Bang Bang Broccoli (Vegan) – The Foodie Takes Flight

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This Bang Bang Broccoli is a delicious finger food you won’t be able to get enough of. It’s also great for wraps, noodles or as your starter or snacks. The sauce is great to coat with crispy broccoli or you can choose to keep it separate and use it as a dipping sauce.

Broccoli is best deep-fried for a nice even golden brown and crisp, but it can also be baked and air-fried before being coated in the sauce.

What is Bang Bang Sauce?

It is a creamy mayo-based sweet and spicy sauce made with a blend of mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, and Sriracha. This is not to be confused with Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken! Instead, this recipe is inspired by the bang bang sauce of the American chain Bonefish Grill, which serves a bang bang shrimp—a popular appetizer of fried shrimp in a creamy, sweet, and spicy sauce.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Crispy Broccoli

You’ll find the full printable recipe on the card below!

to beat

• 1.5 cups plain soy milk, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (116 grams)
• 1/2 cup corn starch (70 grams)
• 1 to 1.5 tsp salt, adjust to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha or other hot sauce

to cover

• 1.5 to 2 cups panko or Japanese bread crumbs (112 to 150 grams)
• Test for salt and pepper
• Garlic powder, to taste

Broccoli

• 1 large head of broccoli, makes 500g florets (see note)
• Neutral oil, for frying

For the Bang Bang sauce

Prepare the batter

• Wet Mix: Add vinegar to soy milk or other plant milk. Allow to curdle for at least 5 minutes. It will form a buttermilk like consistency.
• Dry Mix: In a separate bowl, mix together all the other dry ingredients for the batter.
• Pour the vinegar and milk mixture into the dry mixture.
• Mix until there is no sign of dry flour. It will be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. Lumps are fine, so don’t overmix.

Coat the broccoli

• Coat the florets evenly in the batter. You can do this in batches.
• Place each floret from the batter into the breadcrumb mixture. Coat well using one hand (this is to avoid messy hands – I usually use one hand to dry and one hand to wet when coating broccoli).
• Press the bread crumbs into the broccoli. Coat once and set aside.
• Repeat this until all the flowers are coated.

Mix the bang bang sauce

• For the sauce, mix everything in a small bowl. Feel free to adapt to your desired taste.

Cook the broccoli

• See baking or air-frying option below.
• Heat a frying pan or pan with a little oil. Once hot (you can add some bread crumbs to test the heat – it will start to bubble quickly once it’s hot), place the broccoli florets in each batch (don’t crowd the pot) and cook until golden brown, one at a time. Turn it over. Every 2-3 minutes or so on the side.
• When golden brown, set aside in a colander to drain excess oil. Let cool for a few minutes. Cook the remaining florets.

Air-fried/Baked Vs. deep fried

• I personally love deep fried especially if you want to enjoy them as is and use bang bang sauce for dipping. Air-fried/baked ones come out quite dry (even after being sprayed with plenty of oil before cooking) so they need to be coated in plenty of sauce.
• The main difference visually? Deep-fried broccoli is more evenly golden brown while baked/air-fried ones turn out quite pale.

Broccoli Baking

• Preheat your oven to 350F. Line your tray with some parchment paper or a silicone mat. Spray broccoli liberally with oil.
• Bake broccoli for 35-40 minutes or until crisp. Flip halfway through cooking. Note that broccoli won’t turn golden brown compared to deep frying.
• You can coat the florets in bang bang sauce and then let the sauce absorb at 350F for another 8-10 minutes.

Broccoli Air-Frying

• Line your air-fryer basket with some parchment paper or a silicone mat if you have one. Spray broccoli liberally with oil.
• You can cook your broccoli at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned, flipping halfway through cooking. Note that air-fryer settings may vary so you can try your settings and adjust from there.
• You can coat the florets in Bang Bang sauce and then air-fry at 350F for another 7-8 minutes to absorb the sauce.

Enjoy Bang Bang Broccoli

• In a large bowl, coat the roasted broccoli evenly with the sauce. Serve and enjoy immediately.
• Another option is to use Bang Bang sauce for dipping if you plan to keep the broccoli longer and want it to stay crisp longer.

Enjoy!

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