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The crispiest cauliflower you’ve ever had…and it’s baked, not fried! Crispy, crunchy, creamy – you can have it all with these Baked Vegan Cauliflower Tacos!
I have to admit I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in a long time! These seriously turned out better than I could have ever imagined and now I can’t stop eating them. They are the perfect light summer meal!
Easy with super fresh flavors, this recipe hits on all the best textures – crispy, crunchy and creamy. You have to try these Baked Vegan Cauliflower Tacos!
The crispy cauliflower, the crunchy coleslaw, the creamy tartar sauce – it all works so perfectly together to create one delicious bite!
Reminiscent of a fried fish taco, it’ll have you dreaming of the waves breaking on the sand while you dine seaside. Perhaps a Pineapple Coconut Smoothie, which tastes like a virgin piña colada, or a blood orange margarita, would be a great choice to wash it down.
I can easily take down three of these crunchy Cauliflower Tacos in one sitting – sometimes more! It’s so hard to stop! And the whole family loves them too!
I am not even kidding when I say this cauliflower is the CRISPIEST you’ve ever had! The panko breadcrumbs and coconut flakes combine to make a super crunchy crust surrounding the cauliflower. The cauliflower, on the inside, is tender and delicious!
With absolutely no oil, it’s BAKED, not fried. I almost couldn’t believe it myself. I have made these cauliflower tacos a huge number of times now because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke and that it would turn out super crispy when you guys make it too. I promise, it will!
Just look at all that crispy breading! These are just like your favorite crispy fish tacos, but so much better because they are plant based, healthy cauliflower tacos!
These do take a little bit of time to prep, but trust me, it’s worth it! Feel free to skip the tortilla, dip the baked cauliflower right into the tartar sauce and pop it right into your mouth. De-lish! Serve the coleslaw on the side.
Tip – bagged coleslaw works just as well here and would be a nice time saver.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you tried it, please use the rating system in the recipe card and leave a comment below with your feedback.
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Crispy Vegan Cauliflower Tacos
Ingredients
Baked Cauliflower
- 1 medium cauliflower sliced into long pieces – see note
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk
- Juice and Zest of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs gluten free if necessary
- ½ cup cornmeal
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Sweet and Sour Slaw
- ¾ cup chopped red cabbage
- ¾ cup chopped green cabbage
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1-2 teaspoon(s) pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
Tangy Vegan Tartar Sauce
- ⅓ cup homemade vegan mayonnaise or your favorite store-bought vegan mayo
- ⅓ cup diced dill pickle
- Juice and Zest of 1 lime
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried dill
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Dash of sriracha optional
Extras
- Tortillas use corn tortillas for gluten free
- Extra Lime Wedges
- Dash of Sriracha
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
For the Slaw:
- Make the slaw first so it has time to marinate and soften just a bit. Whisk all the wet ingredients together and pour them over the veggies in a medium bowl. Cover it and put it in the fridge.
For the Baked Cauliflower:
- Whisk together the coconut milk, zest and juice of 1 lime and½ teaspoon salt in a wide shallow bowl, set aside.
- Whisk together the panko, cornmeal, shredded coconut, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt and the pepper in another wide shallow bowl, set aside.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and line up your breading station in this order: cauliflower, wet batter, dry breading, baking sheet.
- Take a slice of the cauliflower and place it in the coconut milk batter, flipping it over to make sure all sides are covered. Next, place that piece of cauliflower in the dry breading mix, pressing it down and flipping it over to make sure it’s coated evenly on both sides. The breading should stick easily and not fall off. Transfer your breaded piece of cauliflower to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with all remaining slices of cauliflower. My medium sized cauliflower filled up one baking sheet perfectly!
- Bake the breaded cauliflower for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping each piece over after 15 minutes, until both sides are golden brown and crispy.
