Crispy cauliflower bites drizzled in a low carb version of bang bang sauce. This dish is super flavorful and tastes like the original!
A few years ago I shared a recipe for Bang Bang Cauliflower, my twist on the popular Bang Bang shrimp appetizer, and it became one of my favorite recipes to make. Since I’ve been making more low carb and keto-friendly recipes lately, I wanted to create a keto version of my bang bang cauliflower that is just as tasty.
Low Carb Bang Bang Sauce
Bang Bang sauce was made popular by the restaurant chain Bonefish grill. The sauce is a blend of Asian ingredients and usually made with sweet chili sauce, sriracha, mayonnaise and honey. The end result is a sauce that is savory, sweet and spicy. It is super flavorful and the sauce goes well with just about anything.
For this low carb version, I made my own sweet chili sauce by using pure chili paste and mixing it with a low carb sweetener. The end result is something that is quite similar to the original.
Low Carb Crispy Cauliflower
Normally, the cauliflower is coated with panko breadcrumbs. To make it low carb, the cauliflower is coated in a low carb breading consisting of almond flour and parmesan cheese.
I already shared a recipe for crispy low carb cauliflower bites and used the same method to make these cauliflower bites. If you need more detailed tips, be sure to check out my crispy low carb cauliflower bites post which breaks down how to prepare the cauliflower in detail.
Once coated, the cauliflower can be fried, baked, or air fried. Frying will produce the most even golden coating and the cauliflower will stay crunchy longer. Baking or air frying will also produce crunchy cauliflower, though the breading will not brown as evenly.
Keto Low Carb Bang Bang Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 12 oz cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces (about 1/2 a large head of cauliflower)
- cooking oil for frying
- 1 large egg whisked
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 tbsp parsley finely chopped
Breading
- 1 cup superfine almond flour
- 1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese use fresh and not shelf-stable kind
Bang bang sauce
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp chili paste I used sambal
- 1 tbsp erythritol granular
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp lime juice
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk egg with heavy cream. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour and cheese. Set aside.
- Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper. Spoon a small amount of breading onto your sheet pan (just enough to cover the bottom of a cauliflower bite).
- Dip a piece of cauliflower in the egg wash. After it is fully coated, shake it a few times, making sure to shake off any excess egg drippings back into the egg bowl before adding it to the breading. The reason for doing this is that you don't want the egg drippings going into the breading. The moisture will cause the breading to clump and they will no longer stick to the cauliflower.
- Place the cauliflower piece onto the small mound of bread crumbs, applying a little pressure so those breading sticks to the bottom of the cauliflower.
- Spoon a small amount of breading over the cauliflower and then use your fingers to press the breading onto the cauliflower until it is fully coated. Make sure the coating is not too thick. You want the cauliflower to be completely covered but you don't want the coating to be too thick because it will fall off when fried. It is important to keep your hands dry and breading in a separate bowl so that the breading does not get too damp.
- Carefully set the cauliflower aside onto a clean part of your baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cauliflower.
- To deep fry the cauliflower, pour 1 1/2 inches of cooking oil into a pot. When the oil reaches 350F, add a few pieces of breaded cauliflower. You may need to stir the cauliflower a few times to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook a few minutes until a deep golden brown. Remove cauliflower with a slotted spoon and place onto a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining cauliflower.
- To make the bang bang sauce, add all sauce ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust as needed. If you prefer less spicy, use less sriracha. If you leave out the sriracha completely you may want to add a little vinegar to the sauce.
- Drizzle bang bang sauce over cauliflower. It's better to drizzle the sauce over the cauliflower to prevent the breading from getting soft from the sauce. Garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Finely grate the parmesan cheese so that it resembles grains of sand. I used my food processor.
- The cauliflower can also be baked or air fried. For those instructions, see my crispy low carb cauliflower post.
- Adding heavy cream to the egg will make it easier to coat.
- If you do not like to eat very spicy, you may want to reduce or leave out the sriracha sauce. If you leave out the sriracha, I recommend adding a little vinegar to the sauce.
- I used sambal chili paste.*
- I used So Nourished Erythritol Sweetener Granular.*
- *Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
- Nutritional information does not include oil for frying . Nutrition facts assume all of the egg wash and breading is used, but in actuality, you will not use all the breading. Nutrition facts also assumes you will use all the sauce but I had leftover sauce. Estimated Nutrition Information does not include carbs from erythritol
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
yummy & superb ..
l enjoy every recipe, some better than others.
l am a fan of simple recipes, and minimum ingredients.
I got this recipe in my inbox and so glad I clicked on it! Made the bang bang sauce. I never had this though heard of it on tv and seen it on menus. IT WAS AMAZING!!! ? ? ? ? ? ? I used chili powder instead of paste and regular sugar. It’s my new favorite dipping sauce! For the cauliflower, I bought Birds Eye breaded cauliflower while at the store yesterday and bought it to try in my airfryer. I made it for a snack today. I will pick up a head cauliflower and make your version. The parmesan sounds excellent paired with cauliflower. Will be making it again soon! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you loved it!
I have this recipe bookmarked, I have made it like 3 times. The sauce is amazing!
One trick I found on my last creation was that the coating phase, which took forever the first couple times, can be done very quickly if you put the mixture into a tupperware with the cauliflower florets. Shake it up and they’ll get coated. Need to do several batches, but it’s WAY faster and less messy. <3
Thank you for sharing your trick!
Thank you! Pretty good recipe and great instructions and tips. I’d flavor the dry mix with garlic and/or powder, a bit of s&p.
I’m happy it worked out for you!
Could I make this with shrimp?
yes
Can I bake them instead of frying them?
I have not tried baking these.
Looks great and will try this ASAP. I will substitute the almond flour with chicharrons (sp?)…..
hope you enjoy!
Wow this recipe sounds so delicious I cannot wait to try it out. Is there any chance you could make this with frozen cauliflower? Thanks!
I have not tried this with frozen cauliflower. It may be harder to coat and fry because of how much moisture is in frozen cauliflower
I used frozen breaded cauliflower and it turned out great in my airfryer (12 minutes at 390). Cooked thoroughly and evenly. I think frozen will work, maybe experiment with 1/2 cup batch first and go from there
Thanks for sharing that!
Hello! I had fun cruising around your website/blog. Your recipe for Bang, Bang Cauliflower intrigued me!! I love the name!! And I love anything with cauliflower in it. While at our friendly grocery store just down the street to get the cauliflower, I asked if they had any erythritol. The grocer said,
“Huh???? What is that?” Well, I didn’t know what it was, either, so I just used sugar! I had purchased a large chunk of parmesean cheese, so I grated that up. I had the rest of the ingredients. We have an herb garden down behind the condo and there was plenty of parsley. The cauliflower dish turned out great … very yummy. Thanks for sharing!
erythritol is a common sugar substitute for people on low carb or keto diets. You can find it at Whole Foods and I usually buy mine on Amazon. Swerve is a popular brand. But if you don’t need to avoid sugar, you can definitely use sugar. You can also try out my normal bang bang sauce which uses honey as the sweetener and sweet thai chili sauce. https://kirbiecravings.com/bang-bang-cauliflower/