Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings (Vegan)
By Jessica Hylton -
- Updated
These Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings are absolutely divine veggie wings! They’re coated in a sweet and spicy lemon peppery sauce and are the perfect game day snack for vegans!
Can you believe that this is my 8th cauliflower wings/bites recipes?! We were trying to count it out first, and I was convinced I was only on wing #4, then realised that indeed, I’ve already hit 8! My ultimate goal is to have like every flavour under the sun, kind of like my favourite wings place before I went vegetarian then vegan. Then, that one day someone will reach out and create a vegan wings menu in my name, (preferably near my house) so that I can go and eat my own favourite cauliflower wings whenever I want. A girl can dream, right?!
Let’s get right into these Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings. Lemon pepper became one of my favourite overall flavours sometime last year after a company sent me their lemon pepper seasoning. Friends, I’ve been putting it on everything and in everything. I’m talking in my tofu scramble. On my baked tofu. Making anything with garlic and onions? Lemon pepper seasoning to the mix! So naturally, I realised, I needed to make some Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings and give them a try!
These aren’t your regular lemon pepper wings though. Of course naturally their vegan, but also, after being deliciously seasoned, they’re topped with a sweet and spicy lemon pepper glaze. I was never a fan of the lemon pepper butter sauce (I tried them for this, and it didn’t work out well), but I have always been a massive fan of sweet and spicy glazes. Hello my buffalo cauliflower wings, looking right at you! So I decided to give them a whirl for these wings and they worked out perfectly!
Of course, the sauce is completely customisable for your own taste buds. I wanted a spicy, tangy and sweet combo. Feel free to make them even sweeter, or less sweet. Cooking is for fun, friends!
These Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings are:
- vegan cauliflower wings
- perfect for Super Bowl or any Game Day snack
- coated in a sweet and spicy and tangy glaze
- so easy to make!
Quick Tips for these Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings
BTW, and it’s a big by the way, I completely hacked my own recipe! All the time in the past, I’ve said that you should dip each cauliflower wing one by one, and to be honest, it’s taken up a fair amount of time. I decided to just wing it (get it?!…please don’t leave) and dump them all into the batter and just coat. Then the same into the breadcrumbs.
Guess what.
It worked out the exact same. So friends, feel free to do the same! I’ll be adding a video for this, where you can see exactly what I did! Major time saver and a huge motivation to make these more often. Eat up and enjoy! P.S. – do you know that we have an entire blog dedicated to low carb recipes named Low Carb Vegan Recipes?! Be sure to check it out!
Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings (Vegan)
These Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings are absolutely divine veggie wings! They're coated in a sweet and spicy lemon peppery sauce and are the perfect game day snack for vegans!
Ingredients
Cauliflower Wings
- 1 medium head cauliflower if using a large head, you may need to double the batter and sauce quantities
- ¾ cup all-purpose gluten free flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 cup crispy gluten free breadcrumbs seasoned with salt & pepper and 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- chopped parsley and freshly grated lemon zest for garnish
Lemon Pepper Glaze
- 8 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 ½ tablespoons maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 teaspoon water mix together separately from the rest of ingredients in a small bowl for a cornstarch slurry
Instructions
Instructions
Cauliflower Wings
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F/230 degrees C.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking sheet or greased foil. Using a knife, remove florets from the cauliflower (aka cut off the leaves and don't use the stems). Chop the cauliflower into smaller pieces to resemble the size of the wings.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the gluten-free flour, almond milk and lemon pepper seasoning in a bowl to make the batter. If the batter is too thick, feel free to thin it out with some more milk and vice versa. In a separate bowl, place the breadcrumbs. Line it up beside the batter bowl.
- Toss the cauliflower in the batter mixture (you can add them all at once), using a spatula or spoon to coat them all. Transfer them to the breadcrumbs (you can do this in two or three batches) to coat completely, then place onto the baking sheet, giving each wing enough space. Repeat until all of the wings are coated.
- Bake for 22 minutes. Please ensure your oven is completely preheated and hot.
- While baking, prepare the ingredients for the sauce by heating & whisking together.
- Remove from oven. Toss the wings in the sauce (I like to use a spatula to move them around to get properly coated) then using tongs or a spoon, remove and place back on the baking sheet. Bake for another 5 minutes for the sauce to soak into the wings.
