Fried cauliflower AKA vegan fried ‘chicken’ {gluten-free}

Guys, I bought an airfryer. It didn’t seem like an essential purchase, but I had a gift card to a store that sold them, and I figured I may as well since I love potatoes so much and my body can’t tolerate oil/fats very well.

My first attempt was fries. I moved onto hasselback potatoes, sweet potato and brussels sprouts – things were going well. I had mastered the basics and it was time to get serious.

So, I went all in and made fried cauliflower ‘chicken’. You’ll love this recipe because it looks like chicken, is super crispy, has tonnes of flavour, is gluten-free without tasting like it’s gluten-free, is good for you and is 100% cruelty free. There’s not much more left to say. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Fried cauliflower AKA vegan fried ‘chicken’ {gluten-free}
Serves 2

1/2 head of cauliflower
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax whisked with 6 tbsp water)
1/4 cup sriracha
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra, to coat battered cauliflower
1 cup GF all purpose flour
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/4 tsp celery seeds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Cut the cauliflower into medium-sized pieces. Set aside.

Place three similar-sized shallow bowls or dishes on your counter. In one, mix sriracha, dijon and olive oil with the flax eggs. In another, mix flour with nutritional yeast, salt, garlic, onion, thyme, paprika, celery seeds and cinnamon. Pour some olive oil in the third dish (I recommend starting with less and adding more as you need it to avoid wastage).

Dip the cauliflower in the wet mix, then into the dry mix, before dipping it again in the wet mix and dry mix again. Repeat the process for all cauliflower pieces. You will have two coats of batter on each piece.

Transfer half the cauliflower in the dish containing the olive oil and then place in the airfryer basket. Be careful not to overcrowd the basket.

Set the airfryer to 200 degrees C and cook for 14 minutes, rotating after 7 minutes.

Remove the cauliflower from the basket and repeat with the remaining half of the cauliflower pieces. Serve warm.

NOTE: Although I haven’t tried it, this recipe could be adapted to be deep fried. To cook without an airfryer, skip the step that involves coating the battered cauliflower in olive oil.