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These easy, healthy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are made in the oven, perfect for football!
Buffal0 Cauliflower
Hot and spicy cauliflower bites, battered and baked and smothered with hot sauce. Serve this with skinny blue cheese dressing and celery sticks on the side for a hot and spicy meatless appetizer. If you want a buffalo chicken appetizer, try this buffalo chicken dip, it’s my favorite!
I tested it out on some of the cauliflower-averse people in my home, and they gave it a thumbs up.
One thing to note, if you are watching your sodium, you’ll have to look for a lower sodium hot sauce, or use half of the sauce. Frank’s is my favorite for buffalo sauce, but it’s not low in sodium. If anyone knows of a lower sodium buffalo sauce, kindly share!
Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
These easy, healthy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are made in the oven, perfect for football!
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 22 oz 6 1/2 cups cauliflower florets
- 3/4 cup Franks Hot Sauce
- 1 tbsp melted unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly spray a large non-stick baking sheet with oil.
- Combine the water, flour, and garlic powder in a bowl and stir until well combined.
- Coat the cauliflower pieces with the flour mixture and place on the baking sheet; bake for 20 minutes.
- While the cauliflower is baking, combine the hot sauce and butter in a small bowl.
- Pour the hot sauce mixture over the baked cauliflower and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve with skinny blue cheese dressing if desired and celery sticks.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Nutrition
Calories: 119.5 kcal, Carbohydrates: 21.5 g, Protein: 4 g, Fat: 2 g, Sodium: 1172 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 0.2 g
These were easy, yummy and a great appetizer or for us it was dinner with shishito peppers.
Circus wing sauce has 85 mg
This is great, just ordered a bottle on Amazon right now! I can’t believe the difference in sodium, thanks for sharing!
Do you have an air fryer recipe for this?
This recipe should be called: How to get your family to eat an entire cauliflower in one sitting. 😉 Yummy recipe, easily adjustable to make spicier or less spicy depending on how much sauce you use. I didn’t add quite so much water for a thicker batter because I cooked them in my airfryer. Turned out great!
Perfect!
These are delicious and so easy to prepare! I used my air fryer on the French fry setting (12 minutes at 400 degrees) and then baked another 5 minutes with the sauce. Will definitely make again!
Was very disappointed in this recipe as I thought the cauliflower would have some crunch to it. The flavor was good though
Delish! My hubby made for football game watching, perfect appetizer. We’ve tried other recipes but this is by far the best one. Will make again for sure.
These were delish!!! Kourtney Cogdill recommended air fryer… awesome…was great!!! Did not have Franks but used Siracha….will cut back a bit as quite spicy but we enjoyed! Thank you!!!!
made this today, since I had everything on hand. Also rolled some chicken in the same sauce… my husband said he thought the cauliflower was better than the chicken. I will make this again!
I love this recipe! I’m making this for a super bowl part how many does this recipe serve?
These are delicious a great alternative to fried cauliflower bites with the zip of buffalo.
Next time I’d like to try with my convection oven to see if they’re even crispier.
Love them!
I had high expectations for this recipe. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. The flour batter on the cauliflower never became crispy in the oven. I even tried cooking them longer before adding the sauce because they tasted like raw flour. Then when adding the sauce once again they were soggy, not crispy at all. I cooked them for a full 15 minutes with the sauce hoping for a browning effect or any form of crisp. I would have preferred to bake the cauliflower with just olive oil, salt and pepper, the gently toss in the sauce at the end. I won’t be making this recipe again.
i totally agree. I put them back in the oven on broil to get them crispier. i was disappointed because i love all of Gina’s recipes! I loved the blue cheese dip of hers that i made to go with them though!
Are there air fryer instructions for these?
I tried it tonight. 16 minutes at 400, tossed in buffalo sauce and put back in for 5 more minutes
These were awesome Kourtney!!! I had Siracha…used 1/2 cup will change to 1/4…had quite a “bite”….
Could I’m replace the AP flour with almond flour? Or another Keto friendly alternative and get a similar result taste and texture wise?
Solid recipe, will use again!!
LOVED IT. Followed the recipe to a T. Used fresh cauliflower and Frank Red Hot. Tossed them in a bowl with all ingredients. WILL FOR SURE MAKE THEM AGAIN.
Total cook time 25min and still had crunch.
Thank you.
These were delicious! I used Earth Balance butter instead because my husband is lactose intolerant, but otherwise, followed the recipe as is.
I wonder if I could do this in the air fryer…..
I’ma try right now…I’ll let you know
How did it go?
Air fryer directions on posted here. One said 400 for about 18 min. Check this post. I’m sure more are on here.
Like a few of the other users, the bites were mushy…
I just made these with almond flour , then used clarified butter, sriracha and a touch of BBQ sauce for the topping. SO GOOD!
Sriracha sauce has less sodium, but I don’t know if it would work with this recipe.
Do you know how to translate this to the air fryer?
I used a cup of kodiak cake mix instead of flour. turned out great!
Cooking advice on getting cauliflower crispy? I followed the directions and it was soft/soggy.
Trader Joe’s has a hot sauce called Chili Pepper Sauce that has 0mg sodium…it is very good and I use it all the time for my Buffalo Chicken, Buffalo Cauliflower and Buffalo Brussels Sprouts.
How much did you use? I have to watch my sodium so I am going to try this!
made these last night – they were very good! Next time I will try to crisp them up a bit more – maybe cook longer? They were very hot but my BF and daughter like hot… I dont worry about sodium as I have no real need to be concerned. And I may try swapping out the flour for rice flour (just for something different – I dont not buy in to the flour is bad opinion)
I make these but I substitute coconut oil for the butter, and I use frank’s original as I can’t tolerate the xanathan gum in frank’s buffalo sauce. YUM!!!
I was wanting to use this as a side dish for dinner but i don’t know what to pair it with. Any ideas?
I made it with country style spare ribs… so good
I made turkey burgers with it no buns.
