Vegan Orange Chicken
Orange cauliflower is made with baked crispy cauliflower coated in a sticky sweet and spicy orange sauce. Easy to make and packed with flavor! Gluten free, vegetarian and naturally sweetened.
Servings 4 servings
Calories 269kcal
Cost $5.77 Recipe/$1.44 Serving
Ingredients
Crispy Cauliflower
- 1 medium head cauliflower $2.65
- 1/2 cup oat flour $0.25
- 1/2 cup almond flour $0.73
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk $0.29
- 1/2 tsp sea salt $0.03
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder $0.05
Orange Sauce
- 1.5 cup orange juice $0.50
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup $0.62
- 2 tbsp. coconut aminos $0.36
- 1.5 tbsp. rice wine vinegar $0.12
- 1 tsp sea salt $0.05
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger $0.03
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes $0.03
- 1 tbsp water $0.00
- 2 tsp arrowroot or tapioca flour $0.06
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Cut the cauliflower florets from the stem. Cut the florets into bite size pieces, trying to keep them equal sizes if possible.
- In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, almond flour, dairy free milk, salt and garlic powder. Sitr well.
- Add the cauliflower to the batter in the bowl and stir well. Try to coat as many of the cauliflower florets as possible with the batter.
- Put a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Spray with avocado oil or olive oil spray.
- Pour the coated cauliflower onto the baking sheet, trying not to get any excess batter from the bowl on the tray. Take the time to space out each individual piece of cauliflower so they can brown without steaming.
- Bake at 425F for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, remove from the oven and flip each piece of cauliflower. Return to the oven and bake 10 more minutes.
- While cauliflower is baking, make the orange sauce. Combine all the ingredients except the arrowroot and water in a medium skillet.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium low heat.
- While the sauce is coming up to a simmer, combine the water and arrowroot flour in a small bowl. Stir well to ensure there are no lumps.
- Once the orange sauce is simmering, begin to whisk it as you pour in the arrowroot slurry you just made. Stir well. Cook 1-2 more minutes until the sauce is thick. Be sure to turn off the sauce when it reaches the consistency you like or it will continue to thicken.
- Remove the cauliflower from the oven. Carefully transfer cauliflower to a large bowl. Pour orange sauce over the cauliflower and stir well.
- Once cauliflower is well coated, return the cauilflower back to the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cook for 10 more minutes at 425F.
- After baking, allow the vegan orange chicken to cool at least 5 minutes to let the coating get extra crispy.
Notes
Tips:
- If you love a saucy orange chicken, double the orange sauce and reserve half for plating. Drizzle the additional sauce on right before serving.
- If you want a thinner batter, increase the milk up to ¾ cup. You will need to spoon out the cauliflower with a slotted spoon to ensure you are not putting extra batter on the baking sheet. This requires more steps but may produce a more uniform coating on the cauliflower.
- Be sure to make the arrowroot slurry with room temperature water so that the arrowroot does not get clumpy.
- When whisking in the arrowroot slurry into the hot orange sauce, start whisking the sauce before adding in any of the slurry. This helps to ensure you don’t get any lumps. The sauce will start to thicken quickly so don’t walk away and continue to stir.
- Fridge: This vegan orange chicken dish is best made fresh or reheated in the oven or air fryer to get the crispy coating back. The coating will get soggy in the fridge. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: I do not recommend freezing this as the cauliflower will get soggy when defrosting.
- Oven: Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and heat at 425F for 5 minutes.
- Air fryer: 375F for 3-4 minutes until crispy.
Nutrition
Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 10g | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 16g
