Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe

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To make this easy buffalo cauliflower, roast the cauliflower, mix it with buffalo sauce, and briefly broil. It's perfect when served with a blue cheese dressing and celery! Ready in about 30 minutes, you can serve this dish as an appetizer, a party snack, or a flavorful side dish.

Buffalo cauliflower is served with celery and a dipping sauce.

I love how versatile cauliflower is. I enjoy recipes like cauliflower tots, cauliflower fritters, cauliflower steak, and cauliflower pizza crust. Buffalo cauliflower is one of my favorite recipes for this vegetable. While it's not exactly like buffalo wings, combining cauliflower florets with tangy buffalo sauce creates a delicious appetizer that everyone around here enjoys.

Ingredients

Here's an overview of the ingredients needed to make his recipe. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

For the blue cheese dressing: Sour cream, mayonnaise, kosher salt, garlic powder, and crumbled blue cheese. For the best flavor and texture, please use full-fat sour cream in the dressing.

For the buffalo sauce: Unsalted butter, hot sauce, and garlic powder. I typically use Frank's Red Hot.

For the cauliflower: Fresh cauliflower florets, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and garlic powder. While you can use frozen cauliflower florets and roast them for longer, it's best to use fresh cauliflower.

Variations

Serve the cauliflower with ranch dressing - it's just as good as blue cheese dressing. It also goes well with tahini sauce.
Use your favorite hot sauce, including sriracha.
When roasting the cauliflower florets, coat them in melted butter instead of olive oil.
Add ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika to the buffalo sauce for a lovely smoky flavor.

Instructions

Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:

Make the blue cheese dressing by mixing all its ingredients in a small bowl.

Make the buffalo sauce by mixing melted butter with hot sauce and garlic powder.

Toss the cauliflower with olive oil, salt, and garlic powder. Roast for 15 minutes at 450°F. Toss the roasted cauliflower with the buffalo sauce. Broil 6 inches below the heating element until browned, about 2 minutes.

The buffalo cauliflower is ready in the pan.

Serve the cauliflower with the blue cheese dressing.

Dipping buffalo cauliflower into blue cheese dressing.

Expert Tips

It's best to use large cauliflower florets and roast them for a short time at a high temperature. This helps the cauliflower retain some crispiness. Otherwise, it can turn mushy. Still delicious, but mushy.
You roast the cauliflower in two stages. First without the sauce, and then coated in the buffalo sauce. For the second phase, I prefer to use the broiler. It browns the cauliflower better than baking and helps prevent sogginess.

Recipe FAQs

Is this as good as buffalo chicken wings?

While this recipe is very flavorful and makes a wonderful party snack (or a side dish), it's not the same as baked chicken wings or buffalo wings. Chicken wings are richer, meatier (obviously), and more flavorful.

So, don't expect this dish to be a substitute for the classic chicken recipe. Rather, it's a wonderfully flavorful vegetable dish that somewhat resembles the chicken original.

Is this recipe very spicy?

If you use a standard hot sauce (such as Frank's), the heat level should be OK for most.

But if you use a specialty hot sauce (such as habanero pepper sauce), you might want to reduce the hot sauce to 3 tablespoons and maybe even add an extra tablespoon of butter. Otherwise, the dish might be too spicy.

Can I use commercial blue cheese dressing?

Yes, but it won't be as good. The homemade blue cheese dressing we use here is excellent and very easy to make. You can make the dressing a few hours in advance and chill it until ready to use.

Serving Suggestions

Buffalo cauliflower makes an excellent party appetizer. But I often serve it as a side dish, and when I do, I like to serve it with main courses I can cook in the same 450°F oven, such as oven-baked chicken breast, roasted turkey breast, or roasted pork tenderloin.

Storing Leftovers

You can keep the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them uncovered in a 350°F oven. You can also freeze the leftovers for up to three months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge and then reheat them in the oven.