OMG….Sooooo delicious!!!!! Thank you! Only thing I did differently was brush the hot sauce mixture on rather than pour the whole amount on, so I didn’t need the whole cup. Everyone raved!
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These are fantastic, first time I made them followed the instructions exactly and they turned out great. Second time, I pulled the cauliflower off the pan and tossed them in the sauce before cooking another five minutes. I would not suggest doing this, while they were still good, tossing them in the sauce took away some of the crunch to them, stick with drizzling the buffalo sauce over the top. I also added some habenero hot sauce to the flour mixture before i baked it and it added that extra heat i wanted.
So hard to figure out 6 1/2 Cups of Cauliflower. Does anyone know if this is 1 large head or 2 heads? Any ideas? I can’t figure out how many cups a head will give you.
The recipe says 22 ounces or 6 1/2 cups. I always weigh ingredients if a weight is in the recipe. The kitchen scale is one of my favorite tools! Very handy for getting the correct amount of pasta, too.
Can you use frozen cauliflower or does it have to be fresh?
Made this last night as a appetizer before dinner. This was so tasty. My husband liked it as well but the spice was a little too much, so next time we’d probably use a little bit less hot sauce/more butter. Overall though the taste was great. Will definitely make again!!!
I don’t think that they were doughy at all (like another user said) – just make sure you let the extra batter drip off. It’s just flour and water so it shouldn’t really be doughy..
Can you freeze these after cooking?
I haven’t tried.
We have these once a week on average. Just can’t get enough! Yummy!
So glad you’re enjoying them!
I made this for yesterday and LOVED it! Thank you so much for helping me stay on track through the SuperBowl festivities. PS – this is not the first time making your recipes. Keep them coming!
These were amazing!!! Perfect for my low calorie WOL and perfect for my family"s eat whatever they want WOL!! Lol These will be a once a month dealio for me!!
I just made them. I didn't have the right hot sauce, so I used a Srirachi BBQ sauce (Trader Joe's) with about a teaspoon of Tapatio sauce. They were delicious! We dipped in Ranch dressing, as we don't really care for blue cheese.
This looks great! I want to make it this weekend. However, I have one question. Why is the sodium so high?
Can I use almond flour to make this gluten free?
I have used rice and coconut flour. Rice is by far the best!
Use about 3/4 cup of rice flour in place of 1 cup or regular flour.
These were awesome, but… Holly moly, she wasn't kidding about the sodium… I didn't even notice that the serving size on the Franks was 1 *teaspoon*, which has 190 mg of sodium. That ends up coming out to a whopping 6840 mg for the whole batch of bites (c'mon… is anyone really only eating one serving here??).
For anyone who's bothered by this, tabasco only has 30 mg per teaspoon, so that would cut it quite a lot, but still equate to 1080 mg for the whole batch (I fully admit to splitting this into 2 servings and splitting with my hubby).
Also, I haven't tried this, but if you want to ditch the salt entirely, here's a link for a salt free buffalo sauce:
http://www.mrspice.com/hot-wing.html
Finally, did anyone else have a bit of trouble with the coating? I had to add quite a bit more water to make it stick (it was just too goopy and thick to stick at first). Even so, I think I'll add a bit more water to make it even thinner on the next batch. This topic may have been covered before, but I stopped reading after about 4 pages of comments!
Overall, this was an awesome find, and I'll be making a low-sodium version soon!
Jen Z.
I love these little spicy balls in my mouth !!!!! The sauce is so good I lick it off the balls then slowly inhale the delicious cauliflower
Gross.
These are the best thing when you have that need for the taste of buffalo wings but no desire for the calories or fat from chicken wings. Big hit in my house!
I made this the other night and could not stop eating it! Burns so good, and very addicting! This will be made again and again. And again. Aaaaand again.
Increase your butter to 3-4 Tbsp and decrease your Frank's to 1/2 Cup for a mild sauce. It's how we make mild buffalo wings so why not for cauliflower? 🙂
Does the cauliflower have to be steamed or boiled previously? Or is it fresh, uncooked cauliflower?
I made these last night as a Super Bowl snack and they didn't really turn out. The coating remained doughy and it completely ruined the overall taste for me. Any suggestions for next time?
We had the same problem. The taste is OK, but the texture is pretty mushy. This is the only SkinnyTaste Recipe I’ve made that hasn’t turned out awesome!!
would they be ok cold or do you have to serve them warm….. also how could I turn down the heat (spice)
I would get rid of using white flour because it is so bad for you in this recipe. Go to Dr Mark Hyman's site or read the Wheat Belly and you will have a clear understanding of why no one should be comsuming white flour in any state. I would use a Nut Meal like Almond in place of the white flour or even use a chickpea flour both these flours have lots of protien. Don't take a good vegetable and make it bad by covering it in flour …
^annoying
Look into King Arthur flour
I found it helpful! If you don’t like it, move on.
Thanks for the info and alternatives, Anon! That act i appreciated
Your opinion
I will say, what didn’t work well was coconut flour. Needed twice as much liquid to make it not crumbly and actually ‘coat’ the cauliflower. The taste was ok, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.
I've had something similar that was good. Need to give this a try! Pinning it!!
http://www.tabascofoodservice.com/about-tabasco-foodservice/low-sodium-pepper-sauce/
We wanted to let you know we shared your delicious recipe on our 40+ Skinny Recipes To Start Your Year Healthy post! Check it out! Feel free to share on social media! Happy & Healthy New Year!
http://www.theshoppingmama.com/2015/01/40-skinny-recipes-to-start-your-year-healthy-including-desserts/
Catherine @ The Shopping Mama
These were disgusting! If you leave them for more than a half hour, the batter gets soggy and un-chewable, really disappointing. My husband didn't touch them!
We have made these many times. My kids ask for them over and over again. We make buffalo "chicken" salad. Great vegetarian dinner option. Thanks for the great recipe
I'd steam the cauliflower first so it's tender then coat and bake.
I made this tonight with your blue cheesing dressing recipe and it was AWESOME! Totally satisfied my spicy buffalo craving but without that tired, heavy feeling I get after downing a plate of wings. Thanks!!
I don't eat dark meats or chicken anymore, and the two things I miss most are chorizo and buffalo wings! I made these for dinner tonight and loved them!! But I think my boyfriend (who eats meat) loved them even more 🙂 thanks for the recipe ;D
These are amazing! Everytime I make them my hubby say how much he hates cauliflower and how good these are!! I use 1/2 cornmeal & 1/2 whole wheat flower. I toss them all in the batter bowl and stir. Then after the 20 minutes baking I toss them all in a bowl with the buffalo sauce and stir. Easy peasy!! Only problem is you cannot stop eating them!!
Any idea if these would work with almond flour or coconut flour? They look absolutely amazing. Always looking for more ways to incorporate more cauliflower into our diet. 🙂
I made these using whole wheat flour and since my husband isnt a huge fan of spicy, I used less sauce- I used a basting brush to add the sauce, which also will help limit the sodium (my weakness)- I have made it twice in two weeks- such a good recipe!!
I have never been keen on cauliflower. I made these last night and almost ate all of them myself. Still cannot believe how wonderful they tasted. Will be making them again before the week is out I am sure!!!
So good…….
I stumbled upon this recipe and made it for friends a couple of nights ago. It was a huge hit! Easy and quick to make, flavorful and fun to eat. I also made the low-fat blue cheese dressing to go with it, and added celery and carrots to the platter. Living across the river from this year's Super Bowl, it was a festive addition to a great evening.
Oh man. I made these for the Pro Bowl last weekend, and they were fantastic. To make them gluten free, I subbed 1/2 cup GF flour and 1/2 cup GF breadcrumbs for the flour, and it worked beautifully. My meat- and gluten-eating boyfriend has been raving about them for days.
Just tried to make these. Used Red Mill gluten free flour. The batter dripped off of the cauliflower onto the pan and we ended up with a big, gluey mess with cauliflower on top. Also, made the mistake of using the hot sauce we had on hand (Louisiana brand) and they were too too hot to even eat. Ended up throwing the whole thing away. Has anyone else had trouble with the batter? What did I do wrong? These look so good, but FAIL at our house.
Have been meaning to make this for awhile now but just got to it tonight. WOW!! They were so good! I had it with a spinach fetta chicken pattie and some applesauce for dinner.
Gina you hit it out of the park once again – thank you!!
I made these today, replaced butter with e.v. olive oil, used a green habanero chile sauce and they looked like broccoli!
tasted awesome too!
Closet Cooking has a lower-carb version of this if anyone is interested. I've made it a bunch of times, but I'd like to see how the flour changes the texture. http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/01/buffalo-roasted-cauliflower.html
I made these for the first time yesterday and love them. For those who thought they were mushy, I have a suggestion. I placed the dipped pieces on a cookie sheet and as I worked the excess batter dripped away. I then transferred them to a clean cookie sheet for baking.
Great recipe, as for hot sauce, I found one that tastes just as good as frank's is less expensive and has much less sodium, only 135 mg.
crystal hot sauce. Also from Louisiana. Good stuff
I have made these a bunch of times and love them!
Re: lower sodium hot sauce, I really like Valentina Salsa Picante – it is a Mexican hot sauce (made in Mexico) that I find is a great trade off for Frank's. Valentina's has 64 mg of sodium to Frank's 190 mg, both for 1 tsp. I buy it in the Hispanic section of my local grocery store, Publix.
I made these yesterday for watching football and they were AMAZING. Even my husband liked them and commented how they had all the favor you want from buffalo wings but much easier to eat. Definitely making again. Thank you!
I really enjoyed these! I made them late at night so my husband only had one, but he said they were pretty good (and he doesn't like cauliflower). Next time I'll cook them a little longer to get them a little crispier.
Made this tonight and it was a big hit! We made them into wraps with lettace. The directions were perfect!
Just made this tonight for dinner. Made it exactly according to recipe and did it as a salad with some homemade ranch, and lots of other veggies. It was a big hit. I did find that the breaded cauliflower stuck to the sheet even after spraying but that was my only problem. The taste was great!
I had the same problem as some others – I followed the recipe exactly and they were yummy but the flour coating was a little mushy! They looked crispy when I took them out before adding the sauce (but I didn't taste or touch so I can't confirm), but after tossing in the buffalo sauce and cooking for 5 more minutes, they were a bit mushy. Still tasted good, but the texture wasn't great. Maybe next time I'll try cutting the florets smaller, I had some pretty sizable pieces. But I think these would be good with no coating at all, just roasted cauliflower with buffalo sauce! Then again, I love the taste of cauliflower so I'm not looking to mask it.
half wheat/half white flour would work? I dunno… going to make these (as well as 4 other ST apps) for a girls party tomorrow!! 🙂
Made these for lunch and they were very good even with using whole wheat flour. Next time I'll use milk instead of water (should help crisp up the breading) and will add onion powder and salt to the breading. I even gave them plain to my littles for lunch and they passed as chicken nuggets!
Made these for lunch and they were very good even with using whole wheat flour. Next time I'll use milk instead of water (should help crisp up the breading) and will add onion powder and salt to the breading. I even gave them plain to my littles for lunch and they passed as chicken nuggets!
Wow, these were amazing. I eliminated the butter and half the flour, so I can only imagine how good these are with those things added! We used zero calorie Louisiana Hot Sauce and really low-fat Ranch dressing. Now, it's been awhile since I had wings, but it was easy to believe that I was eating at B-dubs. Thank you so much for this recipe 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe, it is seriously so tasty!! Every Sunday my family and I make these and gobble them up within minutes while watching our favorite show The Walking Dead!! Thanks again :))
One of my very favs. Made it again tonight. You need your own television show. Really. I'd watch you religiously.
Excellent!!
