These crispy Cauliflower Wings are tossed in buffalo sauce and served with an easy vegan ranch dipping sauce. They’re the ultimate game day snack you won’t be able to resist!
Treat yourself to more addictive cauliflower wings, like these BBQ Cauliflower Wings, Bang Bang Cauliflower, Sticky Sesame Cauliflower, and Orange Cauliflower.
Whether you need a crowd-pleasing appetizer or an exciting dinner, Cauliflower Wings are the right choice! Cauliflower florets are breaded and baked until crispy, then tossed in spicy buffalo sauce and served with vegan ranch dressing on the side. They go fast, so plan on making extras if you want a plate all to yourself!
Why I love these buffalo cauliflower wings
- Tender, meaty, and crunchy: Vegan cauliflower wings aren’t pretending to be chicken but their meaty texture and addictive flavor make them irresistible!
- Baked, not fried: Baking is a hands-off method that yields crispy-on-the-outside, meaty-on-the-inside wings every time. No messy or heavy deep fryer oil needed. If you want to make deep fried cauliflower wings, try this recipe: Buffalo Fried Cauliflower.
- A snack you’ll look forward to: Buffalo cauliflower wings are completely delicious. Snack on them with the easy vegan ranch dip during the big game, add them to Buddha bowls for a punch of spice, or enjoy them as a fun topping on mac and cheese.
How to make cauliflower wings
Whisk the water, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Place the cauliflower florets in the bowl and toss to coat.
One by one, tap the excess batter off of the florets and lay them on a baking sheet.
Spray the tops with cooking spray so they get super crispy.
Pro tip: Leave about 1 inch of space in between each cauliflower wing on the baking tray. This prevents them from getting stuck together and encourages the breading to crisp up.
To make the vegan buffalo sauce, melt the vegan butter in a saucepan, then stir in the hot sauce and maple syrup/agave. Set it aside until the cauliflower is done baking.
Bake the cauliflower for 20 minutes, then flip the pieces. Continue baking until the breading is golden.
Toss the vegan cauliflower bites in the buffalo sauce, then return them to the baking sheet.
You can either bake the buffalo sauce-coated wings once more to make them crispy or serve them right away with vegan ranch dressing on the side.
Cauliflower Wings Variations
- Extra crunchy wings – After tossing them in the batter, roll the florets in 1 ½ cups of panko breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs add a light and airy crunch to the otherwise tender and flavor-packed bites. Also, consider leaving the buffalo sauce on the side for dipping. The less sauce that’s on the breaded cauliflower, the crispier they’ll become.
- Instead of buffalo sauce – Toss the florets in another wing sauce you like, such as teriyaki, hot sauce, barbecue sauce, bang bang sauce, or sesame sauce.
- Gluten free – Make the breading with gluten free all purpose flour or almond flour instead.
- Frozen cauliflower – You can use frozen cauliflower florets but make sure they’re thawed completely before tossing them in the batter. Also, pat them dry with paper towels after thawing to help the batter stick.
- Serve with a spread of dipping sauces – You can serve the baked cauliflower bites with the simple vegan ranch dipping sauce included in the recipe card or this cashew based Vegan Ranch, as well as my Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing, Barbecue Sauce, and Chipotle Sauce.
Frequently asked questions
Classic buffalo chicken wing sauce is not vegan-friendly because it’s made with butter. It is, however, easy to make vegan! All you need to do is substitute vegan butter for the regular butter.
Your mouth won’t be set on fire but the buffalo cauliflower wings do have a moderate amount of heat. Stirring melted vegan butter into the buffalo sauce does tone down the heat slightly, but if it’s still too spicy for you, leave the sauce on the side or swap it for any of the sauces I listed in the Variations.
Yes! After they’re battered, lay the florets in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 350ºF for 15 to 25 minutes. Toss them in the hot sauce before serving.
Air frying does yield crispy cauliflower wings but it takes longer because you need to cook them in batches to avoid overcrowding. If the wings are touching each other, they’ll turn out soggy.
Creamy dipping sauce and cut vegetables are a must. For the best experience, serve the wings with the simple vegan ranch in the recipe card, my Cashew Ranch Dressing, or Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing, as well as celery and carrot sticks on the side. These all do a great job of toning down the spicy kick of the buffalo sauce.
