Mango Habanero Cauliflower Wings
If you love your heat with a side of sweet, these mango habanero cauliflower wings will blow your tastebuds away! Coated in a sweet and sticky sauce, they are unbelievably delicious and perfect for game day snacking!
I’m always so excited when it’s time to share another cauliflower wings recipe. This time: mango habanero cauliflower wings! My first vegan cauliflower wings completely blew up and went viral, but if you like your wings spicy and sweet, these are the cauliflower wings for you. They’re battered and baked, then tossed in the sauce until it coats them deliciously. They’re magical, crave-worthy, and delicious for lunch, snacks, and dinner!
What Makes These Mango Habanero Cauliflower Wings a Hit
These mango habanero cauliflower wings have the perfect balance of sweet and fiery flavours! Here’s what makes them impossible to resist:
- Versatile. Cauliflower wings make the perfect finger food for football games and parties, but you can also make them into a meal.
- Super dippable. The best part about cauliflower wings is that you can dress them up and dip them into many different sauces for endless variety!
- Lightened up. These wings are baked instead of deep-fried, making them a lighter option that still packs in some serious crispy goodness.
- Packed with flavour. Mango brings the tropical sweetness and habanero has a fantastic kick!
Notes on Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make mango habanero cauliflower wings. Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
For the Cauliflower Wings:
- Cauliflower – Use a small head of cauliflower for this recipe.
- All-purpose gluten-free flour – Or regular flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- Unsweetened almond milk – Another unflavoured, unsweetened plant milk will work too.
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Crispy gluten-free breadcrumbs – Or regular breadcrumbs.
For the Sauce:
- Mango chunks – Be sure the mango is ripe and sweet! When fresh mangos aren’t in season, you can use frozen.
- Habanero peppers – You can use a milder pepper if you like (although then you won’t be making mango habanero cauliflower wings!).
- Brown sugar – Or replace with agave nectar, maple syrup, date syrup, or vegan honey.
- Garlic powder
- Sea salt
- Apple cider vinegar and lime juice – Provide acidity and tanginess to balance the sauce.
- Water or vinegar – Used to adjust the consistency of the sauce if needed.
How to Make Mango Habanero Cauliflower Wings
Making these wings is pretty straight forward. Here’s what you’ll need to do!
- Prepare. Preheat your oven to 450℉ and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or greased foil. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets.
- Make the batter. Whisk the flour, almond milk, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl and place the breadcrumbs in a second bowl.
- Dredge the cauliflower. Dip the cauliflower in the batter, coat in the breadcrumbs, and place on the baking sheet.
- Bake. Cook the cauliflower wings in the oven for 22 minutes.
- Make the sauce. Mix the sauce ingredients in a blender, then heat on the stove over low heat for 5 minutes. Adjust the consistency and flavour by adding water and/or vinegar.
- Sauce the wings. Toss the cauliflower wings in the mango habanero sauce, then return them to the baking sheet. Bake for another 5 minutes, then serve.
Tips and Variations
- Cut the cauliflower into even sizes. They’ll all finish cooking at the same time when they’re cut to the same size.
- Try another fruit. Being from Jamaica, I adore the mango in this recipe, but peaches or apricots would be fantastic too, as would pineapple.
- Wear gloves while prepping the habanero. If you decide to scoop the seeds and ribs out of the habanero to make your sauce a touch milder, be sure to wear gloves. The oils from the pepper can really burn your skin if you’re not careful!
Serving Suggestions
While you can serve these mango habanero chicken wings on their own, I like them best with a cool and creamy sauce like Vegan Ranch Dressing. You can also make them a meal by serving them with rice or quinoa in a meal bowl. Try making them into tacos or wrapping them into burritos too!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Store any leftover mango habanero cauliflower wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
- To reheat: For maximum crispiness, reheat the cauliflower on a parchment-lined pan in a 400ºF oven or air fryer. You can also reheat it in the microwave or in a non-stick skillet, but it won’t be as crispy.
More Vegan Cauliflower Wing Recipes
Enjoy friends! If you make this mango habanero cauliflower wings recipe, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
Mango Habanero Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
Cauliflower Wings
- 1 small head cauliflower, if using a large head, you may need to double the batter and sauce quantities
- ½ cup all purpose gluten free flour mix, 60 grams
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk, 120 grams
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, 1.5 grams
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, 0.5 grams
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1.5 grams
- 1 cup crispy gluten free breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper OR toast your breadcrumbs slightly before using, 50 grams
Sauce
- 2 cups soft mango chunks, from 2 very ripe mangoes, about 340 grams each with seeds in the middle
- 2 to 4 habanero peppers, orange or red (green will change the colour of your sauce )or 2 tablespoons ¼ cup red hot sauce (if you want it super spicy, add up to 4 habanero peppers – I personally used 2 habaneros).
