Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
These baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings are flavorful, crispy and make an awesome vegetarian appetizer or side dish. My husband loves cauliflower, but I’ve always felt kind of “meh” about it. I’ll eat it, but it doesn’t often excite me. These Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, however, definitely excite me – we both love them! The cauliflower florets are battered and then coated in crispy panko breadcrumbs, baked to perfection and tossed in spicy Buffalo wing sauce. What’s not to love? I actually liked these baked Buffalo Cauliflower wings better than fried ones because they still turned out battered and crispy, but without the greasiness. Plus, a one cup serving is only 124 calories or 3 WW Points! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
These “wings” would be great to snack on while watching football, but I also think they work well as a side dish to a meaty main course. I also ate them as part of a “snacky” lunch, so that works as well. As a Buffalonian, I of course serve these with light blue cheese dressing for dipping, but feel free to use ranch dressing if you must!
Looking for more great lightened up appetizers and finger foods? Check out my Spinach Artichoke Wonton Bites, Meatball Slider Bombs, Ranch Hummus, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Cheeseburger Egg Rolls, Pepperoni Pizza Dip, Baked Un-Fried Pickles, Ham and Cheese Twists, Pizza Logs, Loaded Potato Rounds, Easy Garlic Knots, Buffalo Chicken Taquitos, BLT Dip, Pepperoni Pull-Apart Muffins, Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels, Spicy Beef Taquitos, Enchilada Cheese Rolls, Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts, Spinach and Artichoke Dip and more in the appetizer section of my recipe index!
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
- ¾ cup skim milk
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 ½ lbs (24 ounces) cauliflower florets, (this is the amount I got from chopping up one head of cauliflower)
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2/3 cup Buffalo wing sauce, I used Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wings sauce
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside (if using foil, lightly mist with cooking spray).
- Whisk together the milk, flour, garlic powder and oil in a mixing bowl until smooth and well combined into a batter. Place the cauliflower florets in a large mixing bowl and pour the batter over top. Stir until the florets are well combined. Transfer the coated florets to another mixing bowl, shaking off any excess batter before the transfer. Add the panko crumbs to the florets and toss to coat.
- Transfer the coated florets to the prepared baking sheet, arranging them in a single layer with a bit of room for each piece to “breathe” to allow them to get crispy (you may need to use more than one baking sheet depending on the size of the sheet). Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and drizzle with the Buffalo wing sauce. Stir/toss the cauliflower in the sauce on the baking sheet until it is coated and then rearrange the pieces again into a single layer. Return to the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes until crispy.
Notes
124 calories, 23 g carbs, 4 g sugars, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 6 g protein, 3 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com) MyWW SmartPoints per (1 cup) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) Green: 3 SmartPoints/ Blue: 3 SmartPoints/ Purple: 3 SmartPoints Weight Watchers Points Plus:
3 per (1 cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers brand PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition information below) slightly adapted from Spend with Pennies
I can’t wait to try these. What a genius way to get kids to eat veggies, and I’m sure that we grownups will love them, as well.
I hope they’re a hit!
Amazing! I’m trying to do this ww thing…
These look amazing!! Do you think the same recipe would work in the air fryer?
I don’t own an air fryer, so I have no experience with that – sorry!
I am so happy to see this recipe! California Pizza Kitchen has something similar on their menu that is to die for. As with most restaurant vs home cooked items, this one is probably a lot better for you. Yum!
Yes! I bet theirs is fried (and also delicious, lol). I hope you love these!
My only feedback would be to spray the tinfoil with cooking spray- they all stuck! But otherwise super yummy!
Good to know! I used parchment paper and assumed aluminum foil would work just as well, but I will make a note of that. Thank you!
You’re right that cauliflower often isn’t that exciting on its own. Sure, it’s a versitile vegetable, but it’s also pretty bland. I can see how the flavor choices in this recipe would get round that issue entirely.
Just made this tonight!! So delicious! I used aluminum foil with the cooking spray and nothing stuck. Definitely will make again, thanks so much 🙂
Emily- do you have a blue cheese or sauce you recommend with these? Thank you!
For the Buffalo cauliflower bites….do you think I can use almond milk or cashew milk instead of skim?
Wegmans pan searing flour or a healthier flour vs white flour?
No criticism, just preferences!
I made them with almond milk and it was delicious.
I completely love these! They are my new favorite thing. I make them in my air fryer. I love to throw them on top of a salad and make a meal out of it 🙂 Thanks for so many great recipes, your website is my favorite go to for meal planning !
Just found this recipe. Looks delicious and want to try as soon as possible (probably AFTER Thanksgiving). Just wondering if anyone had tried in air fryer? Always looking for ways to use one of many small appliances. ;0)
Can I use frozen cauliflower? I have some already in the freezer.
I honestly had my doubts (so did my pickiest of daughters) but these were easy to make and surprisingly delicious!
Do you have a blue Cheese dip for the cauliflower bites? WW recipe . Please?
These satisfy a craving for bar food!!