- Remove from oven and, and garnish with parsley and freshly grated lemon zest. Eat immediately - enjoy!
Lemon Pepper Glaze
- In a pan over medium-high heat, mix all the sauce ingredients. Whisk together to help dissolve the cornstarch slurry. Bring to a boil, then a simmer for about 4 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken up. Whisk frequently so the cornstarch doesn't thicken up in spots but instead mixes evenly throughout the sauce. Taste test and add more sugar if you want it sweeter. Remove from heat until needed.
Video
NOTES
If you don’t need gluten-free breadcrumbs, use panko breadcrumbs!
Nutrition
Calories: 33kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 29mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
by Jessica
In love with this recipe!!! The wings have the perfect amount of kick and flavor. Baked perfect, we will be making again for sure!
Thank you so much, Abby! We really appreciate such a positive review.
I absolutely LOVED these bites. I think I used too much syrup because my kids thought they were “too sweet and too lemony!” I thought they were delicious little candied cauliflower bites that were heavenly! Next time, I’ll decrease the syrup for the little ones.
We’re so happy that you and your wonderful family enjoyed this recipe DB! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
These cauliflower bites came out so crispy and delicious I could not believe it!! Other recipes I’ve tried always somehow make the cauliflower soggy or it stays raw. I had to replace a few ingredients based on what I had available at home, but everything still came together. Thanks Jessica!!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Mamta! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
These were so good. Did them in the air fryer, super crispy. On repeat soon. Thank you 🙏🏽
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Denise! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
Hello! It says to “eat immediately.” Does this mean they dont taste good if made for meal prep and eaten over the course of 2-3 days? If i bake the cauliflower with the breadcrumbs and have that prepared for the week and just put the lemon pepper sauce on top every day/meal before I eat it, would that prevent them from getting soggy?
You can definitely make it ahead and like you said hold off on adding the sauce if you don’t want it get soggy. Thanks again for reading and hope you enjoy it!
So so good! It was so delicious i had to stop myself eating them so the rest of my family could have some! Definitely not too hard to make and great for satisfying that need for a savory crunchy snack/meal!
Thanks so much EC. We’re so happy that you enjoyed it!
Loved the texture and how crispy they got. I used 1 tsp of ground pepper in the sauce but it was way too peppery. Did I use the correct amount?
Thank you so much Shirley! Yes you did, I’m sorry that you found it too peppery. Maybe 1/4 teaspoon next time?
You bet this is one of the best things to ever come out of my oven!
I’m a meat eater but I love cauliflower wings, and these were sticky, tangy, and satisfying! I’m often intimidated by anything that involves crispiness or breading, but this was a breeze. I think the key to making this recipe easy is for the batter to stick to the cauliflower, and it felt like this was the right ratio.
It’s a pandemic so I had to make some substitutions. I ended up going for Japanese spices because I didn’t have lemon pepper, but between the red shiso sprinkles (furikake) and spicy red chili blend (shichimi togarashi), I got some of that tart-hot comforting combo. Also I ran out of lemons after 6 tbsp but I had an extra tiny orange… so that (plus some of its zest) went into the glaze to make up the difference. One thing I added to the glaze as a personal twist was a clove of minced garlic, because I really like garlicky wings. 😉
Anyway I’ll definitely make this again sometime when I get new lemons… tho next time I’ll have to use Mediterranean or Indian spices because I’m out of those Japanese spices now too! *wink*
Aww wow I love the review so much! Thanks so much Sasen!
Absolutely loved this! The recipe was so approachable and the flavors are out of this world. I added a clove of garlic to the glaze because I like my wings garlicky!
Thanks so much Sasen. We really appreciate it.
This recipe is absolutely divine!!! We made it tonight for dinner and my fiancée and I ate the whole thing. Soooo yummy and very filling. The flavors are spot on too!
Yay so happy to hear this Sarah – thank you so much!!
Yum! Seriously satisfying substitute for eating wings. Sticky on the outside, “meaty” on the inside. What a way to get the most stubborn meat eater to eat their veggies. It’s a little more tedious to prepare than making chicken wings, but I think it’s worth it.
Thanks so much Aurora! We’re so happy that you like it.