I’ve been drooling over various photos of buffalo cauliflower on Instagram for a while now, but I didn’t want to just rehash what others were doing, so I made it with a flavor twist. Asian Buffalo Cauliflower isn’t just really spicy — the sriracha hot sauce, coconut aminos (soy-free soy sauce substitute), and ginger impart a unique flavor profile. There might be a time when I get tired of this recipe, but for the foreseeable future I’ll be frequently popping these spicy, salty, and slightly sweet morsels into my mouth, licking the extra sauce off my fingers, smacking my lips as I go.
Asian Buffalo Cauliflower is crave-able and healthy. As a member of the cruciferous vegetable family, cauliflower contains high levels of a group of phytochemicals called glucosinolates which are broken down into compounds called Isothioyanates. Isothioyanates are powerfully anti-inflammatory and detoxifying. Diets rich in cruciferous vegetables have been linked to lower cancer risk. Isothioyanates are further metabolized into a number of potent anti-cancer compounds including sulforaphane. Cruciferous vegetables have been unnecessarily restricted or eliminated by some people with low thyroid function. If you have thyroid issues talk with your physician, but you should still be able to consume 1-2 servings/day of cooked cruciferous veggies like cauliflower.
There are a couple of options for modifying this recipe:
- We use coconut aminos as a soy sauce substitute because my partner is allergic to soy. Soy sauce will work just fine if you’d rather use that. The coconut aminos aren’t as salty as soy sauce or GF tamari, so I added a little extra salt to this recipe. If you use soy sauce or GF tamari, you probably won’t need to add the additional salt.
- The honey is optional. Omit it if you’re following the ketogenic diet. I’ve made it with and without the honey and it’s great either way. It’s a little more balanced with the honey, so that’s how I make it. To make this recipe fully plant-based, omit the honey or use agave syrup as a substitute.
- The cornstarch is optional as well, but it does help thicken the sauce and leads to better coated pieces. If you do use the cornstarch and want to use the sauce as a dip or drizzle, you’ll need to heat the sauce up to a low simmer for 2-3 minutes and cook the cornstarch to fully thicken the sauce. If you just want extra saucy bites, you can pour extra sauce onto the baking tray when you put the coated cauliflower back onto the tray for the second round of roasting. It’ll cook and thicken on the tray. When you pull the tray from the oven just stir the cauliflower around and slather the sauce up before removing the florets from the tray.
- The basic recipe makes about 1/4 cup sauce which is enough to coat a small-medium sized head of cauliflower. I like having more sauce to drizzle over the top, so I usually double the sauce recipe for a medium head and triple it for a large head.
- 1 medium head of cauliflower
- 2 Tbl coconut aminos
- 1 Tbl toasted sesame oil
- 3 Tbl sriracha
- 1 tsp brown rice vinegar
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground garlic
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 tsp honey
- 3 tsp cornstarch
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
- Slice the cauliflower into bite-sized florets.
- Place cauliflower florets onto baking tray, sprinkle with salt and roast for 15 minutes at 375°F.
- While cauliflower cooks, whisk together the sauce adding the cornstarch last.
- Remove cauliflower from oven.
- Increase oven temperature to 400°F.
- Put hot cauliflower into a large bowl and toss generously in asian buffalo sauce until all cauliflower is thoroughly coated.
- Place sauced cauliflower back onto the tray. If you have any remaining sauce, you can drizzle the extra onto the cauliflower and the tray to cook.
- Put the tray into the 400°F oven and cook the cauliflower for 10 additional minutes.
- If you have sauce remaining and you'd like to use it as a drizzle, place the sauce in a small saucepan and cook it over medium heat, stirring frequently with the whisk until it simmers. Continue to stir and simmer for 2-3 minutes — just long enough for the sauce to thicken a little.
- After the final 10 minutes, remove the tray from the oven, slather the cauliflower with any sauce from the tray or drizzle with sauce from the saucepan & enjoy!