takeout sushi. Such as the most delicious ever homemade fried cauliflower coated with a savory sweet General Tso’s sauce because General Tso’s Cauliflower would be a totally regular thing to make for dinner. Totally. At this point these items are making up 90% of my life, so yes, I’m eating super well. Don’t be concerned.
Friends.
If you like meatless.
If you like Asian-y flavors.
If you like your life to be a little quirky.
Find a way to make yourself some General Tso’s Cauliflower, because obviously. Life’s way too short to not.
General Tso’s Cauliflower
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
General Tso’s Cauliflower – golden brown crispy fried cauliflower tossed in a made-from-scratch savory-sweet sauce. Awesome vegetarian / meatless recipe.
Ingredients
For the General Tso’s Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 knob of ginger, grated
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar (more to taste)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1-2 tablespoons of cold water
For the Batter:
- 1 cup flour
- 2/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 eggs
- water as needed (about 1/2 cup)
Other Ingredients:
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
- a deep layer of oil for frying
- scallions and sesame seeds for topping
Instructions
- General Tso’s Sauce: Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry for a minute or two. Add remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Bring to a low boil; simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Add more sweetness, citrus, etc. to your taste.
- Cauliflower Batter: Whisk all the batter ingredients until a loose batter forms. The batter should be thick enough to cling to the cauliflower and cover it but stay loose enough to easily drip off (adjust thickness with water).
- Cauliflower Frying: Pour oil into a heavy bottomed skillet to make it deep enough so it will cover the cauliflower about halfway (probably ends up being a few cups). Heat the oil over medium heat. Drop a small bit of batter in the oil to test it – when it rises to the top and bubbles, the oil is ready. Dip cauliflower florets in the batter and let the excess drip off before gently setting in the oil. Fry for a few minutes on each side, then flip, repeating sides several times if necessary until you get a nice golden brown fried exterior. The additional frying time helps make it a little crunchier, which I very much like. 🙂 Remove and set on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath (again, rather than putting it all on a plate or bowl with paper towels, this keeps it crispy vs. soggy).
- Serving: Toss the fried cauliflower with the sauce (enough just to cover) and sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds for serving. Serve with rice.
Notes
We tried this with sautéed (not battered and fried) cauliflower and it worked but wasn’t nearly as good.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: general tso’s cauliflower, fried cauliflower, asian cauliflower recipe
This recipe inspired and advised by this article, this recipe, and the General Tso’s Chicken in this cookbook.
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Made it, Way too much soy. 1/2 cup of soy was dominant.
Hi—I did try this recipe, and it was very good. The only thing was that the cauliflower turned out soft, but ok. But wondering if I can air fry instead of oil and fry??
Thx for your help!!
Hi! We haven’t tested this in the air fryer.
Love tso’s Anything!
Let’s Cauliflowervin my fridge- so this is dinner!
Yay!- Thanks
Looks amazing but there does not appear to be a spice to create the heat in traditional General Tsao’s sauce. What can you add to give this a little heat?
I’d do some sriracha or red pepper flakes!
I made this on a Monday. Just saying
This General Tso’s recipe is amazing. I prepared the dish last night and it was a big hit with my husband. We both really enjoyed it. I made only a few small changes because we a vegan. Instead of using eggs I used the plant egg Just Egg. And instead of deep frying I used my air fryer. Everything turned out wonderful. This recipe will be a regular in our home. Thanks for great tasting recipe.
Did you try this in an air fryer?
Wonder if it will get as crispy..
Also, i didn’t know about cooling on wire rack and that putting it on a paper towel covered plate will make it soggy.
Thank you!
We haven’t tried this in the air fryer yet, but I’m thinking the texture would be a bit different (not as crispy).
The soya sauce made this waaay too salty. I dont know if it was supposed to taste like that or if it was a mistake on my end! Consistency was perfect, though.
Good recipe. Very well written and easy to follow. The cauliflower was perfectly cooked and the batter was tasty. The tomato paste was a bit overpowering in the final sauce but we enjoyed it.
Hi! Excited to try this recipe, but wondering if you can use an air fryer instead of deep fryer?
We haven’t tested this recipe in the air fryer, but we think it’s worth a try! We’d love to hear back if you give it a go!
This is hands down my “go to” recipe for years. I just wanted to post a formal thank you!
We appreciate the comment, Michael! So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe!
I have never made Chinese food before! I’m not too familiar with that kind of seasoning. I don’t understand where the “heat” , spicy comes from. I thought for sure I would see red pepper flakes added in the oil.
That is a great point, Christy. I don’t see any spicy ingredients either. We may need to update the description. Thanks!
How would you recommend making this recipe vegan? Flax egg? No egg?
We haven’t tested a vegan version of this recipe, so we can’t say for sure what would work. We think trying a flax egg would be a good start!
I’ve made this recipe twice already. I doubled the sauce recipe, because we like extra. I also made it gluten free and it turned out great!
Thanks!
So happy to hear that Brini! Thanks for the comment!
I made this last weekend and it turned out great except my sauce was soooo sour and not like the general tso sauce I’m used to. Do you know where I could’ve went wrong?
Hm, not sure! You could reduce the rice vinegar by a bit next time.
cannot wait to try this!!!! what do you use to sweeten? Orange? Molasses? tangerine?
There’s 1/4 cup of sugar here that will sweeten the dish. 🙂
The fried cauliflower was amazing on its own but the sauce was super salty- to a point where it ruined the whole thing for me. Would recommend using way less soy sauce or a recipe for another general tso sauce!
Just made this … ahh-mazing! I tweaked the recipe a little to suit my preferences: I used monk fruit instead of regular sugar, gluten free flour and added lil turmeric to the batter, friend in coconut oil. Delicious!
Yum! Sounds delish!
Well there is no way to edit a review so I will just say if you reheat this it tastes pretty good.
Thanks for sharing, Rich!
I was going to revise my negative review of this dish but it has mysteriously disappeared from this place so I will not change it until it comes back.
The general Tso’s cauliflower is good when it is fresh but once it has cooled down it is soft and chewy. I had to throw away 90% of what I spent over an hour preparing. I will never make it again.
So sorry to hear this, Richard. 😕 Thanks for sharing this feedback with us!
This was so delicious! I have never deep fried on my own before but it was really surprisingly easy. I didn’t have chicken or vegetable stock so I just used water and when I taste tested the sauce I felt like it needed a little bit of spice so I added some gochujang hot sauce I had on hand and it was perfect. I have made buffalo cauliflower “wings” before but they were baked in the oven and honestly just not nearly as good as these were. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
So glad you enjoyed this, Morgan!
Would this recipe work if I wanted to bake it?
We haven’t tried baking this yet, but other readers have done it with luck!
I didn’t realize that I didn’t have any cauliflower until I had everything else mixed up so I used broccoli and it tastes amazing
Glad to hear it!
It’s legit!!!! Kids loved it. Well one kid and myself…lol. My extra extra carnivorous Daugther though it was chicken at first grab. Couldn’t even get the sauce on the cauliflower before she sampled. But afterwards she tried the sauce too and was lovin it. But even beyond taste it looked great, especially after you add the sesame and scallions. We have a request for a repeat dinner! Thank you!
Yay! So happy to hear this, Jason! 🎉