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Roasted cauliflower in a sticky sweet orange sauce that’s loaded with diced peppers. This Orange Cauliflower tastes like delicious take-out, but it’s made in the comfort of your own kitchen and ready in less than 30 minutes!
I’m dubbing myself the queen of cauliflower. I love the stuff so much. And you guys seem to love it too, making my Crispy Baked Cauliflower Tacos and my Buffalo Cauliflower Bites two of the most popular recipes on the blog.
I’m back today with another quick and easy recipe featuring this versatile veggie – Orange Cauliflower!
The cauliflower is roasted until just tender and then smothered in a sticky sweet fresh orange sauce. Serve it over rice for a healthy meal more delicious than take-out place down the street.
This recipe is a play off of Orange Chicken, which you’ve probably seen before. Traditionally, the chicken is battered and fried before being added to the sauce.
Obviously, we are using cauliflower here in place of the chicken. You also won’t find any batter to be fried in this recipe.
Sure, I could have battered it and then baked it for a healthier version, but personally, I just don’t think that’s necessary.
Instead I roasted the cauliflower until just tender, with still a bit of a crunch. Then finished it off in this sweet and sticky fresh orange sauce.
Not only is the cauliflower super healthy, but the orange sauce is loaded with bell peppers and fresh squeezed orange juice, which means even more vitamins coming your way.
I have no idea what’s in the orange chicken at your local take-out joint, but I can pretty much guarantee it’s got nothing on the nutrient profile of my Orange Cauliflower!
More vegan cauliflower recipes
- Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower
- Crispy Cauliflower Tacos
- Roasted Cauliflower Salad
- Cauliflower Scampi
- Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup
- Vegan Cauliflower Bolognese
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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For even more easy family recipes, be sure to check out my cookbook, The Meatless Monday Family Cookbook!
Orange Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp vegetable broth
- ½ of a red onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 sweet bell peppers diced (I used 1 red and 1 orange)
- 1 ½ cups + 1 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari use wheat-free tamari for gluten-free
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water or more juice
- Sesame seeds for garnish if desired
- Cooked Rice for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Cut the cauliflower into large bite size florets. In a medium bowl toss the cauliflower with 1 tablespoon juice.
- Place the cauliflower in one even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, (Add an additional 5 minutes if desired, but I like mine to still have a crunch). Cauliflower should be just browning on the edges.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, whisk together the orange juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, and vinegar. Set aside.
- Stir together the cornstarch and water until smooth and set aside.
- Add ¼ cup vegetable broth to a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté 5 to 6 minutes until soft.
- Add another 2 tbsp vegetable broth to the pan and add the peppers. Sauté 5 to 6 minutes until softened.
- When the peppers are softened, add the orange sauce to the pan and turn up the heat to bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well to incorporate. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce reduces and thickens to almost a syrup like consistency.
- Add the cauliflower to the sauce when it’s done roasting and stir to coat well.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top, if using, and serve immediately by itself or over rice.
Pat says
This was by far best meal I’ve made in a long time! I followed the recipe as written and it was perfect! The flavors were so good. I will definitely be making this again.
Jenn Sebestyen says
Thank you, Pat! I’m thrilled that you love it!
Annie says
I’m so excited t try this recipe! I don’t have rice wine vinegar though. I have white vinegar and apple cider vinegar. Will either of those work? I also have soy sauce. Thanks for your help!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Apple cider vinegar will work great! Enjoy!
Jane says
I made this dish for my husband tonight and it was a 100% success!! So happy to have found such an exciting dish to add to my vegan repertoire and I will definitely be making this for my non-vegan friends in the future. Already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow… x
Jenn S. says
Thank you, Jane! So happy to hear it was a success all around. It’s one of my favorites too!
Dorothea says
Hi Jenn, this recipe looks amazing! Unfortunately in my country is very hard to find maple syrup, what can I use instead of it? Thanks!
Jenn S. says
Hi, Dorothea. You could use agave or even just brown sugar. If you use brown sugar, start with just two tablespoons as it tends to be sweeter, and you may need to add a little bit of water to thin it out. Let me know how it turns out!
Becca Amuse Your Bouche says
I’ve never made this kind of orange sauce before but I know I would love this! It looks so full of flavour.
Jenn S. says
You should definitely try it, Becca! So good! Thank you!