Buffalo Cauliflower Wings Recipe: A new take

Buffalo cauliflower wings have been around for a while now and I’ve always been intrigued but also a bit skeptical. I’ve tried cauliflower steaks and have never been that impressed by a big chunk of cauliflower with a bit of marinade.

I decided to run a vegan streetfood evening and I thought the Buffalo Cauliflower Wings would fit the bill, but I wanted them to feel indulgent just like any other junk food. I hit the internet for inspiration and tried a few recipes but they weren’t doing it for me. The pale appearance of the cauliflower behind the marinade never looked particularly appetising. Then I came across the idea of coating it in breadcrumbs but I don’t like deep fried food so this recipe needed to work baked in the oven.

I also can’t handle very spicy food so I wanted a little spicy kick rather than “blow your head off” heat, but adding more sriracha or other hot sauce will make them hotter if you prefer.

In so many pictures the wings are tiny florets but I wanted something much more substantial, I wanted it look more like a wing but also to feel like one, so I made the wings with very big florets so that you can hold the stalk whilst chomping the rest.

I started by making a batter to the coat the florets and then coating in breadcrumbs. This first time I did this I got into a terrible mess so here’s a tip. Rather than using your hands to dip the cauliflower into the batter I used a bigger bowl and put all of the caulifower florets into it then mixed with a large spoon. I then used tongs to place the coated florets into a bowl of breadcrumbs. Using this method my hands stayed relatively clean.

I used Panko breadcrumbs because they’re much coarser than regular breadcrumbs and they create a much crispier coating. These were cooked in the oven at a high temperature and I poured a Buffalo sauce over them and put them back in the oven for a few minutes. The breadcrumbs soak up the sauce instantly and the wings take on the classic orange colour that you get when you’ve deep fried something in breadcrumbs. I couldn’t find Buffalo sauce here in france so I had to improvise, the important thing is to make sure the sauce is quite watery so that the breadcrumbs absorb it.

So here it is, my Buffalo Cauliflower Wings recipe –  this will make roughly 10 wings

Half a cauliflower

Batter:

250 ml of non dairy milk

130g plain flour

2 teaspoons of cumin

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

2 teaspoons of smoked paprika

150g of panko breadcrumbs

Sauce:

4 tablespoons of margarine (palm oil free) or ordourless coconut oil

100ml of vegetable stock

1/4 teaspoon of sriracho or other chilli sauce

tablespoon and a half of paprika

tablespoon of cumin

teaspoon of onion powder

teaspoon of garlic powder

4 teaspoons of agave or maple syrup or brown sugar

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup

Method

Begin by cutting cauliflower into large florets

Next put of the batter ingredients into a bowl and mix thourougly and coat the cauliflower in the batter

Coat the florets in breadcrumbs then put in the oven for 15 minutes at 220 degrees celcius or until golden

Meanwhile put all the sauce ingredients into a pan heat, simmmer gently for a couple of minutes then set aside

When the florets come out of the oven pour the sauce over them and place back in the oven for 5 minutes, all the sauce should be absorbed and the wings should be crispy, if they’re still a bit crispy return to the oven for a few minutes.

I like to serve these with a cucumber salsa and a cashew dip which are a nice contrast to the spicy wings.

We still have some availability for this season – get in touch if you want to book.