These crispy baked buffalo cauliflower wings are a game day hit with both vegans and meat eaters. Everyone loves the party friendly recipe!
Table of Contents
- Easy buffalo cauliflower wings
- Cauliflower buffalo wing recipe video
- Reasons to make buffalo cauliflower wings
- The best healthy baked buffalo cauliflower bites
- How to make healthy buffalo wings
- Vegan buffalo cauliflower wings
- Low carb keto wings
- Cauliflower wings vs. chicken wings
- Buffalo Cauliflower Wings Recipe
Easy buffalo cauliflower wings
The crispy, savory, spicy, and secretly healthy snack is impossible to resist!
With just six ingredients, these surprisingly delicious buffalo wings are perfect for football games, summer barbecue parties, potlucks, or family weeknight dinners.
Quickly make up a batch whenever you find yourself craving some serious comfort food that will not leave you feeling weighed down.
They are especially tasty dipped in ranch dressing!
Here are 25 easy Cauliflower Recipes
Cauliflower buffalo wing recipe video
Watch the step by step video, above
Reasons to make buffalo cauliflower wings
1. You will be surprised by how good they taste.
Buffalo cauliflower wings are popular for a reason. You would never expect the meatless wings to taste anywhere near as good as they do!
I’ve had so many meat eaters ask for the vegetarian recipe after trying the wings. One hardcore carnivore friend said he actually liked the homemade cauliflower wings better than chicken wings.
His logic is that they are less greasy, you can eat way more of them, and the cauliflower buffalo bites don’t weigh you down the same way chicken wings might.
2. The serving size is so much bigger.
The entire tray of wings is under 300 calories. And the cauliflower bites are also lower than buffalo chicken wings in fat, higher in fiber, and cholesterol free, with just two Weight Watchers points per serving.
I know parties are supposed to be all about comfort food indulgences and not having to worry about clean eating. But when I recently served these wings, people kept commenting that they really appreciated having a healthy option amidst all of the pizzas, cookies, potato chips, and beer.
3. It is a recipe that everyone can enjoy.
Vegan, gluten free, keto, paleo, Whole 30, low carb, Weight Watchers…
Chances are, you have at least one friend or family member on one of these diets, and these oven roasted healthy wings are a great appetizer you can bring to a party for everyone to enjoy.
Plus, there are no bones to worry about in this healthy snack, which is especially good if you have any four legged pets around.
Also try this 5 ingredient Keto Cheesecake
The best healthy baked buffalo cauliflower bites
The first time I tried these buffalo cauliflower bites was at a football watching party.
I set down the tray to test them out and gauge everyone’s reactions.
Here is what happened:
Some people thought the idea was too crazy to even try, and one person who did try them said he did not like them because they were not meat. However, everyone else at the party gobbled up the cauliflower wings recipe at lightning speed.
And no one in the group was even a vegetarian!
A large batch of the buffalo cauliflower bites was completely gone by the end of the night, with multiple requests for the recipe.
Leftover cauliflower? Make Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
How to make healthy buffalo wings
Gather the ingredients: raw cauliflower, garlic powder, hot sauce or buffalo sauce, milk of choice, flour or almond flour, and oil or butter spread.
You can also add some panko breadcrumbs for an extra crunch if desired.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a large baking dish or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Either toss the cauliflower florets with a little coconut or vegetable oil or spray them with oil spray for a low fat option.
Place the florets in a very large bowl or Ziploc bag, then toss with the flour and garlic powder until the cauliflower is evenly coated.
If using the breadcrumbs for an added crunchy texture, finely crush them. Add the milk of choice to the cauliflower, followed by the breadcrumbs. Toss to coat.
Arrange the florets in a single layer in the baking pan. For best results, do not overcrowd them. Bake on the oven’s center rack for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the buffalo sauce and oil or melted butter in a dish. The fat will help the sauce adhere to the vegetables.
Dip each cauliflower floret in buffalo sauce. Place back in the baking pan, and bake an additional 15 minutes.
To achieve the crispiest texture, I recommend broiling for three to five minutes at this time, watching so the recipe does not burn.
Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing and optional celery and carrot sticks.
The recipe was inspired by my Shake & Bake Cauliflower. You shake the ingredients together in a bag then bake in the oven until hot and crispy!
Vegan buffalo cauliflower wings
The recipe is naturally plant based and vegan as long as you use your favorite nondairy milk, such as almond milk, and either oil or a dairy free butter.
For gluten free buffalo wings, use almond flour or gluten free all purpose flour.
Low carb keto wings
To make keto buffalo wings, use the almond meal option in the recipe in place of flour.
The cauliflower bites are already sugar free, so they are a great paleo and keto appetizer that people who are not big on calorie free sweeteners can also appreciate.
Cauliflower wings vs. chicken wings
To be clear, these cauliflower buffalo wings do not taste ohmigosh just like real buffalo wings. If you find any food blog or cookbook recipe that claims cauliflower is going to taste just like meat, run far away.
