Vegan Nashville Hot Cauliflower Bites. These Nashville Style Hot Cauliflower wings are flavorful, hot and Delicious! Serve with vegan ranch or other dips. Add to wraps or bowls. Vegan Nutfree Soyfree Recipe. Glutenfree option Jump to Recipe
Weekend fare some days for events, potlucks these days is some gardein strips with various hot sauces. One of those times, I made this nashville style peppery hot sauce that hubbs loved. I mean gone in 10 seconds kind of loved. So I decided to use it with some crispy Cauliflower!
Cauliflower florets get tossed in a simple batter. No dipping each floret one by one! Just dump into the bowl and toss to coat, then spread the florets in baking dish and bake. Then toss in the sauce and bake again. The Nashville sauce is HOT! It doesn’t feel that hot when you start eating the cauliflower, but just wait for 5 mins. Boom! You can adjust the overall sauce to be less hot, add more tang(vinegar), some more oil, garlic and sweet paprika instead. Serve with cooling dips such as vegan ranch. You can also add these bites to tacos, wraps or bowls!
More Cauliflower Recipes
- Taco Spice roasted Cauliflower
- Spicy Pepper Cauliflower Bites
- Mango Sriracha Cauliflower
- Aloo Gobi – Baked
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Red pepper Soup
- No Bake Cauliflower Gratin
Step by Step Photos
Chop the Cauliflower, make the batter. Toss well for a minute to coat.
Spread the florets on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 mins.
Make the Nashville hot chickin sauce. Add in the baked cauliflower and toss gently to coat.
Spread on baking dish and bake again. Serve with pickles and cooling dips
Adjust the heat, omit the oil
- You can reduce the heat of the sauce by reducing the cayenne, black pepper and hot sauce. Add more sweet paprika instead, add more tang(vinegar), some more oil or aquafaba for volume.
- You can reduce or omit the oil in the sauce by using aquafaba instead. Omit the oil from the batter. If possible, use a light spray for extra crispyness.
How to make Crispy Hot Cauliflower Wings
- Cauliflower loses a lot of moisture as it sits after cooking, so bake these close to serving time.
- Bake the bites till the batter coating is nicely crisp.
- When you add a sauce on the coating, you lose some crispyness. So for super crisp wings, sprinkle some breadcrumbs on the battered cauliflower then bake, and then serve the baked florets with the hot nashville style sauce as dip on the side.
- You can use the above method to serve with various hot sauces such as buffalo sauce, firecracker (see everyday kitchen book), or some sriracha bbq.
- I like making baked cauliflower in a thick ceramic or stoneware baking dish for even cooking. Baking trays work too, but tend to cook the bottoms and edges of the bites faster.
Recipe Card
Vegan Nashville Hot Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower chopped into florets
Batter:
- 1/3 cup (78.67 ml) non dairy milk such as almond or soy milk
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) onion powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/4 cup (31.25 g) flour (all purpose, or use rice flour for gluten-free)
- 3 tbsp starch (I use cornstarch, arrowroot or potato starch works too)
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking powder
- 1 tsp oil
Nashville style hot chicken sauce:
- 1 tbsp oil or melted vegan butter
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) cayenne , use 1/4 tsp for less heat
- 1 tsp black pepper , use 1//2 tsp for less heat
- 1 tsp sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tsp sweet paprika , use more if omitting cayenne
- 2 tbsp hot sauce
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) poultry seasoning ( or use sage + onion powder)
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Chop the cauliflower and set aside. Line a baking dish with parchment. Preheat the oven to 425 deg F ( 220 C).
- Make the batter by whisking all the ingredients under batter. The batter will start to thicken after half a minute, so work quickly.
- Add cauliflower florets and toss well to coat. It will take a minute for the thick batter to coat the florets well. Some uncoated cauliflower edges are ok. Drop on parchment lined baking dish. Spray oil on top. (You can also sprinkle 2-3 tbsp breadcrumbs on the florets in the dish for extra crispyness).
