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These crispy vegan wings can be made in an air fryer or in your oven, and make the perfect flavorful appetizer or game day snack!
Here is why I love these buffalo cauliflower bites:
- These crispy cauliflower bites are vegan/plant-based, meaning they don't use any animal products. This means they are also vegetarian wings.
- They can easily be made gluten-free. Simply swap the all purpose flour for a gluten-free flour.
- You can opt to make these as air fried cauliflower wings or oven roasted cauliflower wings, I will go over both options below.
- Choose your level of spice! You can use any type of cause to either make these spicy buffalo cauliflower or milder buffalo cauliflower bites.
If you're looking for more vegan game day or vegan Super Bowl recipes, be sure to try my Mango Habanero Salsa or my Easy Guacamole Recipe next!
Ingredient Notes
Tip: I like to use organic ingredients whenever possible.
Cauliflower: This recipe works best when using fresh cauliflower rather than frozen. Though frozen cauliflower is wonderful in many other recipes, using fresh cauliflower will give you the best texture for these wings.
Flour: I used classic all purpose flour for this recipe but you can use a whole wheat flour or a gluten-free option if you prefer.
Oat Milk Mixture: Oat milk was my plant based milk of choice for this recipe, but you can use almond milk, soy milk, or a different plant based milk. I do not recommend using coconut milk.
Olive Oil: You can swap the olive oil for another high heat and neutral oil like avocado oil.
Buffalo Sauce: I used Frank's buffalo sauce because it's vegan (and also just my favorite!). I like to make spicy cauliflower bites, but feel free to adjust the spiciness by using a mild buffalo sauce.
Spices: I used a combination of cumin, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper. Feel free to play around with different combination of spices.
See recipe card below for full ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Before you get started making your tasty buffalo cauliflower, be sure to start with a clean kitchen and wash your produce thoroughly.
Step One: Prep Ingredients
After you wash the cauliflower, cut it up into bite-sized pieces. You can choose what size you like best, but I like to cut them into one and a half inch pieces.
Regardless of what size you choose to cut them into, try to make the pieces as uniform in size as possible. This will help your vegan buffalo wings to cook evenly.
Next you'll make your two mixtures: the dry flour mixture with the flour and spices, and the milk mixture with the oat milk, cornstarch, and oil.
Use a different large bowl to make each mixture.
Step Two: Batter the Vegan Cauliflower Wings
Top Tip: Double coat the cauliflower in the batter! This helps to create extra crispy buffalo cauliflower.
We are going to alternate dipping the cauliflower florets in the oat milk (wet) mixture, and the flour (dry) mixture.
Starting with the wet mixture, dip the cauliflower into the wet mixture (one piece at a time), shake off any excess, then toss in the dry flour mixture and shake off any excess.
Repeat this process one more time, totally two dips into each mixture.
It's really important to shake off any excess of the mixture. If you don't, you risk it not sticking well and falling off during the cooking process.
Step 3: Cook the Cauliflower
Buffalo cauliflower air fryer wings:
If you're making air fryer buffalo cauliflower, start by preheating the air fryer at 400 degrees for 2-3 minutes.
Then you'll carefully place the battered cauliflower into the air fryer. You want to make sure you space out the cauliflower by about 0.5-1 inch between each piece. This allows the air to travel and circulate between each piece, ensuring they get nice and crispy.
Cook in the air fryer for about 9 minutes, removing and tossing halfway through cooking (at about the 4 minute mark).
Carefully remove the cauliflower and toss in your buffalo sauce.
Allow them to cool slightly and serve right away.
Top Tip: Space your vegan wings out 0.5-1 inch from each other during the cooking process to allow the air to circulate. This makes them extra crispy and delicious!
Cauliflower buffalo wings oven method:
If you're making cauliflower buffalo wings in the oven, you'll want to preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Once it has preheated, place the battered wings on a nonstick baking sheet with 0.5-1 inch between each piece of cauliflower.
Roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes (or until crispy) on the middle rack. You will want to remove them halfway through cooking to flip them over.
Once they have reached your ideal level of crispiness, remove from the oven and toss them in buffalo sauce.
Allow them to cool slightly then serve right away.
How to serve vegan buffalo wings
First and most importantly, you will want to serve these immediately after making them (of course, after you allow them to cool slightly). If they sit too long in the sauce, they will get soggy and no one likes soggy wings!
This cauliflower wings recipe is great for serving as a vegan appetizer, as a vegan game day or vegan Super Bowl recipe, or just for a delicious snack or meal.
These vegan hot wings are definitely on the spicy side, so you'll want to serve them with ranch dressing to cool things down. It's also traditional and helpful to serve them with celery sticks and carrots.
In the spirit of being plant based, since you are making vegan chicken wings, you probably want to use a vegan ranch dressing. Here are some options for vegan ranch dressings.
Recipe Adjustments
Make Gluten-Free Cauliflower Wings: This is a really easy adjustment! Simply swap the all purpose flour for a gluten-free flour instead.
Make Cauliflower BBQ Wings: Simply swap the buffalo sauce out for your favorite BBQ sauce. This is an easy way to make cauliflower BBQ wings.
Make them Extra Crispy: Add ¼ cup bread crumbs to the flour mixture to make this cauliflower buffalo wings recipe extra crunchy and delicious.
If you enjoyed this recipe for buffalo cauliflower air fryer wings, be sure to try some of my other vegan buffalo cauliflower recipes:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card below. This helps others find my recipe and allows more people to enjoy it!
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower medium
- ½ cup flour all-purpose
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ cup oat milk
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tbsp cornstarch
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
Instructions
Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and wash thoroughly.
- Mix together the flour and all of the spices in one bowl and set aside.
- In a second bowl, mix together the oat milk, olive oil, and cornstarch.
- Dip each piece of cauliflower (one at a time) into the wet mixture followed by the dry mixture, be sure to gently shake off any excess mixture after each step.
- Repeat this process of dipping the cauliflower into the wet mixture for a second time, then the dry flour/spice mixture a second time.
- Preheat your air fryer at 400 degrees for about 2-3 minutes. Then place the cauliflower into the air fryer with about half an inch to an inch of space between each piece. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you might need to do this in two batches.
- Cook in the air fryer for about 9 minutes, or until crispy. Pause and toss the cauliflower at the half-way point in cooking, then return to cook until it has been about 9 minutes in total (or until it has reached your desired level of crispiness).
- Remove from the air fryer carefully and toss in buffalo sauce.
Oven Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and wash thoroughly.
- Mix together the flour and all of the spices in one bowl and set aside.
- In a second bowl, mix together the oat milk, olive oil, and cornstarch.
- Dip each piece of cauliflower (one at a time) into the wet mixture followed by the dry mixture, be sure to gently shake off any excess mixture after each step.
- Repeat this process of dipping the cauliflower into the wet mixture for a second time, then the dry flour/spice mixture a second time.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Once heated, arrange the cauliflower on a nonstick baking sheet about an inch apart. Roast the wings on the middle oven rack for about 30 minutes (or until they have reached your desired level of crispiness), tossing halfway though cooking.
- Remove from the oven carefully and toss in the buffalo sauce.
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