Buffalo Cauliflower Wings (10 Ingredients)
These Buffalo Cauliflower Wings are made with ONLY 10 main ingredients and are the perfect for Game Day Snacks and Appetizers, and any occasion!! It’s crunchy and crispy on the outside and the perfect texture on the inside. To top it off, the buffalo sauce is a sweet and spicy kick that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser! Learn how to make these in HALF the time!!
It’s that time of year (all year to be honest) where I profess my undying love for all things cauliflower. These cauliflower cauliflower wings have continued my love affair. The spicy, crispy, sweet and savoury notes on this is out of this world!
Notes on Ingredients
Cauliflower: If you’re using a large cauliflower head instead of medium, definitely double it! It’s hard for me to guess the size of yours, so size up your ingredients accordingly! 🙂
Hot Sauce: It’s important to use a hot sauce that you like. It should also be suitable to your taste buds. Vinegar based hot sauces tend to blend perfectly with the melted butter so those are highly recommended.
Vegan Butter: Any Vegan butter works. Adding vegan butter aids in reducing the heat of the hot sauce.
Maple syrup: Adding this small amount of maple syrup also works to reduce the spiciness of the hot sauce and adds a lovely sweet kick.
Flour, breadcrumbs: these work perfectly any version of these ingredients! Regular or gluten free flour or breadcrumbs – the choice is up to you.
Vegan milk: For the vegan milk, any kind will work. If you want the best battering result, might I suggest a thicker one like soy milk or cashew milk?
How to Make Buffalo Cauliflower Wings (Step by Step)
This recipe uses easy to find ingredients to produce big flavour notes. The process involves standard dredging. There are step by step photos that can aid you along the way.
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 bowl, whisk the flour, vegan milk and sea salt, ground black pepper and garlic powder 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 and the cauliflower (for a dredging station). 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. While wings are baking whisk sauce ingredients together.
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 5 mins. Remove, cool slightly and enjoy!
Expert Tips and FAQs:
When cutting the cauliflower off of the stem, don’t make them too small. Think: hand held wing-like pieces! You can even leave a bit of stem on at the end to hold on to!
BTW, and it’s a big “by the way”, I completely hacked my own recipe! You don’t have to dip each cauliflower wing in individually (like I used to in the past). Like in the video, you can just toss them all at once! It saves SO much time and energy (and you get to eat them faster!)!
Although it isn’t recommended, it is possible to use frozen florets if it’s all you have/can find. To do this, the florets have to be completely thawed, then oven dried before you use it. To ensure that they are completely dry, bake them at 350°F for 5-10 mins. Pat dry after removing, then proceed with the recipe!
I highly recommend using a (affiliate link) silicone baking sheet for this. Nothing sticks to it, and it’s so easy to clean! This is the (affiliate link) one I use.
If you can’t have it, you can skip the cornstarch. But it does make the cauliflower extra crispy and crunchy by drawing out any excess liquid!
Serving Suggestions
These cauliflower wings pair well with my vegan ranch dressing. It’s the perfect way to cool some of that sweet heat.
The wings go great with chopped veggies such as celery or carrots.
More Vegan Game Day Snacks
As game day approaches, these cauliflower wings are must on the table. It works as a stand-alone or a treat to pass around to the family. The best part is that these cauliflower wings work perfectly with the other “wings” I have on the blog.
You can make a platter with your family by adding the following:
- BBQ Cauliflower Wings
- Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Wings
- Crispy Cauliflower Tacos with Chipotle Crema
- Sticky Spicy Sesame Cauliflower Wings
To find even more me approved cauliflower wings to mix and match, you can look through all my cauliflower recipes!
