Today’s Air fryer Buffalo Cauliflower bites recipe has been a long time coming. If you know me, then you know that buffalo cauliflower bites are one of my all time favorite foods. Buffalo was something I never ate before going vegan, because wings are so gross to me. Therefore my first real experience with buffalo wings was vegan buffalo cauliflower wings! I have plenty of buffalo cauliflower recipes on my blog, and I am always working on more. Here are some of my current favorites:
What makes these Air fryer Buffalo Cauliflower wings healthy?
As much as I love air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites, they unfortunately (typically) aren’t very healthy. Traditional buffalo cauliflower wings are loaded with vegan butter and high processed oils and flours. Not to mention they are usually deep fried. However, these healthy air fryer cauliflower bites are made with simple whole foods plant based ingredients, and no butter/vegan butter! I only used ingredients that would add healthy nutrients. Why start with something healthy and add stuff to make it unhealthy?
How to make Easy Buffalo Cauliflower Air Fryer Bites:
Okay real talk: I don’t think I will ever learn how to properly batter anything. I have tried all the dipping methods out there, and it just ends up not working and messy AF! However, I have recently discovered a little trick that has completely changed the game. It’s called the shake and bake (lol)! I’m not sure why I just realized that this works, so maybe it’s just me that this technique is new to, but I figure the word needs to be spread! To make these air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites, I just steamed them and threw them in a bag with the flour mixture and shook them real good. And there you have it! These easy buffalo cauliflower air fryer bites come out perfectly coated with no mess at all!
Making oil-free vegan buffalo sauce:
One of the reasons this air fryer cauliflower bites took so long for me to share is because it took time to perfect oil-free buffalo sauce. There are plenty of pre-made vegan buffalo sauces out there, but my biggest gripe with them is that they all have oil, vegan butter, and flavorings (which could literally mean anything). Needless to say, my main focus in creating this healthy vegan buffalo sauce was for it to be made free of all those ingredients, and filled with nutrient dense ingredients instead! In order to do this there were a few key ingredients that are absolutely essential to making the sauce for these plant based air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites.
Whole foods plant based replacements:
- Raw Cashew Butter: The raw cashew butter takes the place of butter to give a creaminess to the plant based buffalo cauliflower sauce. It’s important to use raw cashew butter for two main reasons, First and foremost, it is much more nutrient rich than roasted cashew butter, and contains only one simple ingredient. Second, it has a dramatically different taste. I always get my cashew butter from Wilderness Poets, simply because it is affordable, organic, and supports a small business! As always my code: “VEGAN10” gets $10 off your purchase!
- Miso Paste: I am honestly obsessed with miso paste. I add it to everything! The flavor is mild, but necessary. It adds a bit of tang that a lot of “vegan food” is missing. It is also low sodium, so if you need a salty flavor like you do in this air fryer buffalo cauliflower, it’s a good low sodium option!
- Plant based hot sauce: It’s important to use a high quality plant based hot sauce for this air fryer cauliflower bites recipe that is made with real ingredients, not artificial flavors! My favorite brand of healthy hot sauce is Siete, because all of the ingredients they use are whole foods plant based!
How to air fry buffalo cauliflower bites:
Air fryer’s have completely changed the game when it comes to food like buffalo cauliflower. Before I had an air fryer I used to have to bake this recipe for at least thirty minutes to get it crispy without using oil. However now that I have my Ninja Foodi, I can make these air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites in less than 20 minutes and with no oil!
Ingredients for these healthy vegan cauliflower air fryer bites:
- Cauliflower
- Almond flour
- Oat flour
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic powder
- Plant based hot sauce
- Cashew butter “VEGAN10” for $10 off
- Miso paste
- Nutritional yeast
- Apple cider vinegar
Air fryer Buffalo Cauliflower
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Buffalo Cauliflower:
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
For the oil-free Buffalo Sauce:
- 3 tbsp cashew butter
- 1 bottle plant based hot sauce
- 1 tsp miso paste
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Begin by lightly steaming the cauliflower. You want it to be soft, but not too soft.
- Combine remaining buffalo cauliflower ingredients together in a gallon sized zip lock bag and shake. Add the steamed cauliflower and shake until evenly coated.
- Add to airfryer and fry for about 15-17 minutes.
Making the sauce:
- Combine all sauce ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth.
- After the buffalo cauliflower wings have cooked, add to a bowl and coat evenly with sauce. Serve and enjoy!
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This air fryer buffalo cauliflower was so delicious! Such an easy and fun recipe to make for the Superbowl!
these spicy bites are amazing!
Delicious! The cauliflower was perfectly crisp. I’m planning to serve this again with some vegan blue cheese dressing for dipping on Super Bowl Sunday!!
These air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites are the ultimate snack. Love how healthy it is!
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