Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

At a glance

What stands out: Air fryer Buffalo cauliflower bites are crispy and spicy, a rich and unexpected alternative to greasy chicken wings. Better for you and reliable for vegetarian diets.

How long it takes: less than 30 minutes!
Equipment you’ll need: air fryer, salad spinner, bowls
Servings: 8

Vegetarian Buffalo “Chicken”

We love these air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites. Replacing chicken wings with tasty and nutritious cauliflower is a lighter idea and a great way to add variety to your diet. Cauliflower has so many health benefits, with lots of nutrition and fiber in every bite.

And buffalo cauliflower bites are rich! Our mom was a little skeptical about trying these, not being a huge fan of Buffalo hot wings, but she couldn’t stop eating them. So crispy and with just the right amount of spiciness, Buffalo cauliflower bites are surprisingly rich, especially dipped in blue cheese dressing or from-scratch ranch dressing.

So give them a try! You definitely won’t fool anyone into thinking that they’re chicken wings, but we promise they won’t care, once they try these air fryer Buffalo cauliflower bites. They’re reliable with a pint of cold beer.

How it comes together

Prep cauliflower. After you cut and wash the head of cauliflower, it’s essential to remove as much moisture as possible. Use your salad spinner to remove excess moisture and then spread the cauliflower florets on a dry towel to air dry. The drier the florets, the crispier the bites will be!

Prep sauce and breading. While the cauliflower is drying, in a large bowl (that’s big enough to hold the cauliflower, too), whisk together melted butter and hot sauce, until you have sauce that’s nice and smooth. In another large bowl, combine the flour, panko or breadcrumbs, dried parsley and garlic powder.

Bread the cauliflower. Breading the cauliflower is a straightforward process. First, dump the cauliflower in the sauce and stir until all of the sauce is coating the cauliflower. There should not be any sauce left in the bottom of the bowl. Keep stirring until the cauliflower is almost completely coated.

Next, toss the cauliflower pieces in the dry mixture. You may want to do a few at a time so you can coat each piece with the crumb mixture. Arrange them in the air fryer as you go, putting them in a single layer, without touching each other if possible.

Air fry. You’ll have to cook the wings in batches unless you have a large air fryer. Keep finished cauliflower bites in a warm oven until ready to eat, or put them on a plate and watch them disappear! Serve them with from-scratch blue cheese dressing.

Ways to change it

• Don’t like “hot” wings? For a milder version, replace the hot sauce with honey mustard, barbecue sauce, or ketchup.
• Bake the cauliflower bites in the oven. If you don’t have an air fryer, use your oven instead. See the recipe card for instructions.
• Keto: Skip the panko/breadcrumbs and use 1 cup almond flour in place of the all-purpose flour. Another alternative is to simply omit the breading (similar to air fryer cauliflower). Your bites won’t be quite as crispy but will be spicy and rich.
• Rather have chicken? Our Buffalo chicken bites are straightforward and tasty, or try air fryer chicken wings or oven-baked chili lime chicken wings, they’re good!

Keeping leftovers

Air fryer Buffalo cauliflower bites are best eaten immediately. However, if you have any left over, wrap them well and refrigerate for up to 3 days. For best results, pop them back into the air fryer to crisp up. Alternatively, a toaster oven would work well for reheating. Keep in mind that some of the breading will probably fall off, and they won’t be as crispy.

• Yield: 8
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 13 minutes
• Total: 28 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• ⅓ cup hot sauce (we like Frank's RedHot)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Dipping Sauces (optional)

• ranch dressing
• blue cheese dressing
• hot sauce

Method

1. To prepare cauliflower, cut or break into evenly sized florets. Rinse well and spin dry. The florets should be as dry as you can get them.
2. In a large bowl, combine melted butter and hot sauce, stirring with a whisk until blended together. Add cauliflower and toss to coat. The cauliflower should be almost completely coated with the butter/hot sauce blend.
3. In another large bowl, mix panko bread crumbs, all-purpose flour, dried parsley, garlic powder, and salt.
4. Lightly spray air fryer cooking rack, if desired. Toss cauliflower in panko mixture until coated and place in air fryer in a single layer, with space between each one as much as possible.
5. Set air fryer to 350ºF and cook for 13 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Color deepens as they cool.
6. Continue to cook the remainder of the cauliflower in batches.
7. To keep warm, put cooked cauliflower on a wire baking rack placed on top of a sheet pan in a warm oven (175 to 200ºF). This will keep the cooked cauliflower warm and crispy while you finish cooking the rest.
8. Serve with ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, or additional hot sauce.

Notes

Oven instructions: Prep and coat cauliflower. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place bites on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, flip bites. Cook 5 to 7 more minutes or until crispy. If desired, broil an additional 2 to 3 minutes to brown further.