WHAT I USED FOR THIS RECIPE:
Enjoy friends! If you make this Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings (Vegan)
Ingredients
Cauliflower Wings
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, (if using a large head, you may need to double the batter and sauce quantities)
- 3/4 cup flour, (all-purpose gluten free flour or regular all purpose flour)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup vegan milk, (unsweetened) any kind works
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs , (gluten-free breadcrumbs works too) seasoned with sea salt and black pepper
Sauce
- 1/2 cup vinegar based hot sauce, such as Franks hot sauce, or any kind
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
To Serve With: The Dip (Ranch Dressing)
Instructions
Cauliflower Wings
- Preheat oven to 450°F/230° C.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking sheet or greased foil (I highly recommend a silicone baking sheet).
- Using a knife, remove florets from the cauliflower (aka cut off the leaves and don't use the most of the stems. You can leave a little piece on at the ends to hold on to). Chop the cauliflower into smaller pieces to resemble the size of the wings.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, vegan milk, sea salt, ground black pepper and garlic powder 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 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 serve immediately with a cool vegan ranch dressing (cooling agent is essential!). Enjoy!
Sweet Buffalo Sauce
- While the wings are baking, in a small pot over high heat, mix all the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, which helps to bring out more flavour notes of the ingredients. Remove from heat. Allow it to cool before putting it on the wings.Taste a little bit to decide if you need more sweetener to balance out the heat; if so, add a tablespoon at a time until your desired heat. Please note that especially depending on the hot sauce you use, these wings are HOT so take caution!
Notes
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.
I so wish the Ranch Dressing had been in the recipe! I didn’t even think about needing it and I’m in the middle of making it and just read I need it as the dip! Dang.
Hi Kelly, we’re sorry about that. To make it more clear we added it to the ingredients list just in case someone would like to use it in this recipe as well.
Thank you. The ‘wings’ were delicious! I had no idea cauliflower could taste so good and I love cauliflower. My husband and son devoured them. Thanks again.
Oh wow, this makes us feel really good. We’re so happy that you and your husband enjoyed the recipe kelly!
Yes we love to hear it! You’re welcome Kelly.
These are soooo good! I’ve made these a few times now and almost always finish a whole head of cauliflower in one sitting! Oops? This isn’t a recipe that “just works for vegetarians/ vegans” – even my meat-eating hubby loves them. Highly recommend you make them!
Thank you soo much Shakti for this kind comment!! Haha I have definitely eaten ALL of this in one sitting too (more than once) so I totally feel you. So happy B loves them too! 🙂
These put every other buffalo cauliflower recipe to shame! So delicious!
Wow such high praise thank you so much Courtney!
This recipe is DELICIOUS. They are so crispy and the sauce is absolutely amazing. 10/10 stars!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Meaghan! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
This was SO delicious! I served it with some cucumber sticks because I didn’t have any celery, and with your ranch dip, which was also delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!!
These buffalo wings are amazing and very easy to make! The buffalo sauce was so tasty (and spicy 😎) and definitely the best I’ve ever had. For the batter we used oat milk – I loved the outcome, but can’t say whether or not it changed how Jessica intended for it to taste. Next time I’ll try with almond to compare. Thanks again for such a fab recipe!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Ayala! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
This recipe is flawless. And you are not lying when you warn that these wings are HOT!
Oh my goodness, so delicious and satisfying. I have been making buffalo cauliflower wings since I was in college and this is by far my favorite recipe!
Followed instructions almost to the T and absolutely loved the crunchy outer! The sauce is delicious — I (didn’t have Frank’s Hot so) used Cholula instead and it turned out well. I made it two days in a row for myself and had an entire tray of cauliflower each time. ~Thank you!!~
I’ve made this recipe twice and I love it so much! I will warn everyone that when Jessica says the sauce is spicy, she means SPICY. I toned it down by using less hot sauce or I eat it as a cold leftover bc that somehow tastes less hot to me and just as delicious.
My parents were amazed that it was so similar to buffalo wings that they did not miss the meat. I need to be mindful of quantity in the future since Dad loves cauliflower—he wants more than can fit on a tray and some of the more crowded areas didn’t crisp up as well.