Glue & Glitter

Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower

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This version of crunchy Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower is light on the batter and simple to make. Dip it in vegan ranch or your favorite creamy vegan dressing.

close-up of a hand holding a piece of air fryer buffalo cauliflower. plate and a cold beer in the background

Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower

When Buffalo cauliflower first got popular, I could NOT WAIT TO TRY IT. I love spicy food, so anything tossed in hot sauce is a plus in my book.

Psst! For more vegan air fryer amazingness, check out this growing index of vegan air fryer recipes from me and some of my favorite food bloggers. It also includes a little FAQ, in case you have burning questions!

What I am not mad about is breading. I’m the weirdo that pulls most of the breading off of fried okra, and I found myself doing the same thing with the Buffalo cauliflower I was making.

But when you pull the breading off of Buffalo cauliflower, you’re pulling off the flavor!

When I started working on my own recipe for air fryer Buffalo cauliflower, I knew that minimal breading and maximum flavor were my main goals. I wanted this recipe to taste more like cauliflower and less like breading, because cauliflower is delicious!

If you like a thicker battered veggie, this recipe is not for you. Kittee has a great recipe for air fryer Buffalo tofu that’s double-coated, perfect for batter fans.

But if you prefer your breading on the minimal-to-none side, you’re going to love my version of Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower!

white plate of air fryer buffalo cauliflower. cashew ranch and a cold beer on a tea towel next to the plate

About this Buffalo Cauliflower Method

This recipe is super simple, but I spent SO much time on it before landing on this technique, you guys. I dredged in aquafaba. I tried potato starch. I tried both.

I fussed with cooking times and temperatures. And it turns out that I had been totally overcomplicating the process.

This Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower recipe is based on my Avocado Air Fries, though as you’ll see, I’ve monkeyed with it a bit to get this recipe how I wanted. The light panko coating gives these cauliflower wings a little bit of crunch, but the cauliflower still gets to be the star of the show.

Unlike the avocado fries, you’re not going to dip your air fryer Buffalo cauliflower in aquafaba. The buttery Buffalo sauce is all you need to get the panko to stick to your cauliflower.

Here are a couple of things to know about this method for making air fryer Buffalo cauliflower:

I specify mixing the butter/sauce up in a mug.

This is because you don’t need a ton of Buffalo sauce to make this, but you do want to coat most of the floret. A mug has a narrow bottom and high sides, so you get a deep dip that coats the florets.

There is a range of cooking times.

The cooking time can vary a bit, because there are variables to consider.

A head of cauliflower that you cut right before using will most likely have to cook longer, for example, than pre-cut. Pre-cut cauliflower is drier, so it cooks faster.

The time also depends on the exact size of your florets. If you lean bigger, you’ll need to cook longer.

Just keep shaking every few minutes, checking for doneness. They’re done when the florets have a little bit of brown on them, but you don’t want them totally browned, because then they’ll taste burnt.

EDIT: This recipe has been so popular, I decided to shoot a recipe video to accompany it. You can see the video here, and the written recipe is still at the bottom of the page, if you prefer to read rather than view.

Choosing a Vegan Buffalo Sauce

When you’re choosing your Buffalo sauce, make sure to check the label for butter. Some companies include butter in the bottle, because you normally use butter to get the sauce to stick. In this recipe, I use vegan butter.

You can try using melted, refined coconut oil in place of butter, but I have not tested it in this recipe. I wouldn’t recommend unrefined coconut oil, because then your wings will taste like coconut. Unless you’re into that. Then, go for it!

I would not recommend using liquid-at-room-temperature oils, like olive or sunflower in this recipe. They’re not going to make the panko stick as well.

Vegan Air Fryer Recipes: Buffalo Cauliflower

Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower

The prep time actually varies a bit, depending on whether you bought your cauliflower pre-cut. If you have to cut up the cauliflower before you start cooking, allow another 5 minutes or so.
3.86 from 75 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Vegan
Keyword: air fryer, buffalo cauliflower, cauliflower, spicy, vegan air fryer
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 servings (as an appetizer)
Calories: 201kcal
Author: Becky Striepe

Ingredients

For the Cauliflower

  • 4 cups cauliflower florets - Each one should be approx. the size of two baby carrots, if you put the baby carrots side-by-side.
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1 teaspoon sea salt - I would not use regular salt here. Sea salt grains are bigger, and they add a little extra crunch to the breading.

