Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
A vegetarian version of a favorite appetizer, these buffalo cauliflower bites are baked, not fried. Crispy and spicy, these will be your new go-to game day food.
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower cut into bite-size florets and discard the core
- 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs*
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
Buffalo Sauce *see notes
- ½ cup hot sauce I use Frank's RedHot
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Rinse cauliflower with water.
- In a large resealable bag or bowl, combine the flour, panko (if using), garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Add the wet cauliflower to the bag/bowl and toss until the cauliflower is coated evenly.
- Arrange the cauliflower in a single layer among the two prepared baking sheets. Make sure the cauliflower pieces are not overlapping. This well help them get all crispy.
- Bake for 25 minutes, flipping the florets half way through the baking time.
- Meanwhile, prep your buffalo sauce. Combined melted butter and hot sauce. Set aside.
- Remove the cauliflower bites from the oven and gently toss in the buffalo sauce until evenly coated. To keep it crispy, you want the cauliflower to be lightly coated in the sauce, not dripping in sauce. I like to do this in two small batches.
- Return cauliflower to the baking sheets and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve warm with your favorite dressing.
Notes
If you do not want to use the panko bread crumbs, use a total of ½ cup of flour instead of the combination of ¼ cup panko and 1/3 cup flour.
Double the recipe if you like your 'wings' to be extra saucy. If doubling the sauce, I would do the final bake with half the sauce and serve it with remainder. This will help keep those bites crispy! If you have a favorite buffalo sauce, you can definitely use that instead.