Air fryer Buffalo Cauliflower wings are coated with a zesty buttermilk batter and then air fried to perfection. These meatless wings are then finished with a generous coating of spicy buffalo sauce. Make sure to dip them in blue cheese dressing or ranch for the full wing night experience.
Since getting our air fryer we have mostly used it for simple things like frozen mozzarella sticks, frozen hash brown patties and frozen potstickers are all great in the air fryer! Making air fryer chicken thighs has also become a go to for a quick protein.
Now that I have gotten more comfortable using my ninja foodi deluxe, I have been experimenting with more air fryer recipes. Just the other day I made burgers in the air fryer and they came out the PERFECT medium rare. Will definitely be doing that again.
With the Super Bowl coming up, I have been testing out new appetizer recipes. These cauliflower air fryer wings were super simple to make and totally delicious. The batter to coat them was really easy to throw together and coats the cauliflower florets nicely.
The buffalo sauce is spicy and buttery and oh. so. good.
Ingredients for Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- cauliflower florets (you can use pre cut broccoli or a head of cauliflower)
- all purpose flour (you can use gluten free flour or almond flour if needed)
- paprika
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt
- buttermilk
- buffalo hot sauce
- butter
How to Make Air fryer Buffalo Cauliflower
In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk. Add in buttermilk and whisk together until smooth.
If needed, break up the cauliflower into similarly sized florets. Add cauliflower to the batter and use a spoon or spatula to thoroughly coat all of the vegetable pieces.
On a baking sheet with a cooling rack on top, place the batter coated cauliflower pieces to allow some of the extra batter to run off.
Working in stages, place cauliflower pieces into the air fryer basket. Don't overstuff the basket so that the air circulates well.
Set the temperature to 360 degrees and 18 minutes of cook time. Spray the top of the wings liberally with oil and close the lid. Around 12 minutes into cooking, flip the wings to ensure even cooking.
In a separate bowl, combine buffalo sauce and butter. Microwave buffalo sauce and butter until the butter melts. Stir to combine.
Remove wings from the air fryer and toss in the prepared wing sauce to coat.
Serve with ranch or blue cheese.
Top Tip
Make sure to spray the inside of the air fryer basket AND spray over the buffalo sauce coated air fryer cauliflower wings with a generous spray of olive oil or avocado spray. This helps them crisp up.
Lower Heat, Longer Time
Generally in the airfryer I cook things are around 390 degrees fahrenheit for shorter amounts of time. With these battered cauliflower bites, I suggest the opposite-- lower temperature for a few more minutes. I did 360 degrees fahrenheit for around 16-18 minutes.
This allows the batter to not only cook, but actually get crispy without burning.
How to Serve Cauliflower Wings
My favorite dipping sauce for anything buffalo style is either a creamy blue cheese dressing or a ranch dressing. I love the way it offsets the heat of wings.
Just like with traditional chicken wings, these meat free buffalo wings go great with carrot and celery sticks.
Storage
These wings are best eaten fresh to ensure that they are as crispy as possible. They can be enjoyed reheated, they just won't be as crispy.
Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower florets you can use pre cut broccoli or a heat of cauliflower
- 1 cup flour you can use gluten free flour or almond flour if needed
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup buffalo hot sauce
- 2 tbsp. butter
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk. Add in butter whisk and whisk together until smooth.
- If needed, break up the cauliflower into florets. Add cauliflower to the batter and use a spoon or spatula to thoroughly coat all of the vegetable pieces.
- On a baking sheet with a cooling rack on top, place the batter coated cauliflower pieces to allow some of the extra to run off.
- Working in stages, place cauliflower pieces into the air fryer basket. Don't overstuff the basket so that the air circulates well.
- Set the temperature to 360 degrees and 18 minutes of cook time. Spray the top of the wings liberally with oil and close the lid. Around 12 minutes into cooking, flip the wings to ensure even cooking.
- In a separate bowl, combine buffalo sauce and butter. Microwave buffalo sauce and butter until the butter melts. Stir to combine.
- Remove wings from the air fryer and toss in the prepared wing sauce to coat.
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