Spicy Orange Cauliflower

It seems like you can’t open a magazine or read a food blog without seeing a variety of cauliflower recipes, from traditional ones to cauliflower rice or cauliflower mashed “potatoes.”

There are many reasons why cauliflower is such a popular vegetable, from its fairly neutral flavor that absorbs sauces to its ability to be either crunchy or creamy or even made into quiche and pizza crust.

In this recipe, I stuck with the more conventional route of baking cauliflower until tender and a little crunchy from the panko breadcrumbs, drizzling it with a spicy orange sauce, and finishing the dish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

There’s no messy deep-frying here. The cauliflower is baked in the oven, and the sauce is ready on the stovetop in under 10 minutes. 

While many recipes for Spicy Orange Cauliflower use flour to coat it, I opted to create a gluten-free version using cauliflower instead. The cauliflower breading combines quickly by mixing cornstarch with water and seasonings and rolling the whole thing in panko breadcrumbs. The result is a tender, creamy interior with a crispy shell. What’s not to love?

You could use regular breadcrumbs, but panko makes for the crunchiest, crispiest cauliflower possible. It’s definitely worth looking for in well-stocked supermarkets or Asian food stores, and gluten-free versions are now widely available as well.

While the cauliflower is baking, you have plenty of time to make the sauce, which could also be made ahead of time and reheated at the last minute. The cauliflower itself is fairly neutral, but it really shines when drizzled with the flavorful mix of fresh orange juice, spicy sriracha, ginger, and garlic and sweetened with caramel-tasting coconut sugar.

Once you are familiar with making this recipe as is, you can then experiment with using freshly grated ginger and garlic or save even more time by trying high-quality store-bought orange juice instead. You can even switch out regular orange juice with other citrus fruits, sweet navel orange, tangerines, mandarins, and more.

Some varieties like blood oranges will be a lot more tart and might require a touch more sugar. Subbing maple syrup for the coconut sugar is another interesting variation you might want to try. Simply put, there’s no reason not to try this recipe simply because you’re missing a couple of ingredients!

While many of my recipes can be made ahead of time and reheated, this one is best made fresh so that the panko coating stays crispy. Still, if you have leftovers, store them in the fridge in a tightly closed container for a sweet and spicy snack any time of day. Or, reheat them in the oven until hot. The sauce goes great with chicken as well, for a non-vegan version.

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