I made these tonight and the flour mixture ended up like a thick paste….was it because I used whole wheat flour? How do I get it less pasty??
These were great! Unfortunately for us, my mom used Frank's Hot Buffalo sauce instead of the regular hot sauce (we had it on hand), and not realizing it was WAY too hot for us, we of course poured it all over our cauliflower. We'll have to try it again with REGULAR hot sauce, haha.
Just made these. I made only a small batch since I'm by myself, but I may have to go make some more. I used a buffalo ranch sauce from a local restaurant and had ranch dressing to use as a dip. I'm not a big fan of cauliflower, but these were fabulous!
Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe. I'm 18 and a vegetarian and I'm CONSTANTLY being picked on by my carnivore brother and sister for the "weird" foods I eat. I have made several vegetarian recipes for my family and usually they end up being untouched (except by my mom). However this one was a huge hit (I think the smell of the buffalo sauce sucked them in). Instead of using original Frank's hot sauce I used the buffalo one so the buffalo flavor would really stand out. I served them with Bolthouse Farms classic ranch salad dressing (all natural and only 45 calories for two tablespoons). Next time I plan on using rice flour to make it more healthy. Thanks Gina! P.S. wish I could show you my picture:( it looks so pretty haha
I want to try to make these to bring to a staff luncheon at work. Would they still taste the same if I make them the evening before and store them in the fridge? Has anyone tried that?
I've made this a few times now. My family can't get enough, so I started making 2 heads of cauliflower at a time. I've been near-vegan for 6 years now and wings are one of the few things I greatly miss. I also took a batch to party full of meat lovers. Everyone LOVED this. Wings without guilt.
I think this is one of the most innovative recipes of the year. Now I need to try to turn cauliflower into BBQ ribs! lol
I have made this 3 times in less than 2 weeks. I can not get enough! LOVE
You can make your own buffalo sauce:1/4 C water
2 T unsalted butter or olive oil
1/2 T chili powder
2 T ground red pepper
1/4 C cider vinegar
simmer for 5 min and add more vinegar to make it taste more like a bottled hot sauce.
I made these last night and they were absolutely fantastic! I used Baby Rays Buffalo Wing Sauce and regular butter because its what I had, but turned out amazing and was so quick and easy! I have shared this recipe with many at work so far today!
Going to try the Chicken Taco Chili tonight!
i used garbanzo bean flour instead of regular flour to make them gluten free.. they were fabulous! such a great sub for traditional buffalo wings!
Hi- I'm the daughter of your daughter's teacher. I tried this recipe last night and it was great! It's really creative and a nice substitute for chicken wings for vegetarians. It was also relatively 'easy' to make. I did make the skinny blue cheese as well which was a great dip!
Do these stay hot? Or do they still taste good after they've cooled? I want to make them for a party, but will need to travel after I've made them.
I can not wait to try these. Every single recipe from your site has been a hit. My family sticks to Paleo, so I have been able to use your recipes as a base and just sub out Paleo friendly ingredients. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes.
Made these for our Super Bowl party and they were a hit! Everyone loved them! Thanks so much for another delicious recipe!!
I stumbled upon this recipe and it looked very promising and it did not disappoint! I actually became vegan after viewing PETA undercover videos. The only minor change I made to keep the dish vegan was to use a vegan buttery spread. After the first batch, I made a batch with broccoli; that was great, too!
You know, I think I could have totally just seasoned the cauliflower without using the flour. I didn't feel like it added anything and whenever I can avoid using it, I'll try.
Made these yesterday for Super Bowl Party and they were really, really good! Instead of 1 c. flour, I used 1/2c cornmeal and 1/2 cup flour to the water and then I mixed the hot sauce/butter combo into the batter. Delicious!
Thanks for such a great idea for a healthy appetizer!
I made some with buffalo sauce and some with a teriyaki glaze. so yummy both ways!
I just made this for the super bowl party and they are FANTASTIC! I used whole wheat flower and they cooked up beautifully. They were nice and crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside, like a good chicken wing. I saved a little of the sauce and poured it over the top after I took them out of the oven, and that finished them off perfectly. If you want them really crispy, just cut them into smaller pieces ( almost popcorn size, or a little bigger). My husband is super impressed. He's a huge wing fan, and NOT a cauliflower lover. GREAT RECIPE!
For those who like lots of heat, Dave's Insanity Sauce made with Ghost Pepper ought to do the trick. I use Ghost Peppers on anything that can be made spicy.
I just made these for a super bowl party this afternoon (also the low fat creamy blue cheese dressing) and they are AWESOME! I had to force myself to stop eating them now or there would not be any for later! Delicious! I am actually thinking might be able to get my kids to eat cauliflower this way, minus the spicy sauce. Maybe with a milder, sweeter sauce! Thanks for this!
Can you use whole wheat flour vs Whiteflower
I used whole wheat flower and they came out perfect!
Did you use Franks Wing Hot Sauce or regular Franks Red Hot?!!
Hi-Should they be crispy? I made this exactly as written, using fresh cauliflower. They were nice and crispy after the first baking–until I put on the sauce. Then they became soft, and kind of mushy. Should they be crisp? I didn't want to cook them anymore, since the cauliflower would only get softer. Love all your recipes !!!
This was my problem as well. They were nice and crispy after the first baking and now they're completely mushy and unappetizing. Not sure what the second baking is supposed to do? But it ruined my attempt. Bummer.
This sounds like a dish my husband would enjoy and be able to get his buffalo fix.He can't eat the wing any longer he has developed an allergy to chicken.This way he can get the flavor of the wings without the allergic reaction,and they are health too.
I made these the other day. They were fantastic! I put it on broil for the last five minutes to make them crispier. I will be making them again soon!!!
OMG these are the best.My new things.
this is amazing. I made them for my son's bday party and just again tonight for a snack.
I wanted to ask if anyone has a suggestion to make them crispy on the outside. I followed the recipe to the T and they come out nice and soft, and spicy as I expect. just curious of they are supposed to be crispy base don this recipe or of I can add something. Thanks
I'm thinking coated with a little nutritional yeast instead of flour would be amazing!!
