vegan cauli-fil-a sandwiches

Vegan Cauli-Fil-A Sandwiches are a super fun, plant-based take on the classic fast food staple! These sandwiches use cauliflower, aquafaba, and cashew milk to replace the classic ingredients but still come out hot, crispy, and totally satisfying. 

Oh, y'all, I am SO excited to be sharing this recipe with you today! I have been wanting to make another vegan recipe for the blog forever, and these sandwiches fit the bill perfectly. I present to you, Vegan Cauli-Fil-A Sandwiches! So yes, Chick-Fil-A in veggie, animal-product-free form. Does it taste like chicken? Well, no. But is it delicious? Heck yes. Let's make them!

Though I don't share it on here often, cauliflower really is one of my favorite veggies! And it's so versatile. You can make "rice" out of it, pizza crust, put it in veggie meatballs. And now you can make fried "chicken" cauli-fil-a sandwiches out of it too! It's really so easy to make and as always, I used ingredients that non-vegan people should have in their house too. I know you technically can use just plain almond milk to make the batter, but I had some magical aquafaba in the fridge so I decided to use it! The process is really the same as for any omnivore recipe where you're breading something... just dip in flour, then in milk + egg, then in flour again. Just in this case, we are using non-dairy milk and aquafaba instead.

So I have a confession for y'all. I am trying to veganize my diet! I've been consciously trying to definitely eat less meat and animal products and slowly but surely I'm making some progress. Am I vegan? Well no. At least not yet. But I'm trying to slowly overturn my diet so that I have more veggie-based options. As always I'll be posting on the blog and my focus is always food for normal, everyday people. So I'll try my best to not ask y'all to buy any weird, single-use ingredients that you can only buy online. 😉 Canned beans and veggies for the win!

I have a couple of stockpiled recipes that are already made that I'll be posting in the near future, but do look out for more veggie-based recipes around these parts 🙂 In the meanwhile, enjoy these delicious Cauli-Fil-A sandwiches! They are so light, crispy, and satisfying. You won't even miss the meat! And yes, you can even make these in cauli nugget form. Because we all know those are the best!

Looking for more recipes using aquafaba? Check out my Vegan Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie and Vegan S'Mores Pie!

Print Recipe

vegan cauli-fil-a sandwiches

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Vegetarian

Servings: 6

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower sliced
• ½ cup aquafaba {brine from a can of chickpeas}
• ¼ cup plain unsweetened cashew milk {or your favorite non-dairy milk}
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 3-4 cups sunflower or corn oil
• 6 hamburger buns
• preferred condiments like mayo ketchup, lettuce, pickles, etc

Instructions

• First, rinse the cauliflower and trim off the excess stalk and leaves from the bottom.
• Cut the cauliflower head into slices about ¾" thick. The ones that will stay most like slices are the ones in the very middle, but try your best! Smaller pieces are absolutely okay too.
• In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the flour and all the seasonings.
• In another large shallow bowl, whisk together the cashew milk and aquafaba.
• Prepare a sheet pan with parchment/plastic wrap/wax paper to place your breaded cauliflower on, then start your assembly line!
• First, coat the cauliflower pieces lightly with flour. Then dunk them in the cashew milk/aquafaba mixture. Then back into the flour, being sure to shake off the excess. Repeat with all cauliflower pieces.
• Prepare a sheet pan with a cooling rack and/or paper towels for the cooked cauliflower.
• Pour the oil in a large frying pan. Be sure that it's not too wide, you want the oil to be about 3" deep.
• Heat over medium heat until the oil shimmers and very lightly bubbles from the bottom.
• Add in the cauliflower a few pieces at a time. You will cook the big slices for about 4-5 min per side, the smaller pieces will be a little less! Just eyeball it, be sure not to crowd the pan, and cook until breading is nice and golden brown.
• Serve immediately on hamburger buns or with sauces for dipping.
• *NOTE*: I did not pre-cook my cauliflower as I found that it cooked enough when frying, but if you wish, you can boil the cauliflower for LITERALLY 1-2 minutes just so it's a little more tender. Be careful when breading and frying as it'll be softer!

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