My secret to effortless takeout-at-home that’s bursting with bold, sweet-and-spicy flavor? These vegan Korean BBQ rice bowls.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week.
As a long-time vegan, I’m always looking for ways to bring big, bold flavors into our home kitchen. We made this a few time to get the perfect balance of not only sweet and spicy flavors, but also that perfect crunch and texture balance between the rice, cauliflower, and veggies!
I love being inspired when dining out and this recipe was born after a meal at a restaurant completely blew us away. I knew before the check even hit the table that I had to recreate it at home.
Spoiler alert: this version might be even better.
This bowl has everything going for it—crispy cauliflower florets coated in a sticky Korean BBQ glaze, fluffy perfectly cooked rice, and a medley of crave-worthy toppings like kimchi, quick-pickled onions, and spicy cucumbers. It’s all tied together with a spicy, flavor-packed sauce that brings the whole thing to life.
Think of it as your DIY vegan takeout night, made easier. It’s a recipe the whole family will love, and one you’ll want to put on repeat.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Korean BBQ Bowl
- Restaurant Quality – With all the flavors, you’ll be shocked at how much this tastes like it’s out of a restaurant
- Flavorful – Each bite will take you on a flavor journey that you can’t get enough of
Korean BBQ Bowl Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
- cauliflower – this is the base of our dish. It’s going to be air fryer to perfection for crispy, yet tender bites with each forkful.
- flour – we are just using all-purpose flour for this recipe
- corn flour – the addition of corn flour is for a balance of textures
- breadcrumbs – our favorite is panko because it gives a little extra crunch, but it’s also easy to find panko breadcrumbs that are vegan
- onion – we are just using a yellow onion
- Asian pear – these can be found at Asian markets or larger produce stores.
- garlic and ginger – these are the aromatics of our dish. We prefer fresh as you get the most flavor
- Sauce – Our sauce is made up of soy sauce, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, gochujang, sesame oil, cornstarch, sesame seeds, and green onions
- Gochujang is a very popular Korean red chili paste that is made from red chili peppers and soybeans
- bowl ingredients/toppings – we are also adding a spicy mayo sauce, pickled red onions, spicy cucumbers, and vegan kimchi.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
How to Make a Korean BBQ Bowl
Step 1: Preheat airfryer (or oven) to 425˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, add flour, corn flour and water. Whisk together very well (should have a pancake batter like texture).
Add all the cauliflower pieces to a large bowl. Pour the flour mixture over the cauliflower and with a spatula, gently stir until all pieces are coated.
Step 2: Add breadcrumbs to a bowl and drop a few pieces of cauliflower inside. Toss to coat and add to your parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until all florets are coated and placed on baking sheet, making sure to not overcrowd your baking sheet. Place baking sheet in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until crispy.
Step 3: While baking, add sauce ingredients, from onion to toasted sesame oil, to a blender. Blend until smooth.
Step 4: Over medium heat, add sauce to a large skillet and bring to a boil. While waiting, adding cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Pour into pot. Reduce heat to medium low and let thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and add sesame seeds and scallions.
Step 5: Remove cauliflower from oven and toss in the sauce. Add back to the oven for 5-10 minutes.
To assemble – add rice to the bottom of a bowl. Top with cauliflower bites and any optional toppings. Serve.
Substitutions and Variations:
- cauliflower – you could also do this with broccoli
- flour – gluten free 1:1 blend flour would be a great substitute
- corn flour – you can just replace this with more all-purpose flour
- breadcrumbs – gluten free breadcrumbs can be used
- onion – white or sweet onions could also be used
- Asian pear – Fuji apples or Bosc pears would be a good alternative
BBQ Rice Bowl FAQs
For the breadcrumbs and flour – use gluten free versions of these – we like a 1:1 Gluten free flour blend instead of a single flour. For the soy sauce, you can use tamari, coconut aminos or a no soy, soy sauce depending on your allergens. And for the sesame oil, it can be omitted.
We do not recommend freezing this dish.
Other Amazing Asian Inspired Recipes to Consider:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegetarian Korean BBQ Bowl
Ingredients
For the cauliflower
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 2.5lbs)
- 1 cup all purpose flour (use 1:1 Gluten Free blend if needed)
- ½ cup corn flour
- 1 – ½ cups water
- 3 cups vegan panko breadcrumbs
For the Korean BBQ Sauce
- ½ small onion, chopped
- ½ Asian pear, cubed
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ inch Fresh ginger, grated
- ⅔ cup Low sodium soy sauce
- 6 tablespoon Maple syrup
- ¼ cup Rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup Gochujang
- 2 tablespoon Toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 3 scallions, chopped
Other Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked rice
- vegan kimchi
- pickled red onions
- spicy cucumbers, optional, recipe in notes
- spicy sauce, optional, recipe in notes
- toasted sesame seeds
- green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat airfryer (or oven) to 425 degrees F.
- In a bowl, add flour, corn flour and water. Whisk together very well (should have a pancake batter like texture). Add all the cauliflower pieces to a large bowl. Pour the flour mixture over the cauliflower and with a spatula, gently stir until all pieces are coated.
- Add breadcrumbs to a bowl and drop a few pieces of cauliflower inside. Toss to coat and add to a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until all florets are coated and placed on baking sheet, making sure to not overcrowd your baking sheet. Place baking sheet in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until crispy.
- While baking, add sauce ingredients, from onion to toasted sesame oil, to a blender. Blend until smooth. Over medium heat, add sauce to a large skillet and bring to a boil. While waiting, adding cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Pour into pot. Reduce heat to medium low and let thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and add sesame seeds and scallions.
- Remove cauliflower from oven and toss in the sauce. Add back to the oven for 5-10 minutes.
- To assemble – add rice to the bottom of a bowl. Top with cauliflower bites and any optional toppings. Serve.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
This was absolutely delicious and easy. I’ve made so many of your recipes and every one of them has been healthy-fun to make-and pleasing for everyone in my family I love to share these with friends and family.
Thank you so much.
You’re so welcome, we love to hear this
Great combo of flavors! It’s nice to find Korean food that is vegan.
Glad you enjoyed! Check out Korean Vegan too !
Thanks for another home-run recipe! My husband loved the cauliflower and I especially loved the spicy cucumbers. I have never made anything similar to this and I am so glad to be shown how with a beautiful video and step-by-step instructions. This is my 4th recipe from your website and I will just march through your yummy offerings until we have tried them all.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
So happy that it was a hit and you’re enjoying the recipes!
East to make and so tasty
Glad you liked it!