Are you eating Chinese food? making Common Tso Cauliflower Easy and healthy at home! This simple simple Tso cauliflower recipe is gluten-free, oil-free and paired with broccoli and oil-free fried rice.
Unfortunately, eating at a Chinese restaurant and finding a vegan-friendly Chinese restaurant is challenging. Although I love Chinese food, I have learned that it is healthier to make Chinese food at home than to eat out. One of my favorite foods before transitioning to a plant-based diet was General So Chicken. So, I created a simple Tso Cauliflower recipe that my family loves! This General Tiso Cauliflower is not only easy to make, it also requires very few ingredients.
Jump:
Since my kids love fried rice, I decided to serve it up and serve a pile of roasted broccoli. I always try to get as many vegetables as possible on a plate. So let’s say there were no leftovers for lunch today.
Recipe ingredients
- Cauliflower: Cauliflower is a great meat substitute. It’s like a sponge when it comes to absorbing flavors and sauces.
- Flour: I used gram flour. I love how textured. But any flour will work.
- Water: Water is used to create a pancake batter texture
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder adds some flavor to the dough.
- Onion Powder: I prefer onion powder with garlic powder because of its flavor profile.
- Paprika: This red pepper spice has a subtle earthiness and a sweet and peppery flavor.
Substituting recipe ingredients
- Any flour works well with this recipe. However, if using regular flour, you may need to add water to get the right texture in a flour-based batter.
- Smoked paprika gives cauliflower a deeper smoky flavor.
- Unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk or aquafaba can be used instead of water or creamier batter.
The flour-based batter for General Tiso Cauliflower is similar to pancake batter and easy to prepare.
Whisk the batter ingredients and keep aside. Once smooth, dip each cauliflower floret into the batter.
Then, bake the dipped cauliflower in the oven while you make the sauce. Or, air-fry the cauliflower for half the time at the same temperature as indicated in the recipe.
sauce ingredients
With only 5 ingredients, the sauce takes minutes to make in a small saucepan. All you need is the following:
- Soy sauce or tamari: Use tamari as a gluten-free alternative. Or choose a low-salt version of soy sauce if you’re watching your sodium intake.
- Maple syrup: Maple syrup naturally sweetens the sauce and provides a thickening agent.
- Rice vinegar: This sweet, mild vinegar pairs perfectly with these ingredients.
- Chilli: Chilli paste adds mild spice to the sauce.
- Arrowroot powder: Arrowroot powder thickens the sauce as it heats in the pan.
Substitute sauce ingredients
- Although I use arrowroot powder, cornstarch works just as well.
- Often, if I don’t have maple syrup, I use date syrup as a substitute. Agave works as well.
- White wine vinegar tastes similar to rice wine vinegar.
In minutes, the five ingredients become thick, sticky and perfect for coating baked cauliflower.
Once the cauliflower is tossed in the sauce, it cooks for another 10 minutes, which is about how long it takes to make fried rice.
Back in the day I used to use a rice cooker To prepare 4 cups of brown rice, to be ready when I’m ready to make the fried rice. But I cooled the rice first because that’s the secret to perfect fried rice.
First fry the onion, garlic and a frozen bag of peas and carrots in a pan. Then, add cooked brown rice and a few other ingredients and you have fried rice.
Next, I roasted some broccoli while the cauliflower cooked a second time in the sauce. Roasting broccoli is easy with my favorite crisper pan And it only takes 20 minutes.
Now, serve this Chinese masterpiece to your hungry crew. I garnished it with chopped green onions and black sesame seeds.
Recipe FAQs
It is sweet, sour and spicy at the same time.
Veggie Chow Mein, Tofu Chow Mein, Steamed Rice, Vegetable Fried Rice. Just make sure not to request egg or fish sauce.
A serving of General Tiso Cauliflower has only 357 calories.
advice
- Prepare the dough and refrigerate until ready to use. Refrigeration can thicken the dough. If it is too thick, add more water and whisk before dipping.
- Choose the air frying option to cook the cauliflower faster.
- Use silicone baking mats or parchment paper for oilless baking or air frying.
- Prepare the sauce in advance for an easy time saver.
- When making fried rice, cook and refrigerate the rice for best results. This is the key to avoid soggy rice.
- You can use a bottle of General Tso’s sauce instead of making your own.
The next time you’re craving Chinese food, try this simple Tiso Cauliflower recipe!
Other recommended Asian recipes
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📖 Recipe
Common Tso Cauliflower
Thirsty for Chinese food? Making simple Tso Cauliflower at home is easy and healthy! This easy recipe is gluten-free and oil-free and paired with broccoli and oil-free fried rice.
material
Rice and broccoli (optional)
instructions
cauliflower
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Remove the root from the cauliflower and cut into even bite-sized florets.
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In a large bowl, add flour and remaining ingredients.
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whisk together.
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The batter should be like pancake batter.
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Add more water if too thick (varies depending on type of dough chosen)
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Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
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Dip each cauliflower floret separately, centimeter apart on the baking sheet.
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Cook for 20 minutes.
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While the cauliflower is baking, prepare the sauce.
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Remove the cauliflower from the oven.
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Place bread and baked cauliflower in a bowl.
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Pour the sauce over the florets and toss gently.
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Place the saucy florets on top of the pan and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
Air fry cooking option
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Preheat air-fryer to 375
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Follow the same instructions as above.
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Place a single layer of battered cauliflower in the base of the air fryer.
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Air fry for 12 minutes
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Remove the pieces from the air fryer
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Toss in the sauce and place the pieces in the air-fryer
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Cook for another 3 minutes.
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I recommend cooking all the cauliflower in batches before tossing it in the sauce to cook again for a few minutes.
General Tiso Sauce
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Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
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Whisk all ingredients together.
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Heat over medium-low heat.
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The sauce will thicken as it heats.
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Now prepare the rice.
rice (optional)
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Make 1 recipe for oil-free fried rice.
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Broccoli
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Place broccoli florets in a baking pan or crisper pan.
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Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Bake in the same oven with the cauliflower for 10 minutes.
bhajana
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Place ½ cup of rice in the center of each bowl.
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Add plain Tso cauliflower and broccoli.
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Garnish with chopped scallions and black sesame seeds.
Comment
- Air-fry the cauliflower instead of baking it for a quick version.
- I used chickpea flour, but any flour works. You may need to add extra water if using regular flour.
- Preheating the air-fryer helps the cauliflower cook more evenly.
- Remember, when air-frying, cooking in batches, the first batch takes longer than subsequent batches.
- As a shortcut, use your favorite General Tso’s bottled sauce.
- I prefer to use a silicone baking mat as opposed to parchment paper, but dry for oil-free cooking.
- If you don’t have arrowroot powder, substitute corn starch.
- When making the sauce, the arrowroot powder thickens the sauce as it heats in the pan.
nutrition
Calories: 218kcalSugars: 47gProtein: 9gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fats: 0.3gMonounsaturated fats: 0.2gSodium: 611mgPotassium: 714mgFiber: 7gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 777IUVitamin C: 140mgCalcium: 110mgIron: 2mg
Oh! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher and vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is completely plant-based vegan. I truly believe that what we eat and how we live determines our health and the preservation of our planet! 🙂