- Bake at 425 deg F for 25 mins (35 mins if serving the bites with hot sauce on the side) . In the meantime, make the nashville hot sauce mixture in large bowl. You can double this sauce easily for larger cauliflower.
- Remove the dish from the oven and cool for 5 mins. Add the baked cauliflower to the sauce bowl and gently toss to coat.
- Drop back into the baking dish and bake for 15 mins or longer at 400 deg F. Serve with cooling dips such as vegan ranch and some pickles.
Notes
Nutrition
Angela
Very good
Vegan Richa Support
yay!
Tracey
Hi! I happily discovered your recipe recently and am excited to try it. Wondering if the cauliflower can be baked an hour or so ahead of time and then baked with the hot sauce just before serving? Many thanks!
Vegan Richa Support
I would not recommend baking ahead as the bites will get moist as they sit.
Em Ocanna
I have yet to make this but it sounds fabulous.
I do wonder, however, how you think the average vegan would be interested in having something called ‘chicken sauce’ on their menu. Can you just call it hot sauce?
thanks
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you for the feedback! We find that using common names for ingredients is helpful to our readers.
Patty Bachman
This was outstanding. Consider doubling the recipe, because one head of cauliflower didn’t produce a lot of cauliflower bites. I made this in my air fryer, and it was crispy and delicious.
Vegan Richa Support
excellent!
Jan
I’ve made this a couple of times now, I make it hotter each time, instead of using garlic & onion powder I’m dicing each & adding to the batter.
This is a great finger food as well, hot or cold.
Vegan Richa Support
wow! 🌶️🌶️
Alex
Made these for a get together. They went so fast that I didn’t get a chance to try them. Made a double batch the next day and now I understand why — delicious!
Vegan Richa Support
Sometimes the cook eats last!
Krystal
is it possible to make these in a glass baking dish? If so would you still line it with parchment paper?
Vegan Richa Support
Yes – and yes – stick (or unstick,hahaha) with the parchment – otherwise you’d have to use a lot of oil
Deborah Diamenti
Definitely 5 stars. I did adjust the heat the first time following the recommendations.
Vegan Richa Support
Awesome!! Do leave a rating too!
Ruby
So easy and delicious! We had a pretty big cauliflower so doubled both the batter and the sauce.
Vegan Richa Support
Awesome !
Kerric Tratt
Made this in an air fryer and came out amazing. Only 10 to 12 min for the fresh battered state then 3 to 5 once covered in hot sauce.
Joe Baviola
Found this recipe and a bunch of others from your site here https://www.mealgarden.com/recipe/vegan-nashville-hot-cauliflower-wings/ – cool partnership!
Richa
I don’t have a partnership with them. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll investigate
SJB
Made as above but doubled the sauce and batter as it wasn’t enough to coat my cauliflower. Was DELICIOUS. And so much easier to dump in batter instead of coating and dipping individually in breadcrumbs.
Vegan Richa Support
Excellent !! thank you
Reyna
I love this recipe so so much! Thank you!!
Vegan Richa Support
Hooray! thank you
Claire panella
So good and easy
Mary V
We could not believe how good these were! My children would never eat cauliflower but now they are asking when I can make this again. Thanks for all your terrific recipes!
Mary V
Hey Richa, I only had a small head of organic cauliflower this time, so I used half a block of extra firm tofu cut into sticks to use up the batter and fill out the pan. They were so good this way. We love this recipe!
Marcia M McVey
This has been the most delicious appetizer for the post season football games! My non-vegan husband loved it! I love it, too, but then I am a vegan! I love all your recipes but this is great fun food! Thank you for always making such favorful recipes.
Richa
thanks
Graciela
Hello, I love all your recipes! I have a party tonight and I’d love to take this dish but I have to take them already baked. Any suggestions to avoid getting soggy?