For the Tartar Sauce:
- While the cauliflower is baking, make your tartar sauce. In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients. Place in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
For the Tacos:
- To assemble the tacos, place a tortilla on a plate, top with a bit of the slaw, a piece or two of the crispy breaded cauliflower and top with a big dollop of tangy tartar sauce. Garnish with an extra squeeze of lime or dash of sriracha.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition values are calculated using online calculators and are estimates only. Please verify using your own data.
Anne says
Should I use sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk?
Jenn Sebestyen says
Unsweetened from a can.
Andrea says
Now that looks amazing! I have to make this soon – love cauliflower and I can imagine the crunch of the slaw will be so tasty!
Laura says
Delicious and easy to follow recipe. Thank you!
Jenn Sebestyen says
I’m so glad you loved it, Laura. Thank you!
Amanda Weighill says
Is there a way to add more protein into this dish? Could you add all plant protein powder to the batter?
Jenn Sebestyen says
I haven’t tried adding protein powder, so I can’t say for sure. Most protein powders have a distinctive taste, so I would be hesitant. You could try making your own breadcrumbs from high protein sprouted grain bread. Other than that, I would say round out your plate with a high protein side.
Nicole says
I make these about once a week. They are soooooo good the tartar sauce is amazing! I usually just do a very simple batter for my cauliflower. 1:1 flour , oat milk salt pepper
Jenn Sebestyen says
Thank you for your feedback, Nicole! Happy to hear you love them!
Melissa Frey says
My husband and teenage son were skeptical but loved this dinner. They came out great and looked very pretty as well. Made them as a healthy Super Bowl dish.
Jenn Sebestyen says
I’m so happy to hear this, Melissa! Thank you for your comment. I hope your team wins!
Kayley says
Hi and thank you for such a great recipe! Maybe my kids will finally eat cauliflower this way! One questionI have is would using normal coconut milk affect the recipe too much? Thanks!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Hi, Kayley. I’m not sure what you mean by “normal” coconut milk. Do you mean the kind from a box that you drink? I think that might be too thin to adhere the breading well.
Jenna says
Does this taste like cauliflower?
Jenn Sebestyen says
Yes, if you really tried to pick out that individual flavor, BUT all the ingredients combine to create the textures and flavors reminiscent of fish tacos. I think if you eat it all together as designed, you won’t get a big cauliflower flavor.
Chloe says
Ok, so, confession: Totally made this even though I was missing so many of the ingredients actually needed, and they STILL turned out delicious! I didn’t have cornmeal, and the cabbage I thought I had had just gone bad. So I wasn’t even able to make the slaw. Instead, I just used shredded carrots.
EVEN STILL, this turned out to be so yummy, and I feel so light but full after eating this. I cannot wait to retry this with the proper ingredients, because I can only imagine how much better it would be. Thank you for such a brilliant recipe! <3
Jenn Sebestyen says
Oh, that is so wonderful to hear, Chloe! Thank you!
Jillian says
Can I use coconut cream instead?
Jenn Sebestyen says
Potentially. If you whisk it really well so it’s thin enough to to dip the coconut in to. If it’s too thick it could cause the breading to be clumpy. Let me know how it turns out.
Pam says
Amazing! So tasty! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
I made a couple of teeeny adjustments (I added green onion to the slaw- totally didn’t need to lol, and added a touch of sweetener to the tartar sauce. Oh! And I didn’t have cornmeal, so I doubled the panko. Will 100% be making these again…probably this week! Haha
Thank you kindly
Jenn Sebestyen says
Wonderful, Pam! So happy to hear it!
Bianca Galdamez says
So good!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Thank you!
Erica says
Really good and I was honestly skeptical about it. I used normal breadcrumbs so it wasn’t as crunchy, but the flavor was all there!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Wonderful, Erica! So glad you love it! Thank you for your feedback!
Dwight says
These were excellent
Jenn Sebestyen says
I’m so glad! Thanks, Dwight!
Laurie F. says
Thanks Jenn for sharing this recipe!! My husband and I just loved it. 🙂 We are trying to cook more veggie inspired meals so I look forward to making some of your other great recipes.
Jenn Sebestyen says
Thank you, Laurie! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!!