These crispy cauliflower bites are going to become a favorite at all your sporting events. Lighter, healthier and just as delicious as chicken wings, these are going to change the way you think about veggies. I’m adding these to my Super Bowl lineup this year. If you are looking for a simple menu for game day, check out Easy Super Bowl recipes: Kick Off to Touchdown.
They have this super, crispy exterior thanks to the panko breadcrumbs and this super soft interior thanks to the baking. There is no frying and no oil. These are crispy baked cauliflower bites. I can turn these into my crispy cauliflower wings or crispy buffalo cauliflower wings by adding hot sauce to the batter and serving with more hot sauce and blue cheese on the side. Once you have this basic recipe down pat, you can change of the flavor profile by adding spices and switching up dipping sauces.
How to make crispy cauliflower bites
First, you are going to make a batter of flour, milk and spices. I like the batter pretty thick so it coats the cauliflower. If you want to kick this up a bit on heat, add some hot sauce to the batter. Tabasco, Louisianna Hot Sauce and Sriracha all work. I use skim milk to lighten it up and Wondra flour because it doesn’t clump up. You can use all purpose flour. but Wondra is just my flour of choice since it is so finely ground. The seasonings for this recipe are straight forward BUT you could play with them depending on what sauce you are serving them with. I’ve used onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. See my notes for an Italian version.
Use more seasoning or different seasonings that you like. There are no rules, these are your cauliflower bites.
Then, you are going to dip the cauliflower into the batter and then into the crispy panko crumbs. I season them well with salt and pepper and make sure they are coated in the batter completely. Place the battered, panko crusted cauliflower florets on a rack that sits over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or tin foil. It will make the cleanup easier. Make sure you’ve sprayed the rack with cooking spray and spray your bites with spray too. This will help them brown up in the oven.
Tips to make your cauliflower bites crispy
There are a couple of tips that keep these super crispy.
1. Make sure you are baking these at a high temperature so they cook quickly. 425 degrees F. is recommended.
2) Placing the bites on a rack sitting on a baking sheet allows the air to circulate around the cauliflower bites and get them really crispy.
3) Then, spraying them with the cooking spray before baking, helps them brown up during the bake.
4) Finishing them under the broiler gets them golden brown and ready for serving.
Sauces you can serve with your cauliflower bits
Making the sauce in this recipe is easy. I found a great sugar-free barbecue sauce and mixed it with hot sauce. Really easy. I heated it up and served the sauce warm along side some blue cheese dressing since I was thinking “buffalo cauliflower bites”.
These crispy cauliflower bites are so versatile that you can serve them with almost anything. Here are some of my other favorite dipping sauces:
. Ranch dressing
. Sweet and Spicy Plum Hoisin Sauce
. Straight-up BBQ sauce
. Ketchup
. Honey Mustard
Another favorite way to make and serve these is my Italian style bites. I’ll add dried basil and oregano to the batter then serve these sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and served with warm marinara sauce. Yum!
Crispy Cauliflower Bites
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 Head of Cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 Cup Wondra flour
- 1 Cup Skim milk
- 1/2 Tsp. Garlic powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Onion powder
- 1+ Tsp. Kosher Salt
- 20+ Grinds freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Cup Panko
- 1 Cup Lite Blue Cheese dressing
- 1 Cup Sugar free BBQ sauce
- 1+ Tsp. Hot pepper Sauce
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and top with a rack. Spray the rack with cooking spray.
- Add the BBQ sauce of your choice and the hot sauce into a small saucepan and heat over a low heat. You’ll pour that into a small bowl and put the blue cheese dressing in a separate bowl for serving when the cauliflower bites are ready.
- Mix the flour, milk garlic powder, onion power, teaspoon of salt and 20 grinds of black pepper in a large bowl. Whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the panko with a large pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper.
- Dip a cauliflower floret into the batter to coat. Let the excess drip off. Then roll in the panko to completely coat. Place on the prepared rack. Continue until all the cauliflower florets are coated and on the rack.
- Spray the breaded cauliflower with cooking spray and place in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until starting to brown. Finish under the broiler for two minutes until golden brown.
- Serve on a platter with the dipping sauces and enjoy.
