Healthy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites – These bites are addicting, spicy (to some), and surprisingly fantastic! Grab your favorite dip and let’s dip in! Delicious as a main dish or as an appetizer.
As I am sitting here trying to think of a story as to why you need or should at least try these buffalo cauliflower bites. For one, they are amazing and a lightened-up option to your traditional buffalo wings. Fewer calories and hardly any carbs – it’s a win, win.
Somehow I am sitting at a blank but I do know one thing about them. They are darn good. Now don’t be surprised when you notice you may have finished the entire bowl. They are addicting, spicy, and surprisingly fantastic.
A couple of other dishes we love our buffalo chicken french bread, buffalo chicken pasta, and buffalo chicken spaghetti squash! All are so delicious and perfect for football!
I would give up buffalo chicken wings in a heartbeat for these little guys. They are almost a guiltless snack/appetizer/main dish. You can pile off the entire bowl and not feel guilty. The feeling of guilt always creeps up after I devour five buffalo wings. I, errrr, mean 10 or more, at least. See the guilt there?
Now grab your favorite dressing to dip these bad boys. I only ask you one favor, please do not tell me which dressing you are going to use. Everyone goes straight to the blue cheese, but I will take ranch anytime of the day. Mmmm…!
I may or may not be daydreaming about these cauliflower bites. I love when you first bite into them, your taste buds aren’t sure what to think.
They are a little crunchy on the outside with a slight crunch in the middle. They are flavorful with a hint of spicy. They aren’t the awful spicy hot either. Just enough to make you want to dip into a creamy dressing.
Recipe previously posted on January 5, 2014. Photos updated August 12, 2015.
- 6 cups of fresh cauliflower florets
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- ¾ cup Frank's RedHot hot sauce
- Preheat oven to 450. Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil, or olive oil. Set aside.
- Mix the garlic powder, salt, pepper, melted butter, and hot sauce in a small bowl.
- Add the cauliflower into a large gallon-sized bag, pour the buffalo sauce into the bag. Shake until the cauliflower florets are fully coated. Spread on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Create your own Healthy Buffalo Cauliflower using the recommended equipment:
These look like a great appetizer food! And the recipe looks very easy to make. I can definitely see myself making these for a day of football games. 🙂
Looks yummy! Couldn’t seem to pin – not sure why?
Talya – I am terribly sorry about you not be able to pin. I think Pinterest has been having some problems with that since yesterday.
This looks like a great way to eat cauliflower! Definitely pinning this!
I host a weekly link party every Sunday night called Frugal Crafty Home for recipes & DIY projects. The party this week is sitll open & I would love it if you’d link this post (and any other posts) to our party. We love seeing easy and healthy recipes like this!
Carrie – Thanks for pinning. Will definitely check out your party 🙂
What a great idea!! I love this as a Veg as a Main Dish! Thank you for linking at Show Me Your Plaid Monday’s!!! You have been Pinned!
Thank you, Chandra!
Sounds great! I love roasted cauliflower and spicy. I’m def. going to try this recipe!
It is definitely spicy and yummy!
I love buffalo chicken! It’s great to have a healthy alternative. Thanks for linking to the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. Hope to see you next week.
Cynthia – Thank you for stopping by! Can’t wait to party next week 🙂
These just sound delicious for a chilly, Sunday afternoon! Mmmm! I love cauliflower, too! I saw your post at Think Pink Sundays, and had to check it out!
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What a great idea for a healthier type appetizer. Thanks for bringing this to Marvelous Monday tonight – pinned!
Thank you, Deb! 🙂
LOVE this. Pinned! I have cauli in the fridge too :)!
Adrienne – Thanks for pinning! 🙂
I love cauliflower and want to try this recipe but am a bit scared by 3/4 cup of hot sauce….did you mean that much hot sauce as in Tabasco, or Buffalo sauce?
Michelle – I used Frank’s Red Hot, which is a hot sauce. They are spicy! You can always cut down on the hot sauce or use a mild buffalo sauce. 🙂
Could you please clarify in the recipe where it says “preheat oven to 450 degrees and spray with cooking spray. Not the oven, I’m sure. Did you mean a baking sheet or something? Thanks.
