Bang Bang Cauliflower (2024)

Crispy baked cauliflower bites dunked in a creamy sweet and spicy sauce—yes, we are talking Bang Bang Cauliflower! This lightened up (and vegetarian) version of a classic restaurant dish is just as flavorful and so much easier to make than the traditional version.

The versatility of cauliflower is astounding, nowadays you can find recipes for rice, gnocchi, steaks, pizza, cauliflower potato salad, and now crispy-coated bites! We love dunking these crispy bites in the bang bang sauce, and if you’re looking for a vegetarian alternative to chicken nuggets—this cauliflower is it!

Try serving the crispy cauliflower bites with our Smash Burger Sauce, Healthy-ish Russian Dressing, Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce, dill ranch dressing or our Creamy Green Goddess Dressing!

If you’re looking for a cauliflower side dish recipe, then you’ve gotta try our Cauliflower Gratin. It’s the perfect comfort food side dish.

What is Bang Bang Cauliflower?

Bang bang cauliflower is a vegetarian take on a popular shrimp dish comprised of crispy fried shrimp dunked in a creamy sweet and spicy bang bang sauce. Not only is this version vegetarian, but it’s also much healthier because it’s baked instead of fried.

To make something “bang bang” it’s really all about the creamy spicy sauce. The base of our bang bang sauce is mayonnaise which gets mixed with sweet chili sauce, sriracha, vinegar and honey.

Bang bang cauliflower can be eaten as an appetizer dunked in the bang bang sauce. We also like to serve the cauliflower bites in lettuce wraps with cucumber and sliced serranos for a light and healthy meatless meal.

How to Make Bang Bang Cauliflower

The process, start to finish, only takes 45 minutes! To start, cut a large head of cauliflower into bite-sized florets.

Then it’s on to breading. You can either bread the pieces individually (a fun thing to do with a partner or kid in the kitchen) or you can bread the pieces in one whole batch.

Start by tossing the cauliflower pieces in a mixture of flour and cornstarch (cornstarch is key to making a super crisp breading).

Then coat the floured cauliflower pieces in beaten egg to coat. And finally you’ll coat the pieces in a seasoned Panko breadcrumb mixture.

If baking in the oven, arrange the breaded cauliflower pieces on parchment paper and bake at 450ºF until crispy and golden brown, about 25 minutes. To ensure the pieces brown and crisp evenly, flip the pieces and rotate the sheet pans halfway through baking.

If airfrying, arrange the breaded pieces in a single layer in the fryer basket. Cook at 450ºF for about 13 minutes, flipping pieces halfway through.

Whisk up the bang bang sauce by combining mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, sriracha, vinegar, and honey.

How to Make Bang Bang Sauce

Aside from being absolutely addictive, bang bang sauce is so easy to make. All you need for bang bang sauce is good quality mayo (this is our favorite), sweet chili sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar and honey.

FAQs

How to Serve Bang Bang Cauliflower

There are so many ways you can enjoy bang bang cauli! Here are some of our favorite ways:

• Enjoy it like you would popcorn chicken or chicken nuggets and dip them in the bang bang sauce.
• Serve them up in a lettuce wrap with fresh cilantro, slices of serrano and of course a drizzle of bang bang sauce.
• Use them in place of steak or fish in tacos.
• Roll them up into a burrito for a buffalo chicken wrap vibe.

More Cauliflower Recipes to Try

• Our Mexican Cauliflower Rice is the perfect base for our Chicken Fajita Bowls.
• Go meatless for dinner with our Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri.
• Our Cauliflower Potato Salad is a delicious low-carb option to traditional potato salad. Tossed with a quick Caesar Dressing, it’s savory and satisfying.
• Looking for a cozy side dish? This Cauliflower Gratin is just what you need! It’s creamy and cheesy with a deliciously decadent crispy topping.

Watch How to Make It