Want to make it a meal? Serve the wings with vegan pizza, Caesar salad, or burgers as a fun side dish for family dinners, or pair them with vegan jalapeno poppers and vegan chili on game day.
The bites are best enjoyed fresh out of the oven, but you could store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Reheat leftovers in the oven or, better yet, an air fryer until crispy, about 10 minutes.
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 5 cups)
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or agave
Easy Vegan Ranch
- 1 cup vegan mayo
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- tiny pinch of paprika
- tiny pinch of black pepper
- salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk, or even water, to thin as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray generously with oil.
- Wash and cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, add water, flour, garlic and onion powder, and salt. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the cauliflower to the batter in the bowl, and toss to combine and really coat the cauliflower. Remove the pieces of cauliflower, one by one, and tap off the excess batter a few times on the side of the bowl.
- Place on the prepared baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other, or they will all get stuck together as they bake. Spray the tops with oil, this will help them get super crispy.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Flip them over and bake for 15 more minutes, until golden and crispy.
- While the cauliflower are baking, prepare the hot sauce/butter mixture. Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Once melted, add the hot sauce, maple syrup or agave and stir. Set aside.
- Once the cauliflower have cooked and are crispy, toss the florets with the sauce in a large bowl, then return to the pan. You can serve them immediately, or to make them crispier, put them back in the oven for 15-20 minutes. If you want them super crispy, leave the buffalo sauce on the side for dipping as you go.
- Serve with easy vegan ranch (recipe included), my cashew based vegan ranch or vegan blue cheese.
For the Easy Vegan Ranch
- Add all the ranch ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Taste and add salt, if desired, or more herbs. That's it! Enjoy.
Video
Notes
- I find all purpose flour yields the best flavor and texture here, but it also works with almond flour, white whole wheat flour or a gluten free all purpose flour.
- Gluten free: Use a gluten free flour or almond flour, and skip the breadcrumbs.
- Oil free: Skip the vegan butter and don’t spray with oil.
- Breadcrumbs: To make them extra-crispy, roll the cauliflower in panko breadcrumbs (you will need about 1 1/2 cups) once they are coated in the flour/milk mixture. Then bake per the instructions.
- Frozen cauliflower: Fresh is better, but frozen will work. Make sure to thaw and then pat dry before using.
This recipe is crazy good! Made it once and can’t wait to make it again and again and again 🙂
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
So delicious! Thanks for sharing a fabulous recipe!
Is that correct, 1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce? Sounds like a lot, but, maybe it’s just me.
Yes, that is correct! 🙂
These were so delicious! Love the simplicity and wholesome ingredients, and just tastes amazing!
Hi Nora!
These were so good a
Nd easy to make. I actually mixed the hot sauce and bbq sauce together to get a sweeter flavor. So good! But after I brushed the sauce on each one and put it back in the oven it started to burn. The sauce burned on the parchment paper. Would it be better to remove the parchment paper and finish the baking on the baking pan or on foil?
So glad you enjoyed them! You could simply remove the parchment paper and finish baking them right on the pan, or use foil instead. Thanks!
I just made this for my husband and myself. I’ve been doing vegan for a few weeks. He is NOT vegan and we both aren’t big fans of cauliflower. We LOVED these!!!!! Thank you for sharing. I also love your blog. I’m new and need the help. I’m excited to try some of your other recipes.
Thanks for the wonderful comment! I’m glad the blog is helpful on your new food adventure. 🙂
I went to make this and realized my cauliflower had gone bad. So instead I followed the recipe exactly but used whole cremini mushrooms instead! It was delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!
Wow, way to adapt! That sounds delicious. I’ll have to try that sometime.
Excellent recipe and would use again. One change, only because my family doesn’t like heat, is I used a milder hot sauce. Another slight change and I believe this will depend on your oven is to reduce the final baking time to 15 minutes. I had some fresh okra — battered and baked them too 🙂 Happy to say it tasted yummy! If you don’t like okra then pass but the cooking eliminates the slime if that is what you’re concerned about.
