– vegan – gluten free optional – oil free – low fat –

I know, I know. The internet is saturated with thousands of different cauliflower wing recipes, making it almost impossible to choose which one to try! After many trial and errors, I think I may have perfected the best crispy cauliflower wings, but I know I may be a little biased ;). However, there’s a few reasons I think these chipotle ranch cauliflower wings will stand out among the rest:

These wings have a double layer of crunch. We will start with a chickpea flour batter that provides the first layer of crunch while also lending to a thick, tender center. Then we will dip the wings in panko breadcrumbs for that extra crispiness. Seriously, you will hear the crisp as you are eating these bad boys.
The homemade vegan chipotle ranch sauce packs a punch of flavor on it’s own. It has the perfect balance of spicy, sweet and tangy.
Lastly, these chipotle cauliflower wings are vegan, oil free, low fat, and gluten free (if using GF panko), so they will fit beautifully in a high carb, low fat, healthy vegan diet!

How 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
Several mixing bowls
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.
Pure maple syrup: can be substituted with equal parts agave nectar, date syrup, coconut sugar or cane sugar.
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 love these cauliflower wings, I think you will love some of my other favorite game-day type snacks too: