Cook up this crispy buffalo cauliflower for quick snack anytime. With a crispy coating, oven-baked cauliflower bites are delicious tossed in buffalo sauce.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Spicy, tangy, and perfectly crispy with that classic buffalo kick.
- Skill level: Super easy—just toss, bake, and enjoy!
- Time-Saving Tip: Use a big bag of pre-cut fresh cauliflower to make prep even quicker.
- Serving suggestions: Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing for dipping, and don’t forget the celery and carrot sticks!
Ingredient Tips for Buffalo Cauliflower
- Cauliflower: Fresh is best, but frozen cauliflower can be used as long as it’s thawed and patted dry. Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces for the best results.
- Batter: This simple batter starts with milk, flour, seasonings, and a sprinkle of breadcrumbs for crunch.
- Buffalo Sauce: Buffalo sauce and hot sauce are different. Buffalo wing sauce is generally 2 parts hot sauce to 1 part melted butter. Use a bottle of store-bought Buffalo sauce (like Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Sauce) or make your own and adjust the heat any way you like!
Holly’s Tips for the Best Buffalo Cauliflower
- For crispy bites, dry cauliflower well. Wash a day ahead, wrap in a kitchen towel, and refrigerate to absorb moisture.
- Let the batter drip from the florets, you just want enough to get into all the nooks and crannies.
- Don’t oversoak the florets with Buffalo sauce or they will get soggy.
- Line the baking pan with foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Leftover baked cauliflower can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days. Reheat under the broiler or in the air fryer.
Did you make this Buffalo Cauliflower? Leave a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower washed and dried
- 1 cup milk any type
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- black pepper to taste
- ⅔ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ⅔ cup buffalo sauce see note below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and discard the core.
- Combine milk, flour, oil, garlic powder, and pepper in a large bowl. Place batter and cauliflower in a large zippered bag and gently toss until cauliflower is coated.
- Pour cauliflower into a large strainer, letting any excess batter drip off. You want just a light coating of batter. Sprinkle with Panko breadcrumbs and gently toss.
- Place on a foil-lined pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently toss with buffalo sauce. Cauliflower should be coated but not soaked.
- Place cauliflower back on the pan and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until cauliflower is tender-crisp.
- Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Notes
- Note: Purchase store-bought buffalo sauce or mix ⅓ cup melted butter with ⅔ cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s Red Hot). Whisk until combined.
- Ensure the cauliflower is very dry after washing. You can use a salad spinner or shake it dry in a clean towel. Try to wash it the day before if possible.
- Toss the cauliflower in the wet batter and let most of the excess drip off, leaving just a light coating.
- Don’t add too much Buffalo sauce to the cauliflower, just toss until lightly coated.
- If some of your friends/family don’t like spice, leave a few florets aside when adding buffalo sauce and season them with salt and black pepper instead. Serve them with your favorite dips.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Party Food, Side Dish, Snack
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You sure can! Be sure the frozen cauliflower is thawed, drained, and dabbed dry or the batter will not crisp. Frozen cauliflower will be softer than fresh.
Yes. Place a single layer in the air fryer basket and air fryer at 350°F for 5 minutes and 400°F for an additional 5-7 minutes.
What is the trick to making them crispy? This is the second time I’ve tried to make buffalo cauliflower wings and they always turn out soggy and the coating doesn’t get crunch my or crispy at all! :(
Welcome to any tips cuz I love these at restaurants and want to be able to make them at home.
No matter what I do, I can not get them to not stick to the pan or foil or parchment…I’ve tried everything. Is there a hint? Because we love these, they just make a huge mess and I lose half of them to the pan!
I’m not too sure why they would stick. Make sure that they are coated and the panko is sticking well (so they are not too wet). You may want to try putting a bit of vegetable spray or olive oil on the foil paper or pan if sticking seems to be an issue.
Amazing! I am a vegetarian and my non-vegetarian husband loved these! We will make again!
Thank you! :) So glad you enjoyed!
I made this tonight for our Game Of Thrones party and it was the hit!!! I substituted the milk with sou milk and used gluten free bread crumbs and flour, it turned out fantastic!!! I will be using this recipes for years to come!!
I’m so glad you loved it Kimberly!
Delicious!! We devoured it – I added crumbled bleu cheese and sliced celery, served on a bed of spinach. Thank you!
Wow – that’s great to hear! Thanks for making it :D
Very good!! I’d recommend cutting the cauliflower pieces on the small side, use lots of panko crumbs and bake them the full length. Those three things combined will make them nice and crispy. A little parmasion wouldnt hurt either. :)
So glad you enjoyed them Tracy! :)
Omg. These were awesome.
I had trouble after the first baking process when it was time to toss in the buffalo sauce. Most of the panko was falling off during the process so I decided to hand dip them though a lot of panko still fell off :/ any tips here? They still turned out amazing!
I’m glad you still enjoyed them! Some of the Panko will definitely fall off but most of it should stay on. You can gently press the Panko once you sprinkle it on to make sure it sticks to the batter. Hope that helps.
Has anyone tried freezing these before? I just bought from Trader Joes Kung Pao Cauliflower from the freezer section (I haven’t even tried it yet), but it got me thinking I could make a big batch of this to put in the freezer too!
Thanks for the recipe! I couldn’t get mine “crunchy”. Perhaps next time put on parchment paper? Any suggestions? Still ate it up however, just texture felt more steamed.
You’ll want to make sure your cauliflower is VERY well drained to avoid steaming. Mine wasn’t crunchy but it was crispy (if that makes sense). Once you add the sauce it does soften the batter a little bit.
I just went to make this and realized I didn’t have bread crumbs. I am off to the store first thing tomorrow. I can’t wait to have this for dinner!
Enjoy! I could eat these for ANY meal of the day (breakfast included).
So good!! So easy to make to!! This is a new family favorite, and probably a new party staple! THANK YOU!!!
These were SO yummy! We will definitely be making them again! Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them Melissa!
We’ve made buffalo cauliflower in the past and it’s been good, but wow. We’ve made this twice so far and now it’ll definitely be a regular menu item!! This past time, we made half the batch with barbecue sauce for our 1-year-old son and he devoured his portion.
I’m planning to share this on my blog because this is an amazing recipe. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved this as much as we did! What a great idea putting BBQ sauce on it for kids!
I think I will try this with BBC sauce so that my son can have some too.
If he doesn’t like the spice, they’re great with just seasoning salt as well and dipped in a creamy dip like aioli or ranch.
Love it! This has made it to my Super Bowl party menu.
Definitely perfect game day food! Enjoy!
Where’s the buffalo sauce recipe?
You can purchase store bought buffalo sauce or mix ⅓ cup melted butter with ⅔ cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s Red Hot). Whisk until combined.
Made this today and it was amazing! My sauce was 1 cup Frank’s, 1/3 oil, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp onion.
I’m so glad you loved it Mary! One of my favorites for sure~!
Made these today and they are sooooo good! I’m not sure what happened during the first oven step, they started to burn on the bottoms and were already tender, so I didn’t need to cook them for the add’l 10 minutes. So maybe next time I will only bake them for 10 minutes instead of 15. Nevertheless, they turned out yummy and I will definitely be making these again.
So glad you enjoyed them Janet!
These look amazing. I’m going to be making for dinner tonight.