- ¼ cup brown sugar, depending on how sweet your mangoes are – start with 2 tablespoons, add as much as you need. You can also use agave nectar or maple syrup or a honey alternative, 50 grams
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 6 grams
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, 5 grams
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, or regular white vinegar, 30 grams
- ¼ cup lime juice, 60 grams
- extra water or vinegar, to slightly thin out sauce if needed
Instructions
Cauliflower Wings
- Preheat oven to 450℉/230℃.
- 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 wings.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the gluten free flour, almond milk, salt, ground black pepper and garlic powder in a bowl to make the batter. In a separate bowl, place the breadcrumbs. Line it up beside the batter bowl.
- Toss the cauliflower in the batter mixture one at a time, shaking off excess batter. Do not soak. Then, dip the cauliflower into the breadcrumbs to coat completely, then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the wings are coated.
- Bake for 22 minutes. Please ensure your oven is completely preheated and hot.
- While baking, make the sauce.
- 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, 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 eat immediately – enjoy!
Sauce
- While the wings are baking, blend your mango, habanero peppers brown sugar, garlic powder, sea salt, apple cider vinegar and lime juice in a blender until pureed. Taste test and add more sugar, vinegar or heat based on your preferences.
- In a small pot over low heat, stir all the sauce ingredients. Heat for about 5 minutes until ingredients are all cooked through. Add up to 2 tablespoons water OR apple cider vinegar (don't add more vinegar if your sauce is already a good balance of brine) to thin out the sauce slightly if desired.
- Remove from heat and let cool completely. Taste a little bit to decide if you need more sugar or acid (vinegar) to balance out the heat; if so, add a tablespoon at a time until your desired heat. Please note that especially depending on the amount of habaneros or hot sauce you use, these wings are hot so take caution!
Notes
- Refrigerator: Store any leftover mango habanero cauliflower wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
- To reheat: For maximum crispiness, reheat the cauliflower on a parchment-lined pan in a 400ºF oven or air fryer. You can also reheat it in the microwave or in a non-stick skillet, but it won’t be as crispy.
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Very good! This was the first time I’ve made any of your recipes and I’m glad I did!
Hi Naima,
Aww I am so happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for letting me know! 🙂
Any adjustment for using air fryer vs. oven?
Hi Kate thanks so much for reading. I would still try the recipe at 450 in the air fryer but check on it after 15 mins to see if it has that crispy golden brown texture.
The wing recipe with the batter and crispy breadcrumbs is AMAZING!! I had given up on making cauliflower wings bc they always came out soggy, but using your high [pre]heat technique and also using not just a flavor packed batter but ALSO dredging it in extra crispy gf Panko breadcrumbs made these “wings” literally look like crispy chicken wings and when we bit into them- THE CRUNCH- wow, they’re delicious! The inside was “meaty”, but not stringy or chewy bc of the 450 degree heat- they are crispy exteriorly with a texture of a chicken nugget interiorly. I made my own vegan gf buffalo wing sauce as well as a honey lemon pepper sauce and dunked the wings in them- everybody devoured them! To make them: I cut two large cauliflower heads, quadrupled the batter recipe which was exactly enough to cover all four pans of “wings” and it fed a large party group of non-vegans who LOVED THEM. Thank you for this recipe!
Oh wow Heidi! Thank you so much for this review. It was so detailed and so kind we really appreciate it. We’re happy that it was a success for your party!
It all works perfectly as described and is absolutely delicious
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing Ina!
Every Monday I make a new recipe for dinner And this dish was 💯 it was so easy to make. I added cauliflower & broccoli , served with some grilled fresh mango and rice🧡 the veggies had a little crunch to them and the sweetness of the mango with a little heat, oh so good!! thank you Jessica for sharing! We will definitely make this again!!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Tami! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
This is my second recipe I’ve tried of Jessica’s, and it did not disappoint (though the pictures of these beauties alone could have told me that)! The cauliflower crisped up really nicely in the oven. I put mine in a litttle longer because my oven is really old (an extra 7 minutes). The recipe was really easy to follow and it did not take long at all. My boyfriend loved them as well. Thank you Jessica! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
We’re so happy that you’ve been enjoying our recipes! Thank you so much for your kind words.
Hands down one of the best recipes I have tried from Jessica. I can always count on your recipes to be delicious and fulfilling. I look forward to trying more recipes.
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
Another hit yet again!!! Will for sure be making these again they were so delicious 🙂
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Abby! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
I tried this and they were so good! I should have used just one habanero because the sauce was too hot, but I was able to add oat milk to it after it was made until I could tolerate the heat. I had it with a salad and will definitely be making it again.
Hi Fredrika,
Ahh yes the habaneros are quite the spicy affair! I’m happy you were able to tailor this to your liking in terms of heat level and that you enjoyed it. So so happy to hear.