Some of my friends can eat 50 chicken wings in one sitting! It’s a terrible truth. But now they know better and love cauliflower buffalo wings even more. Recipes like this always pop up around Game and cricket match hour and seem to be increasing in popularity, which is great to see!
Cauliflower buffalo wings are also showing up on restaurant and trendy cafe menus all over the place. Which is so cool! At the bottom of this post you can get all the idea me making these wings in 3 flavors, but give your own tasty blends a try too!
But whatever you do, go with the cauliflower buffalo wings flavor no matter what. Try these for yourself and see what the hype around “meaty” cauliflower is all about!
These cauliflower wings are one of most popular recipes ever! This recipe is fool proof and you can even make other mouthwatering flavors, too! Let’s get this on with
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower (about 4 to 5 cups of florets)
- 1/2 Cup unsweetened milk
- 1/2 Cup water
- 3/4 C all-purpose flour (can substitute gluten-free)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp of paprika
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 Cup American garden Red Hot sauce
SALT & VINEGAR WING SAUCE
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- sea salt, to taste
RANCH DIP
- 1 Cup mayonnaise
- 1/8 Cup milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp finely chopped oregano
Instructions
- Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 450°F.
- Wash and cut cauliflower head into bite sized pieces.
- Mix all the ingredients (minus the butter and hot sauce, this is added separately!) into a mixing bowl.
- The batter shouldn’t be so thick that it doesn’t drip, but also not so thin that it doesn’t coat or stick to the cauliflower.
- Dip each floret into the mixture and coat evenly. Tap off the excess a couple of times on the side of the bowl.
- Lay florets in an even layer on the parchment lined baking sheet without overcrowding. The parchment paper is essential in preventing the batter from coming off throughout baking! I’ve tried oiling the baking sheets and they tend to stick. You need parchment paper!
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown, flipping the florets over half way through to get all sides golden brown and crispy. If you go to flip the cauliflower and the batter is coming off, you need to bake longer on that side!
- While the cauliflower is baking, get your ranch dip and wing sauce ready. For the hot wing sauce, melt butter in a small saucepan on low heat and mix in hot sauce. Remove from the heat just as it starts to melt. Stir together and set aside.
- If you’re making salt and vinegar wings, melt the butter and remove from the heat to stir in apple cider vinegar and water. You will sprinkle sea salt directly on the cauliflower wings after they’ve been coated with this sauce.
- Once the cauliflower is done its first bake in the batter, remove them from the oven and put all the baked florets into a mixing bowl with the wing sauce. Toss to coat evenly, or you can do this in smaller batches. Then spread all the florets coated in wing sauce out onto the same baking sheet. Bake in the oven for another 25 minutes, flipping the florets over half way through. Again, if you go to slip the pieces and the batter is coming off, bake for longer. Oven times and temperature vary from oven to oven! Also, everyone’s oven is different. Watch the florets at both stages and adjust bake time accordingly!
- To make the ranch dip, whisk together all the ingredients until smooth and fold in the freshly chopped herbs. If you use a regular mayonnaise without garlic in it already, then you might also want to add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the ranch dip.
- Alternatively (and this is how I prepare the ranch), you can blend together mayonnaise, milk, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt and ground black pepper in a blender. Pour the dip into a jar or serving bowl and stir in the fresh herbs. Refrigerate before serving.
