Super Bowl Snack Zone: Baked Buffalo Cauliflower

One of our favorite eating holidays of the year is here! Well, almost here. The Super Bowl is THIS SUNDAY! If you’re a dedicated snacker like the rest of the ES team, you’ve probably been making some extreme Super Bowl party eating plans, so I respect the fact that your football food may already be decided. But but BUT! You should make a little bit of time to include this buffalo cauliflower in your Sunday Funday.

I’m not telling you to make this recipe because it’s healthy, I’m telling you to make it because it’s GOOD. So good it could replace the wings in your menu. There, I said it. I think the trick to making this particular kind of buffalo cauliflower especially amazing is the double-baking method. You coat the cauliflower bake it once, baste it in delicious sauce, then bake it again to seal in the flavor and texture. The result? Seriously binge-able finger food that everyone will be raving about the whole game. Trust me on this one.

**Note: these cauliflower bites are pictured with another absolutely delicious football app we recently made: baked almond chicken nuggets. I can’t claim any credit for the chicken recipe, but those lil’ guys are perfect for serving alongside your cauliflower and I highly recommend adding them to your snack spread as well!

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size florets
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup your favorite wing sauce (I always defer to Frank’s but you can use BBQ sauce or whatever you like the best)
1 tablespoon butter
your favorite dipping sauce – my recipe is below!

Preheat your oven to 450°.

Mix together the flour, water, mayo, pepper, and onion & garlic powder in a large bowl to make your coating. It should be thick, but not too pasty – add a bit more water if it is. Gently toss the cauliflower in the coating and place it on a baking sheet (or sheets), setting each floret about a half inch apart, or so they aren’t touching/overlapping.

Bake the cauliflower for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Take a moment to check them and flip each piece around the 10 minute mark.

While the cauli is baking, prep your sauce – just stir the wing sauce and butter together in a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat.

Once the cauliflower is out of the oven and the sauce is ready, toss the cauliflower in the sauce and return them to the oven. Bake for an additional 5 minutes and remove from the oven to let them cool for about 5 more minutes before serving with your dipping sauce!

Dipping sauce:

So, you can totally use your favorite ranch, blue cheese, etc. We had both of those on the side, but I also threw together a honey-dijon sauce for the aforementioned chicken nuggets, which also happened to go super well with the buffalo cauli! So if you want to do that, all you need is:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/8 cup good dijon mustard
1/8 cup spicy whole grain mustard
1/8 cup good honey
Dash of sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper

And mix it all together! That’s it!