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These BBQ Cauliflower Wings are a tasty alternative to traditional wings. They are baked to perfection with a crispy panko coating and a smoky-sweet barbecue sauce. Serve 'em up as an appetizer, snack, or tasty side dish. They'll disappear fast!
Forget chicken wings! These Barbecue Cauliflower Wings are just as tasty! They're tangy, sweet, tender, and crispy. They have the perfect balance of flavors and textures to make your taste buds happy.
They will keep you coming back for more, so you might want to make some extra. The gremlins in my home gobble them up fast, so I make a double batch.
Do Cauliflower Wings Taste Like Chicken?
They definitely don't taste like chicken or have the texture of chicken. However, I still feel like they are the perfect replacement for chicken wings. They have a phenomenal texture (almost meaty) after being battered, coated with panko and baked to crispy goodness.
Oh, and the smoky-sweet barbecue sauce takes it to another level after it caramelizes in the oven! Makes it damn delicious!
Are They Kid-Friendly?
YES! You'd never know there was a vegetable under that crispy goodness. My son goes crazy for them! It's a great alternative to buffalo cauliflower wings that are super spicy and not kid-friendly.
So, If you're having a party, you can make a batch of spicy wings for the adults, and the BBQ Cauliflower Wings for the kiddos so they can join in on the fun. You can serve them alongside these Vegan Mozzarella Sticks and you'll have a lot of happy campers!
Ingredients Needed
Just 9 simple ingredients! You'll need a head of cauliflower, flour, non-dairy milk, water, panko breadcrumbs, barbecue sauce, and granulated garlic, onion, and salt. That's it!
How to Make BBQ Cauliflower Wings
(full ingredient amounts in recipe card below)
First, you'll want to preheat your oven to 450° F (230° C) and line a large-rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add panko breadcrumbs to a large rimmed plate (or bowl) along with Garlic, Onion, and Salt. Combine well and set aside
- Combine the Flour Garlic, Onion, and Salt. Pour in the Non-Dairy Milk and Water, then whisk to combine well. It should be thick, but pourable - add a touch more water if needed.
- Place a handful of Cauliflower into the bowl and toss to coat well. Lightly shake off excess batter of each piece and place in the breadcrumbs. Gently roll around to coat well and place on a baking sheet, leaving room in between each piece. Place in the oven for 20 minutes to turn golden and crisp. Flip over pieces at the halfway mark.
- Remove from oven and brush each piece with BBQ sauce. Place cauliflower back on the baking sheet, leaving a few inches in between. Bake for another 8-10 minutes to caramelize the sauce.
* For extra golden color and crispness, you can lightly spritz the breaded cauliflower with oil right before baking.
How Can I Keep Them Crispy?
You may have run into this problem before where the wings are really crispy right before adding the sauce. Then you dunk them in the sauce and bake them, only to discover soggy cauliflower wings. That's never fun!
Well, I've solved the problem! Instead of dunking them in the sauce, I prefer to brush it on because they lose their crispness if you fully immerse them. Even after baking, they don't crisp back up.
They will still be delicious but just won't have that amazing crunch. You can always lightly brush on more after baking or serve them with more bbq sauce as a dip.
Serving Suggestions
They are absolutely delicious on their own, but if you want to get dip happy, you can serve them with Vegan Ranch, Creamy Chipotle Sauce, or more BBQ Sauce.
Now, if you want to get real crazy, they are incredible when dipped into Vegan Nacho Cheese!
I also like to side them with celery sticks, carrot sticks, and good old-fashioned vegan beer! That's heaven right there!
More Vegan Appetizer Recipes
I Love to Hear From You
If you make this recipe, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. It would really make my day. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @veganhuggs and hashtag #veganhuggs so I don’t miss it.
📖 Recipe
BBQ Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients
- 1 large (2 pounds) head cauliflower , cut into medium-sized florets
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup non-dairy milk , unsweetened
- ¾ cup water , more if needed
- 3 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic , divided
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion , divided
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt , divided
- 1 ¼ cups barbecue sauce , more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° F (230° C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To a large rimmed plate, add the Breadcrumbs, and ½ teaspoon each of Garlic, Onion, and ¼ teaspoon of Salt. Combine well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the Flour and ½ teaspoon each of Garlic, Onion, and Salt. Now pour in the Milk and Water and whisk to combine well. The batter should be thick, but still pourable. If it's too thick, add a few tablespoons of water.
- Place a handful of Cauliflower to the bowl and toss to coat well. Lightly shake off excess batter of each piece and place in the breadcrumbs.(to make it faster, I put a bunch of battered cauliflower on a cooling rack to drain with parchment paper underneath) Gently roll around to coat well and place on baking sheet, leaving room in between each piece. Place in the oven for 20 minutes to turn golden and crisp. Flip over pieces at the halfway mark.
- Remove from oven and brush each piece with BBQ sauce. (*I prefer to brush on the sauce because they lose their crispness if you fully immerse them - you can add more after baking or serve with bbq sauce as a dip) Place each piece back on your baking sheet and leave a few inches in between. Bake for another 8-10 minutes to caramelize the sauce.
- Serve immediately with dipping sauces of your choice. Enjoy!
Shelley
Wow these turned out amazing. Got rid of all my other recipes similar because they can’t even compare.I did some in BBQ sauce and some in Buffalo hot sauce and both were amazing. Ohhhh that CRUNCH! My husbands words “ They be da Bomb! It’s a nice size recipe too and very easy to make. Thanks kindly for sharing such a wonderful recipe :).
Melissa Huggins
Hi Shelly, your feedback made my day! Thank you so much for trying it, and for dropping by to give this recipe such a positive review. 🙂
Beck & Bulow
Made this for lunch, absolutely delicious! Simple and easy to bake. Husband devoured 3 so I knew he enjoyed it! Will be sharing and keeping.
Melissa Huggins
Thank you Beck & Bulow. 🙂 Glad you liked this recipe.
Max
Love this recipe, turned out well and my mom is going to be trying to too. Ended up substituting the BBQ sauce for honey mustard and it was great.
-23 y.o. grad student 🙂
Support @ Vegan Huggs
Hi Max! We're so happy to hear that you liked the recipe and that the substitution worked out - thanks so much for giving it a try!
kathyz
These were delicious! And not only were they crunchy and tasty, but the recipe was so easy to follow and the ingredient amounts were perfect! So often when I follow any kind of breaded or dredging recipes, the batter amounts are off. Your recipe was spot on which made it a much more pleasant process. Keep those great recipes coming!
Support @ Vegan Huggs
Hi Kathy! Thank you so much for the review! We are so happy that you found the recipe easy and pleasant to make! 🙂
HRunge
These were delicious! I served them to some friends and they thought it was chicken! We will definitely make these again!
Support @ Vegan Huggs
Hi! What a compliment - that's so great to hear! Thank you for trying out the recipe 🙂
Annette W
I just made these with Bob’s red Mill gluten free one to one baking flour and almond breeze unsweetened original almond milk. I dipped them in follow your heart vegan ranch dressing. Some of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I did use convection in my Brevell oven after I put the barbecue sauce on them. They are very crispy. my Super Bowl treat.
Support @ Vegan Huggs
Hi Annette! We are so happy to hear that you loved the wings! Thanks so much for giving them a try 🙂
Susan
Melissa, this was perfection!!
Support @ Vegan Huggs
Hi Susan! We're so happy to heat that you loved the recipe! Thanks for stopping by 🙂