Cauliflower is not meat, cauliflower will never be meat, and buffalo cauliflower wings are never going to fool anyone into thinking they are chicken wings. End of story.
That being said, these baked cauliflower wings are delicious in their own right. There’s no need to treat them as a substitute for the real thing, because they are the real thing.
The completely vegan buffalo wings make a great healthy game day snack, and they are especially good dipped in vegan ranch dressing.
Or you can use them to make buffalo Cauliflower Tacos.
I have not tried frying them in an air fryer or cooking in an instant pot or on the grill, but some readers have reported success with these methods. Be sure to report back for others if you experiment.
These plant based wings are definitely worth a shot, even if for no other reason than to be able to say you have tried them. And it might really amaze you how good they are!
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
- 1/2 large head cauliflower cut into florets
- oil spray or oil
- 1/4 cup flour or almond meal
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp milk of choice
- optional 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce or hot sauce
- 1 – 4 tsp butter or oil
Instructions
- To make buffalo cauliflower wings, first preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a large baking dish with parchment paper. Spray florets with oil spray or toss with a little oil. Place in either a very large bowl or a large Ziploc bag. Toss with the flour and garlic powder until evenly coated. If using the breadcrumbs for added crunch, finely crush them. Add the milk of choice and then the breadcrumbs to the cauliflower, and toss to coat. Arrange in one layer in the baking pan. Bake on the center rack 25 minutes. Combine the oil or melted butter spread with the buffalo sauce. The fat helps the sauce adhere to the cauliflower. Dip cauliflower in sauce. Bake another 15 minutes. After this time, I like to broil for up to 5 minutes, watching so it does not burn. Serve with ranch dressing. If you make the recipe, don't forget to rate it below!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Cauliflower Recipes
Thank you! I tweaked around as I didn’t have much buffalo hot sauce left so did a mix of that and BBQ which was ace! Also added onion and smoked paprika powder to the batter. Cooking times were great. I was a bit lazy and poured the hot bbq sauce over the cauliflower and rolled it round; it still came out ok!
Has anyone tried processed pork rinds instead of breadcrumbs? I need crunch but trying to stay a little more keto friendly.
Made these for the first time and they came out so good!! My son, bf, and I loved them. Who knew cauliflower could taste so delicious?
These were so good! I used crushed up rice Chex for the breading ( gluten free) has a texture much like panko crumbs. Next day, had a few left, put them in a salad (cold) , also delicious! Love your recipes. My daughter has food allergies& intolerance to eggs, milk & gluten. You have a variety of recipes that my 5 year old ( & I) have enjoyed! Thank you Katie!
Thank you so much for making them!
I just tried those (like literally finished eating) and they are SO GOOD!! Thanks a lot for that recipe! I used einkorn and regular milk and it was oh so delicious. Tastes decadent but isn’t!
I am definitely keeping this one in my book I will be making it again and again!
Tried these tonight and my whole family loved them! The 2.5 yr old and 1 yr old devoured them, as did my meat loving husband. Will definitely make again
If I’m not using breadcrumbs do I still need to toss in the milk?
I’m also wondering this and don’t see an answer anywhere
I think it helps the flour adhere!
I made these and brought them to a party with a bunch of omnivores. People loved them and were still mentioning them a year later.
Made these for mom & me for lunch, well sort of, really good! 🙂
I had to make several changes due to two peoples allergies / intolerences, but still turned out good, if completely different. One prob’ is that mom can’t have much sodium at all, so dipping in hot sauce or using as much as I wanted was not an option. And I’m too lazy to want to do anything after putting them in the oven lol, so I compared your shake & bake recipe and this is what I came up with. (Also tried to include picture, but it’s my first time so we’ll see what happens, lol!)
One bag frozen cauliflower, thawed in microwave, just till all I’ve crystals were gone and no frozen spots. Cut zucchini in half inch rounds, set on paper towel to dry with another on top. Mixed dry ingredients in bowl.
6tbls almond flour, 2tbls rice flour, 1/8tsp baking powder, 1/8tsp pink salt, 1/2tsp parsley , sprinkle of leftover cilantro, 1/2tsp onion powder, about 1/16tsp Chipotle chili pepper powder & pepper each, 2tbls nutritional yeast, & instead of breadcrumbs, 1tbls whole amaranth seeds + 1/2tsp sesame seeds. Whisk together. Added wet ingredients. 2tbls oil, 3tsp Frank’s, 7tbls liquid (mostly coconut milk from carton, but ran out and used water for remaining liquid). Mix well. Poured over cauliflower, stirred well to coat, put cauliflower on parchment paper (good call!), then added zucchini to leftover dough mix, stir, add to pan. Patted last dredged of mix into bits in the pan with spoon. Since cauliflower was partially cooked I lowered the temp to 400. Baked for 40 minutes, adding / sprinkling some Vialife faux cheddar on for the last 5 minutes. It wasn’t exactly buffalo 🙁 but was good! 🙂
Next time maybe I won’t share, then I can add more hot sauce, lol!
Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Up close
Those are so gorgeous!
Jason (media relations)