I am definitely making this recipe this week. Question, is this an eat right out of the oven thing or could it sit for a bit? I only ask because I have a work party I was considering bringing this to but I'm afraid it won't hold up.
I made these the other night and they were fantastic! I served them with ranch dip made with greek yogurt. Your website has been a great help these days. I have been overweight as long as I can remember and it's a lot easier to loose weight when you have such great recipes to fall back on. Thank you thank you thank you!
Really want to try this, sounds so good but I do have one question. Could you use whole wheat flour instead of the white? I am cutting out white flour in my diet. Or is there another option? I saw one person say there were going to roast the cauliflower without the batter coating and add the sauce. I wondered how that turned out.
Hey Gina!
Just wondering how you think this may hold up for a lunchbox snack the next day?! Either way, I think I might make this dinner tonight!
Franks makes buffalo hot sauce so u can nix the butter
These are currently in my oven cooking with the sauce on them! Read the recipe days ago and was so stoked to buy cauliflower (who EVER says they are EXCITED to buy cauliflower!?) and make them:). ALSO, I just found this website and it's wonderful. So thank you to whomever has put in so much time and hard work – it's definitely appreciated.
xo
Finally got around to making these. They're WONDERFUL! They totally satisfied the craving for buffalo wings. I didn't miss the chicken at all (and I LOVE chicken). I didn't make my own dressing, but it was lovely with some Lite Ken's Steakhouse Blue Cheese. Even hubby liked it, and he is not a wing fan. He requested I make it again and try teriyaki instead of buffalo sauce. We'll see how that goes.
I also want to thank Bob Thomas for his Wing Time sauce recommendation. The Mild was just the right level of spice, and gotta love that the sauce is low-sodium and no artificial preservatives!
I made this tonight, my husband extremely hates cauliflower, he really enjoyed this as did my 15 month old son! Yes, I have a 15 month old that loves spicy food! 🙂
Is the batter supposed to be super thick? Mine was almost unmanageable, made a huge mess trying to get it on the cauliflower, and the cauliflower ended up looking like dough blobs, whereas yours, Gina, still looks like nice cauliflower. Is there some secret trick to coating the cauliflower?
I tried this recipe and loved it although I found the cauliflower a bit soft.What changes should I make to have them more crispy?
Tablespoon posted a recipe today that is so freaking close to yours that it made me want to accuse them of stealing it. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flatter. http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/buffalo-cauliflower-blue-cheese-yogurt-dipping-sauce-recipe/1/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=recipe-embed
These were very yummy! I couldn't stop eating them so good thing they are relatively good for you 🙂
sounds DELICIOUS…havent done any research… but… I use Cornstarch and seasonings to coat my zucchini, sweet potatos, etc…to give it that "battered" feel…wonder if it would be better than flour>??? I am going to try these…YUM!!!!
How did the cornstarch turn out?
sounds DELICIOUS…havent done any research… but… I use Cornstarch and seasonings to coat my zucchini, sweet potatos, etc…to give it that "battered" feel…wonder if it would be better than flour>??? I am going to try these…YUM!!!!
This was AMAZING!
I used Texas Pete Hot Sauce — it has about half the sodium of Frank's.
I'm not sure about these. I tried them for lunch today and I could definitely still taste the cauliflower. I HATE cauliflower…if you like it, I would recommend these. I think for me it was just too far from the "original" taste (of actual buffalo chicken) to be a good alternative.
I made these tonight and I nearly didn't let anyone else have any! They are absolutely delicious! I don't like a lot of hot (just a hint of a kick is good for me), so I only used about 2 Tbs of Texas Pete hot sauce. It was perfect! I'm gonna have to go buy more cauliflower now! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
OMG…these are so delicious, and I don't even miss the chicken wings aspect of this dish! Can't wait to share this webpage with some friends. Thank you for sharing it.
I just had to tell you.. my husband HATES cauliflower, but I served this to him anyway, because he loves anything "buffalo" and he LOVED it. He ate it three times leftover! Definitely a great recipe!
These were SO SO yummy! Thank you! I did some for the kids with no hot sauce, just Parmesan and butter. I might add a sprinkling of bread crumbs for crunch but still loved these.
I liked these but my only complaint is there was no crunch or crispiness to them. Any tips on how to get that?
Hi, this looks amazing but im doing the low carb diet. Wondering what i can do instead of the flour???? Please help would love to try this recipe.
Made this last night and it was very good. Maybe a bit softer than I would prefer– next time I'll see if I can get away with a shorter baking time. Rather than drizzle the hot sauce mixture I tossed it with the baked cauliflower in a bowl before returning it to the baking sheet. That way every piece is completely coated and you lose less hot sauce!
Love love love this!!!!!
Made this last night. It was awesome. I drizzled a tbsp of lite blue cheese dressing on my portion… that made it amazing!. Another keeper. Thanks Gina, your recipes make me better cook.
Tried it tonight and it was delicious!
Has anyone tried just roasting the cauliflower straight without using the batter? I find that roasted cauliflower can get a little crispy and eliminating the flour/batter might make this recipe even healthier! Look forward to trying. Thanks
Rachael Ray did something similar, but she roasted the cauliflower in the oven with olive oil, no batter. I think I will try it both ways and judge for myself, but the one without the batter would definitely be healthier.
Gina- about 99% of meals I make are from your website. I have been following you since 2008 when you first started and I have to say that might be my favorite recipe for far! My husband and I LOVE anything buffalo. I always joke that I could be a vegetarian if it wasnt for buffalo chicken but with this recipe- I could totally be a vegetarian now!
One question for you- How would you reheat this? I feel like they could get a little soggy in the microwave. Mine have a wonderful crisp to them and dont want to loose that if i microwave them. Thanks!
