Plant-Based Fried Cauliflower is an oil-free vegan dish that mimics the taste and texture of fried food, without the frying part. It’s a sweet and spicy spin on cauliflower.
I’m calling this recipe Plant-Based “Fried” Cauliflower. Fried is in quotes because we won’t actually be frying anything. It seems pretty obvious that fried food isn’t at all good for you.
When you fry food, you submerge it in oil. The food will absorb a lot of that oil, adding TONS of fat and calories. Even if you used a “healthy” oil, you still would add so many calories that the food would probably be pretty bad for you.
This is not to say that high-calorie foods are all bad. I’m just generalizing.
I’ve written about oil before, so I won’t go too in depth here, but even “healthy” oils aren’t actually good for you. Hopefully you know to avoid ultra-processed oils like canola and vegetable oil. Those definitely aren’t good for you.
But even oils like olive oil and avocado oil are still VERY processed. Think about it: you start with olives and then press and press and press until somehow you end up with an oil. This is a lot of processing, stripping the olives of any nutrients they had.
The data may be inconclusive about the overall affect of “healthy” oils, but even if you just think about it from a ‘how much is my food processed?’ standpoint, oils should be minimized.
Hence, we’re making oil-free fried cauliflower today. We can all agree that even if it’s not healthy, fried food still tastes good. So the goal of this recipe is to minimize the unhealthy parts of frying (aka oil), but maximize the amazing parts of fried food (aka FLAVOR).
Let’s do it!
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Step 2. Trim the cauliflower and place on the baking sheet.
Step 3. Mix the vegetable stock, sriracha, garlic, ketchup, spices, salt, and pepper.
Step 4. Brush half the mixture on the cauliflower. Roast for 40-50 minutes, then brush the remaining mixture on. Roast for another 10 minutes.
Step 5. Cut into wedges and sprinkle with chopped scallions.
Preparation: If you want to whip up the sauce before you make the cauliflower, you should be able to store the sauce in the fridge until you are ready to use.
Storage: After you cook the cauliflower, you can store it in the fridge to eat as leftovers. If desired, you can chop the head of cauliflower into florets for easier storage.
Thank you God for vegetables that are flavorful and healthy. Help us enjoy the food we eat and use it to nourish our bodies.
Looking for other delicious plant-based veggies? Try some of my favorites:
Please leave a review in the comments section below. You can also stay in touch with me on social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok or by subscribing to my newsletter.
Plant-Based Fried Cauliflower is an oil-free vegan dish that mimics the taste and texture of fried food, without the frying part. It’s a sweet and spicy spin on cauliflower.
Leave a comment