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These cauliflower tacos with breaded cauliflower, refried beans, and creamy Yum Yum sauce are all about one thing—big flavor!
Over the years, we’ve found the taco is the perfect canvas for creating some insane vegetable-forward flavors. Here’s a favorite that’s stood the test of time: Crispy Cauliflower Tacos. When we created this recipe, we had no idea how popular it would be with readers!
The star is this crispy breaded cauliflower, roasted and covered in a savory, salty, sweet and lightly spicy breading (like a play on breaded fish tacos). Add some refried black beans, zingy cabbage slaw, and cover it all in our creamy Yum Yum sauce. It’s gone on to become a fan favorite recipe—and it’s always a hit in our house, too!
Featured reader comments
These cauliflower tacos have quickly become a fan favorite! It’s so fun to hear from those of you who’ve loved them. Here’s some of what people are saying:
- “AMAZING FLAVORS!!! Absolutely so delicious! My nephew who doesn’t like cauliflower tasted one and went back for more. This is not your ordinary breaded cauliflower!” -Jeanette
- “These are amazing. My husband was BEGGING for more of these tacos and so glad when we had leftovers for the next day!” -Megan
- “Just love this recipe. I made it for myself and just had to make it for my family that is not keen on vegan food at all. They enjoyed it so much!” -Bernelee
Tips for cauliflower tacos
We have a delicious cauliflower tacos recipe in our first cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking, and this one is a riff on it. The best part is the crispy breaded cauliflower, roasted up with a lightly spicy breading.
For the toppings, stay simple with refried black beans, tart cabbage slaw, and cilantro. (We used canned refried beans, but you can also make our homemade refried beans.)
The Yum Yum Sauce is what makes the recipe! Yum Yum Sauce is used in Japanese steakhouses and served with seafood, but here we’ve used it as a bit of a “fusion” element to accessorize with this vegetarian taco recipe. It’s so tasty and adds a richness to the tacos that’s incredible.
A few more sauce ideas
If you’d prefer a different sauce from the Yum Yum Sauce for these cauliflower tacos (there’s a vegan variation in that sauce recipe), here are a few more ideas for delicious taco sauces:
Storing leftovers
This recipe tastes best freshly made, but you can prep the cauliflower in advance and reheat prior to serving. If you have leftover cauliflower, reheat it in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes, flipping once. Store leftover Yum Yum sauce up to 2 weeks, refrigerated.
Dietary notes
This cauliflower tacos recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, use the vegan Yum Yum Sauce variation or chipotle sauce.
Cauliflower Tacos with Yum Yum Sauce
These cauliflower tacos with breaded cauliflower, refried beans, and creamy Yum Yum sauce are all about one thing—big flavor!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Crispy Breaded Cauliflower
- 15-ounce can vegetarian refried beans (or Easy Refried Black Beans or Homemade Refried Beans)
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 cups red cabbage, shredded
- 2 limes (1 for the cabbage & 1 to serve)
- 3 tablespoons Yum Yum Sauce (use vegan mayo or substitute Spicy Chipotle Sauce)
- 8 corn tortillas
- Fresh cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the Crispy Breaded Cauliflower (about 40 minutes total; use the remaining time to complete the steps below.)
- If using purchased refried beans, taste and if needed, mix with ½ teaspoon cumin and/or a pinch or two kosher salt. (Or, you can make our Supremely Simple Refried Black Beans but for this recipe we preferred using storebought so we could focus on the cauliflower!)
- Thinly slice the cabbage, enough for 2 cups. Mix it with 2 tablespoons lime juice and a pinch or two of salt. Allow it to stand at room temperature until serving.
- Make the Yum Yum Sauce.
- Warm the tortillas, or char them by placing them on grates above an open gas flame on medium heat for a few seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until they are slightly blackened and warm.
- Chop the cilantro for a garnish.
- To serve, place refried beans in a tortilla, top with cabbage, breaded cauliflower, Yum Yum sauce, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges to spritz prior to serving. (If you have leftover cauliflower, you can reheat them in a 350F oven for 10 minutes, flipping once.)
More vegan and vegetarian tacos
Outside of these crispy cauliflower tacos, here are a few of our favorite vegan and vegetarian tacos recipes. These black bean tacos are quick and easy, or try tofu tacos with tofu crumbles. A few more ideas: quinoa tacos, sweet potato tacos, mushroom tacos, or chickpea tacos are always family favorites!
Been eating vegan for approximately 4 months with the help of delicious recipes such as yours. Love these 🌮 🌮 🌮 added a little minced red 🌰 because I had it. Keep these fantastic recipes coming!
AMAZING FLAVORS!!! The flavors come together so well. Absolutely so delicious! My nephew who doesn’t like cauliflower tasted one and went back for more. This is not your ordinary breaded cauliflower by any means. I will make this again and again! Thank you for sharing the goodness!
This was horrible in so many ways. No one in my family could finish it. Threw most of it out. What a waste of time.
I’m sorry you had such a poor experience! I’m not sure what went wrong.