Gina- try Cholula Hot Sauce some time. It has 85 mg sodium per teaspoon as opposed to Frank's which has 190 mg per teaspoon. My family loves it and we used to be die hard Frank's fans!
This looks really really good! Who doesn't love buffalo flavors? And cauliflower is definitely a healthier alternative to the fried chicken wings 🙂
thank you Gina, I did not expect this to taste so good! This is a great snack and so filling. I made the bleu cheese dressing too… great together. I'll be making this weekly. It's so good you feel like you're eating something bad.
Hi does the cauliflower come out soft or crunchy after it's baked?
Hi – Can't wait to try this recipe. I am wondering if anyone has tried this recipe using fresh mushrooms… and instead of using hot sauce, just dipping them into a nice ranch or blue cheese dressing. I might have to try this. I've always loved the deep fried mushrooms, but not the fat. Thanks for a great recipe!
To the person above – do not cook the cauliflower first.
Just finished making these. I generally do NOT like cauliflower. But I do LOVE Frank's Hot Sauce. Still, I had very low expectations for these. I REALLY do NOT like cauliflower. But my love of Frank's won out. YUM!
I skipped the butter. I'm guessing it would have helped in browning a bit, but I didn't miss the butter.
I also added a teaspoon of seasoned salt to the batter.
I had a small amount of batter left over after coating and baking the cauliflower, so instead of pouring the Frank's on them directly, I mixed the Franks with the batter, re-coated all of them to get a more even coating, and put them back in the oven for about 10 minutes. Turned out great! My son loved them without sauce on them. Definitely will make again.
These were amazing! I can't stop eating them!
Just made these today. Very easy if a bit odd mixing flour (I used white whole grain) and water with the florets but it totally works. They taste great especially with the skinny blue cheese dressing.
Stupid question, but do you cook the cauliflower before you coat and bake it?
I may just have to make these for the Superbowl this year!!! Great idea, thanks!!!
I may just have to make these for the Superbowl this year!!! Great idea, thanks!!!
Just made these. I hate cauliflower but I LOVE these!
Just made these. They were really tasty. I don't think I did the batter right though. I was surprised the batter was so thick. I was wondering if I did something wrong. I dipped each floret individually into the batter to coat? Is that correct? I wasn't sure if it should be a thick coating or thin. I had batter leftover so maybe I didn't put enough on.
Can this be made without butter??…it's the only thing I am missing.
Thank you :0)
Loved em.
This recipe was awesome! It even got the seal of approval from my hot wings-obsessed boyfriend. I would definitely make this again.
Looks yummy! and great with football. any suggestions for the dressing if you are dairy & soy free as well as GF? i'm gonna need some cooling down…
This looks great! Can't wait to try it!!
You can try my salt-free jalapeno sauce relish
10 lbs red jalapenos
1 full bulb garlic
7 packs Sweet'n'Lo or generic
White vinegar
For jalapeno salsa, chop peppers and garlic in food processor. For pourable sauce, you'll have to seed them first and then puree in processor. Add vinegar to cover and stir in sweetener. Bring to full rolling boil, put in clean sterile mason jars, and process in boiling water bath 20 minutes. The result will be nearly identical to a sambal or sriracha, depending on texture.
10 lbs jalapenos….. ?
I made these last night. Honestly, they were terrible! Not a keeper, they went down the garbage disposal. I even tried to bake them so they were crispy and did not work.
I just made this tonight. I really really liked it! My 7yr old is a spice fanatic and like it also. This will be a regular in my house.
Yep, Cheryl S. shared them here at work at I'm here for the recipe- just in time for the Super Bowl. These were yummy and I'm not a cauliflower fan. I'm totally making these!
This was the bomb diggity! I LOVED it. It was one of those that while I was making it, I'm like, hmmm…I hope it is edible. And then I put the first piece in my mouth, and wanted to gobble the whole tray. I also made the blue cheese dressing. That is a must. I found Franks Buffalo Hot Sauce. 😉 Thank you. Please keep 'em coming!! I am turning everyone I know on to you, from cashiers at my grocery store, to co-workers, to family…
What a great idea for cauliflower! Love the red colour.
I'm a student so I cook for 1, how well do these heat up?
I made these for dinner last night – tasty! I will definitely make these again!
These are a lot better than I thought they would be! I was looking for a quick veggy side and I had cauliflower so I tried it. YUM!
Making this right now and since I have a 4 year old who isn't too crazy with spicy sauce so I'm making half in frank's red hot chili lime sauce and other half in BBQ sauce for my daughter… so looking foward to this!
I tried these, but used BBQ sauce (about 1/4 cup) mixed with about 1 tsp siracha sauce. They were good. Actually forgot to add the butter, so then fried them with the 1 tbsp of butter after they were cooked to get them "crispier". I loved them…
I bet these are great! But let me tell you about a little mistake I made…..
I'm in England right now with no access to Franks 🙁 But when I was in the states for Christmas, I brought back a bottle of tapatio with me to accompany all the ingredients for Mexican food that I brought with me. The scoville rating of tapatio is 3,000, while Franks is only 450. Tapatio is not meant to be consumed in such large quantities (at least not for this white girl!) I guess liking a few splashes of tapatio on my eggs is not the same as making a sauce from just that! Thank god I have points left for a glass of milk!
Thanks for the warning about Tapatio. I might try BBQ sauce with just a few drops of Tapatio.
I wondered if you have ever considered or tried to make these "pizza" like using tomato sauce in lieu of hot sauce and then adding some Italian spices? I think a little low fat Parmesan Cheese when serving would be yummy, too.
Thoughts?
I made this for dinner and it was sooooooo good! Even my non-vegetarian husband loved it. We will be making this often! I used Crystal Hotsause (Lousiana hot sauce) and added some Old Bay Seasoning to the flour. I baked it for longer- about 40 minutes actually. I think it was because I used frozen cauliflower – which worked great by the way because the flour really stuck to it after dipping in water – this was a big winner. I am happy to have a vegetarian "wing option" for me now. Thanks!!!