Thee Bomb-Diggity !!!!!!! Tried it today to “practice” and love them. Mine aren’t as pretty as yours but with practice it’ll improve! Thank you Nora!!❤️
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed them!
Made it for a second time. It is our new favorite. The guests went nuts for it at our party.We made a huge vat of it. We were asked who the caterer was who made it. I said “I did!” The complement goes to the creator of this post. Thank you for sharing.
That is pretty amazing! Thank you so much.
Made mine with chickpeaflour instead of white, and BBQ sauce with a bit of sriracha instead of Red Hot Sauce. Wow!!! Delicious. Thank you! ?
So glad you enjoyed them, that spice combination sounds incredible!
These are delicious. Mine were not as crispy as I wanted. Someone mentioned adding cornstarch to the batter. Wonder if that would help. I even increased the oven temp during baking to help crisp. I dipped the cauliflower leaves and stalks in the batter and those turned out super crispy. We loved the dish and it will be in regular rotation. Thanks!
is that 176 cals for the whole thing? or per serving? whats is the serving sze? These are amazing!!
Thank you Steph! The calories estimate is for 1/4th of the whole dish. Hope that helps!
I made these for two vegan personal chef clients yesterday. They came out great!! I served them with a homemade vegan “ranch” dip. I was bummed i didn’t make more to have for leftovers. Thanks for the great recipe!! 🙂
I have tried making these several times and every time they stick to the pan. I’ve tried a silicone mat, tinfoil and parchment paper. Last night they were so stuck to the parchment paper I lost over half the cauliflower and it was a disaster.
I made the recipe as-is with no substitutions. Any tips on what to do differently? I really want these to work!
Hi Jessica! Sorry you have had trouble with the cauliflower wings! Let’s see, I’m going to try to troubleshoot with you… 1. Perhaps your cauliflower has too much batter on it. Make sure to tap off each piece so there isn’t a lot of the batter on each piece. 2. You could try spraying the parchment paper with oil, but I never do this. But it is an idea! 3. You could bake them straight on a pan, that is well greased. Again, I don’t do this, but maybe it would work better for you. 4. Use a really good spatula to scrape them off, especially the first time you flip them. And on that same note, don’t try to flip them too soon. Perhaps even bake them for 20-25 minutes before touching them. It’s possible your oven temperature is a little cooler than some, so maybe they aren’t getting a chance to crisp up. I hope that helps!
Hey Nora, I like adding my own hot sauce after, I was wondering without adding the hot sauce in your recipe, would they still need the extra 20mins at the end? Or would I just guess it from how crispy they are?
They probably wouldn’t need the extra time, no, if you are going to add the sauce after. Just bake them until they are crispy enough for your liking. Thanks!
Very tasty and completely satisfies my carving for wings. I did a batch using barbecue sauce too and they were awesome!
Also, I like my wings more saucy, so I baked these fully before tossing them in sauce instead of brushing it on and baking them again.
I’m so glad, Connor! I do the barbecue switch up sometimes, too and can never decide which I like better. Thanks!
I added 1tbsp of corn starch and cayenne pepper to the batter and wow! These were amazing thx
Wowzers!! This recipe was delicious & satisfied my craving for buffalo wing sauce. My husband (not Vegan) was even shocked at how good they were. I think 450 was a little too high for my oven because I had some charring. I used almond flour to make it keto vegan friendly.
Going to make these tonight your ranch sauce is absolutely amazing. Thank you can’t wait to use more of your recipes.
My boyfriend made these wings and theyre freaking delicious!! I was wondering how long they would last in the fridge after cooking?
Yay! They won’t stay as crispy in the fridge, but they will keep for maybe 2-3 days. I would reheat them in the oven for best results!
I was using an Everhot set at 200°C, so a little cooler than 400°F but they didn’t come out very crispy on the outside. I wonder if it’s because I had three trays in at once. Pretty good in general though!
Yeah, that might have been why they weren’t quite as crispy. You can always just cook them longer, until they get nice and crispy. Should do the trick. Thank you!
These were absolutely scrumptious !! Thank you!!!
Got them in the oven right now, they are going to be my lunch. I will let you know how they turn out!
Great! Yes, please let me know!
Oh my gosh these are amazing!