Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

These crispy cauliflower buffalo wings are incredibly addictive! They're battered, baked, and tossed in a spicy buffalo sauce that will blow away your taste buds! They're easy to make, completely vegan and vegetarian friendly, and simple to make gluten-free as well. 

These cauliflower buffalo wings are my new favorite party food! I can't wait to break them out for tailgate season.

Cauliflower replaces the chicken in these vegan hot wings. And I promise - everyone will be happy with the swap.

But watch out - you won't be able to stop popping these delightful little morsels into your mouth.

They're perfectly crispy on the outside and pack a lot of heat from the spicy buffalo sauce. Just the way I like it!

These cauliflower buffalo wings are:

• Spicy! Just like "real" hot wings.
• 100% vegan and vegetarian-friendly.
• Easy to make gluten-free.
• Totally addictive.

Oh, and before we move on. Do you know about my free vegan toolkit? It's a freebie for my subscribers that includes all my favorite recipes, cheat sheets, and resources in a handy printable. Grab it here.

Cauliflower hot wings?

Yep.

If you haven't been incorporating cauliflower into your routine, you've been missing out.

Cauliflower has a mild taste and a meaty texture, that lets it blend right into all kinds of recipes and replace traditional ingredients like meat, potatoes, and rice.

Here are some of my favorite creative ways to use cauliflower:

• It's the star of the show in this whole roasted cauliflower head in a yummy tahini sauce.
• Cauliflower replaces the traditional mashed potatoes in this Vegan Shepherd's Pie.
• Low carb cauliflower rice is perfect for these hummus bowls, this vegan stir fry, and this cauliflower pumpkin soup.
• Turn it into crispy fritters in these Cauliflower & Quinoa Fritters.

Cauliflower is also super healthy - it's low in carbs but packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. So you don't have to feel guilty about eating a whole plate of these cauliflower buffalo wings. 😉

How to Make Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

It's easy as 1, 2, 3, really!

I start by making a simple batter, then bake them in the oven, and give them a generous coating of buffalo wing sauce. Let's do it.

I used my favourite gluten-free flour for these, but any whole wheat or all purpose flour would work just as well.

Just mix the flour with your favorite unsweetened plant-based milk (like almond or soy milk), a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and salt. Mix it all into a thick batter that will stick to your cauliflower wings.

Line each floret in a baking dish and into the oven it goes. After 15 minutes of baking, give the cauliflower wings a flip and bake for another 10 minutes.

While waiting for the cauliflower bites to bake to perfection, you have plenty of time to whip up the buffalo wing sauce.

You can buy your favorite brand of hot wing sauce and simply use that in this recipe if your prefer. But Buffalo sauce is really just a combination of hot sauce mixed with melted butter, so it's so easy to make.

In our case, we'll use vegan margarine instead of butter. You could also try using coconut oil for the sauce, which has a very buttery consistency.

P.S. If you haven't already grabbed it, make sure you download the free vegan substitution cheat sheet. It's perfect for veganizing recipes like this!

Just heat the vegan butter and hot sauce over medium-low heat until everything is melted together, and then pour the sauce over the cauliflower buffalo wings. Toss until each wing is smothered with sauce.

Then put them back in the oven for another 15 minute, to get them nice and crispy.

And that's it!

These cauliflower buffalo wings are pretty intense -  you'll definitely want to dip them in your favorite vegan ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce to help cool off your taste buds.

Enjoy!

Tips for Making Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

Making Buffalo Cauliflower Wings without Flour.

If you prefer to make these cauliflower buffalo wings without flour, that's an option also. Simply toss the cauliflower with a bit of olive oil and roast it. Then proceed with coating the cauliflower wings in hot sauce and baking a bit longer. They will not be as crispy as the breaded version, but will still be tasty!

Use Your Favorite Hot Sauce

I used my own favorite hot sauce, Frank's Red Hot, to make the buffalo sauce for these vegan cauliflower wings. But you can choose any brand or variety you want. Choose an exotic flavor to really amp things up!

Don't like it quite so hot?

No problem. If spicy food isn't your thing, you can bake plain cauliflower buffalo wings and serve the hot sauce on the side for dipping instead.

Serving these cauliflower wings with a dairy-free ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping is another great way to cool things down a bit.

Keeping it Vegan.

I used a vegan margarine (Earth Balance brand) for this recipe. If you aren't a fan of these dairy free margarine, you can also try substituting it with coconut oil. It will have a slightly sweeter flavor, but a similar creaminess.

And if you haven't already grabbed it, be sure to snag a copy of my "vegan-ize" it cheat sheet. It's packed with all sorts of handy substitutions to make just about any recipe vegan!

📖 Recipe