Hi Friends! This week I have for you one of my favorite recipes that I’ve come up with to date, Beer Battered Coconut Cauliflower served with a creamy Mango Serrano Ranch. This recipe was inspired by my past obsession with Coconut Shrimp. Having previously experienced the magic that is cauliflower buffalo wings, I figured making a coconut batter would be amazing and I was right! This dish is everything I dreamed it would be and more.
Now, I originally tried to bake the cauliflower for this recipe like I do for cauliflower wings but it didn’t work out. The breadcrumbs here just don’t crisp up or brown in the oven so it’s time to suck it up, go the unhealthy route and fry them. Trust me, it’s totally worth it! The cauliflower is crunchy and tender and exploding with coconut flavor!
What really sets off this recipe is the creamy, sweet and spicy Mango Serrano Ranch. I remember when I was younger, I used to order Coconut Shrimp all the time and it usually came with a mango jam type of sauce. While I always enjoyed those sauces, my ranch obsession got the best of me while I was planning this recipe. So I pulled an audible and it paid off big time! This dressing is absolutely perfect, it’s just the right level of spicy and the mango compliments the coconut perfectly.
Please try this dish! It’s wonderful and so versatile! It would be a great appetizer but we ate it for dinner with a side of creamy coleslaw. We also made wraps out of those same ingredients and took them on the road to Boston! It was the perfect snack for the road!
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Until Next Time,
Jackie & Andrew
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Coconut Battered Cauliflower with Mango Serrano Ranch
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer, Snack, Dinner
- Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan
Description
Cauliflower fried to a crisp in a delicious coconut batter and served with creamy and spicy Mango Serrano Ranch dressing. The veggie-centered version of coconut shrimp.
Ingredients
Scale
- Coconut Cauliflower
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup beer
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into medium size florets
- 2 tsp Old Bay
- 1 tsp smoke paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- vegetable oil for frying, enough to fill 1/2 inch at the bottom of the pan
- Mango Serrano Ranch
- 3 mangoes, cut into chunks
- 2 tbs fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 serrano peppers, seeded and sliced thin
- 1 tbs honey
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 tbs fresh parsley
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 tsp each salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the coconut at least 8 times until it’s broken up into smaller chunks. Mix the coconut flakes with the Panko breadcrumbs in a medium size bowl.
- In another medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, water, beer, Old Bay, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper until fully incorporated.
- Heat the oil in a large deep pan. It’s ready for frying when droplets of water sizzle in it. Take the cauliflower florets and dip them into the wet batter and then roll them in the breadcrumbs and coconut mix. Be sure to tap the cauliflower on the bowl between dunking it in the batter and rolling it in the breadcrumbs to shake off any extra batter.
- After rolling the cauliflower in the breadcrumbs, drop it in the oil to fry. Cook, turning occasionally, until all sides are golden brown. If the oil is heated properly this will take about 2 minutes per side. For larger cauliflower pieces you may need to turn it three times because they can be awkwardly shaped. Don’t worry if it’s perfect as long as most of the piece is browned and crunchy!
- Prepare your dipping sauce by putting all the ingredients in a high powered blender and blending on high until smooth! It may have some small chunks of pepper or parsley in it and that’s fine as long its mostly smooth!
- This dish goes great paired with a side of creamy coleslaw or all by itself dipped in the sauce as a snack! It would also be great alongside some rice. Enjoy!
