If you’re looking for calorie-friendly tailgate flavors at home, try these delicious and spicy Buffalo air-fried cauliflower bites on for size! No breading, no oil, just flavor – it’s a win-win!
We’re creeping up on the Super Bowl, which is exciting to me for many reasons – but honestly, it’s mostly about the food.
I want to get excited about the teams in contention–and we’ll see who actually makes it there–but I don’t really feel like I have a team. I feel like I’m borrowing everyone else’s teams. My dad played for the Rams once upon a time, so I’ll root for them. My husband’s family are all from Ohio and are Browns fans, so I’ll root for them (how can you not, with such a dedicated fandom who still shows up for a team that, well, is the Browns?). And because we’ve been all over the place as an Army family and we serve with people from everywhere, I have friends who are Philly fans, Pittsburgh fans, San Francisco Fans, New England fans, Kansas City fans…you get the picture. I’ll root for my friends’ teams when they show up, but I really want to feel like a team is my team.
We’re coming up on three years of living in Florida, and while I’m still a huge fan of the Caps, I’ve adopted the Bolts as our team here. I’m using that logic to adopt the Bucs as well. It doesn’t hurt that I get no end of mileage out of Tom Brady jokes, given the number of times I’ve said I’m retiring from the Army and haven’t, and my Pirates of the Caribbean obsessed kiddo loves the logo and merch.
I still like the freedom to be able to root for who I choose, so I’m going to pick a side in the Super Bowl no matter who plays.
And pick a bunch of sides to prep, too – like these buffalo cauliflower bites.
Yes, I’m serving veggies at Super Bowl. But trust me on this one. The carnivorous man-creatures in my house went headfirst into this plate and demolished all of it.
It appears that all I have to do with veggies is coat them in a lot of spicy paprika, cayenne, chipotle chili powder, white pepper, and butter, throw them in an air fryer, and serve them up with some fresh homemade ranch dressing and they’ll all be gobbled down in no time flat.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
You can fry these in the traditional way if you don’t have an air fryer – just prepare them the same way I have in the instructions and fry them lightly in veggie oil until the cauliflower is tender and let them dry on paper towels. But the air fryer is so much cleaner. And since you don’t have any breading on these florets {you could add bread crumbs or Panko, but I like them without}, you get the same level of crispiness with an air fryer that you get with traditional frying.
Then all you have to do is serve them up with some good ranch or blue cheese dressing (I highly recommend my homemade buttermilk ranch dressing) and you’ve got an awesome football tailgate snack.
Here are the critical stats on this recipe for your enjoyment.
Buffalo Air-Fried Cauliflower Bites
Equipment
- 1 Air fryer
Ingredients Â
- 1 head cauliflower cut into 1-2 inch florets
- 8 tbsp butter melted
- 3 tsp ground chipotle chili pepper
- 2 tsp ground smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tsp Santa Maria seasoning
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup ranch dressing for dipping
InstructionsÂ
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside. Set oven to 250F.
- Put cauliflower florets in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, spices, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and Santa Maria seasoning until well combined. Pour it over the cauliflower.
- Toss to coat and make sure all of the cauliflower is covered.
- Transfer a third of your cauliflower to your air fryer. Set to 350F and cook 12-15 minutes, until the cauliflower edges are golden brown and nicely crisped.
- Set the cooked cauliflower on the baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Keep cooking the cauliflower in batches until you've cooked it all.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Okay, the Santa Maria seasoning is my ever-present California touch in this recipe. You can find my favorite version right here. It finds its way into just about everything in my kitchen, and I always have a bottle of it on hand.
Football teams aside, when it comes to food, a very large part of me will always be a Californian at heart.
What are your favorite game day recipes?