-Jen Lovett
Did you steam or defrost the cauliflower before baking them?
Thank you!
Wow, it looks delicious. I am in a hurry to make this. My husband love spicy foods.
Why not make your own Buffalo Sauce to contain whatever suits your diet? Try steeping red pepper seeds in olive oil, heating the mix to kill errant microbes. Nick M.
I saw this recipe somewhere else and they used 1 cup of coconut milk instead of the 1 cup of water and it is really good. 🙂
It sounds awesome and I'll probably try it.Why is the sodium content so high?
Duh! Never mind. Reading is fundamental!
Making these tonight just purchased all the goods at Fresh N Easy 🙂 looks yummy!
Thanks Gina! This is another winner. I made it for dinner this evening and loved it. I added only 1 tsp butter to the buffalo sauce – not quite as rich, but still very yummy.
Oh. My. Gosh. This is the most amazing, creative cauliflower recipe ever!!! My husband and son, neither cauliflower fans, were CRAZY about this! They dipped it in lowfat ranch, but I loved your blue cheese recipe. Will be fixing often!
I tried it with both cauliflower and broccoli…DELICIOUS!!! 🙂
Gina@Skinnytaste…I made this for a holiday party this past season & was a huge hit! In regards to lower sodium sauce, look at Bellas at Whole Fookds, I did not use but I believe it may be lower in sodium than Franks
Tobasco has a Buffalo Sauce that is low in sodium, however I prefer the taste of Franks! I just made this last night and put it on top of a pizza with celery and onion. Delicious!! Never going back to chicken!
Yum! These look awesome! I've seen a couple of these recipes floating around, and I really need to try it!
When I make Buffalo Wings, I save myself a few calories by not using the butter. Really, you can't taste a difference at all. So, I recommend that for these, too.
(*heading to the store immediately to get cauliflower*)
We love Frank's hot sauce! My husband puts it in bround beef with fresh salsa and chili powder and we call them "street tacos" (suburban style). We eat it over corn tortillas with lots of cilantro, avocado and lime. But it looks like we might have found a new favorite way to eat Frank's. Thanks Gina!
Made these last night and really enjoyed them and Hubby gobbled them up. I love Franks sauce too but would prefer a lower sodium variety so I'm on the look out.
Amazing…Just made them and they came out perfect! Thanks for sharing.
Made this without the flour and water and just roasted with salt and pepper and then added the Franks after about 15 minutes.
I think I could drink hot sauce. I love that this has all the flavor without any fried ingredients.
Nice, I have all the ingredients already (although I only have a small bottle of Franks so I might have to scale it down). Will let you know how it turns out!
Whoa….OMG! Your photo's of these babies make them jump off the page (that's a good thing!). No wonder everyone is freaking out! I'm def on board, and will be attempting this, this weekend. I love checking out what delish dish you'll be showcasing….real highlight!!
*Think I'll try the beer thing too, using a low carb version-thanks Kim 😉
I know it would up the points, but I wonder how it would work if you used beer instead of water. If it's baked, would it still have that "beer battered" consistency? I might have to give it a try.
Ooooooooooooh! What a fabulous idea!!!
I made this with beer instead of water, I liked it. Thought it turned out great.
Hi Gina- There is a New Frank's RedHot Reduced Sodium Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Really? I have to look for it!
I'm doing the Daniel Fast, is it ok to substitute olive or canola oil for the butter?
sure!
The butter is for flavoring, that is what makes it buffalo sauce, you can just remove it from the mixture
Correction to above: when mixed with flour
Is the 1 cup of water correct? Wouldn't it be rather runny when mixed with the water?
I made these last night and they were great! I am thinking of trying other "wing" flavors with these next time. Like teriyaki or bbq. I think with the consistency of the cauliflower any sauce of a similar texture would work well. GREAT recipe. Even my husband who doesn't like cauliflower said he would eat these instead of wings (but told me I can't tell his friends that! ha!).
To reduce sodium, use salt free barbecue spice in the flour mix, and not use the buffalo sauce.
Yum! Looks wonderful!!
Do you use Frank's Red Hot Original sauce or Frank's Buffalo wing sauce?
The Buffalo Wing recipe that Frank's first created uses Original and calls for butter to be added. Their "Buffalo Wing Sauce" is ready to use straight out of the bottle.
So, I'd say you can go either way with this cauliflower version. You can use Original and add butter, or use sauce as is.
Thinking I'm going to take these to a super bowl party. yummy!
A nice and healthy way to use cauliflower.
I had been using a similar recipe that used a lot of oil and was trying to figure out how to cut that out and how many weight watchers points it would be….you read my mind!! Can't wait to try your version. Also to make it GLUTEN FREE…rice flour works great!
This is a terrific idea for cauliflower. It's such an affordable vegetable all year long, so I'm always looking for new uses for it.
What an inventive recipe! I can't wait to try these on football-watching days.
I tried these today and I didn't like them at all. The batter didn't cook right or something. The sauce was good and I love cauliflower but the floury dough was not very good…
Was the cauliflower cooked through? Mine needed an extra 5 minutes and were perfect.
I kind of felt the same when I tried them today. I am wondering if I did something wrong. I thought the batter would be a little more crunchy or crispy.
I am such a wimp when it comes to hot sauce. But I love the idea of this recipe. Do you have any suggestions for a non hot version?
I would imagine you could try any sort of "wing" spread – bbq, teryak, swwet and sour sauces…The sweet ones might be complimentary to the nuttier taste of the roasted cauliflower.
We just finished these, they were very tasty! We like super spicy, so I added a ton of cayenne to the batter and used just regular hot sauce that I added butter spray and lemon juice to. They will absolutely be happening again in our home.
I love this blog. These recipes are my inspiration! I envite anyone to look at my new blog, still work in progress, is brand new.
http://ilmiodolcelampone.blogspot.com/
What a great way to use cauliflower! Thanks for the recipe!
