Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower from Raw or Frozen! My Crazy Good Life

Name: Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower from Raw or Frozen
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 cups cauliflower (frozen florets, thawed, or raw); olive oil spray ( or butter); ½ cup hot sauce (I use Frank's regular hot sauce, not buffalo sauce.); ¾ cup nutritional yeast (or panko breadcrumbs (optional))

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I’m always looking for a good recipe using buffalo sauce. Adding in veggies is a bonus, so I’m really loving this Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower (from raw or frozen!). It’s a great game day snack that’s made of simple ingredients.

These Buffalo Cauliflower Bites are so easy to make and are the perfect appetizer, snack, or side dish. They are low in carbs and high in protein when you use nutritional yeast as breading. Even those who don’t love vegetables will eat these up–I’ve seen it happen in my own kitchen.

If you don’t have an air fryer, I’ve got you covered. There are oven directions below as well.

collage with text showing ingredients for making buffalo cauliflower and finished meal

Where’s the recipe?

I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen, and I want everyone to be able to cook my recipes with ease.

To better serve all of my readers here at My Crazy Good Life, I put a ton of helpful information in all of my posts so everyone can cook these recipes–whether you’re new to the kitchen or someone who has been cooking for years.

If you’re new in the kitchen, read the post below before heading to the recipe at the bottom of the post. You’ll find detailed ingredient and cooking information along with important recipe tips.

If you’re experienced in the kitchen, skip the details, recipe tips, and healthy eating plan information and scroll to the bottom where you’ll find the printable recipe for Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites.

Table of Contents

Ingredients in Air Fryer Cauliflower Wings

Frozen cauliflower florets: You can use fresh cauliflower, but I actually prefer frozen. The moisture seems to help the batter stick, and I can always count on finding it in my freezer. I tend to leave out the smaller florets that would probably just fall through my air fryer basket, and just use the large pieces.
Olive oil spray: (optional) This helps your batter stick to the cauliflower and not to your air fryer.
Hot sauce: My go to is Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (not buffalo sauce, not wing saucee, because the ingredients in the Original version are better), but any hot sauce you prefer works.
Nutritional yeast: An inactive yeast with a cheesy and nutty flavor that is common in vegan recipes. This isn’t required, as you can make your air fryer frozen cauliflower with no breading or breadcrumbs, or with something like panko.

ingredients for air fryer buffalo cauliflower from raw or frozen

Recipe tips and common questions

If your cauliflower was cooked from frozen and seems soggy, it needs to cook longer. This is a normal part of the cooking process when you use frozen veggies.
For breaded cauliflower, if you don’t have nutritional yeast you can use panko bread crumbs, regular bread crumbs, or crushed crackers in its place. But, I have to mention that I highly recommend the nutritional yeast. It gives it the authentic melted butter buffalo taste.
Missing something? You can sprinkle some garlic powder or homemade ranch seasonings (<- like in this pretzel recipe) on top of your cauliflower before cooking if you’d like something extra.
Add salt and pepper to taste, if you feel it needs it.
I love to serve this just as I’d serve traditional chicken wings, with celery sticks and carrots. You can dip these Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Wings in your favorite dipping sauce: BBQ sauce, creamy blue cheese dressing, or even homemade ranch dressing made with sour cream.
This recipe is best eaten the same day–they get a little soggy for meal prep.

Do frozen vegetables get soggy in the air fryer?

While they’re cooking, yes. When cooking frozen vegetables in the air fryer, they go from frozen to soggy to cooked to crispy. They take a little longer to cook, but I love that it’s pretty much hands off.

You can use this recipe for any frozen vegetables–not just cauliflower! I’ve pulled together a ton of tips for how to air fry frozen vegetables. Try air frying your favorite veggies today!

Can I make Buffalo Cauliflower with no breading?

These are delicious with or without breading. I love that the nutritional yeast adds some cheesy flavor as well as protein. so I typically use that. Making frozen breaded cauliflower with nutritional yeast is one of my favorite snacks.

How to make this Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe in the Air Fryer

These take about 25 minutes to make, but the cooking time will change depending on if you use fresh or frozen cauliflower and how many batches it takes to cook them in your air fryer.

Set your air fryer to 400 degrees F or medium high.
Pour 2 cups of cauliflower florets into a large mixing bowl. Spray liberally with cooking spray or toss with melted butter, shaking to coat the cauliflower on all sides. Add frank’s red hot sauce.
Toss and stir until all of your cauliflower is coated with hot sauce.
Add nutritional yeast and toss one last time. As I mentioned above, you can also use bread crumbs or crushed crackers.
Add the cauliflower in a single layer to the air fryer basket and set the cook timer for 20 minutes. Don’t overpack the air fryer, as the hot air has to travel around the cauliflower to cook it. Gently toss your cauliflower every 5 minutes to promote even cooking and browning.
The cauliflower will take 10-15 minutes to cook.
Your cauliflower should be nicely browned and crispy when it’s ready to eat. If it seems soggy, continue cooking in 5 minute increments. Different air fryers yield different results, so yours might take more or less time.
Use tongs to carefully remove the cauliflower when it’s lightly browned and crispy.

collage showing steps to make air fryer buffalo wings

How to make Buffalo Cauliflower in the Oven

Turn oven to 400º F.
Follow steps 2-4 above and then place thawed or raw cauliflower on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, then use a set of tongs to turn the cauliflower over and cook in 5 minute increments until golden brown.

Healthy Eating Plans

Weight Watchers: The entire recipe is 4 Blue Plan Points | 4 Green Plan Points | 4 Purple Plan Points l The points for the new 2022/2023 points plan is 1.
Keto: This entire recipe is low carb. It contains only 4g of carbohydrates.
Whole 30: Be sure and check the ingredients on your hot sauce and oil, but with the right ones these are compliant.
21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: The entire recipe is 2 Green Containers and ½ Red Container. Nutritional yeast is free in small amounts, but for the amount used in this recipe I’d count it towards your daily red container.
2B Mindset: This recipe is a delicious side dish for a veggies most diet!

cooked buffalo cauliflower on a white plate

More buffalo recipes

If you like buffalo wing sauce, you are going to want to save all of these buffalo recipes. There’s more to do with hot sauce than just coating chicken wings!

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close up of buffalo cauliflower on white plate

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