Baked Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

If you’re looking for the perfect party food, look no further than Baked Cauliflower Buffalo Wings. Don’t click away if you’re not a fan of cauliflower… I wasn’t, either, until I found this way of preparing it! If you like fried chicken wings, I’m begging you to try this, even though it’s not fried and there is not a chicken wing in sight! Instead, cauliflower is baked in a spicy wing sauce for a delicious appetizer that can hold its own against the dish that inspired it.

Whole Food Plant-Based, Vegan, Oil Free, Refined Sugar Free.

Don’t panic when you see the ingredients list for these tasty wings. I know it’s long, but most of it is just a bunch of spices you’ll be mixing together to get that fiery wing sauce flavor you crave.

In fact, this recipe just requires a few minutes of hands-on time. And if your oven has a 4D Hot Air function like mine, which distributes heat evenly throughout the inside of the oven, you don’t even need to flip the cauliflower wings halfway through the two cooking phases.

I love making this for informal get-togethers as it has that fun party food vibe. It would be perfect for a Super Bowl party or book club gathering. All I can say is that you might want to double this recipe because these always seem to vanish quickly!

And if you’re not having a party, you can turn this into a meal by serving it atop some whole-grain rice with some baby spinach or Swiss chard on the side.

The best thing about this recipe besides the flavor is the fact that it uses cauliflower. As a cruciferous vegetable, it contains an incredibly beneficial compound known as sulforaphane that is believed to have anti-cancer and antidiabetic effects in addition to boosting heart health.

The sulforaphane content goes way down when you cook it, but don’t worry, I’ve got you covered – my recipe includes mustard powder, which has been found to increase the bioavailability of sulforaphane, so don’t leave it out!

You can learn more about this in my article, 6 plant-based ingredient must-haves for healthier and tastier meals. This is one party food you won’t feel guilty about eating!

Ingredients (Serves 2):

-450 g (1 lb) fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Dry Ingredients:
-70 g (1/2 cup) spelt flour
-8 g (1/4 oz) nutritional yeast
-2 tsp garlic powder
-2 tsp onion powder
-1 heaping tablespoon ground flaxseed
-1/2 tsp ground turmeric
-1 tsp cumin powder
-1 tsp smoked paprika
-1/2 tsp curry powder
-1 tsp ground mustard
-pinch of black pepper
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Wet Ingredients:
-150 ml (2/3 cup) coconut milk
-60 ml (1/4 cup) water
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sauce Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons sriracha (Use less if you don’t like the heat)
-4 tablespoons tamari
-2 tablespoons + 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
-4 tablespoons water
-16 g (2 tablespoons + ½ teaspoon) tapioca flour
-10 g (1 ½ teaspoons) 100% maple syrup

Optional: Fresh parsley and sesame seeds to garnish

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F and prepare a baking dish with baking paper.
2. Stir the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, clean and wash the cauliflower florets thoroughly. Dry them well with a cloth.

4. Dip each cauliflower floret into the flour and spice mixture. Make sure they are coated well, and add them one by one to the baking dish. Repeat until you’ve covered each cauliflower floret with the mixture.
5. Cook in the oven on the middle rack for about 20 minutes, flipping the florets halfway through.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce in a separate bowl by whisking all the sauce ingredients together. Once the florets are done, take them out of the oven and let them sit for 3 to 5 minutes.
7. Dip each cauliflower into the sauce mixture and coat well. Place each floret back onto the baking dish and cook for another 20 to 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
8. Serve as a side dish, as an appetizer or on a bed of rice.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Nutritional Facts for 1 serving:

Calories: 312
Carbs: 55.6 g
Protein: 15.5 g
Fats: 5.1 g
Fiber: 7.1 g