This Bang Bang Cauliflower recipe is sponsored by Hello Fresh, but all the opinions are my own.
A vegetarian dinner (where you won't miss the meat) that everyone enjoys? Yep, this is it! With enough spice (and it's easy to add more), a delicious crunchy texture on the cauliflower, Bang Bang Cauliflower with rice and veggies is the best way to get your 5 a day in. Ready in 35 minutes and packed full of flavour, it's set to become your favourite vegetarian dinner.
What is bang bang cauliflower?
Based on the Chinese dish bang bang chicken, bang bang cauliflower combines chilli and crumbing to make a delicious dinner the whole family will love. Baked instead of fried, this is a healthier, vegetarian dinner with loads of flavour.
Why you're going to love this recipe
Ok: confession time- we get Hello Fresh. Mainly in the school holidays to remove some of the mental load. The kids love the recipes and they choose them, and then they cook them. This was one of our favourites the last time we ordered it. I love the convenience of dinner for the week arriving with no need to think, go to the shops or plan!
- easy to make with no dredging for crumbing
- fresh and delicious flavours
- easy to add extra spice
- crunchy cauliflower
- loads of veggies
- rice with flavour
What goes into the recipe
don't forget to scroll to the recipe card for amounts and method
- cauliflower- the cauliflower is the star if the show in this recipe!
- jasmine rice- jasmine rice is packed full of flavour and works really well with asian dishes like this one. It also cooks really well using the absorbption methos, meaning it cooks after removing it from the stove, without any additional heat.
- veggies- carrots, cucumber and baby spinach all work to add to the veggies content of this dish!
- sauces- sweet chilli sauce, mayonnaise, soy sauce and also rice wine vinegar are needed to make this recipe amazing.
- panko crumbs- panko crumbs are what make the cauliflower super crispy and crunchy- they are one of our favourite types of crumbs to use! You can also try them in other ways such as these chicken nuggets.
How to make this recipe
- First floret the cauliflower. (Image 1)
- Thinly slice the cucumber. (Image 2)
- Slice the acrrot into half moons (don't worry about peeling). (Image 3)
- Slice the spring onions, separating the firmer white part and the green part (Image 4).
- Roughly chop the spinach. (Image 5)
- Combine olive oil, panko crumbs and salt in a large bowl, mix well. (Image 6)
- Add the sweet chilli and mayonnaise to a large bowl and mix well. (Image 7)
- Add the cauliflower and coat in the mayonnaise mixture. (Image 8)
- Toss the coated cauliflower in the panko crumbs, coating completly, then place on a lined oven tray and bake at 180 degrees celsius for 35 minutes. (Images9-10).
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan with the garlic, melt and lightly fry the garlic. (Image 11)
- Add the jasmine rice and water, bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes on low heat with a lid on it. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes- it will continue to absorb the liquid and cook- try not to peek! (Image 12)
- when you take the rice off the heat, heat some olive oil in a large frypan and gently fry the carrots until softened. (Image 13)
- Add the chopped spinach and the white parts of the spring onions and cook 1-2 minutes. (Image 14)
- Add the soy sauce and stir through the veggies. (Image 15)
- Mix the remaining mayo and sweet chilli together in a bowl, (add extra chilli flakes if you want this sauce to be hot. (Image 16)
- Plate up! Pop some rice in the bottom of each bowl, followed by some cucumber and the cooked veggies, and top with the cauliflower. Sprinkle with the green sprin onions and drizzle with the mayonnaise sauce.
Expert Tips and FAQs
Traditionally this recipe is made with chicken and the name Bang Bang (棒棒雞) came from the noise the cleaver made whilst chopping the chicken and because of the noise made when tenderising the chicken by beating. This Cauliflower version has the same name as it is crumbed cauliflower, served with a spicy mayonnaise sauce.
This is a family friendly version of the dish- if you want to make it hotter- you can add dried chilli flakes to the mayonnaise mix used for coating the cauliflower as well as to the sauce. Don't forget to taste as you go- we don't want to turn it into Burn Burn Cauliflower.
Yes, and if your airfryer is big enough it will cut a fair bit of time off the recipe.
Hello Fresh
We love getting Hello Fresh. It makes for a break from the same old family meals and also means we can try new things, without needing to go out and buy thousands of ingredients. The convenience is fantastic, and knowing that everything is in the box, fresh and ready to go makes for a stress free week.
This Bang Bang Cauliflower Recipe was one of our favourites when we got a box recently, and is one of many recipes that we enjoyed. They have loads of vegetarian family friendly recipes, and I find that really helps us to consume less red meat- because the guesswork is done for us!
More Vegetarian Recipes
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Bang Bang Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 500 grams cauliflower
- 2 carrots
- 2 cucumbers
- 200 grams baby spinach
- 4 spring onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- 200 grams mayonnaise
- 200 grams sweet chilli sauce
- 1.5 cups jasmine rice
- 40 grams butter
- 2 tsps rice wine vinegar
- 4 tsps soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt (half for the crumb, half for the rice)
- 3 tbsps olive oil
- 2.5 cups water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200º degrees celsius (392F)
- Thinly slice the cucumbers, chop the cauliflower into florets, cut the carrots (don't bother peeling) into half moons, slice the spring onions (separating the whites and greens) and roughly chop the baby spinach.
- Mix ½ of the sweet chilli and ½ of the mayonnaise together in a bowl.
- Coat the cauliflower in the mixture.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt to the panko crumbs and mix well.
- Coat the cauliflower in the panko crumbs and place on a lined oven tray, bake at 200 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.
- Add the butter and 1 tablespoon oil to a medium saucepan and melt. Add the rice and coat in the mixture. Add the water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes with a lid on.
- Remove from the heat and allow to absorb for 10 minutes.
- When you remove the rice from the heat, drop the carrots into a fry pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Fry 3-4 minutes, then add the spinach, white parts of the spring onions and soy sauce. Cook until the spinach has wilted.
- Mix the remaining sweet chilli with mayonnaise and rice wine vinegar.
- Put your bowls together!First, a layer of riceNext a layer of the stir fried veggies and sliced cucumber.Then the cauliflower, Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle over the green spring onions.
Audrey says
I love veggie heavy recipes. This recipe was perfect.