Cauliflower Buffalo Bites are great as an appetizer, snack, or dinner. They are perfect served with celery or carrots and taste just like a buffalo wing. Vegetarian and Gluten Free.
When I made the choice to go vegetarian years ago one of the foods I would say I missed the most was hot wings. So I created these Cauliflower Buffalo Bites as my version of a buffalo wing.
Hot wings were always so easy to make and I always loved the flavor and the heat. Plus I love blue cheese dipping sauce which always went perfect with them.
So from time to time I would try to recreate that same flavor and experience in a vegetarian form and now also gluten-free. I think I finally achieved it with these 🙂
You may also want to try these other little spicy bites if you like these.
After numerous attempts I finally got the texture and flavors I was shooting for. So if you’re looking for yet another way to get cauliflower in your diet and experience the flavors of a good hot wing, then I think these are an excellent choice.
I did try to make these not to long ago and it was again what I considered a failed attempt. But since I’m not a quitter I kept at until I got there.
So grab a cauliflower, eggs, bread crumbs, and hot sauce and you’ve gotten the ingredients for a good cauliflower buffalo wing.
I like Frank’s Red Hot Sauce for the flavor and also since they don’t add any preservatives or unnecessary ingredients into it.
You can buy some pretty good ready made gluten free bread crumbs but I chose to make my own for this recipe.
It really only involves toasting several slices of GF bread in the oven at a low temperature and then putting them in the food processor…<Breadcrumbs are born.
These can be served with some other sides for a complete meal. I served them with some baked fries and it was definitely a complete meal.
You can buy some blue cheese dipping sauce or ranch dressing depending on what you like. I’m sharing how to make my dipping sauce with this recipe. Hope you Enjoy these as much as we do!!
- 1 medium/large cauliflower
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup gluten free bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
- Sauce for cauliflower
- 6 tbsp. butter.
- 1 cup Franks red hot sauce
- Cheesy dipping sauce
- 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese crumbles*
- 2 tsp. dried onion flakes
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 green onion diced
- salt & pepper to taste
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Preheat oven 400 degrees
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Break cauliflower into florets. In small bowl beat eggs. Then in separate bowl mix bread crumbs with garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, salt & pepper to taste.
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Dip cauliflower in egg and then coat in bread crumb mixture. Place cauliflower on large baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.
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Meanwhile melt butter over medium low heat and when butter is melted add hot sauce. Keep warm until cauliflower is browned. Remove cauliflower from the oven and in batches coat cauliflower florets with hot sauce mixture and place back on baking sheet. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
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Cheesy Dipping sauce
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Combine above ingredients for cheesy dipping sauce and allow to sit at least one hour prior to serving**
*can use blue cheese
**It's best if making your own dipping sauce to make that first so flavors have time to blend.
I think I know what I’m making tomorrow with our tri-tip, I’m sure our guests will love these spicy bits of goodness. Yum.
Thanks Rae! They definitely are the perfect crowd pleaser for sure 🙂
I am not a big fan of cauliflower, but I LOVE buffalo wings. Your pictures are awesome and I would probably grab 2-3 of them before i realized it wasnt chicken. Will need to have Carlos make this for me
Thanks Geoffrey and I think you would Really Love these if you give them a try 🙂
This is my favourite low carb snack at the moment and it has so much flavour. The spicier the better for me!
Same here Dannii! I like it spicy 🙂
I love how you keep to tradition of buffalo wings with the dressing and celery. What a fun idea! This looks delicious and I love that it comes without much guilt! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome and Thanks Luci 🙂
love franks hot sauce, I am always looking for new cauliflower recipes so thank you!
You’re welcome and hope you get a chance to try!
I need to make these next time my friends come over for a movie night! Love the colour too!
Oh wow! At first glance it didn’t occur to me that these were cauliflower bites – then I read your heading! AND – they are baked! I’ve so gotta try this!
Wow, these look ahhmazing!! They’re perfect for the big game day coming up! I’m sure they will disappear fast!
oh wow!! what an interesting idea. my husband will love this..
I love the idea of a healthier buffalo bite! It looks very crunchy, just the way I like it!
I am a sucker for cauliflower and I’ve always wanted to make these, but none of the other recipes were flavourful enough – this looks very promising (as in I absolutely love all the flavours going into this) – I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Tina! I played with this recipe a lot to get it here. Hope you Enjoy 🙂
I love how versatile cauliflower is! This sounds like a great way to use it!
Oh my gosh! These look really good!
Thanks 🙂
Yum, I love the texture of cauliflower, and it’s great to see tasty dishes that require very little attention. Out of interest, why does the hot sauce go on towards the end?
Thanks Lizzy! And the hot sauce goes on at the end since you’re basically trying to get the cauliflower cooked before adding..kind of like you do with the traditional hot wing. Hope that makes sense 🙂
I am definitely trying this recipe. Love that it is vegetarian and baked. Being vegetarians, my boys at times feel left out in certain food. They would be very happy to eat this.
Thanks Sandhya! This is definitely something I missed being vegetarian but these taste every bit as good as the traditional hot wing!
I never thought of making Cauliflower Buffalo bites, The recipe and the photos sound delicious. I’m glad it is gluten-free. I’ll try sneaking this in for hubby for when we are watching a movie.
Thanks Amanda and these are totally addicting 🙂