Richa
cauliflower gets soggy after a while if not fried. can you rebake them just before the party? then you can keep the baked caulifloer and sauce separate and hen just toss andbake right before serving
Chris P.
Delicious, starting the new year out on a spicy note!! Made exactly as the recipe indicated and wouldn’t change a thing. THANKS for the awesome recipe 🙂
Richa
awesome!
Laila Elshazly
Love it😍. So yummy😋. I tried it today and it turned out perfect. Thanks for the lovely recipe 😘
Richa
yay!
Senna
I just made this for my teenage vegans and it was fantastic! I had to fight my daughter for the last few stalks….
Richa
yay!
Ks
Can I use brown rice flour instead? Will it change the texture?
Also what other healthier substitutes can I use for corn starch
Richa
brown rice flour wlll have the same texture but a stronger flavor.
You can use more rice flour, 2-3 tbsp more and add more if needed
JAB535
Hey girlie, just wanted to say these are amazing. We are transitioning to more veggie foods and OMGoodness. Super yum. I didnt have baking powder so no rise and they didnt look like urs but who cares. YUMMY
Maneesha
Will this recipe work with other vegetables, such as butternut squash or sweet potato?
Richa
yes. Bake time will be a bit different depending on size and veggie used. Check at 20 mins.
RK
Can both these steps be combined? In other words- can I add the ingredients of the hot sauce to the rice flour batter, and bake the cauliflower bites just once?
Richa
you can, but it wont look the same. it will be a lighter colored coating. and might be much hotter
Rk
OK, thanks
I made them (baked twice like in your recipe) and they turned out great! I would like them a bit crispier though. Would adding a tbsp of cornstarch to the hot red sauce ?
Richa
the sauce will thicken a lot with the cornstarch and make it harder to coat. What you can do is after coating in the sauce, toss in some breadcrumbs. They will stick to the sauce and crisp up nicely
Anne Sasko
This is delicious! Everyone here declared it to be a do over! Thank you so much.
Richa
yay!!!
Lisa
I’m not familiar with poultry seasoning and guessing it’s an American thing. Can you p,ease provide an alternative if possible?
Richa
add some ground sage, onion powder and oregano.
Lisa
Thank you!
Danna
I have a bag of frozen cauliflower that I would love to use. Is that ridiculous? I’m guessing fresh is best?
Richa
it should be ok. I’ve used frozen cauliflower for spiced roasted versions and it gets slightly more soft because of the moisture.
Nancy Ryan
A friend bought these to a potluck and they were gobbled up ( even non vegan folks loved them). I will try using aquafaba. Can you recommend a kitchen utensil for spraying aquafaba ?
Vegan Richa Support
yay! you could use a spray bottle or a pastry brush to ‘flick’ it
Cyd
Thank you so much!!
Cyd
Richa, LOVE your recipes and these were delicious! Wondering, for next time, would potato starch work in place of cornstarch or does that function differently?
Thank you
Richa
potato starch will work!
Julia
Hi there.. Do you have a recipe for bread in the bread machine made with chickpea flour? I tried just a straight substitute but the thing just sank in the middle!! I like the idea of the protein in the bread.
Hope you can help.
Richa
Yes it doesnt work. You’ll need to add some leavening that works before baking, such as whipped aquafaba or citric acid. Fold it in before baking, cover the pan lightly with parchment.
Or you can steam the bread, see https://www.veganricha.com/2015/09/chickpea-flour-snack-cakes-khaman-dhokla-recipe.html
Stefanie
Sounds awesome and I plan to try it next weekend! Do you also have a nice recipe for at matching dip like the one in the photo? Thank you so much, also in general for the great work you do (making vegan food SO yummy!). Best, Stefanie
Richa
Yes, see my celery ranch here, just omit the celery seeds for regular ranch https://www.veganricha.com/2015/01/spicy-baked-cauliflower-bites-celery-ranch-vegan-recipe.html