This easy recipe for Black Pepper Cauliflower is a vegan spin on black pepper chicken. Bake the cauliflower, make the sweet and spicy pepper sauce, combine and your meal is ready. Nut-free & glutenfree!
Craving takeout? Make Black Pepper Cauliflower! Ever since General Tso Cauliflower and Cauliflower Wings recipes became viral on social media, we all know that cauliflower is a fantastic veggie to carry all these delicious sweet and sticky sauces we love and usually get delivered from our local takeout favorite.
This recipe for Black Pepper Cauliflower is a new favorite and a vegan spin on black pepper chicken. Bake, make the sauce, combine and yummy! Your meal is ready.
Unlike many other cauliflower recipes, this one does not require frying. We simply toss the cauliflower florets in cornstarch and some spices – freshly ground black pepper obviously being the most important one – then bake them.
While the cauliflower bakes we make our spicy, sticky sauce, then toss everything together.
For the sauce, we rely on the magic sweet-salty combination of soy sauce and maple syrup along with white pepper, ginger and red chili for a bit of heat. You will love the combination of spicy, sweet and salty in this dish.
I like to add some chopped celery stalks for some fresh crunch.
You can serve the Black Pepper Cauliflower as is, or with rice, or as a topping for bowls or as a filling for lettuce wraps. Any way you serve it up will be delicious.
More cauliflower dishes:
Baked Gobi Manchurian; Cauliflower Manchurian
Nashville Hot Cauliflower Bites
Spicy Baked Cauliflower Bites with Celery Ranch.
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Black Pepper Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 3 heaping cups (300 g) cauliflower florets, a small head of cauliflower
For the marinade:
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or use tamari for gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon ketchup
- 2 teaspoons oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch or use tapioca starch
For the sauce:
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ inch ginger minced
- 2 dried red chilies, such as cayenne, or use California red for less heat or use Chinese, Indian or Thai for spicier
- ¼ cup chopped red onion
- ¾ cup chopped celery
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce or use tamari for gluten-free
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon or more freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons cornstarch or use tapioca starch
- ½ cup (120 ml) water
- Green onion and sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Chop up the cauliflower into small to medium size florets and add to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, ketchup, oil, salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Pour the mixture over the cauliflower and toss to coat really well(toss for half a minute). Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cornstarch over the cauliflower and toss again until all the cauliflower florets are coated.
- If there’s any sauce in the bowl then add some more cornstarch. The cauliflower florets should not be wet and also should not have any dry patches of cornstarch.
- Once all the cauliflower florets are evenly coated, transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread them around so they are not touching each other.
- Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for 24-28 minutes. Check at the 24-minute mark if the cauliflower florets are done, otherwise bake for 5 more minutes or so.
- Meanwhile make the sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and once the oil is hot add the garlic, ginger and dried red chilies and stir for a few seconds. Then add in the onion, celery and a good pinch of salt. Mix really well and cook until the onion just starts to turn translucent.
- Then add in the soy sauce, maple syrup, black and white pepper and mix in. Mix the cornstarch in the ½ cup of water. Then pour that mixture into the pan and mix well. Once the sauce comes to a boil and thickens, switch off the heat.
- Take the cauliflower out of the oven and add to the sauce. Toss to coat really well. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds and serve as it is or with rice or quinoa.
- Store refrigerated in a closed container for upto 3 days.This makes a light dinner as is over rice or a side salad. For heartier meal, serve over quinoa or replace half the cauliflower with tofu to make black pepper cauliflower tofu.
Video
Notes
- This recipe is nut-free, gluten-free(with tamari)
- To make it without cornstarch use another starch such as tapioca starch or potato starch.
- Dried red chilies substitute, use ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
- For added heat, break the red chilies into half
- Oilfree: omit from cauliflower, add 1-2 teaspoons aquafaba or broth instead. For the sauce, sauté in 2-3 tablespoon broth and proceed
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- cauliflower florets – a small head of cauliflower makes enough
- the cauliflower is seasoned with soy sauce, ketchup, and oil as well as garlic powder and ground black pepper
- cornstarch helps turn the dry and liquid seasoning ingredients into a breading that coats the cauliflower
- For the sauce we sautee ginger, garlic and chili
- veggies: red onion and celery provide some crunch
- soy sauce and maple syrup are added to achieve that sweet and salty
- black pepper and white pepper are added for heat
- a cornstarch slurry helps thicken the sauce
- garnish: Green onion and sesame seeds
Tips:
- This recipe is nut-free and gluten-free.
