An easy recipe for healthy, keto buffalo cauliflower, made with no flour, and served with yummy blue cheese dressing and celery.
Buffalo cauliflower is one of my favorite ways to enjoy this very versatile vegetable.
I have many cauliflower recipes on this blog because cauliflower is amazing. You can roast it, turn it into cauliflower tots, cauliflower fritters, rice, mash, even cauliflower pizza crust! The possibilities are endless.
So is buffalo cauliflower as good as buffalo wings?
Even with all these wonderful recipes, I think that buffalo cauliflower is one of the best. Admittedly, it’s not the same as buffalo wings. Buffalo wings are more flavorful, more – well – meaty! But buffalo cauliflower is a VERY flavorful vegetable dish. It’s great as a side dish or even as a tasty party appetizer.
How do you make buffalo cauliflower?
It’s such an easy recipe! You basically roast the cauliflower florets until tender-crisp, mix them with the buffalo sauce, then briefly broil.
When making this recipe, it’s best to use large cauliflower florets and to 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.
When making buffalo cauliflower, you roast the cauliflower in two stages. First without the sauce, then coated with the buffalo sauce. For the second phase, I actually prefer to use the broiler. It browns the cauliflower better than baking and prevents sogginess.
The blue cheese dressing is excellent and so very easy to make, so there’s really no need to use a shady commercial dressing. You can make the dressing for this buffalo cauliflower in advance.
Is buffalo cauliflower healthy?
I believe it is! With whole-food ingredients such as cauliflower, olive oil, butter, sour cream, cheese and spices, why wouldn’t it be? I’m sure you know by now that according to current research, dairy fat is harmless for healthy people, and might even be beneficial. My only comment would be that it’s best to use avocado oil mayonnaise because mayos based on soybean oil or even canola oil are unhealthy. Other than that, I believe that this recipe is a fine choice.
How to serve buffalo cauliflower?
You can serve it as a party appetizer. Or you can serve it as a side dish to practically anything you can think of. Although I wouldn’t serve it with buffalo chicken.. too much of a buffalo theme going on there.
Is this recipe very spicy?
One word of caution – if you use a standard hot sauce (such as Frank’s, for example), the heat level in this recipe should be OK. But if you use an especially 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 buffalo cauliflower might be too hot.
What about leftovers?
I wish I could tell you if leftovers keep well in the fridge! Alas, I never have leftovers when serving this deliciousness! 🙂 I would venture to guess that you can keep leftover buffalo cauliflower in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days, and reheat it in the oven on 250 degrees F. Or in the microwave, covered, on 50% power.
Buffalo Cauliflower
INGREDIENTS
Blue Cheese Dressing:
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (not fine salt)
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
Buffalo Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Buffalo cauliflower:
- 1 lb. fresh cauliflower florets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (not fine salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the blue cheese dressing by mixing all its ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Make the buffalo sauce: In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in the hot sauce and garlic powder. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, toss the cauliflower florets with the olive oil, salt and garlic powder. Spread on the baking sheet and roast until tender-crisp, about 15 minutes.
- Switch the oven to broil and set an oven rack 6 inches below the heat element (not directly below).
- Whisk the hot sauce mixture again. Add the roasted cauliflower florets and toss to coat. Return the cauliflower florets to the baking sheet and broil until browned and bubbly, keeping a close eye on them so they don't burn, 2-3 minutes.
- Serve the buffalo cauliflower hot, with the blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
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