Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Wings with Hemp Ranch Dressing
Tender cauliflower makes the perfect substitute for meat in these buffalo ‘wings’, served with fiery buffalo sauce and a homemade raw vegan ranch to cool it back down, this dish is a flavour sensation!
Want more vegan recipes? Try 3 issues of Vegan Food & Living magazine for just £3!
Cauliflower makes a surprisingly good substitute for chicken when coated in crispy panko breadcrumbs and oven-baked until tender.
Served with a raw vegan hemp ranch dressing, this dish is a healthier alternative to wings – and still just as delicious!
This vegan cauliflower wings recipe is perfect to serve as a party snack for drinks and nibbles, a big sports game, or a decadent New Year’s Eve buffet.
How healthy are cauliflower wings?
Compared to chicken, cauliflower wings can be considered much healthier. They’re lower in fat and calories, and completely cholesterol free.
In this cauliflower wings recipe, they’re also oven baked rather than fried, further reducing the potential saturated fat content.
The wings themselves may be lower in protein than traditional chicken wings, but the raw vegan ranch dressing gets a protein boost from the nutrition-rich hemp seeds. Besides, most people don’t actually need all that much protein, anyway.
Is buffalo wing sauce vegan?
Traditional wing sauce is not vegan, and not because it contains buffalo! Buffalo wing sauce is a hot sauce which has been enriched with butter to give it a creamy flavour and a slightly toned down spice level.
However, some mass-produced buffalo wing sauces (Including Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Sauce) are accidentally vegan, and don’t use actual butter in the recipe.
If you can’t find a suitable buffalo wing sauce, you could substitute your favourite hot sauce to add spice to this recipe. Or, have a go at whipping up your own buffalo sauce with this quick hack:
Simply take your favourite hot sauce and add vegan butter! Use the best and most authentic-tasting vegan butter you can get your hands on, melt it, and stir them together until they’re fully incorporated.
You want about a 1:1 ratio of melted butter to hot sauce, but you can reduce or increase the butter content to adjust the spice level to your liking.
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Rating:
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 4)
- For the wings
- 0.25 0.25 large cauliflower, leaves removed and broken into florets
- 50 50 g panko breadcrumbs
- 25 25 g gram flour
- 0.25 0.25 tsp garlic powder
- 0.25 0.25 tsp onion powder
- 0.25 0.25 tsp celery salt
- 0.25 0.25 tsp paprika
- 0.25 0.25 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 50 50 ml vegan buffalo wing sauce
- For the hemp ranch dressing
- 21.25 21.25 g shelled, raw hemp seeds
- 30 30 ml water
- 0.25 0.25 large clove garlic, peeled
- 0.125 0.125 lemon, zest and juice
- 0.75 0.75 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6, 400°F) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the gram flour with the onion, garlic, paprika, celery salt, yeast and salt and pepper. Add enough water to the bowl to create a smooth, runny batter. Place the panko crumbs in a separate bowl.
- One by one, dip the cauliflower florets into the batter, tapping off the excess and then coating with the panko crumbs. Place on the lined baking sheet while you repeat the process with the rest of the cauliflower.
- Once all the cauliflower is coated, transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a high powered blender until smooth and creamy. Chill this mixture until ready to serve.
- After the wings have been cooking for 30 minutes, remove them from the oven. Pour the wing sauce over the wings turning to make sure they are all coated. Place the wings back into the oven to crisp up for 10 minutes.
- When the wings have finished cooking, serve immediately, with the cold hemp ranch on the side for dipping.
Putting on a buffet? Take a look at more vegan party food recipes