- To make it without cornstarch use another starch such as tapioca starch or potato starch.
- If you don’t have dried red chilies, add ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
- for the chilies, you can use California red for less heat or use Chinese, Indian or Thai for spicier
How to make Black Pepper Cauliflower
Chop up the cauliflower into small to medium size florets and add to a large bowl.
In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, ketchup, oil, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Pour the mixture over the cauliflower and toss to coat really well.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cornstarch over the cauliflower and toss again until all the cauliflower florets are coated.
If there’s any sauce in the bowl then add some more cornstarch. The cauliflower florets should not be wet but also should not have any dry patches of cornstarch.
Once all the cauliflower florets are evenly coated, transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread them around so they are not touching each other.
Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for 24- 28 minutes. Check at the 24 minute mark if the cauliflower florets are done, otherwise bake for 5 more minutes or so.
Meanwhile make the sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and once the oil is hot add the garlic, ginger and dried red chilies and stir for a few seconds then add in the onion, celery and a good pinch of salt.
Mix really well and cook until the onion just starts to turn translucent. Then add in the soy sauce, maple syrup, black and white pepper and mix in. Mix the cornstarch in the ½ cup of water. Then pour that mixture into the pan and mix well. Once the sauce comes to a boil, switch off the heat.
Take the cauliflower out of the oven and add to the sauce. Toss to coat really well.
Garnish with some green onion and sesame seeds and serve as it is or with some rice or quinoa for added protein.
This makes a light dinner as is over rice or a side salad. For heartier meal, serve over quinoa or replace half the cauliflower with tofu to make black pepper cauliflower tofu.
Store refrigerated for upto 3 days.
Msmoo
Very tasty, didn’t have fresh chili so used Sriracha sauce, with a little tom paste as I also didn’t have ketchup.would love to know what type/brand of soy sauce you use as mine turned out way darker.
Richa
I think the sriracha and tomato paste added to color. I use low sodium soy sauce whichever I find in the store
Greg
Another big hit with the family Richa! You are such a great cook, and a great teacher as well! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you for your kind comments!
VancouverLover
Fantastico! I did it with half tofu, half cauliflower (but a double batch, using a whole medium sized head of cauliflower) and the esposo went crazy over it… almost as crazy as he went over your butter/chicken-free butter chicken recipe. FWIW, I didn’t have celery on hand while making this recipe so I subbed the thick leaves at the base of cauliflower head, chopped up, plus I didn’t have enough black peppercorns and ended up using black pepper + lots of freshly ground szechuan pepper, and boy was this fabulous. Also, I’ve been using your tip of tearing tofu into chunks rather than chopping it into cube-like shapes and baking it with corn starch/seasonings etc. to get a nice crispy, savoury coating before using it in lots of recipes, and this seems to make tofu even more wondrous for former-omnivores… Thanks for another amazing recipe.
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you for taking the time to comment! Glad you liked it!
Big fan
This is one of my favorite recipes from Vegan Richa! Anytime I see it on her Instagram, I get a craving for the black pepper flavor and I just HAVE to make it again. I’ve tried a few variations, like doubling the recipe with a package of tempeh or half a block of tofu (both turned out amazing). I also subbed store-bought general tso’s sauce when I ran out of soy sauce and it was fantastic.
I have a copy of her cookbook on my shelf and I keep coming back to this recipe, and so many other good ones, again and again. Thanks Richa!!!
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you for making my recipes!
T
This was great! It was so good that it prompted me to leave a review! This is, in fact, my first time leaving a review for a recipe I found online. I have several of yours saved that I just haven’t made yet. As tasty as this one turned out, I’m sure the others will be fabulous. 😉
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Lori
This was really good – just the right amount of pepper and came together fast. I would make a little more sauce next time. Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
awesome!
Carol
I tried this recipe today. At first I thought it would ve a lot of work, but it’s not. It tastes really good, nice and a bit firy because of the peppers obviously. I love it.
Thanks for the recipe.
Vegan Richa Support
yay! thank you!
Linda
Like it, especially with all the piperine. I’ll make again . Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Vegan Richa Support
yay! thank you!
Dero
Absolute recommendation. Another one of my favorite cauliflower-recipes. Especially, because I love freshly ground black pepper. I have to admit I didn’t use celery because I don’t really like cooked celery, but it was still great. 🙂 Thank you for this recipe
Vegan Richa Support
thank you! 🙂
Sonya
I LOVED this recipe! I should have patted my cauliflower dry after washing it— it was pretty wet and I needed to add some extra cornstarch, but that just turned into extra batter, which was nice! So tasty!!
