Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are crispy, spicy, and delicious. This tasty appetizer has just 20 calories and 2g net carbs. It's the perfect healthy app.
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Good morning glories! 👋
It’s 10 am and I’ve spent the morning taking pictures of Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Wings. As one does. Then I gobbled them up. It was a mighty fine breakfast if I do say so myself.
So come, and let me show you how to make these devilishly delicious snacks.
🦬 About Buffalo Cauliflower
This is an appetizer that replicates spicy buffalo wings with cauliflower. It adds a bit of healthiness to this classic bar food. It’s spicy, but not overly so. It’s just the right level of spiciness to need ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery to cool it down.
Yes, it can be, if you use pork rinds and oat fiber to bread the cauliflower. It’s only got 2 net carbs so it fits in perfectly with low carb, Paleo, and Keto diets. And if you are watching your caloric intake, you’ll be happy to know that each serving has just 18 calories. Chump change!
These ones are! Many people cover the cauliflower in Buffalo sauce, cooked it up, and called it a day. But others dip the cauliflower florets in crispy breading before cooking them. I, of course, am in the breading camp. I like a crispy faux Buffalo chicken wing.
💬 What is an air fryer?
It's the reason that the Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are so crispy. It is a countertop appliance that "fries" foods using just heat and air. It's basically a mini convection oven. You can spray the foods with oil if you like for a little extra fat and flavor, but it is not necessary. This magical machine will do the rest.
For more basic air fryer recipes, check out my roundup of 50 Keto Air Fryer Recipes. And for another yummy appetizer, try my Keto Sausage and Sauerkraut Balls.
🥣 Ingredients
- Cauliflower Florets- You'll need one head of cauliflower, cut into florets.
- Hot Sauce- I'm a cheapskate so I used the Aldi brand of hot sauce, but you can get as fancy with your hot sauce as you like. The classic Frank's Red Hot Sauce works well too.
- All Purpose Flour or Oat FIber- Use low carb oat fiber if you are doing Keto to keep the carb count down. If you are gluten-free, then you can use gluten-free flour instead of regular white flour.
- Eggs- The eggs will act as a binder to keep the breading on the Buffalo Cauliflower Wings.
- Panko Bread Crumbs or Crushed Pork Rinds- Panko bread crumbs work really well in this recipe, but if you are watching your carbs, then choose the ground pork rinds. Another low carb breading alternative is almond flour.
🥕 Sides
These appetizers should be paired with your favorite dipping sauce and a stack of celery sticks or carrots. I’ve included a recipe for ranch dressing in the recipe card, and here is one for homemade blue cheese dressing. No self-respecting host will be without these sides.
📖 Instructions
- If using pork rinds, add them to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulse until they reach the consistency of panko breading.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together cauliflower florets and hot sauce, until all pieces are completely coated with sauce.
- Set up a station with 4 bowls: the bowl of cauliflower florets, a bowl of flour or oat fiber, the beaten eggs, and the bread crumbs or pork rinds. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- Roll the florets in flour, dip them in the eggs and then roll them in bread crumbs. It's easiest to hold the cauliflower pieces by their stem and just bread the tops. Place the florets on the cookie sheets. Spray them with cooking spray..
- You'll need to air fry them in batches. Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Use an air fryer oil mister rather than an aerosol cooking spray because it can ruin the nonstick surface of your air fryer. Add the coated cauliflower florets in one layer. Air fry them for 12-15 minutes, shaking at minute 5.
- Combine all ingredients for ranch dressing and serve with the Buffalo Cauliflower Bites along with some sticks of celery and maybe a few carrot sticks.
And you are done! 👩🍳
I predict that this recipe will go over like gangbusters at any game day party or get-together. And I sincerely doubt that your friends and family will miss the chicken wings at all, once they get a taste of these Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites. But this recipe can be eaten at any time of day, for any occasion.
If you want to be like me and eat them for breakfast, who’s to stop you? 😉
📋 Recipe
Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
Air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites are crispy, spicy, and delicious. This classic appetizer has just 20 calories and 2g net carbs.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Low Calorie
Ingredients
buffalo cauliflower bites:
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- ½ cup hot sauce
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour or oat fiber
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs or 1 (7oz bag) pork rinds
ranch dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried chives
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Step 1. If using pork rinds, add them to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulse until they reach the consistency of panko bread crumbs.
Step 2. In a large bowl, mix together cauliflower florets and hot sauce, until all pieces are completely coated with sauce.
Step 3. Set up a station with 4 bowls: the bowl of cauliflower florets, a bowl of flour or oat fiber, the beaten eggs, and the bread crumbs or pork rinds. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
Step 4. Roll the florets in flour, dip them in the eggs and then roll them in bread crumbs. It's easiest to hold the cauliflower pieces by their stem and just bread the tops. Place the florets on the cookie sheets. Spray them with cooking spray.
Step 5. You'll need to air fry them in batches. Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Use an oil mister rather than an aerosol cooking spray because it can ruin the nonstick surface of your air fryer. Add the florets in a single layer. Air fry them for 12-15 minutes, shaking at minute 5.
Step 6. Whisk together all ingredients for ranch dressing and serve with the Air Fryer Cauliflower Wings along with some celery and carrot sticks.
Notes
OVEN METHOD: Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes until just beginning to brown.
Nutritional info is for the Keto version of the recipe that uses pork rinds and oat fiber.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ cup
- Calories: 20
- Fat: 10
- Carbohydrates: 7
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 16
Keywords: Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower, Air Fried Buffalo Cauliflower
es says
i'm wondering if you have any substitutions for oat fiber? i'm intolerant to all grains.
EmilyKrill says
You can substitute coconut flour or skip that step altogether and just use the pork rind bread crumbs.
Becca says
My husband and I looooved these cauliflower wings. We've made the ones where you don't bread them and they were pretty soggy but these came out crispy and great. Thanks for posting!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Yea, I tried making them unbreaded too, but they were just so meh. That's why I added the extra step of breading them. It's a bit of a pain, but worth it, I think.