If you love that tangy buffalo flavor you will love these keto buffalo cauliflower bites made in the air fryer. Using a simple buffalo sauce and a cheese powder to coat the cauliflower you end up with a tasty low carb snack or side dish. This easy keto appetizer only has 4.2g net carbs per serving and this dish uses 5 ingredients.
You might also like this keto buffalo chicken in the air fryer!
My son just loves buffalo chicken dip and makes it all the time. It always smells so delicious but I wanted something less heavy one day and decided to make these keto buffalo cauliflower bites in the air fryer. You can think of them as buffalo cauliflower wings!
The air fryer is becoming one of my favorite kitchen appliances. In fact I have 3 of them! So it was the obvious choice to “fry” these cauliflower bites. I used a simple recipe for low carb buffalo wing sauce and the mixed in some cheese powder I had.
This healthy recipe was so tasty I ate the whole bowl for a meal and didn’t eat the rest of the day. (I don’t recommend eating the whole bowl by the way.) You only need 5 ingredients to make this recipe and it’s done in less than 20 minutes in the air fryer. This low carb buffalo cauliflower would be great as a snack or appetizer too.
Recipe ingredients I used.
You only need 5 simple ingredients to make these buffalo cauliflower wings – butter, hot sauce, garlic powder, a head of cauliflower and cheddar cheese powder. I realize most people won’t have this on hand but it can easily be eliminated and won’t effect the recipe.
Cauliflower
I never use frozen cauliflower florets because I always worry it will be watery and soggy. So I can’t say if this recipe will work with it. I bought a medium head of cauliflower and cut it into florets. You can easily buy pre-cut cauliflower florets in most grocery stores.
Butter
This is used to make the buffalo sauce so I would not use margarine and it can be unsalted butter or salted.
Garlic Powder
Normally I used fresh garlic in my buffalo sauce be today I wanted to make the recipe as simple as possible. You can use fresh garlic if you want but you should crush it and use this recipe.
Hot Sauce
I like the Aldi brand seen below because it tastes just like Franks’ Red Hot but you can use whatever you favorite brand is.
Cheddar Cheese Powder
I had this cheddar cheese powder on hand because I used it for my nacho zucchini chips and we love this on pop corn so I thought I’d add it to the dish. If you don’t have any or want to buy it you can just eliminate it. It’s not a strong cheese flavor but I wanted it to add a bit of coating to the florets and use it instead of regular flour which as carbs. However it’s not necessary.
You can also try the cheese powder from Mac and cheese though I don’t know if that has many carbs or a finely grated fresh cheddar cheese. But don’t worry about it if you don’t have it.
How to make air fryer buffalo cauliflower.
Step 1: First make the buffalo sauce on the stove. Get out a small pan and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the hot sauce and garlic powder and whisk to combine. Bring to a simmer and then take off the heat and let cool a bit.
Step 2: Cut the fresh cauliflower into bite size pieces or florets and place in a large bowl. Pour the cooled sauce mixture over top the cauliflower and mix well. Try to get all the florets coated. Sprinkle the cheese powder over top and mix to combine.
You can use a bit of salt and black pepper to season if you want but I did not think it was necessary.
Step 3: Take out the basket of the air fryer. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Place the florets in a single layer and try not over lap.
Step 4: Set the air fryer to 360°F and bake for 15-18 minutes until the buffalo cauliflower browns nicely. You can cook it longer than mine if you want it more brown all you really need to do is make sure it is fork tender. Cooking time may vary.
If it’s cooked and you want it to brown more, you can spray it once more with nonstick cooking spray towards the end. Sometimes that helps a bit.
Step 5: Spoon the finished bites into a bowl and serve with your favorite dipping sauce like ranch dressing, sour cream, blue cheese dressing or just eat as is. Store leftover buffalo cauliflower in an air tight container. You may have to reheat them for a couple of minutes in the air fryer to make the crispy cauliflower.
If you want you can sprinkle some minced fresh parsley on top for color as a garnish. You could also use fresh cilantro or chopped green onions or chives even.
Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.
To make this in the oven.
To make this keto buffalo cauliflower in the oven just preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the cauliflower with the buffalo sauce and cheese like above. Spread the buffalo covered cauliflower out on the baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven until the cauliflower is tender and browned to your liking. You can also place it under the broiler for a few minutes at the end if you want it more browned.
More delicious keto buffalo recipes
I have quite a lot of keto recipes on this blog with that delicious buffalo flavor combination. Here are a few of my favorite recipes.
- buffalo blue cheese stuffed meatballs
- buffalo chicken and zucchini noodles
- cheese chips
- cheeseball with bacon
- keto buffalo chicken dip and mushrooms stuffed with dip
- chicken casserole and cauliflower rice skillet
So if you are looking for a low carb vegetarian alternative to buffalo chicken wings, try this keto air fryer buffalo cauliflower recipe. You could serve it as a keto appetizer for game days with various dipping sauces too. I think you will love it as much as I did. Enjoy!
The nutritional info for 1 serving of air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites is 121 calories / 10.5g fat / 6.2g carbs / 2g fiber / 2.8g protein = 4.2g net carbs
Keto Buffalo Cauliflower Recipe (Air Fryer)
This keto air fryer buffalo cauliflower recipe is a great substitution for chicken wings. You only need 5 ingredients! It's full of that tangy buffalo sauce to make crispy cauilflower florets. An easy and tasty keto snack or appetizer.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower florets (small head cauliflower, raw, fresh)
- ⅓ cup hot sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cheese powder (optional)
Instructions
- First make the buffalo sauce. Get out a small sauce pan and heat to medium heat. Add the butter and once it has melted add the hot sauce and garlic powder. MIx well and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer for a minute or two and then take it off the heat. Let cool while you chop the cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
- Add the fresh cauliflower florets to a large mixing bowl. Pour the buffalo sauce mixture over the cauliflower and mix well to coat all the pieces.
- Next sprinkel the cheese powder if using*. Sprinkle all over the cauliflower and mix well to coat them well.
- Get out the air fryer basket out and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Then place the florets in a single layer. Cook at 360°F for 15-18 minutes or until the cauliflower has soften and browned to your liking.
If you want it to brown more you can spray more nonstick cooking spray towards the end of the baking. Shake the basket and make sure it's still in a single layer and continue cooking. - Serve with your favorite dipping sauce like ranch dressing, sour cream, blue cheese dressing or as is. You can also garnish with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley if you wish. Store in an airtight container. If you want to reheat it, do so in the air fryer or even the oven. A microwave will not crisp it up well.
Notes
*If you don't have any powderd cheddar cheese powder you can eliminate it. Other subsitutes can be used like the cheese powder from a box of macaroni and cheese however this may have carbs so if you care about that check the nutrition label.
If you can finely grate cheddar cheese you can try that or even use grated parmesan cheese. However this is not necessary. The cauliflower will still be delicious without any cheese at all.
If using frozen cauliflower, let thaw and drain as much water as possible. Maybe even dab with paper towels so the sauce will cling to it. Note that cooking time may vary.
The nutritional information for 1 serving is 121 calories / 10.5g fat / 6.2g carbs / 2g fiber / 2.8g protein = 4.2g net carbs
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 121
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