Vegan Richa Support
yay!
Rosanne Ingoglia
I made this tonight for dinner – I doubled the recipe so we could have leftover. It was delicious. I cut back on the pepper due to our preference. We will definitely have this often.
Vegan Richa Support
yay! 🙂
Shelley
This was delish! My favorite of your cauliflower recipes! I see oyster mushrooms on menu’s everywhere now. I wonder if that could be used in a pinch in lieu of the cauliflower?
Vegan Richa Support
Yes!
Lyn Bart
I have to tell you what happened today when I made this. I was so looking forward to it and while the cauliflower was cooling on the counter my husband ate more than half of it raving that it was the best cauliflower he ever had so I didn’t get to finish but will try it again soon!
Vegan Richa Support
haha! glad he enjoyed. your turn!
Kaye
yummy, and yes peppery, but not overdone, really easy meal, will definitely make again
Vegan Richa Support
thank you, kaye!
Ellen Lederman
Loved this. So flavorful. My only tweak was adding some sautéed red bell pepper. So design and easy to make. May double the sauce next time.
Vegan Richa Support
Yum! Sounds great.
Dana Gale
can I use the spice ginger as opposed to fresh ginger? and how much would I use if so?
Vegan Richa Support
I have not tried with ground ginger, but it likely will change the taste a bit. If you choose to use 1 teaspoon can be substituted for fresh.
DanaGale
thanks
Vegan Richa Support
🙂
Claire panella
Hot!but delicious. It was a hit!
Vegan Richa Support
Wonderful!
Blythe
Great recipe, very tasty! I added red bell pepper near the end for color and crunch. Would try to add more corn starch to see if cauliflower could get crisper. I cut celery small to make sure it cooked but then didn’t notice it. Would cut a bit bigger next time so you taste it more. Only added maybe half the black pepper and subbed red pepper flakes for the chiles and that was perfect. Will definitely make again!
Vegan Richa Support
yay! thank you!
Lindy
Very good recipe. Didn’t have white pepper so added pink peppercorns to the sauce, which I really liked.
Vegan Richa Support
Yum!
Valerie
Made this tonight and it was fabulous! Quick easy and flavorful. I didn’t have as much sauce to put on top. I might have tried to thicken it too much, but it still tasted great. Looking forward to lunch tomorrow for the left overs.
Vegan Richa Support
So happy to hear!
Jennifer
Loved this yummy sticky sauce on hearty cauliflower (plus tofu–I used both and was glad to have some extra protein). My husband and I are wimps when it comes to spices so I didn’t use chilis and we decided that next time we’ll cut back the black pepper quite a bit–I think it would still be great with about half or 2/3 the pepper. We put it over quinoa and it was a complete meal. Yum.
Vegan Richa Support
Oh yes, you’ll still get lots of good flavor even without the full amount of black pepper. Glad you enjoy the recipe!
Maneesha
So amazing! Delicious and so quick to make! I air fried the cauliflower atb380F for 10 mins – then added the cauliflower to the sauce – so good!
Vegan Richa Support
Hooray! Glad you enjoy, Maneesha.
Joan
So flavorful! We enjoyed this recipe very much, thank you. Will definitely be making this one again : )
Vegan Richa Support
Wonderful, Joan!
Shawna
This was so tasty and satisfying. I will definitely make it again. I don’t know what may have gone wrong during the marinade stage but I was left with small pockets of dry cornstarch after baking so the texture was a bit off. Maybe sifting the cornstarch or using a ziploc to apply the marinade and cornstarch will work?
Richa
Toss really well and if there’s more cornstarch dust stuck here and there, sprinkle some water and toss again. You can also mix the cornstarch into the sauces and then cost the cauliflower to avoid the dry patches
Diana
Delicious! Next time I will try tofu cauliflower mix as suggested. Thank you.
Vegan Richa Support
Glad you enjoy. 🙂
Sita
This was delicious! I will double the recipe next time. It felt like my husband and I were out to dinner only the food was so much healthier. Thank you Richa.
Richa
Yay
PB
This recipe looks amazing! Absolutely love your recipes! I am wondering if I can substitute cauliflower with fresh ( not canned ) baby corn as I have that in stock. If so, would the baking temps and times need to be adjusted? Thank you in advance!
Vegan Richa Support
This recipe has not been tested with baby corn.