I'm super into cauliflower right now! And this sounds like the perfect way to consume it 🙂
Love this idea! Just read the post regarding your ideas on cauliflower pizza crust… I would love to see what you come up with there as well! My question is why hasn't the food network hunted you down, made you an offer you cannot refuse, and made you your own hit show! I know I'd watch it religiously.
If you love cauliflower, would love to see your take on cauliflower pizza crust which seems to be all the rage these days!
Can not wait to try this!!
Thanks for this. Can't wait to try it!
Is the cauliflower cooked through? My family likes cauliflower thoroughly cooked, with no crunch left at all. Most baked recipes don't get it that soft.
Yes, it's soft and cooked through.
So glad you answered that question …I like my veggies soft canno twait to try this soon.mmmmm
Can't wait to try these
I freaking love this!! Anything with buffalo sauce gets an A+ in my mind!
never a bad thing when a healthy ingredient looks like an unhealthy treat! very appetizing
http://sequinremedy.blogspot.co.uk/
These look SO good! I'll be making them next week after grocery day!
I wonder if it's just my web browser or something since it used to work. As long as I can still see your recipes, that's all I care about! 🙂 Just made the chicken enchilada soup this weekend.. yuuuuuum.
My reply button doesn't work either!
For those of you commenting about the Superbowl, check out the link for Superbowl recipes – good stuff and no one ever knows it's skinny!!
strange, mine works.
make sure your browsers are up to date
Gina, I just have to say I love all of your recipes. thanks to you I dropped 4 sizes before my wedding and have you to thank. Keep the delishness coming! cant wait to try this one tonight 🙂
That's incredible Karen, thanks for sharing!!
The reply button refuses to work for me!
Colette!!!! Will you please post how the broccoli works? Grocery day isn't for a little while, but I have broccoli here…. Trying this is already adventurous of me, tweaking it right off the bat is not one of my strong points…
Thanks!
I am definitely putting cauliflour on the grocery list either way! This looks awesome.
I'd also like to add that I love you put the "old" points in here. Once the Christmas goodies are all gone (so next week, maybe?) I'm going back on them! Thank you for that.
I join those who are wondering if this could be done with frozen cauliflower–or would they come out too mushy?
I never buy frozen cauliflower, I prefer fresh but I don't think it would work. What about a bag of pre-cut fresh cauliflower?
I made it with frozen cauliflower (just thawed it in the microwave for a couple of minutes) and then coated it with the flour mixture, and put it in the oven for the 20 minutes. It was delicious, will definitely make again!
i have made it with fresh and frozen…works great either way. Also, you can use any sauce…
This might seriously be the most creative/genius recipe I've ever seen. I cannot WAIT to make this!!!
My daughter got this recipe from PETA a few months ago and I have been eating it ever since. I dont know how I lived for so long with out it, lol. Prior to this I was not really a cauliflower fan, now I eat a head every couple days.
I love cauliflower, I can eat it raw, steamed, whatever but my husband doesn't and was surprised he liked it too!
I made these a couple of weeks ago for a party (saw them on Tasty Kitchen) and they were awesome. I used milk instead of water in the flour mixture, and 2/3 c of Sriracha (for 2 heads of cauliflower) because it's the only hot sauce we have. It was *awesome.*
wow, that must have been hot! Bet it was awesome!
This is fantastic! The chicken is pretty much just a vehicle for all the sauces so why not use cauliflower instead?
Don't get me wrong, I love my chicken but it's a fun idea for a meatless version.
WOO HOO!!! I can't wait to try this. My mouth is watering just thinking about how good it will taste.
Sounds delicious!
I don't have cauliflower but have broccoli in the fridge.. going to try this with the broccoli.. anything hot and spicy goes in our house..
let me know how it turns out!
OMG – this sounds delicious! My husband is obsessed with Franks Red Hot Sauce! I'm going to make this tonight!
Frank is too hot for me, i use kens buffalo w sauce, i really want to try these!! Great snack for the gals for super bowl Sunday!!
I was just talking to my husband about how I miss buffalo wings the most since going vegetarian! These sound right up my alley 🙂 Plus, I love Frank's!!
perfect!
I feel the same way since I went kosher. These look great Gina!
I'm a wimp, what's a good mild sauce to use?
Wing-Time buffalo sauces are the ones I use for lower sodium. They are the best i have found. http://www.wingtime.com/
Bob
http://doobieville.blogspot.com/
Thanks for sharing BOB!
That wing sauce is the best! ty for sharing Bob! I have to order it online but so worth it!
Thanks Bob, for answering my question before I asked it. My husband & I are both on low sodium diets
Do they have to be fresh cauliflower?
I would use fresh, frozen may work but I don't think it would be as good.
Frozen would have too much water.
You truly are wonderful! We just had an argument over how boring cauliflower is and then here you are to save the day again! I'm not a great cook but every recipe I make of yours turns out great. Thank you!
This look fan-freakin-tastic! Definitely going to make these! Thanks for being awesome Skinny Taste! You make light cooking so much better!
Wow, these sound quite interesting! I'm sure I'd love them, but not sure about the others! Can't wait to try!
I cannot wait to make these – they sound perfect!
i cant wait to try this. this is going to be my superbowl food today 🙂 thanks a lot
Making these today! Fantastic idea.
Looks really nice. Two questions if I may.. 1. Do you think I could replace the 1 cup all purpose flour with almond or coconut flour to make it wheat free? 2. I also have a bag of frozen cauliflower florets, do I need to adapt the recipe in some way for frozen? Thanks!
Catherine, I think it would but it would be an experiment, report back if it works. I would use fresh, not frozen.
I made it with frozen – steamed in microwave & then picked up on recipe instructions by adding flour mixture & baking. Tasted great!
I'm going to use Bob's Red Mill all purpose Gluten Free flour blend.
excellent choice! Post to let us know how it tasted. We are low glycemic and Bobs has great products!
I'm trying rice flour today!
I used frozen and they turned out great! I just let it defrost to room temperature.. and followed the same directions!