– vegan – gluten free – oil free – low fat – refined sugar free –

With hundreds of recipes for cauliflower buffalo wings on the web, how do you know which ones to try?! Well I can’t say these are the best without trying them all, but I can tell you that I’ve tested this recipe several times to make them perfect, and I think they are pretty dang close. Not only do they taste delicious, but they are free from white flour, gluten, oil, refined sugar AND they are low fat. So these are a real win for me and my family.

The secret to getting these cauliflower buffalo wings extra crispy is the panko breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs add another layer of crunch and create little crevices for the sauce to cling on to. Extra crunchy and extra saucy is a yes for me, but if you don’t want to use the breadcrumbs, the wings will turn out delicious without them.

Helpful tips to get the best crispy cauliflower wings every time:

It took me several attempts to perfect these chipotle ranch cauliflower wings, so here are my best recommendations so you don’t have to go through the same trial and error that I did:

Invest in a silicone baking mat or an oven-safe cooling rack. A common challenge with cauliflower wings is achieving a crispy bottom. There are a couple ways to combat this. My most tried and true method is to invest in a silicone baking mat if you don’t have one already. The silicone mat will get the bottom side crispy, no flipping required! If you don’t have one, I recommend placing an oven-safe wire cooking rack on top of a baking sheet. This will allow for air flow on the bottom side of the wings so they can crisp up. If you don’t have either of these options, using parchment paper is the next best option.
Remove excess batter from the florets. If there is a pool of batter around the cauliflower florets after placing them on the baking sheet, this means you are not knocking off enough of the excess batter on the side of the bowl (this happens less frequently if you’re also using the panko breadcrumbs).
Use the double layer of crunch method. Use the double layer method by first dipping the cauliflower in the chickpea batter then in the panko breadcrumbs. The extra crispiness makes a huge difference. When dipping the florets in the panko breadcrumbs (optional), you may notice the breadcrumbs get wet and clumpy and you will have a harder time coating the florets. I recommend only adding some of the breadcrumbs to the mixing bowl at a time, and adding more as you go. If you don’t have panko breadcrumbs, you can still make these chipotle ranch cauliflower wings without them.
Bake, sauce, then bake again. For these wings, we will partially bake the florets until crispy, then use a basting brush to brush on a generous amount of sauce, then bake again. The basting brush will coat the wings in the perfect amount of sauce. Oversaturating the wings in sauce can leave them soggy. Baking the wings after brushing on the sauce will make the wings extra crispy.

Cooking essentials:

A baking sheet
A silicone mat, an oven-safe wire cooling rack OR parchment paper
A large + small mixing bowl
A basting brush

Substitutions:

Chickpea flour (also known as besan or garbanzo flour): the flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour or almond flour.
Plain soy milk: you can use any plain nondairy milk of choice. I prefer soy milk for it’s health benefits and it’s creaminess.
Panko breadcrumbs: can be substituted with regular breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can crush nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts) in a food processor and use them as a breading.

If you like these cauliflower buffalo wings, I think you will love these other vegan recreations as well: