Cauliflower florets coated in a crispy spiced crust, served with hot buffalo sauce and a side of Vegan Blue Cheese Dip? Oh, hi there good lookin’. I know exactly what you got cookin’, and I like it, I like it a lot.
Hot dang theses are good little dudes. I made sure of that for you by testing them three times, just to be sure, for testing purposes only, clearly.
There is just something about eating with your hands, sauciness dripping down your arm, flavour punching bar food deliciousness that I just NEED every now and then. The need is real.
I love diving into a plate of ooey gooey nachos, snacking on crispy baked French fries, feasting on a giant BBQ pulled jackfruit sandwich, OMG getting so hungry, I just love it all.
Then this happened. And by this, I mean Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower. Now I’ve had cauliflower bites in various different ways, and they are delicious, but these crispy buffalo cauliflower bites just went from delicious all the way up to why am I not eating these every day, good. Yeah, I know, it makes me really excited too.
How did I make them so different, you ask? My super secret (internet published) technique is that instead of just a simple flour batter, I went another step and coated them in a spice corn flake crust. The result: crispy (but not fried), spiced, addictive, buffalo sauce, must…not…eat…the entire plate. Can’t resist!
To make Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower: Add the corn flakes and spices to a food processor. Pulse several times until the corn flakes are broken down, but still have texture. This is where the crunch comes in so don’t turn it to powder!
Take three large bowls, and in bowl 1, add the all-purpose flour. In bowl 2, mix together the chia (or flax) and water. In bowl 3, add the cornflake mixture.
Now rinse your cauliflower florets so they are wet. Take a handful at a time and drop them in the flour and toss to coat.
Next drop them in the chia mixture and toss to coat.
Finally, toss them in the corn flake mixture.
Lay them out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and bake for 20 t0 25 minutes until crispy and cooked all the way through. You can test doneness by piercing a floret with a knife to see if it’s tender all the way through.
To make the buffalo sauce, simply mix melted vegan butter with the hot sauce. You can pour the buffalo sauce directly on the cauliflower, but it will soften the crust. If you want to keep them super crispy, simply serve the buffalo sauce on the side and dip as you go.
These are perfect served with my Vegan Blue Cheese Dip.
- Bowl 1:
- ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour (or all-purpose gluten-free flour blend)
- Bowl 2:
- 2 Tablespoons Ground Chia or Ground Flax
- ¾ Cup Warm Water
- Bowl 3:
- 4 Cups Corn Flakes
- ½ Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Small Head of Cauliflower, cut into florets
- ½ Cup Franks Red Hot (or other similar hot sauce)
- 3 Tablespoons Vegan Butter, melted
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Grab three big bowls. In the first bowl, add the flour. In the second bowl, mix together the chia and water. For the third bowl, add the corn flakes, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper to a food processor. Pulse several times until broken down, but there is still some texture. Pour the
corn flake mixture into the last bowl. - Rinse your cauliflower florets so they are wet. Take a handful at a time and drop them in the flour and toss to coat. Next drop them in the chia mixture and toss to coat. Finally, toss them in the corn flake mixture. Spread them out on the parchment paper lined baking sheet so that they aren't touching. Repeat with all of the florets until you have used up all of your ingredients.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and crusty, and the cauliflower is tender all the way through. You can test doneness by piercing a floret with a knife to see if it's tender all the way through
- To make the buffalo sauce, simply mix the melted vegan butter with the hot sauce. You can pour the buffalo sauce directly on the cauliflower, but it will soften the crust. If you want to keep them super crispy, simply serve the buffalo sauce on the side and dip as you go.
Bon Appetegan!
Sam.
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You posted this about 1-2 days after I made another version. I finally made your version and it’s AMAZING. My husband just couldn’t stop raving about these; and my 4-year-old daughter loved the coated cauliflower (sans hot sauce). Instead of corn flakes, I used an organic flake cereal with corn, flax, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth… great substitute! Another hit, Sam!
Woohoo! So thrilled you and your fam love yet another one of my recipes, Srivani! I wonder how many “comments of the day” are yours now? Haha
Made this with the blue cheese dip (minus the tofu) and OMG it was absolutely delicious!!! Was so easy to make even for me! So happy I stumbled upon your site and preordered your cookbook – can’t wait for it!
Woot woot! Thanks so much, Krista! So happy you loved this recipe, and I know you will love the book when you get it too 🙂
Do you have suggestions on a corn flake substitute? Many thanks!
Panko bread crumbs would work well 🙂
Made this and the blue cheese dip. It was great! My sister and I think that we’re going to coat our favorite veggies in this. She had it without the sauce, just the dip and I poured the buffalo sauce on mine, both ways were fantastic. Thanks again for the great recipe.
Now you got me craving these cauliflower bites again, Kim! So happy you and your sister enjoyed them so much 🙂
O-M-G! These are bomb! I went vegetarian 3 years ago, and my hubby just recently gave up meat about 4 months ago. He admitted to me the other day that he had cheated and ate some buffalo chicken as he was craving the flavor, so I went searching for an alternative. BINGO! These were a perfect substitution and we both loved them. Thanks so much for the recipe!
That’s wonderful!!! So happy they hit the spot 🙂
Hello. I dont know what I’m doing wrong but I my cauliflower only coat well with flour. I try to toss with chia mixture and corn flake mixture but it doesn’t retain almost nothing of the mixture. It looks it gets too dry after tossing with flour. Can anyone help me please?
It sounds like maybe your chia mixture is a little dry. Try stirring in a bit more water. Toss the cauliflower in the flour, then dip in the chia (which should be watery and gooey) then toss in the cornflakes which will stick to the chia. Hope that helps!
I just made these! They are so good, I love the crunchiness!! Thank you!!
Yay!! So happy you loved them, Jenn! Thanks for leaving a review 🙂
Sam Sam Sam Sam – you absolute gold-star-genius! This is TO DIE FOR. Absolutely amazing idea. Always been a loyal hotforfood cauliflower fan – but I have to say, this blows it out the water – the crunch is.so.GOOD. I need to wait til the shops open tomorrow to get more chia and then I am SO on it again. Might try finding a copycat KFC seasoning recipe and adding it to the cornflake batter. Thank you for bringing this into our lives.
Awww shucks!! What a wonderful, flattering comment to start my Monday with. Thank you so much, Kelly! You totally made the comment of the day 🙂
Delicious, and I’ll definitely make it again, although I need to tweak the sauce since it was too hot for our tastes. Great with your Blue Cheese dip recipe, which I can’t get enough of!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed the cauliflower and the blue cheese dip 🙂
Hmm. If I search and find the link and then click on it, it works. But if I just click on a link at the bottom of another recipe I just get a page with an image of the recipe, the title and nothing else. Weird.
Hmmm, not sure what’s going on for you. I checked both on my laptop and my phone and I can see the recipe fine…
Must be an iPhone glitch.
OMGosh! This is an amazing dish. It is so delicious. I’ve made the cauliflower from another site and no way was it anywhere this good. Those corn flakes, really make it! AND the hot sauce isn’t that hot, it’s PERFECT!!
Woohoo!! So happy you loved it so much Irene! 😀
Hi Sam, I love you. Seriously! I just spent the weekend eating all you recipes, and each one became my new favourite :). BBQ sweet lentils which I adore, then the pulled jackfruit which was super delish. And then, OMG, I made these crunchy cauli bites today and I ate the lot. I can’t believe how crunchy and tasty and moreish they were. I can’t wait to make them for friends and family I know they will be blown away like me. You rock girl, love ALL your work. X
Haha, awww shucks. Thanks so much Ann! So thrilled you are loving the recipes so much, it makes me so happy! I look forward to seeing you around 😀
Would it be possible to use coconut oil instead of the vegan butter?
Yes absolutely, it just might be lacking in a little bit of buttery taste.
So…….when is your book coming out????? Oh yes, and by the way…delicious!!!!
Hahaha, so happy you enjoyed! My book is coming out in October 😀
These are delicious! Had to leave the crunch – I couldn’t bring myself to pour on the sauce. I am thinking next time I might add a little sauce to the flax mix – what do you think? I am eagerly awaiting your vegan may recipe. My brand is okay, but I think the blue cheese dip might be improved with a different mayo – didn’t have Hellman’s. Served with your lentil tacos – great meal!!
Yes! I have a vegan mayo recipe in my book 🙂 Adding sauce to the flax mixture would be a great little boost of flavour. So happy you enjoyed them!
Oooh this is the perfect type of recipe for when my husband bring his friends over. Those that think they will be served a bowl of kale and a glass of water because we are vegan. You manage to put out so many tempting innovative dishes. It is a wonder. Thank you. -Hanne
Awww shucks, thank you 🙂 Hahaha! No! Never ever shall we serve a bowl of kale and a glass of water! Hahaha.
what do you think would happen if you coated them in sauce after baking and then baked them again for another 10 minutes? would that prevent sogginess?
I’m not sure, you could give it a try. My guess is that if it did prevent sogginess, I imagine the sauce would dry up and not be very saucy…
Mmmm looks good and so easy. Will be trying this on the weekend. Thanks for sharing another great recipe
My absolute pleasure! I hope you love them Diane 🙂
Oh, I’m looking forward to trying this and serve it to the husband tomorrow! It will be the first time ever to buy corn flakes! 🙂
Hahaha! Perfect. I hope you and your husband love them! 😀
Dear me. I think this will be my contribution to our upcoming book club meeting. But maybe I should test drive a batch for myself first, just to be sure.
just to be sure 😉 Haha.
Excellent…. been waiting for this recipe. Cauliflower is in the fridge. I love the idea of “It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken” Buffalo things. Yum
Bahahahaha! Good call 🙂