Wednesday, January 7, 2026
HomeCookingSticky Sesame Cauliflower

Sticky Sesame Cauliflower [Quick & Easy]


This sesame cauliflower is my vegetarian tackle one of many most-loved recipes on my website: sesame hen. You get that very same shiny, sticky, sweet-savoury sauce… however with cauliflower florets that flip tender within the center and flippantly charred on the edges.

What I really like most is how quick it’s. No batter, no oven time, no faff. Only a scorching wok, a fast stir fry for flavour, then a brief simmer so the sauce clings to each nook and cranny (cauliflower is mainly made for sticky sauces, isn’t it?).

A bowl of white rice and sesame cauliflower florets garnished with chopped spring onions, served with chopsticks.

Why This Sesame Cauliflower Works

This sesame cauliflower works so properly as a result of it provides you all of the flavour of a sticky sesame fakeaway, with out the heaviness that always comes with battered variations.

As a substitute of coating the cauliflower in batter and deep- or air-frying it, we go straight right into a scorching wok with sesame oil. That fast stir-fry provides the florets a flippantly charred edge and a deeper savoury flavour, with out additional oil or faff. It’s lighter, quicker, and much more weeknight-friendly.

A brief simmer in inventory does two intelligent issues:

  • it tenderises the cauliflower simply sufficient,
  • and it helps the sauce seep proper into the florets relatively than sitting on the surface.

Ending with a small cornflour slurry thickens the sauce proper on the finish, so you continue to get that satisfying clingy coating—simply with out the necessity for batter, breadcrumbs, or a pile of washing up.

📋 Elements for Sesame Cauliflower

***Full recipe with detailed portions within the recipe card under***

A wooden board displays cauliflower florets in a bowl, surrounded by labelled bottles and bowls of sauces, seasonings, and condiments, including soy sauce, tomato sauce, and vinegar.

Abbreviated Recipe

***Full recipe with detailed steps within the recipe card under***

Stir-fry cauliflower florets in sesame oil till flippantly charred, then bubble briefly with inventory to melt whereas preserving slightly chew. Add garlic, candy chilli, honey, soy and vinegar, simmer till shiny, thicken flippantly and serve with rice, sesame seeds and spring onions.

Recipe Suggestions

  • Add extra greens to this dish should you like – broccoli and mushrooms are an amazing addition that take the same period of time because the cauliflower to cook dinner.
  • You may prep the cauliflower florets and blend the sauce substances forward, however I’d cook dinner it near serving for the perfect texture. The sauce thickens because it sits, and the cauliflower softens over time.

Sticky-sweet, savoury, and just a bit tangy, with sesame heat and chilli sweetness—plus these flippantly charred cauliflower edges that make it deliciously addictive.

Close-up of glazed sesame cauliflower florets topped with sesame seeds and sliced spring onions, served with white rice in a brown bowl.Close-up of glazed sesame cauliflower florets topped with sesame seeds and sliced spring onions, served with white rice in a brown bowl.

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🍽️ What to serve it with

I wish to serve it topped with loads of sesame seeds and many fluffy boiled rice. However it additionally goes nice with:

A bowl of white rice topped with sesame cauliflower in a dark sticky sauce, garnished with chopped spring onions, with a small dish of spring onions in the background.A bowl of white rice topped with sesame cauliflower in a dark sticky sauce, garnished with chopped spring onions, with a small dish of spring onions in the background.

📺 Watch find out how to make it

  • Break the cauliflower florets into bitesize items

    600 g (1.3lb) cauliflower florets

  • Warmth the sesame oil in a wok over a medium warmth.

    2 tablespoons sesame oil

  • When scorching, add the cauliflower, salt and pepper. Stir fry for five minutes, till the cauliflower begins to turn out to be tender and is beginning to brown on the edges.

    Pinch of salt and pepper

  • Add the inventory and switch up the warmth to excessive, proceed to cook dinner cauliflower within the effervescent inventory, tossing it collectively frequently, for 3 minutes.

    120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable inventory

  • Add the garlic, white wine vinegar, honey, candy chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, gentle brown sugar and soy sauce and stir collectively.

    3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons candy chilli sauce, 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup, 2 tablespoons gentle brown sugar, 2 tablespoons darkish soy sauce

  • Convey to the boil, flip the warmth all the way down to medium, and permit the combination to simmer, stirring typically, for five minutes.

  • Transfer the cauliflower over to as soon as aspect of the wok and stir within the cornflour slurry to thicken the sauce. Prepare dinner for 1 additional minute, then flip off the warmth.

    ½ tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch) blended with 2 tablespoons chilly water to kind a slurry

  • Serve the sesame cauliflower with rice, topped with sesame seeds and spring onions.

    2 teaspoons blended black and white sesame seeds, 2 spring onions, Boiled or fried rice

Tip: Add extra greens to this dish should you like – broccoli and mushrooms are an amazing addition that take the same period of time because the cauliflower to cook dinner.

Energy: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fats: 8g | Saturated Fats: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g | Monounsaturated Fats: 3g | Sodium: 909mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 24g

Vitamin data is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

This Sesame Cauliflower was first posted in Jan 2026.

🍲 Extra Cauliflower Recipes

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