These truly are the best buffalo cauliflower wings! Soften up cauliflower florets then bread and sauce them up. Air fry these wings for a crispy texture. Tuck these vegan wings into a fresh green salad, use in tacos, or just serve them up with vegan ranch or bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks!
This breading method creates the crispiest coating and crunchiest crunch! Cauliflower florets are breaded then chilled to create a crispy shell that gives a satisfying crunch. I love to deep fry, but was pleasantly surprised at how “deep-fried” these tasted when blasted in my air fryer. huzzah!
Different ways to sauce up your crispy buffalo cauliflower wings
I’ve tweaked the breading for this recipe from this one used on these cauliflower steaks and this one I used to bread tofu. You’re going to get that ripply, KFC-ish coating that clingy sauces love to seep into. Not into buffalo sauce? Toss it into some bang bang sauce, dip it into this chipotle-lime sauce, drizzle with gochujang glaze, or reduce this marinade and burn your face off.
Different ways to enjoy these buffalo cauliflower wings
Toss this cauliflower into a salad, pile it onto a burger, toss it into some noodles, tacos, serve with fries or use in a stir-fry.
Print
The Best Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These buffalo cauliflower wings are so crispy and delicious! Toss these wings into a fresh green salad, tuck them into tacos, or just serve them up with vegan ranch or bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks!
Ingredients
for the cauliflower
- one head of cauliflower, cut into evenly sized florets
for the dry ingredients
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 TB garlic powder
- 1 TB onion powder
- 1 TB paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cayenne (optional)
for the wet ingredients
- 1 cup soymilk, with 2 tsp apple cider vinegar whisked in
- 2 TB Follow Your Heart VeganEgg powder, blended with 1/2 cup ice cold water
- 2 TB bourbon
- 1 TB hot sauce
for frying and coating
- Spray oil
- at least one cup of prepared buffalo sauce. (You can also make your own by mixing a 1:1 ratio of melted vegan butter with a vinegar-based hot sauce)
to serve
- arugula
- cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1–2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 avocado, sliced
- cilantro
- 1–2 TB chopped red onion
- vegan bleu cheese dressing (I used Daiya)
Instructions
to prep the cauliflower
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Place the cauliflower florets into the pot, let the boil return, wait about a minute, then transfer the florets to a cookie sheet with a wire rack over it to cool. Leave out until cooled, or throw into your refrigerator.
to make the breading
- Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
- Combine all of the wet ingredients into a separate medium-sized bowl.
- Working one piece at a time, coat the florets evenly in the dry mixture, tapping off any extra and placing them back onto the wire rack.
- Working one piece at a time, dunk the florets into the wet mixture, then coat evenly with the flour mixture.
- Return the battered cauliflower back onto the wire rack and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
to air fry the cauliflower
- Spray the cauliflower florets evenly with cooking spray. Place into the air fryer in a single layer (you will need to work in batches based on the size of your cauliflower and air fryer) at 400 degrees and cook for 8 minutes. Respray, flip and spray again over any areas that look dry and cook for an additional 4 minutes to achieve a deeply golden color and crinkly texture all over.
- Place the buffalo sauce into a bowl, add the florets to gently toss, then place back into the air fryer for 2 minutes. Toss again in the buffalo sauce right before serving, if desired.
- Serve immediately in a salad, burger or taco.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Boiled, Battered, Chilled, Air Fried
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cauliflower wings, vegan buffalo wings, recipe for buffalo cauliflower
Gratitude + Podcast Faves from this week
With winter arriving here in Boston, learning to knit is super helpful! Glued to my couch, index fingers bandaged and padded (they actually split and started bleeding from the needles), I’ve loved the solitary and repetitive process despite the little injury, and made this comfy scarf. Grateful for being able to do this, and giving my super anxious mind a calming task to focus on. Moving on to an actual pattern next!
Instead of listening to music while knitting, I’ve been binging on true crime podcasts. These are my two recent favorite discoveries, which feature great chemistry between podcasters and effectively showcase their passion for this genre.
RedHanded | Hosted by Bristish-based duo Suruthi and Hannah. This podcast offers an array of international cases. The hosts infuse each case with their unique insight and perspective.
Killer Queens | Hosted by Tennessee-based sisters Tori and Tyrella. I love their southern accents, and when they drop a ya’ll, my southern roots go ahhh.
Is says
These look SO good! Do you know of a replacement for the Follow Your Heart egg powder? Would flax eggs or aquafaba work?
Thanks!
erinwyso says
I haven’t tried either for this recipe so I can’t say for sure if those would work — but if you try with good results, I’d love to know!
Joshua Howard says
Hi! Thank you for this recipe! The flavors are so bright…All my family liked it very much
★★★★★
Rhonna says
Omg yes! I can’t wait to try, recipes that just use a batter drip off and are never crunchy. And yarn did you use for your scarf?? I knit for years and what I wear the most is my first wide, dropped stitch garter stitch scarf ?
erinwyso says
Rhonna, I love that you still wear your first scarf project — I think I am going to be doing that with this one as well! I used acrylic yarn here. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Lisa says
Hi, can these be deep fried or baked in oven with similar results to the air fry method?.
erinwyso says
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure if it would work. But if you try either with good results, I’d love to know!