Gone are the days of eating wings around a bone. These baked buffalo cauliflower wings will quickly become your new addiction when you find out you can eat the whole thing in just one bite.
They are spicy, tangy, and delicious. Get ready to be amazed by this superfood snack!
Table of Contents
📖 About
It's no secret that spicy buffalo wings are a crowd pleaser. They're good for literally any occasion, whether it be football Sunday, as an evening appetizer, or for a midday snack.
But if you're anything like us, we felt the need to have a full-on nap after eating a plate of chicken wings. That is not the case with these buffalo cauliflower wings. They are lighter on the calories, but not on taste, which means you can actually move around after snacking on them!
To be clear, we're not trying to emulate actual chicken texture or taste with this recipe. But, we can definitely vouch they are even more delicious! These wings have quickly become our new obsession because of how insanely good they taste, yet how simple they are to make.
Plus, if you serve them with a creamy vegan ranch dipping sauce, these babies are even better (if that's possible). We can already tell you're going to love them!
🍲 Key ingredients
- Cauliflower: surprisingly, cauliflower has a tender, pull-apart texture that is absolutely perfect for wings. You also get the benefit of being able to eat them all in one bite. Not only that, just one cup of cauliflower contains 20% of your daily vitamin K needs. Your bones will thank you after you devour this recipe.
- Hot Sauce: well, you're not going to have hot wings without the sauce. This part is crucial because it will make or break your wings. But, the sauce is also very customizable to your preferences. We love the flavor of Frank's Red Hot Sauce because it gives the wings a perfect mix of spice and tang.
- Flour: in order to crisp these babies up, you need to toss them in flour like they do at restaurants. And for all you carb-a-phobes, calm it down. Flour contains essential B vitamins like riboflavin, thiamine, and niacin. So in other words, you should eat it to be healthy. Carbs are not the antichrist people!
- Neutral oil: do you have to add oil to these wings? No, you technically don't. But, for the sauce to stick to the wings, we find it much better to use a little oil. Even though it is a processed food, oil still has health benefits. We use avocado oil in this recipe, which contains polyunsaturated fats (omega 3 and 6 fatty acids). These are important for your brain to function optimally!
🔪 Instructions
To start this recipe off, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, and line 2 baking pans with parchment paper. Place a couple lightly greased cooling racks on top of the parchment paper. This is so the cauliflower wings cook more evenly, and don't burn as easily on the bottom.
Next, you'll combine some plant milk of choice (we use soy), all-purpose flour, breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and sea salt to coat the cauliflower with.
Then comes the fun part. Chop up your head of cauliflower into bite size florets and coat each one in the breading mixture. After they are covered in breading mixture, spread the florets out evenly on the cooling racks on top of parchment-lined pans.
Bake the cauliflower wings for 30 minutes. In the meantime, mix some avocado oil with the Frank's Red Hot Sauce in a large bowl to toss the wings in.
After you've baked them, remove the cauliflower wings from your oven, toss them in the Frank's and oil mixture, then place them back on the cooling racks again to bake for another 20-25 minutes.
Once they are done baking for a second time, turn your oven to broil and leave the wings for another 2-3 minutes to get extra crispy.
Serve your cauliflower wings with some creamy vegan ranch dip and prepare to have your tastebuds blown away!
🌡️ Storage
These cauliflower wings are best eaten immediately after baking. However, you can keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days. They will lose their crispiness, but you can toast them up again in an oven on 350 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes.
We wouldn't suggest freezing them since they will become too soggy.
💭 Budget tips
We think everyone should be able to eat better for less, so here are a few tricks to make this recipe even more affordable:
- Make your own breadcrumbs
- Use a cheaper oil in the buffalo sauce (like canola)
- Get your spices in the international foods aisle
🍴 Tasting notes
Once you try these wings, we know you're going to be hooked! They're:
- Spicy
- Crispy
- Tangy
- Addictive
If you try this recipe, please rate it and leave us a comment below! Want to stay up-to-date with new recipes? Subscribe to our newsletter or connect with Broke Bank Vegan on social media. Happy eating!
♻️ Similar recipes
For more tasty snacks and sides, check out these recipes:
- Coconut-crusted cauliflower tacos for a twist on a classic dish.
- Guacamole and tortilla chips for a creamy, delicious, and addicting snack.
- Vegan "chicken" tenders for comfort food done crispy and spicy.
- Homemade salsa fresca for a fresh, easy, and light appy for any occasion.
- Buffalo jackfruit wings for a similar style recipe made with jackfruit instead of cauliflower!
- Cauliflower Manchurian to try an Indo-Chinese style cauliflower snack.
- Chickpea fries for an appetizer that's crispy, tender, and creamy.
📋 Recipe
Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Equipment
- Chef knife
- 2 baking pans
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
Cauliflower
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped in florets ($3.08)
- 1 ¼ cups plant milk ($0.35)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.08)
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder ($0.04)
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika ($0.05)
- ½ teaspoon chili powder ($0.01)
- ½ tablespoon nutritional yeast ($0.12)
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs ($0.22)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt ($0.02)
Buffalo Sauce
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil ($0.19)
- ⅔ cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce ($1.01)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F, and line 2 baking pans with parchment paper. Place 2 lightly greased cooling racks on top of the parchment paper so the cauliflower wings cook without burning on the bottom.
- In a large bowl, combine plant milk, AP flour, breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and sea salt. Stir to combine.
- Next, chop up the head of cauliflower into bite-size florets. Coat each floret of cauliflower in the breading mixture, then spread evenly on the cooling racks (on top of parchment-lined pans).
- Bake the cauliflower on the center rack at 425°F for 30 minutes. In the meantime, mix the avocado oil with the Franks Red Hot Sauce in a large bowl.
- After 30 minutes, remove the cauliflower wings from your oven, toss in the Franks mixture, and place them back on the cooling racks again. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until crispy, turning halfway.
- While the wings are baking, prepare a ranch sauce for dipping.
- After 20-25 more minutes of baking, turn your oven to broil for 2-3 more minutes on high to crisp up the wings.
- Serve cauliflower wings immediately with ranch dip and celery sticks!
Notes
- Baking the wings on a cooling rack isn't 100% necessary. Just remember to flip the wings more frequently to avoid burning on the bottoms.
- At the end, you can also toss the cauliflower in more hot sauce if you prefer saucier wings.
- For the plant milk, we usually use soy, but any plant milk will work.
Nutrition
💬 FAQ
You can absolutely use other types of flour, but your results may vary. We find all-purpose GF flour is the best substitute.
These buffalo cauliflower wings are a 4/10 spice level. They are even less spicy if you dip them in some creamy ranch sauce.
It's best not to prep this recipe entirely ahead of time. However, you can mix the dry breading ingredients, chop the cauliflower into florets, and mix the buffalo sauce to save time.
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