Little nuggets of crispy cauliflower are coated in a sweet, tangy, spicy sauce. These are baked and are easy to make!
If you are new here you may not know my love for cauliflower. I have found so many ways to transform our beautiful cauliflower into so many things: Spicy Sesame Cauliflower Wings, Vegan Mozzarella, Gnocchi, Coconut “Shrimp” Tacos, and now this. Popcorn cauliflower is here to knock your socks off. Prior to this my cauliflower wings were my favorite way to prepare cauliflower, but we may have a new winner in town.
This cauliflower is battered and then covered in breadcrumbs to make a crispy outer coating. It is then baked and comes out so crispy. If you want to quickly shallow-fry these they would definitely be even more delicious. If you wanted to air fry them it should work great too! If you are not a fan of cauliflower or cannot find it right now this would work well with broccoli or Brussel sprouts.
If you need to substitute the cornstarch you can use all purpose flour, arrowroot flour or chickpea flour. If you need to substitute the gochuhang paste you can use sriracha or sambal oelek. You can substitute the maple syrup for brown sugar, coconut sugar, coconut nectar, agave or brown rice syrup. You can substitute the soy sauce for tamari or coconut aminos.
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Sharing direct links to recipes and pictures is highly encouraged, please do not copy and paste my recipes or share my pictures without permission. I work very hard on my blog and don’t want to see my recipes popping up anywhere. Thank you so much.
Korean Inspired Popcorn Cauliflower
Ingredients
Cauliflower
- 1 small head or ½ large head of cauliflower (around 400g)
- ½ cup cornstarch (64g)
- ⅓ cup water (80ml)
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 to 2 teaspoons gochujang paste
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs (60g)
Sauce
- 1 to 2 tablespoons gochujang paste
- 2 teaspoons grade A maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Slurry 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
- Green onion and sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C).
- Cut the cauliflower into small, nugget shaped pieces. The smaller the better. I also prefer to remove the florets from the stems. The stems can be used in this recipe, they taste equally as delicious.
- In a large bowl whisk the cornstarch, salt and pepper together. Then add the water and gochujang paste in. Whisk until a smooth batter forms. This will be on the thinner side.
- Pour the cauliflower in the bowl and toss to coat. Slowly pour the breadcrumbs into the bowl. Do this in about 4 batches. Add a little, then stir to coat. Repeat until all breadcrumbs have been used. This helps to equally distribute the breadcrumbs.
- Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Optional: before baking spray with cooking oil spray to get them extra crispy.
- While it bakes prepare the sauce. In a measuring cup or bowl whisk the ingredients, except the slurry, together. Prepare the slurry on its own and then add it to the sauce to prevent clumping.
- Pour the sauce into a large nonstick pan and simmer over medium low heat for 5 minutes. Sauce should be thick and glaze like.
- Once the cauliflower is done immediately pour into the pan and toss to coat.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion. This dish is best enjoyed hot and warm. If you prefer your cauliflower stay completely crispy you can place it back in the oven or dip the cauliflower in the sauce.
Video
Notes
- Some panko breadcrumbs have different weights so the cup size may be different you just need 60g overall so adjust to your breadcrumb brand.
SAVE TO PINTEREST
I made it according to your recipe and it turned out excellent. Thanks
hi Ali! so glad you enjoyed it thank you so much!
Can you air fry this?
sure!
Thank you for putting the grams in the recipe. This is so much more accurate to cook with!
you are very welcome!
I made the recipe today and it was delicious! Thank you! 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for leaving a comment on the blog I really appreciate it!!
I’m eating this as I type this review .. I like cauliflower even just plain boiled (I know I know lol) so this was a no brainer for me! I didn’t have the gochujang paste , I had never heard of it before seeing this recipe , so instead I substituted with mild harissa .. this is so good! There’s a tiny bit of spice (that’s good for me because I can’t do much spicy) the tenderness of the cauliflower , the crispy bite .. it just all goes together so well. I will definitely keep making this one!
Hi Marlene! thank you for coming and leaving a comment I really appreciate it!! Harissa is a fun substitute. Gochujang is a Korean red pepper paste. If you like spicy you should definitely try it as it is delicious! Thank you for the kind words and review
I had never heard of the gochujang before.. and I can’t do REAL spicy , has to be mild for me unfortunately, but hey guess what? I’m making it again today for my husband to try! lol He says it smells damn good!! 😀