Alicia – Terribly sorry, all fixed.
step 1 has you spray cauliflower on pan then place in bag in step 3. Is that correct or do you bake for a few minutes?
Hi Mary. I have updated the recipe with the correct steps. Step 1 will be to preheat the oven and spray the baking sheet with oil. No need to bake the cauliflower before adding them into the ziplock bag.
I am so in love with this idea that I don’t even know what to say! Hubby loves veggies and buffalo chicken, so this is awesome! Also, your pictures are great. They make the food look so appetizing!
Thank you so much!! 🙂
Yummm! I’m going to have to try these! Shareing on my FB page.
These were deelish! Instead of hot sauce I used a spicy Louisiana spice mix from Epicure Selections.
I also used coconut oil instead of the butter.
This recipe has big potential! Thanks for sharing!
Nichole – Your variation sounds just as delicious!
This was absolutely delicious! It actually exceeded my expectations, to be perfectly honest. I am a chicken wing lover, so the idea of a healthy alternative was… Interesting… to me. I made this using one whole cauliflower, cut up. I should have made 2! Really really good, I couldn’t stop eating it! This is a perfect appetizer, but I can see it as a side dish for a nice steak,or as my friend I shared this with said, more hot wings. LOL This is a keeper and I will be making and sharing this again real, real soon. Thank you so much for sharing this deliciousness. Oh, and one small change I made which worked awesomely for all you blue cheese lovers – after baking, I sprinkled some crumbled blue cheese over the cauliflower right on the baking tray, and popped it under the broiler for about two minutes. The cauliflower started to just crisp up at the edges, and the cheese melted over it, so you would get that roasred flavor, and the kick of blue cheese worked in with the spicy tang of the hot sauce. Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious.
Joe – I am so glad your enjoyed it! I love your addition of the blue cheese – yum! 🙂
I have made these three times in the last week and a half. I tend towards the vegan side of things so I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks and the High Omega Vegan Ranch from Whole Foods. My husband (uber-carnivore) loved these as much as I did. Thank you so much for the excellent recipe!
Oh yum, Cheryl! Love the addition of the vegan products! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. I’m glad this came up in my Pinterest feed! I accidentally added all of the ingredients to the cauliflower before baking it so mine didn’t turn out crunchy; however, the flavor was really good and I love cauliflower so I still liked it. Next time, I will use less Siracha because it was too spicy for me. I’m a vegetarian, almost vegan, so I welcome any recipe that reminds me of meat! 😉 I ended up making a healthy ranch recipe, using avocado and Greek yogurt. Also, I used grapeseed oil instead of butter. Can’t wait to try it the right way!
Sounds like it still came out fabulous, Shala! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I don’t quite understand what she means by “accidentally adding all the ingredients before baking” because the recipe doesn’t say to bake the cauliflower first. Should I bake it first? Or toss it with the ingredients and then bake, like the recipe says?
Great question, Pepitas. It’s best to follow the directions in the recipe. Mixing the ingredients together and then toss them into a ziplock bag, then bake.
This goes to show that you can be healthy and still eat scrumptious foods! I am going to try this recipe out.
This cauliflower bites look awesome. I love that i can feel like I’m eating buffalo chicken for way less fat and calories.
Oh I know, Lisa! 🙂
Is the recipe correct? 3/4 CUP hot sauce? I tried the recipe as above and served it to guests and it was soooo hot they chocked! It sounded delicious but am wondering if there’s a misprint in the amount of hot sauce you recommended. Was bummed I ruined a whole head of cauliflower. :-/
What brand of hot sauce did you use, Linda?
Tapatio.
Hi Linda! That is the reason why it was way too hot, that’s a very spicy hot sauce. In the post I recommend Frank’s Red Hot Sauce because it isn’t too spicy and has a lot of flavor.
I made these tonight and they were delish! I don’t like cauliflower very much but I LOVE buffalo sauced things. I used coconut oil instead of butter because I don’t eat dairy. And they were great. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them, Leah!
These are delicious! So much so I featured them on my blog today too!!!
Glad you enjoyed them, Kendra! Thanks for featuring them. 🙂
I made this tonight for the Super Bowl. I’m a vegetarian but I love buffalo flavor so this was a great idea. Next time I will leave the cauliflower in bigger chunks since they shrink so much in cooking. I used a half cup of McIlhenny Tabasco buffalo style sauce for 5 cups of cauliflower and served it with bleu cheese dressing. I will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed it, Cordelia! It’s a hit around here!
O M G I LOVED these !! I literally just made these. When they are done they have a bit of a bite/crunch to them. Only thing I changed was I used Kroger brand Mild Wing Sauce in place of Hot Sauce. I will definitely be making these again and again for sure ? thanks so much for the recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it 3 or 4 times and I love it. More importantly, my meat-eating bacon-is-an-herb husband loves this cauliflower more than the actual wings! He said this is by far the best thing to come from Pinterest. Thank you!
You are so welcome, Tatiana! It’s a favorite at our house, especially football parties!
I just made these for dinner and they are a definite win in my book!!!!
Great to hear, Rocio! 🙂
This is great! I made it last week for company and I’m making it again tonight just to munch on. It also tastes wonderful cold.
Mind if I share this on our store facebook page?
Hi, Priscilla. I would not mind at all. Please only share 1 photo and please do not include the recipe ingredients or instructions. Thanks!
I made these tonight so I didn’t have to feel guilty about eating bad. I really wanted the spicy buffalo wings and these were the perfect alternative!!! I loved them and will be making them again!
So glad you enjoyed them, Charla! There are a staple here!
So after making this I will def keep the recipe but with a much needed change. At 450 for 20 mins my cauliflower was sitting in a puddle of water. Next time I will be lowering the cook temp and lengthening the time.
Did you perhaps cook your cauliflower completely frozen?
Made these for my hubby and he was so surprised at how good they turned out,trying to get him to eat more vegetables and this was success, I was truly happy with the results.
This recipe is so good! Even my meat loving boyfriend loves it! Yes spicy, but I wouldn’t use any other hot sauce then franks!
I loved this idea. This falls into the “duh, why didn’t I think of this” category. We made this and it brought in today’s football season in a great way.
I did tweak it a bit.
– the sauce was spicy (and I like spicy). I added some ground sage for its sweetness and white a bit more butter to soften the spicy/salty sauce.
– all cauliflower is different, and mine gave up a lot of moisture. I was looking for more crispness. I ended up doing six more minutes on a rack over the roasting pan to dry it out and crisp it up a bit.
This was a big hit, and a great idea. We loved it and will make it many times for a veggie option during football season and beyond.
I love this recipe! It is SO good and a great way to eat healthy ‘junk’ food! Yum.
Chelsea these were awesome and so easy! Used a baking rack over a foiled lined baking sheet for easier clean up. Also kept them from getting soggy. My husband loved them and said sometimes you just want that buffalo wing flavor without the fat of chicken wings. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you and your family enjoyed them, Melissa! They are one of my favorites during the games. 🙂
Made it today and my hubs loved it. I’m not much for spice but was able to tolerate it because the flavor was amazing. Thanks for showing us a great meat alternative, especially when craving wings.
Anyone wanting a guilt-free blue cheese dressing to go with these , try Bolthouse. Theirs is only 35 calories for 2 tablespoons and though it is labeled yogurt, it tastes like the real thing. I was a big fan of Ruth’s which is lots more calories and fat but Bolthouse is almost as good and I can actually dress my salads liberally without crashing my diet. This is in the cooler, not the dressing aisle.
I love this recipe! I like mine a little less spicy so I do 1/2 cup of buffalo sauce.
Any chance these would still turn out if I premixed the cauliflower and sauce a day or two in advance? Have a cabin trip coming up where most of our food needs prepping ahead of time. Thank you.
They would get a little soggy, Ashly. I would recommend making them the day they are on your menu. I bet they would be delicious on an open fire in a foil pack.