Oven-Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are a fun and easy appetizer or snack made with just a few simple ingredients. Fully loaded with all the awesome flavor of chicken wings, these low carb and vegetarian Buffalo Cauliflower Bites have a soft and tender inside and crispy outside.
The Best Buffalo Cauliflower
All the delicious, tangy flavor of buffalo wings without the mess and calories. I’ve never been a huge fan of buffalo chicken wings, so this substitution was an easy one. But even all you wing fans out there will love these spicy little buffalo-sauce-covered cauliflower nuggets.
Tossed in your favorite homemade or store-bought buffalo sauce and dipped in creamy Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing, this healthy buffalo cauliflower recipe is a crowd favorite and is always gone in minutes!
Ingredients in Buffalo Cauliflower “Wings”
- Cauliflower
- Hot sauce
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Lemon juice
You’ll notice that I decided against coating these buffalo cauliflower bites in breadcrumbs or all-purpose flour. By skipping the breadcrumbs you can enjoy even more of these healthy buffalo cauliflower bites, guilt-free! They’re also much easier to make this way (and I’m all about easy recipes!)
Can I use frozen cauliflower florets? I do not recommend making this recipe with frozen cauliflower pieces, as they are more likely to end up with soggy or mushy once thawed and cooked.
Can I use store-bought wing sauce? Absolutely! Use your favorite store-bought wing sauce or make your own, it’s entirely up to you. If I’m short on time my favorite store-bought sauce is Wing-Time Buffalo Wing Sauce.
Can this recipe be made vegan? Yes, to make this buffalo cauliflower recipe vegan, simply swap the butter for a plant-based butter alternative.
Buffalo Sauce
Making your own buffalo sauce is easy, requiring just a few ingredients. Of course, you can always buy store-bought buffalo sauce, but I find that it’s easier to make my own.
The main ingredients in buffalo sauce are,
- Hot sauce
- Butter
First, you’ll need hot sauce. The most well known hot sauce for buffalo wings also happens to be my favorite- Frank’s RedHot Sauce. Hands down, Frank’s has the best tang to spice ratio and is probably the hot sauce that has been used to make your favorite restaurant buffalo sauce.
Now, with hot sauce, there must be butter. After all, that’s what makes buffalo sauce so finger-licking good! Typically, the hot sauce to butter ratio is 2 to 1.
In this buffalo cauliflower recipe, I added slightly less butter, one tablespoon of olive oil, some lemon juice, and garlic powder. Feel free to play around with the ratio until you find a hot sauce mixture that tastes best to you.
How to Make Buffalo Cauliflower
Like my epic buffalo chicken dip, this buffalo baked cauliflower couldn’t be easier to prepare and bake! Making it one of my very favorite last-minute snacks to enjoy when I want to feast on something filled with flavor.
- Preheat the oven and line a large baking sheet.
- Make your buffalo sauce.
- Toss the cauliflower florets in the buffalo sauce and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the inside is tender and outside is crispy.
- Serve immediately.
Note- some readers have mentioned that they have had good results when waiting to toss their cauliflower bites in the hot sauce until after they’ve been baked. Try each method for yourself and see which one works best for you.
How to Serve Buffalo Cauliflower
Delicious served as a snack, game day or super bowl appetizer, or spicy side dish, these buffalo cauliflower bites love being dunked in creamy blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, or any other creamy sauce or dip.
Entirely gluten-free and vegetarian, serve your perfectly prepared cauliflower bites in fun-size cups or on a large platter with veggies like crunchy celery sticks, carrot sticks, and sliced bell peppers drizzled with all your creamy favorites.
Or, make it a meal and enjoy with juicy baked chicken, cooked rice, or added to your favorite tacos!
Check Out These Delicious Buffalo Chicken Recipes,
Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Recipe
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
The Best Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
If you try making this Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to read your thoughts and feedback!
REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FORKED SPOON NEWSLETTER FOR FREE AND RECEIVE WEEKLY RECIPE NOTIFICATIONS DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX!
Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower (cut into small florets)
- 1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Sauce (plus more for serving)
- 2 tbsp butter (melted)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Transfer cauliflower florets to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl whisk together the hot sauce, melted butter, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt. Whisk well to combine. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the cauliflower florets and toss well to coat.
- Spread the cauliflower in a single layer over a lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, gently tossing the cauliflower approximately halfway through cooking. Cook until the cauliflower is fork-tender and browned around the edges. Season with black pepper, if desired.
Jessica's Notes
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
This recipe was originally published on April 25, 2016, updated on December 22, 2018, with new images and more detailed post information, and updated again on August 26th, 2020 with additional tips.
I skipped the olive oil and used crushed garlic- it was delicious! Oh, and baked it without sauce for 4-5 minutes first and broiled for a couple minutes also, like you suggested.
Thanks for such a interesting dish… i will definitely do it again.
Thanks for the kind feedback Kimball 🙂
Easy to make, great flavor and live that it’s a healthy dish. Thank you!!
This recipe was absolutely delicious, quick and easy to make. My cauliflower was tender on the inside and perfect on the outside. My oven has an air-fry option, so I utilized that feature, and it took 10 minutes and was delicious. I choose your recipe because you use Frank’s (which we use in Buffalo for our wings) and only a small amount of butter and olive oil, while some called for a stick of butter(ewww). Will make again…..thank you
While it was very tasty, about 15 minutes in I had to drain the huge amount of liquid that was on the pan. The cauliflower became soggy due to this and I’ll probably use a cooling rack underneath the cauliflower next time. I also think it might be better to just roasted it for a half hour with a touch of olive oil, and then make that sauce afterwards and toss it in when it’s done cooking.
Great idea to buffalo cauliflower! I tweaked this a bit. A friend tried this and had the cauliflower come out a little soggy when putting the buffalo sauce on before baking. So I left the sauce off, flavored up the cauliflower by tossing in some olive oil, chopped garlic and lemon zest. Then baked about 15-20 min until browned, stirring on the pan a couple of times. Then tossed in buffalo sauce after baking and topped with chopped green onion and served with blue cheese dressing on the side for dipping. We ate more of this than the actual buffalo wings!
I should have added – I baked at 450 and it was about 25 min. The 15-20 was a typo 🙂
Thanks for sharing Ryan, I am glad it was a hit! 🙂
OK? The ratio is to do one butter to the size of your preference what do you put the oven at temperature wise?
Maybe I am missing part of the recipe but I don’t see it on my side I’ll give it a go
Hi Johnny,
Full instructions with ingredient amounts and oven temperature can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post here: https://theforkedspoon.com/easy-buffalo-cauliflower/#wprm-recipe-container-38526 🙂
Rebooted my phone .
Full recipe came up. Thanks again
woooooah that was great while it lasted!
So I took this recipe and used buffalo wing sauce. I also used the lemon juice salt I put pepper and chai seeds and a little bit of olive oil instead of butter. Garlic pieces as well as parmesan cheese for the last 5 minutes. This recipe was perfect to work with and I loved it, saved it, will be using it forever! Thank you so much for sharing this❤️
Making them now! Tried one! Very yummy,
Can these be made ahead of time?
Hi Kate,
You can make them ahead of time, but they will not taste as good.
Awesome – just the right amount of spicy and so easy!
Thanks Laura,
I am glad you enjoyed it!
This was so good. I just tried these at skinny Fats and this recipe was perfect. My kids and I loved them!
Made it last night. The family loved it! Thanks!
A little too salty. I’d cut the salt to 1/2 tsp and broil for the last 5 minutes to get it a little crispier but other than that it’s delicious.
Being healthy is hard. Stuff like this makes it easier. I want all of the buffalo deliciousness ASAP!