Our Orange Cauliflower recipe is a fantastic vegan version of the traditional Chinese takeout dish, "Orange Chicken." These crunchy cauliflower bites, made in the air fryer or oven, are coated with a delicious Chinese-style orange sauce and served on steamed rice. Do you have a better plan?

What is Orange Cauliflower?
Our Asian-style Orange Cauliflower is a vegan and healthier alternative to the classic Asian Orange Chicken dish. We bread and bake the cauliflower so it's really crunchy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside.
The orange sauce is just amazing. Sweet, tangy and packed full of flavour from the fresh orange juice. We use a good amount of orange juice and then reduce the sauce to pack in the flavour.
This recipe is a great choice for when you are craving take-out food on a weekday. Making it at home is a healthier and cheaper option, and it doesn't take long to cook. While the cauliflower is baking in the oven or cooking in the air-fryer, you can prepare the rice and sauce.
Our Orange Cauliflower recipe is:
- Vegan
- Healthier than the traditional recipe
- Family-friendly
- Takeout-style food
- Chinese
- Umami-packed
- Can be made gluten-free

How to make the best Vegan Orange Cauliflower recipe
Crunchy Cauliflower
Ingredients
Cauliflower. For this recipe, we use half of a cauliflower head cut into florets. We prefer to break the cauliflower into florets using our hands as it makes nicer bites. To make this Asian-style recipe, you will need bite-sized florets. If the florets are too small, they will cook too fast and will soak up too much batter.
Flour. You can use all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, or gluten-free flour such as rice flour or chickpea flour for a gluten-free version of the dish.
Spices. To give some extra flavour to our coating, we use cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. This will make the batter tastier and give your cauliflower florets a deeper flavour. You can add other spices such as garlic powder or five-spice powder.
Plant-based milk. To prepare the batter, we use plant-based milk with no added sugars. Our favourite is soy milk as it doesn't overpower the taste of the batter.
Breadcrumbs. You can use homemade or bought breadcrumbs. We use a local brand but if you can easily find panko bread crumbs, they are perfect to bread your cauliflower nuggets. Other options are coconut flakes or gluten-free breadcrumbs.

Method
- Add the flour, spices, and plant-based milk to a large bowl. Combine well until you have a perfectly smooth batter with no lumps.
- Break the cauliflower into florets, add to the batter, mix well, and ensure they are all completely coated.
- Add the bread crumbs to a bowl and using your hands, bread each battered cauliflower piece by dipping it into the breadcrumbs and place on a baking tray.
- To cook the cauliflower bites perfectly so they come out crunchy outside but still moist inside, you can oven-bake or air-fry the florets. If you are using an air fryer, you may need to make two or three batches so you don't overcrowd the basket. With a brush, add some oil to the florets, set the air-fryer to 180C (350F), and air-fry for 16 minutes. We use the Ninja Air Fryer and we truly love it. If you are using the oven, use parchment paper or a baking sheet and leave some space between each floret to ensure they all get extra crispy. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and bake for about 30 minutes.

Sticky Orange Sauce
While the cauliflower is cooking, you can get the sauce ready. For our Asian-style orange cauliflower, we make a thick and sticky sauce with an in-depth flavour.
Ingredients
Orange Juice. To make a delicious orange sauce, you will need to get good quality and juicy oranges. Make sure to use organic oranges to prepare this recipe. As we are using the orange zest for this dish, we strongly recommend using organic products. Otherwise, the sauce could come out a bit bitter.
Garlic and ginger. These are basic ingredients when cooking an Asian-style dish. You can use them finely chopped or pressed. If you are making this dish for kids, you may want to reduce the amount of ginger or simply skip this ingredient.
Sesame oil. We love the flavour that this ingredient adds to the dish. You can as well use another type of vegetable oil such as olive oil or coconut oil.
Soy sauce. We use regular soy sauce but you can use tamari for a gluten-free option.
Rice vinegar. Rice vinegar enhances the flavour of the sauce but if you don't have this ingredient you can skip it.
Turmeric powder. We add turmeric to every recipe we can and orange cauliflower really calls for it!
Sweetener. For this recipe, we use brown sugar but you can use maple syrup, agave, monk fruit or your favourite sweetener.

Method
- Heat some sesame oil in a pan over medium heat and add garlic and ginger paste. For this part, we use our garlic and ginger presser. You can finely chop them instead, but we find that you get more flavour from the paste. After cooking for 1-2 minutes, add the turmeric powder and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add freshly squeezed orange juice, vegetable stock or water, orange zest, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer and leave simmering for 4-5 minutes.
- Dilute the cornstarch in lukewarm water. Add the diluted cornstarch to the simmering sauce and mix well until it thickens. Cook for 5 more minutes and turn the heat off. If you like your orange sauce thicker you can always add some more cornstarch. We like to have enough sauce to coat all the cauliflower florets and some extra sauce to serve on top of the rice so our recipe makes a good amount of sauce.
- When the cauliflower is ready, add to the pan with the sauce and combine well so all the cauliflower florets are coated with the orange sauce

