Buffalo baked cauliflower recipe that is a great side dish or healthy snack with a kick of heat. Delicious buffalo cauliflower in the oven we can’t get enough of. Once you fall in love with this one you can even make air fryer cauliflower wings now too!
Here is a great baked cauliflower recipe and our favorite zucchini recipe below too! Using a few spices and jazzing up an otherwise boring vegetable on the table is much more appealing I think. This Coliflor Recipe helped create a love of veggies in our kids! (affiliate links present)
Buffalo Baked Cauliflower
We like to have a vegetable side dish for dinner each night but traditional steamed veggies get a bit boring. It looks delicious right??!! This twist on buffalo wings turned into these bites that are actually amazing. Make it as spicy or toned down as you desire.
With a little tweaking and adjusting of our own to suit our tastes this recipe has become a new favorite. It is really easy to toss it all together and throw it into the oven so everything is ready at the same time and dinner can be served!
How to Bake Cauliflower in the Oven
On a sheet pan is quite easy. You can leave it plain of course tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper but with a little spicy like this you’ll add a lot of flavor. You can steam it like our Instant Pot cauliflower recipe, make air fryer cauliflower is another delicious option if you have that machine at home.
Baked cauliflower is so easy whether you leave it whole or cut it up and bake it with a light batter with buffalo sauce we explain here. I wouldn’t boil it because you lose all the nutrients.
Most definitely, especially if you just drizzle it with a bit of olive oil with salt and pepper. Our seasoned flour dredge adds some calories, but makes it a crunchy flavorful snack.
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower
Because it is made at home you can adjust the heat to your liking. I mean you could use a different sauce entirely if you wanted more of a sweet taste, or just keep plain and dip in Ranch when done.
Is it better to eat cauliflower raw or cooked?
Raw maintains the most amount of nutrients, followed by baked or air fried, and boiling would be at the bottom of the list of great ideas. You can add others on to the baking sheet with it too if you want a variety like brussel sprouts and cauliflower baked together.
Roasted Cauliflower Buffalo Bites
It’s something you can throw together quite quickly (my kind of side dish) and is FULL of flavor which helps kids really enjoy vegetables. You can bake it, start with air fryer cauliflower or even air fryer frozen cauliflower.
I find the more flavor the more they want to make it again and again.
- Adjust the heat to your liking, maybe try milder at first and work your way up from there.
- I am not a huge spice kinda’ gal but over time I’ve increased the heat a bit and really enjoy it.
You can skip the sauce at the end entirely too if you wanted to, and just eat right out of the oven. You would still get that fried crispy feeling to it but I would add more seasonings if you were going without a sauce. You could dip in other things too that aren’t as hot. Like dip in ranch dressing, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top with sea salt and enjoy that way….
Baked Cauliflower Recipe
Now you could skip the breading entirely if you wanted lower calories. In that case you would just toss with extra virgin olive oil and bake the same as directed below until tender. Turn the cauliflower florets after 15 minutes or so. When done just toss with the sauce of your choice.
Both are great really but definitely a different texture and feel to them. If you are looking for a healthier keto friendly dish then I would go with the non battered type. I like the other best so it kinda’ tastes like deep fried in a sense but it is baked so no submerging in oil or lots of fat or calories involved.
- Head of cauliflower
- Water
- Flour
- Milk
- Hot sauce – this one is great
- Ranch dressing
- Spices
I would compare the coating as tempura batter in a way but once again you don’t need to fry it which is nice. It is fun to try new methods that result in the same texture and flavors you love.
Crispy Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non stick cooking spray. Cut cauliflower florets into medium size bite-sized pieces. The smaller they are the faster you’ll get them to fork tender so if you are in a bit of a hurry you could speed it up that way. In the case you needed a dairy free option you could use lactose free or almond milk instead.
- In a medium bowl add milk, water, flour and spices. Mix until the batter is thick. Dip each cauliflower piece into the batter and place on baking sheet.
- Place in oven for 25 minutes.
- While you’re waiting prepare the sauce mixture.
- You can mix the ranch and hot sauce in a bowl, set aside. Feel free to add red pepper flakes for a real kick of heat.
When done, remove from pan and toss the pieces into the hot sauce mixture to coat thoroughly. If you aren’t going to eat immediately, leave separate, serve and pour a bit of the ranch mixture on top of everybody’s serving.
Baked buffalo cauliflower
There are really 2 ways to make this. With or without the sauce at the end. We like it with but it is best eaten really fresh because once you put the buffalo ranch on top it will get soggy.
- BEST way to serve it is on the plate with a bit of sauce on top, or sauce on the side so you can dip it!
- Both ways are delicious and easy to make. It may just get your kids to love cauliflower too!
Vegetable side dish recipes
It’s a great vegetable side dish or snack even and quite healthy with just a few ingredients. Do you have another type of roasted cauliflower recipe? I’d love to hear because I’m always out to create something new to try at our dinner table as well as share too.
- Instant Pot cauliflower mash is always fun
- Easy steamed broccoli recipe is great with parmesan cheese on top
- Smoked baked potatoes are just amazing
- Air fryer roasted vegetables are killer
If you love this easy baked cauliflower recipe you will love our salt and pepper zucchini chips too, my kids favorite!
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Buffalo Baked Cauliflower
Equipment
- 1 Bowl
- 1 cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower cut into med. size florets
- 1/2 c water
- 1 c flour
- 1/2 c milk
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 c hot sauce
- 1/4-1/2 c ranch dressing 1/2 will make it mild, 1/4 medium heat
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non stick cooking spray. Chop cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
- In a medium bowl add milk, water, flour and spices. Mix until the batter is thick.
- Dip each cauliflower piece into the batter and place on baking sheet. Place in oven for 25 minutes.
- While you're waiting prepare the sauce mixture. You can mix the ranch and hot sauce in a bowl, set aside.
- When done, remove from pan. You can enjoy them as is right now, crispy as ever. OR toss the pieces into the hot sauce mixture to coat thoroughly. If you aren't going to eat immediately, leave separate, serve and pour a bit of the ranch mixture on top of everybody's serving.