Vegan Cauliflower Wings (with BBQ Sauce)

These vegan cauliflower wings are coated in a spiced batter and baked to perfection. Coat them in rich and delicious BBQ and butter sauce, then serve for the ultimate appetizer!

This is truly a crowd-pleasing recipe; I’ve served it to many meat-eaters in the past, always to rave reviews. It’s the perfect replacement to chicken wings, giving amazing taste, texture and overall satisfaction!

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BBQ Cauliflower Wings Ingredients

This is an easy recipe to make and likely uses ingredients you have on hand. There’s also lots of room to play around with spices and sauces to make the recipe your own.

• Cauliflower: You’ll need the star ingredient of these vegan wings – cauliflower! This vegetable works surprisingly well in place of chicken wings.
• Whole wheat flour: These wings are coated in a spiced batter, and to make that, I use whole wheat flour. I haven’t tested this recipe with any non-gluten flours so can’t comment on how well they would or wouldn’t work.
• Plant-based milk: To make the batter, you’ll need some plant-based milk. I typically use unsweetened soy milk, but any vegan milk options should work.
• Spices: To add flavor to these vegan wings, I toss a few spices to the batter. Use whichever spices you like, in the amounts you prefer, or follow the recipe as-written for a delicious combo of flavor.
• BBQ sauce: There are endless sauce variations you can use to coat your cauliflower wings, but I love using BBQ sauce for this recipe. Select your favorite store-bought option or make your own homemade barbecue sauce!
• Vegan butter: Melting some vegan butter into BBQ sauce creates a rich and delicious flavor for the wings. Adding butter to the sauce takes this recipe to the next level and makes for a truly mouth-watering and crowd-pleasing appetizer!

How to Make Baked Cauliflower Wings

This is a simple recipe to prepare but there are a few steps involved. Read the detailed directions below or watch a short video in the recipe card to learn how to make this delicious appetizer.

Step 1: Prep Cauliflower Wings and Batter

Start by cutting a large cauliflower into wing-sized floret pieces that provide about 2-3 bites each. Set those aside.

To prepare your batter, add flour and spices to a large mixing bowl and whisk until evenly mixed. Then pour in plant-based milk.

Whisk the batter until smooth. It should be thick enough to coat your cauliflower without dripping off, but still thin enough to pour (like the texture of a typical pancake batter).

Step 2: Coat Cauliflower with Batter and Bake

Add cauliflower to the batter and toss to coat each piece. All sides of the cauliflower should be coated in batter.

Place the coated cauliflower onto a baking tray, in an even layer, with space between each piece. You may need a second tray depending on how large your cauliflower is.

I highly recommend using parchment paper for easy clean up as this gets messy. A silicone baking mat also works if you’re willing to wash thoroughly later.

Place the cauliflower-loaded tray into an oven preheated to 375 °F for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Make BBQ Sauce

While the cauliflower bakes, prepare your sauce. Start by melting vegan butter; I use the microwave but a small pot on the stove works too.

Once melted, stir in your favorite barbecue sauce. There are a few store brands I like, but I really love making my own homemade BBQ sauce!

Set this sauce aside.

Step 4: Sauce Cauliflower and Bake Again

After 10 minutes of baking, the batter should firmly stick to the cauliflower. If it’s not, bake for up to another 5 minutes.

When the batter is solid, remove your cauliflower from the oven and coat it in BBQ sauce.

I find it easiest to spoon sauce onto each wing then brush it around with a pastry brush.

Flip the wings and sauce the other side, then return to your oven for another 15 minutes.

Step 5: Serve Wings

Your wings are done when the sauce is sticky and the cauliflower is cooked with some bite (slight crunch, not total mush).

Serve alongside your favorite dipping sauce and crudités (celery and carrot sticks). Vegan ranch or vegan blue cheese dressings are an option. I’m not a fan of either, so I typically whip up my crab cake sauce recipe instead or use Caesar salad dressing.

How to Create a Balanced Vegan Meal

I consider a balanced meal one that contains a good source of plant-based protein, carbohydrates, fats and lots of vegetables or fruits.

While you can use cauliflower as a tasty meat replacement, it is not nutritionally similar. Cauliflower is not a great source of protein but is a serving of vegetables.

I believe it’s okay to eat lower protein meals on occasion, if you regularly include higher protein foods in your diet.

Some vegans fall into a habit of regularly using cauliflower, eggplant, jackfruit, mushrooms or other vegetables in place of meat. While these are likely tasty meals, they’re lower in protein and other nutrients typically found in meat, which could lead to issues long-term.

Since this is an appetizer recipe, you may already plan to eat protein during your main meal. I typically just eat this as a meal on its own since it’s so delicious!

Beyond protein, this recipe offers some fats and carbohydrates, although they are not from the most “ideal” sources.

As with lower protein meals, it’s perfectly fine to eat meals that are less nutritious on occasion.

I strongly believe enjoying a variety of foods is part of a balanced lifestyle. This includes foods that may be less nutrient-dense but are eaten for enjoyment, for nostalgia, for their taste.

You shouldn’t feel guilt or shame for enjoying tasty foods!

Vegan Wing Variations

There are plenty of tasty ways to make vegan wings. This cauliflower recipe is only one option!

You can also make crispy, baked tofu nuggets. Coat these in any sauce you like for delicious, higher protein vegan wings!

While BBQ sauce a great option, you can also use buffalo sauce. Store-bought options may be vegan, but you can also make some homemade vegan buffalo sauce with just 2 ingredients!

How to Refrigerate and Reheat Leftovers

It’s best to eat these cauliflower wings the day they’re made since they don’t remain crisp once coated in BBQ sauce.

If you have leftovers, cool them to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge. Ideally, you should eat the leftovers within 1-2 days.

These are best reheated in an oven. Simply place onto a baking tray and warm through, with the oven set to 350 °F. If you have an air fryer, that’s also an option for reheating cauliflower wings.

If you think you’ll have leftovers, I’d highly recommend only saucing the amount you’ll eat that day. It’s best to store the cauliflower bites without sauce, then bake with the sauce when you’re ready to eat.

Simply bake the coating onto the wings then allow the bites to cool (stop after step 2). The next day, toss with sauce and bake 15-18 minutes (they may need a couple extra minutes since they’ll be cold to start).

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

More Vegan Appetizer Recipes

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