Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe

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.

Plate with baked buffalo cauliflower, jar filled with ranch dressing, celery sticks, and lemon wedges.
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.

Large platter with baked buffalo cauliflower, celery sticks, ranch dressing, and lemon wedges.

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.

Baked buffalo cauliflower with ranch dressing and lemon wedges.

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.

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Oven Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are a fun and easy appetizer or snack made with just a few simple ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

1 large head of cauliflower – cut into small florets
½ cup Frank’s RedHot Sauce – plus more for serving
2 tablespoon butter – melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt

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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.
NOTES
If you like extra crispy edges, set the oven to broil in the last 2 minutes of baking and cook until just brown around the edges.
Some readers have mentioned that their cauliflower bites come out less soggy when they bake their cauliflower florets in a little olive oil first, before adding any hot sauce. After the cauliflower is baked, then they transfer to hot sauce mixture and toss to coat. Let me know what works best for you!
Buffalo cauliflower is best enjoyed immediately.