Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe Ingredients

You’ll only need 8 simple ingredients to make these buffalo cauliflower bites:

• Cauliflower
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Plain breadcrumbs
• Egg
• Paprika
• Ground red cayenne pepper
• Frank’s Red Hot (or your favorite buffalo sauce)

Then comes the fun part: transforming healthy cauliflower into little buffalo bites that have the texture of chicken nuggets 🙂 Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Let the roasted cauliflower cool to room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Then, add it to a food processor and pulse until it’s broken up into smaller pieces and has a consistent texture (i.e. no big lumps). 
2. Transfer the cauliflower to a large mixing bowl and add the plain breadcrumbs, egg, paprika, and cayenne. Mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and have a slightly sticky consistency.
3. Squeeze the cauliflower mixture into small rounds, about 1 inch in diameter. Squeezing (instead of rolling) helps compact the mixture so the buffalo bites hold their shape.

Once you’ve got a good amount of cauliflower bites rolled, start preheating the air fryer and cook them in batches. You can continue rolling more buffalo bites while the first batch cooks to save time!

Here’s how to make delicious, crispy bites of buffalo cauliflower in the air fryer:

1. Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F and grease the basket with cooking spray.
2. Add the cauliflower bites to the basket in a single layer, leaving a little bit of space between them (about a half-inch to an inch). 
3. Grease the cauliflower bites with cooking spray, then cook for about 10 minutes, giving them a shake halfway through to ensure even cooking.
4. Transfer cooked cauliflower bites to a large bowl. Once they’re all cooked, toss with Frank’s Red Hot to coat.

You’ll know the cauliflower bites are done cooking when the outsides are super crispy and browned – just like chicken nuggets. We recommend tossing the cauliflower bites in Frank’s to really infuse that delicious, spicy buffalo flavor – but note that this will make them a little less crispy, especially the longer they sit. If you want a crispier texture, you can skip tossing them in the sauce and simply dip instead!

What To Pair With Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Serving buffalo cauliflower bites is as easy as serving chicken nuggets! Whether you toss your buffalo bites in Frank’s or serve it on the side for dipping, these vegetarian buffalo bites go great with so many things.

Here are a few suggestions for what to serve with buffalo cauliflower bites:

• A side of buffalo sauce, if you want to control the amount of spice and skip tossing them in Frank’s Red Hot
• A creamy buffalo ranch dip like the one we serve with our air fryer buffalo chicken taquitos
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing to cool your mouth down
• Veggies like carrots and celery
• French fries or tater tots
• Pizza, with these buffalo cauliflower bites as a side dish (just like pizza & wings, a classic combo!)

Recipe Variations

Since our air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites get most of their spicy buffalo flavor from the Frank’s Red Hot, you can easily customize this recipe with any of your favorite sauces or condiments! Skip tossing them in the sauce and serve them with a side of dips like barbecue sauce, ketchup, or Chick-fil-A sauce.