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Buffalo Cauliflower Bites taste so much like traditional chicken wings, but are a healthier vegetarian version. Tender crispy cauliflower baked to perfection in a buttered hot sauce mixture is delicious!
Why this recipe works:
Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are surprisingly addictive. Even people who aren’t very fond of cauliflower love this recipe because they really do taste more like hot wings than anything else.
This recipe is very simple to make as you will see below.
When served with some bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks, you’ve got yourself one tasty little snack or appetizer!
Here’s how to make them:
- First step is to make a mixture of flour, water, olive oil, garlic powder and salt. This gets mixed well in a large bowl (photo 1).
- The cauliflower is then cut into bite sized florets (photo 2) and tossed in the flour mixture to coat (photo 3).
- The coated cauliflower is then spread in an even layer on a greased baking sheet and baked for about 15 minutes (photo 4). At that point, they are taken out of the oven, tossed in a mixture of hot sauce and melted butter (photo 5), and then placed back into the oven on the baking sheet (photo 6) until they are nice and crispy.
Cooking tips:
- You can use a head of cauliflower and cut the florets or you can buy a bag of pre-cut florets.
- Be sure to cut the florets are on the larger side. If they are too small, they will be mushy. The larger chunks allow the buffalo cauliflower bites to brown nicely while still maintaining some texture.
- Serve the buffalo cauliflower warm. They are still good at room temperature, but serving them warm will make your mouth water.
- For easier clean up, you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- The cauliflower buffalo “wings” are easy to stab with little wooden toothpicks. Otherwise, no utensils needed!
Related recipes:
Love recipes that feature (or hide) cauliflower? Here are some of my favorites:
- Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
- Hidden Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Two Ingredient Cauliflower Mash
- Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower Rice
Recipe video below!
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave me a comment to let me know what you think!
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Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 T garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup hot sauce (I prefer Frank's Red Hot)
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Heavily grease baking sheet with butter. Divide cauliflower into bite sized chunks.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, water, olive oil, garlic powder and salt until well combined. Add cauliflower and gently toss to coat each piece evenly. Transfer coated cauliflower to prepared baking and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven.
- In large bowl, combine hot sauce and melted butter. Add partially cooked cauliflower and gently toss to evenly coat. Return cauliflower to baking sheet and continue cooking for an additional 20-25 minutes, turning once, until pieces start to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and serve warm with blue cheese dressing and fresh celery sticks.
Notes
Cooking tips:
- You can use a head of cauliflower and cut the florets or you can buy a bag of pre-cut florets.
- Be sure to cut the florets are on the larger side. If they are too small, they will be mushy. The larger chunks allow the buffalo cauliflower bites to brown nicely while still maintaining some texture.
- Serve the buffalo cauliflower warm. They are still good at room temperature, but serving them warm will make your mouth water.
- For easier clean up, you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- The cauliflower buffalo "wings" are easy to stab with little wooden toothpicks. Otherwise, no utensils needed!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in January 2017 and has been updated with process photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don’t worry – I didn’t change the recipe!
What means 2/3 cup 5ml jar of hot sauce? Why the 5ml? Not from the USA so I might be xonfuse over nothing
Stupid typo. I’m so sorry!!! I changed it to just read 2/3 cup.
OMG…how can anyone give negative comments about this fabulous recipe find! The size of the cauliflower needs to be consistent. If you butter the pan too much it can get soggy. I also use Frank’s buffalo wing sauce and it is addicting! Make sure not to crowd the pan.i usually make 2 pans, mine has space and a low edge. My daughter likes them mushy so we use a casserole or 13 x 9 for her batch. Always a hit at parties and at work when I share! ❤
I found that if I used a larger cookie sheet and didn’t have the pan too crowded, they weren’t soggy at all. I used 1tsp garlic powder and added Franks directly to the batter mixture and left out the butter. They were delicious!
I’ve made these several times. They are always delicious! A big hit for easy appetizers at parties! I wash my cauliflower and pat dry very well… never disappointed.
I used Trader Joe’s already cut up florets and microwaved them first. Dipped them in the batter and baked them accordingly. Then smothered them in franks red hot and vegan butter , baked them again for like 10 mins. They turned out amazing. Who cares if they’re a little bit soggy!! They’re cauliflower!!! They’re full of water! Tasted delicious to me! I will definitely be making them again!
I just recently became a vegetarian and decided to try these out. Was not disappointed! Crunchy on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside. Mine did turn out looking a bit burnt but tasted all right so alls we’ll that ends well. It did set my fire alarm off though lol.
I did these. Followed every step, added broiling at the end like the comments suggested:) turned out wonderful! Thanks for the recipe
Glad you liked them!
We made these today but just added the sauce and didn’t cook again afterwords. Absolutely delicious! Last time my friend made them she said they were mushy. I read above about how the size affects that and she said that was exactly it! We did keep them bigger but cooked a few minutes longer. I’m hooked!
Awesome feedback! Thank you for commenting. I’m glad the buffalo cauliflower bites turned out for you, Debbie!
I love them! I also broiled them for a few minutes after and they were absolutely delicious. Even held up for next day snacking 🙂 I think you can only expect so much crispiness from the oven, but I would definitely make these again 😍
I just made these today for lunch … delicious! My florets may have been a bit too large, so next time I will cut them up smaller and maybe keep them in the oven for a few extra minutes after the sauce has been put on to make them crispier.