I swear folks sleep on how good buffalo cauliflower can be. It ain’t always about buffalo chicken wings boos. Live a little and try this. I take fresh cauliflower florets and toss them in buttermilk marinade before frying them golden and tossing them in the spicy buffalo sauce. They are a straight up hit.
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How to Make Buffalo Cauliflower
Step 1: In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk marinade and coat cauliflower florets. Marinate 20 minutes. Mix flour coating in another bowl and buffalo sauce with melted vegan butter in a small bowl. Heat oil in a frying pan. Reserve leftover marinade, then whisk in almond milk and flour for a batter. Set up bowls: cauliflower, batter, flour coating. Dip florets in batter, coat in flour, repeat batter and flour, then fry until golden.
Step 2: Once the fried pieces feel hardened after touching with tongs, fly and continue frying. Transfer the fried cauliflower to a plate lined with paper towels. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Only drizzle or toss the ones you are going to eat with the buffalo sauce mixture to taste and garnish with chopped green onion. Enjoy!
Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Buttermilk Marinade
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup vegan buffalo sauce I used Frank's
- 1 medium head of cauliflower cut into medium sized florets
For the Flour Mixture
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp organic brown sugar
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
For Dredge Batter and Frying
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- enough oil for frying about ½-1 inch in desired pan
For Buffalo Sauce
- 1/2 cup vegan buffalo sauce I used Frank's
- 2 tbsp melted vegan butter
- 2 tbsp chopped green onion optional for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the buttermilk marinade.
- Transfer the cauliflower florets to the marinade and let sit for 20 minutes, stir to cover all pieces.
- While the cauliflower is marinating begin combining all ingredients for the flour mixture in a separate large bowl. In addition, combine the buffalo sauce and melted vegan butter in a separate small bowl to make the buffalo sauce mixture. Set aside.
- Begin heating the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Once the cauliflower is done marinating, transfer the florets to a separate medium sized bowl, reserving the leftover liquid.
- In the same bowl that now has the leftover marinade liquid, add in 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk and ¾ cups of all-purpose flour. Whisk to combine (will not be totally smooth, but mostly).
- By now, your oil should be hot enough to begin frying. To test, flick a tiny bit of water in the pan. If it sizzles and pops, it's ready. If not, wait a few more minutes before beginning. It's important that the oil is hot enough before beginning to fry.
- Arrange your three bowls in the following order: cauliflower florets (furthest from the stove), liquid batter, flour mixture (closest to the stove).
- Use a spoon, tongs or your hands to dip the cauliflower pieces into the liquid batter, then into the flour mixture, back into the liquid batter, and into the flour mixture again, then into the hot oil in the frying pan.
- Repeat this process for each piece of cauliflower, for as many as you can comfortably fit in the pan at once without over-crowding. Rotate the pieces as necessary, browning on each side. Once the fried pieces feel hardened after touching with tongs, it's okay to flip.
- Transfer the fried cauliflower from the pan to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes. Only drizzle or toss the ones you are going to eat with the Buffalo Sauce mixture to taste and garnish with chopped green onion. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage
Pop any leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge. They will keep for up to 3 days. To reheat, I like using the air fryer at 400° for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. If you’re not planning to enjoy all of them the same day, you might find it best to avoid drizzling them all with the buffalo sauce, this way they can be reheated better.Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Heat Oil Properly: You want to get your oil between 350 and 375 before frying. Anything lower and it will be soggy and anything higher and it might burn.
- Serve right away: Once you toss in the buffalo sauce, the cauliflower can get soggy if it sits too long. I would add it until I’m ready to serve.
More Fried Appetizers
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I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Thank you to Desiree of I Can You Can Vegan for Guest Posting this awesome recipe!
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I love this recipe! Can I oven fry them instead?
Hi! Could I use regular buttermilk and cows milk in the recipe and have it turn out well?
Yes you can definitely do that.
Wow, very easy on the eyes. Oh, and the cauliflower looks good also!
buttermilk takes everything to the next level and I love that you used it! This looks fabulous
Oh wow – this looks amazing, and how wonderful that it’s even vegan! And as if I wasn’t already drooling, I saw your suggestion for also trying your Fried Pickles, Fried Okra and Fried Green Tomatoes! YESSSSS to them all! You are speaking my veggie-goodness language here, for sure!
This spicy buffalo sauce is EVERYTHING!
These would be so good for meatless Monday! Can’t wait to try out the recipe 🙂