Serving suggestions
This delicious sweet and tangy cauliflower dish pairs perfectly with steamed rice or fried rice. We love adding some sesame seeds before serving and some greens such as green onions, coriander or parsley.
Vegan Orange Cauliflower is a main dish but it can be served as well as an appetizer or a side dish. Another great alternative to this dish if you are not a big fan of cauliflower is this Crispy Orange Tofu from From My Bowl.
If you like a little spice, you could add chili flakes when cooking the garlic and ginger, or use spicy sesame oil instead of regular sesame oil.
This recipe is best eaten right after cooking it, the sauce will stay perfect and the cauliflower crunchy but if you have any leftovers, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheated in the microwave or pan before serving.
If you want to get inspired with more cauliflower recipes, you should check out this Indo-Chinese Gobi Manchurian recipe or our famous Bang Bang Cauliflower

FAQ & Tips
- Can I make this recipe gluten-free? Yes. To make the breaded cauliflower, use gluten-free flour and gluten-free breadcrumbs. Another option is to simply bake the cauliflower florets without the breading. The sauce can be made gluten-free by using tamari instead of soy sauce. If you are using stock, make sure is gluten-free as well.
- To make the sauce, use good quality organic oranges to avoid a bitter taste. The best thing is to make this dish when oranges are in season.
- To make it more kid-friendly, reduce the amount of ginger or skip it entirely.
- For best results, use medium-size florets, if the florets are too small they will cook too fast and will soak up too much batter.
- Can I use frozen cauliflower to make this Sticky Orange Cauliflower? Yes. Thaw the frozen cauliflower completely and dry any excess water with a paper towel before using.
- Can this recipe be made ahead? Yes, you can prepare this air-fried or baked orange cauliflower ahead. You can bread the cauliflower florets and make the sauce and store them separately. We recommend baking the cauliflower before serving the dish as it won't be crunchy otherwise.

Orange Cauliflower
Ingredients
Cauliflower Bites
- ½ cauliflower head around 500 g
- 1 cup flour whole-wheat or regular
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ¾ cup plant-based milk unsweetened
- 2 cups fine bread crumbs
Sticky Orange Sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes optional for spiciness
- 1 ½ cup fresh orange juice
- 1 cup water or vegetable stock
- Orange zest from one orange
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoon water
Instructions
Crunchy Cauliflower
- Add the flour, spices, and plant-based milk to a big bowl. Combine well until you have a perfectly smooth batter with no lumps.
- Break the cauliflower into florets, add to the batter, mix well, and ensure they are all completely coated.
- Add the bread crumbs to a bowl and using your hands, bread each floret by dipping it into the breadcrumbs and place on a baking tray or air-fryer basket.
- To cook the cauliflower bites perfectly you can oven-bake or air-fry the florets. If you are using an air-fryer, you may need to make two or three batches so you don't overcrowd the basket. With a brush, add some oil to the florets, set the air-fryer to 180C (350F), and air-fry for 16 minutes. If you are using the oven, leave some space between each floret to ensure they all get extra crispy. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and bake for about 30 minutes.
Orange Sauce
- Heat some sesame oil in a pan over medium heat and add garlic and ginger paste. After cooking for 1-2 minutes, add the turmeric powder and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add freshly squeezed orange juice, vegetable stock or water, orange zest, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer and leave simmering for 4-5 minutes.
- Dilute the cornstarch in lukewarm water. Add the diluted cornstarch to the simmering sauce and mix well until it thickens. Cook for 5 more minutes and turn the heat off.
- When the cauliflower is ready, add to the pan with the sauce and combine well so all the cauliflower florets are coated with the orange sauce.
- Sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve.
Notes
- Serve with steamed rice, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped spring onions.
- If you like your orange sauce thicker you can always add some more diluted cornstarch or cook it for longer to reduce the sauce
Nutrition
If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations! |
Deborah Verity-Gaucher says
I would like to share this, but I don’t think people trying to get dinner made want to do conversion to Fahrenheit. Worse, they may try to bake it at Celsius on Fahrenheit ovens. Just letting you know so you can improve your site.
Laura says
We will add Fahrenheit temperature, thanks for the advice!
Marta Miklas says
Made it today and its was absolutely fantastic..... I like all the food but cauliflower is one of my favourite so always looking for new recipes and I have to say this one didn't dissapoint..... Easy to make with ingredients you always have in your home..... Would definitely recommend for anyone to try ?
Laura says
Thank you Marta, so glad you liked the recipe!
Danielle says
I really want to make this but we can’t have soy sauce due to soy allergy (also gluten free, and vegan)
I’m wondering if it will still be tasty without it or if there is an alternative that is without the allergens listen above
Laura says
Hi Danielle, you could substitute the soy sauce for different products such as shiitake mushroom stock, coconut aminos or miso paste (gluten-free one). I hope it works for you and you can make this yummy recipe!