I have been dreaming up this recipe for a while now. But I tested it a couple different ways with paleo flours and it never came out how I had hoped. So I turned to some non-paleo flours and voila, crispy perfection! For this recipe, I use a mixture of rice flour, arrowroot flour, and gluten free panko breadcrumbs to get the cauliflower perfectly breaded and crispy. It’s quite a lovely experience. If you’re wondering how you can make this paleo, I don’t have any recommendations because I’ve tried and it just didn’t come out in a way that I’d like to actually put my stamp of approval on it. If you’re hoping for a strictly paleo recipe, I apologize, no need to yell at me. I get enough of that on instagram on a daily basis.
Speaking of instagram, have you seen the new feature they just launched – Reels? I kind of LOVE it. I was never on TikTok because everyone said it was a place where China would steal all your info, but I had seen enough videos from it to know what it was all about. And Instagram stole the idea. They are really good at doing that. All it is is short 15 second videos about really anything. I’ve only made a few, but I think they are so much fun! You can share videos of your dog or your terrible dance moves or even extra short cooking videos. And since no one has an attention span longer than 15 seconds at this point, those types of cooking videos are the best! You learn absolutely nothing from them, but you enjoy your 15 seconds of entertainment. How sad is our world these days? Sad, yet so entertained.
My latest entertainment is reality tv. I go through spurts of loving reality tv then simply going back to The Office for comfort. But reality tv has felt like the perfect amount of trash in my life lately. And Selling Sunset fits that need. If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s on Netflix and it will leave you feeling like you need a $5M house and some extra filler. Kidding. It will leave you feeling like you’re happy to not live in LA…and then need a $5M home. My question is – who are all these people who can afford $12M homes? What do they do? They are currently trying to sell a $75M home on the show. Let that sink in. $75M. That amount of money could support a small country for yearssssss. For fucking years. It’s so ridiculous and I love every second of it.
And if you’re feeling extra trashy like me, you need to get into Marrying Millions on Hulu. It’s such fabulous trash. It’s a handful of couples where one person is rich and the other person is a normal human, and they are figuring out their relationship around money and blah, blah, blah. There is one couple where the woman makes millions then she’s dating this guy who is 40…and still lives with his parents. But doesn’t tell her. Could you imagine finding out that the adult human you were dating, who refused to take you to his house, was actually living with his parents…who he followed to that city to continue living with them. No hate or shade to the people who have been forced to move back in with their parents because of covid, but I think honesty should be brought to the table first and foremost in a relationship. But that’s just me. And yes, I understand these shows are reality shows so 60% of it isn’t actually real, but I still enjoy every second of the trash. Come join me, let’s chat about it.
Air Fryer Sesame Cauliflower
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into large (equal sized) florets
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2–3/4 cup gluten free panko breadcrumbs
- sesame oil spray
For the sesame sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 8–9 fluid ounces coconut aminos
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- black and white sesame seeds
- green onions, chopped
- white rice or cauliflower rice
Instructions
- Place large cauliflower florets in a steamer basket. Place about 2 inches of water in the bottom of a large pot. Place the steamer basket in the pot, cover, and place over medium-high heat. Let steam for 5-7 minutes, until cauliflower is soft yet still have a crunch to it. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together rice flour, arrowroot, salt, garlic powder. Then add water and whisk until completely combined. In a shallow bowl, add the gluten free panko breadcrumbs.
- Using one hand, dip the each piece of cauliflower into the rice flour mixture. Once coated, add to the panko breadcrumb mixture and use the other hand to cover the floret in the breadcrumbs. Then place into a large air fryer. Repeat with all the cauliflower. Once all the cauliflower is in the air fryer, spray with sesame oil spray. Turn heat up to 390 degrees F (or 400 degrees, depending on your air fryer) and turn timer on to 20-25 minutes. Turn air fryer on then use tongs to toss the cauliflower every 5 minutes to ensure it evenly cooks throughout and becomes golden brown.
- When the cauliflower has 10 minutes left to cooks, add the chicken broth, coconut aminos, maple syrup, sesame oil, sriracha, garlic powder, and powdered ginger to a large nonstick pan. Place over high heat and whisk. Over the next 10 minutes, this liquid will come to a low boil and thicken, just be sure to whisk it every couple minutes to keep it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the cauliflower is done cooking, add it directly to the pan with the thickened sesame sauce, toss to coat, then add lots of black and white sesame seeds. Place on top of white rice, cauliflower rice, or just eat by itself. Then top it with chopped green onions!
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I started watching Selling Sunset a couple of months ago because you recommended it and I am ADDICTED. I haven’t started the new season yet though. I was so tempted to cancel my plans last weekend so I could stay home and binge watch it but I didn’t. Big plans to watch season 3 this weekend though!
I’m not really a cauliflower fan (can we please stop lying to ourselves about cauliflower rice? It doesn’t hold a candle to actual rice) but this sesame cauliflower looks awesome! And I love anything that comes out of my air fryer so I’m sure this is a win all around and I’m excited to try 🙂
Can you substitute Rice flower with a nut flower…Just asking for i have a ton of different flours and no Rice Flour. Why Rice Flour?
Cant wait to try this…looks FAB!
highly recommend reading the first paragraph of this post lol
Haa…my bad! I was so excited for the recipe I skipped it all!
I just made this and it all smells amazing but…the sauce did not thicken. Not sure why not. I followed the recipe exactly. Any feedback?
Thank you! Still excited to eat it!
did you cook the sauce in saute pan or pot? if it’s in a pot and it’s thicker, it will take WAY longer. if it’s in large pan (10-12 inches) over high heat, it will come to a boil in just a few minutes and it will thicken very quick
Can I use frozen cauli for this recipe? Thank you!
it may work, but i haven’t tried with with frozen and defrosted cauliflower
Recipe was delicious thanks! I made the sauce as written and it was very very salty. Not sure if it’s the brand of coconut aminos I have or what. I adjusted a few things and the end result was great. Thanks!
Brea, I’m guessing you used liquid aminos and not coconut aminos. liquid aminos are completely different and are INCREDIBLY salty, which will give you a completely different tasting salt. would you mind not rating the recipe if the correct ingredient wasn’t used?
Y’all .. Drop what you’re doing and go make this recipe. The texture and taste were the bomb dot com. I also added chicken (cooked in a pan in olive oil, pepper and garlic powder) and poured over a little extra sauce. So. Good.
yayyyyyy!! so happy you liked it jenna!!
Yum, so yum! Thank you for the recipe 🙂 will definitely be making these again !!
so glad to hear you liked it Tasleem!
I used coconut aminos , it was so salty ! Even my husband ( the salt freak ) thought it was salty ! It looked great !
what brand did you use? and did you add the maple syrup to the mixture?
These cauli bites are super moreish! The sauce adds the perfect amount of flavour, definitely making these again!
This recipe was SO GOOD – the crunch and the sticky sauce were next level, like you were eating it at a restaurant and like it wasn’t as healthy 🙂 However, I do want to echo what others have said about the saltiness. I saw those comments so I followed the recipe exactly, and it was still super salty. Since it seems it may be brand, I used Thrive Market Organic Coconut Aminos, so maybe don’t use that. My only other theory is perhaps I reduced the sauce too much, so don’t do that either! But otherwise, this is must-make. Thanks Juli!
you could definitely add some honey next time to balance out that saltiness from the coconut aminos!