General Tso Cauliflower Recipe using Trader Joe's General Tso Sauce
Presenting a very quick and easy meal, General Tso's Cauliflower Recipe, using Trader Joe's General Tso Sauce. You just need some baked cauliflower florets and this amazing sauce. And there you have it, a quick meal ready to be relished as a snack or it can be served as a complete meal with rice!
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cauliflower of large head, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup Flour
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper powder a sprinkle
- 1/2 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tsp Minced garlic you can use fresh chopped garlic as well
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe's General Tso's Sauce
- 1 1/4 cups Water + 2 tbsp (for slurry)
- 2 tsp Cornstarch
- 2 1/2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar optional
- 2 1/2 tsp Sriracha Sauce optional
- 1 tbsp Scallions/Spring Onions chopped, for garnishing
- Sesame seeds a sprinkle, for garnishing
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower head into bite sized pieces. Wash the cauliflower pieces, drain and keep aside.
- Take three bowls and put flour in one of the bowls. Add salt and pepper to the flour and give it a mix. Add breadcrumbs to the second bowl. To the third bowl, add in the eggs and whisk thoroughly.
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Line a baking tray with foil.
- Take one cauliflower bite and toss it in the flour mixture to coat it evenly. Take the same piece and dip it in the egg mixture. Now take it out of the egg mixture and dip it in the breadcrumbs bowl to coat it with breadcrumbs on all sides. Place it on the lined baking tray.
- Repeat step number 4 for all the cauliflower bite pieces.
- Bake the cauliflower bites for 20-25 minutes (I baked them for 25 minutes for that extra crunch). After they are done, remove them from oven and keep them aside.
- To cook the sauce, heat oil in a pan on stove-top. Add fresh/minced garlic to it. After 10-15 seconds, add in the Trader Joe's General Tso's sauce.
- Now add 1 1/4 cups of water to the pan and bring it to a boil. Now simmer the sauce.
- (Optional) Adjust salt as per taste and add in sriracha sauce and balsamic vinegar (I have added this step because the Trader Joe's ready sauce is too sweet and the sweetness needs to be balanced).
- In a bowl, mix in 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water and make a slurry. Mix the slurry in the sauce and keep in on simmer for 5-10 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in the baked cauliflower bites.
- General Tso's cauliflower with Trader Joe's sauce is ready to be relished. Garnish with chopped scallions and/or sesame seeds, and serve it hot with steamed rice!
Notes
- For those who want to skip using the egg, you can replace the two eggs mentioned in the recipe with half a cup of water. Instead of dipping the cauliflower bite into flour then egg, you can make a slurry by mixing water and flour, and dip the floret in the slurry before adding it in the breadcrumbs bowl.
- Because the Trader Joe’s ready sauce is too sweet, and the sweetness needs to be balanced, so I have added sriracha sauce and balsamic vinegar. But you can adjust the quantities of these as per your taste.