For the Buffalo Coating

  • 1/4 cup melted vegan butter - 1/4 cup after melting
  • 1/4 cup vegan Buffalo sauce - Check the ingredients for butter. I used Frank's Red Hot

For Dipping

  • vegan mayo - Cashew Ranch, or your favorite creamy salad dressing

Instructions

  • Melt the vegan butter in a mug in the microwave, then whisk in the buffalo sauce.
  • Holding by the stem, dip each floret in the butter/buffalo mixture, getting most of the floret coated in sauce. It's fine if a bit of the stem doesn't get saucy. Hold the floret over the mug until it pretty much stops dripping. A few drips are OK, but if it's raining sauce, your panko is going to get clumpy and stop sticking as well.
  • Dredge the dipped floret in the panko/salt mixture, coating as much as you like, then place in the air fryer. No need to worry about a single layer. Just drop it in there.
  • Air fry at 350F (do not preheat) for 14-17 minutes, shaking a few times, and checking their progress when you shake. Your cauliflower is done when the florets are a little bit browned.
  • Serve with your dipping sauce of choice.

Notes

Buffalo cauliflower doesn't stay crunchy for long, so eat these immediately for maximum goodness. I'd recommend reheating these in the air fryer, so they'll get crunchy again. I gave some of these to my neighbor during testing, and he reheated them in the oven with good results, also. If you reheat in the microwave, they'll definitely be mushy.

Nutrition

Calories: 201kcal
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. We also got one for Christmas and have been waiting to find the perfect recipe to try it out! We follow the Keto wit so I used crushed pork rinds for the panko and it turned out ahhhhhhhmazing! Thank you!!

    Reply

  5. The Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower recipe is what brought me to your site and it was my first experience with my new air fryer – delicous! I also love my Instant Pot, so I will be exploring your site for more recipes using these wonderful appliances. Thank you!

    Reply

    • Thank you, Gina! I haven’t tested this with flax or chia as the binder, so I’m not totally sure. It’s a good idea though! Let me know how it works if you try it.

      Reply

      • I’m super-late to this party, but since panko is Japanese, and they only have one “a” sound, which is like our “a” in “father”, it’s actually pronounced “pahn-ko”, which is just how Becky says it.

        Reply

  13. Could a lazy girl simply toss cauliflower florets in a bowl with the the buffalo sauce, then toss in a bowl with panko, then toss into the air fryer?

    Reply

  14. Thanks for the recipe.
    Unfortunatelly I burnt it the first time as I live in a “celsius” country and I miscalculated. I also left if for more time than what I should have.
    Second time it worked fine… = )

    Reply

    • Ooh thank you for pointing that out. I’ll delete when I get back to my computer. You don’t fry twice. That note is left from an earlier test when I was still over complicating this recipe!

      Reply

  22. This looks SO delicious, Becky! I really need to get an air fryer soon!! A friend of mine has one and she absolutely loves it. I just got a slow cooker for Christmas though. I think I really need to make some space in my kitchen… 😀

    Reply

    • Yeah, the space thing is no joke. It’s about the side of my Instant Pot, if you need a point of reference for figuring out storage space.

      Reply

  23. Mmmmmm! LOVE buffalo cauliflower. This is very similar to how I make mine…although I bake them. Though I like how it tastes, I’m not a huge fan of the breading processes….too much work. So, I just throw mine in with some panko as well. Works perfectly! I still need to get an airfryer though!

    Reply

    • Oh cool! Yeah, I always feel like there’s too much breading on fried stuff and end up picking it off. This felt like the best of both!

      Reply

  27. Hey Becky, thanks for this neat recipe. I read through it to figure out what air frying was only to find that it’s a kitchen appliance. Which do you have? Would you recommend it? My wife loves crispy so this might be a good solution for more healthy, crispy additions to our diet. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hey Kyle! We have the GoWise 4th Generation, and I definitely recommend it! It’s on super sale right now, too: https://amzn.to/2i7S1PX

      If you don’t have an air fryer, you can try making these in the oven. Just double the cooking time, and use a Silpat- or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Check on it frequently during the second half of cooking, to see how it’s going.

      Reply

  28. Santa brought me an air flyer for Christmas. I was saying yesterday that I was going to start out with one of your recipes, but I wasn’t sure which one. Now I know! 🙂

    Reply

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