Happy Wednesday everyone!  Celebrate the middle of the week with this hot Buffalo Cauliflower With Spicy Buttermilk Chipotle Sauce, baked until crispy, served steaming hot and dripping with sauce!  Mr. TAL and I had lunch at The Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, PA and ordered their Buffalo Cauliflower as an appetizer.  He liked it so much that I had to make it at home.  Not only did I promise a new appetizer, I promised him his favorite meal if he reached 3,000 followers on his YouTube Channel!  Guess what?  He reached over 3,000 followers last week so it was off to the store I went and home to make this delicious appetizers and his favorite meal…my breaded pork chops!

I tried my best to duplicate this recipe but ended up doing my own thing and crossing my fingers that Mr. TAL would like it and I’m here to say, he LOVED it!  I cut up a head of cauliflower into chunks or florets if you want to call them, washed and dried them, and sat them off to the side to mix up my breading.  In this dish, I used crushed corn flakes, hot pepper flakes, eggs, smoked paprika, chili powder, kosher salt, black pepper, Frank’s hot sauce, melted (unsalted) butter, and seasoned salt.

How to make crispy baked Buffalo Cauliflower:

In one bowl, I mixed up the dry ingredients and in another bowl, I beat 2 organic free range eggs.  I poured the cauliflower into the eggs and with a spoon, made sure each floret was coated by tossing each one over again.  From there I dipped each cauliflower floret into the dry ingredients, gave them a toss onto a baking sheet, and into the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.  I lightly drizzled olive oil over the cauliflower to help crisp up the brand flakes.   After about 12 minutes, I flipped the florets over and back in the oven they went.

Combining the wet ingredients:

While the cauliflower florets were baking, I tossed up the wet ingredients (melted butter and hot sauce), poured my mixture over the cauliflower and let them bake for 5 more minutes.  The appetizer we ordered at The Church Brew Works had blue cheese crumbles but I chose to create this Spicy Buttermilk Chipotle Sauce for some extra kick!

How to make the Spicy Buttermilk Chipotle Sauce:

I combined the buttermilk, lemon juice, chipotle sauce (I used Taco Bell Creamy Chipotle Sauce), cayenne pepper, garlic salt, onion powder, and pepper into a bowl and let sit.  Next I chopped into small pieces fresh chives, fresh dill, and fresh Italian parsley and mixed everything together.

It was time to take out the cauliflower and pour my spicy buttermilk chipotle sauce over the florets!  (Note:  save some sauce for dipping!). Let me tell ya!  This appetizer has a kick!  If you like hot and spicy, this dish is for you!  But if the thought of eating something this hot and spicy bothers you, just omit the cayenne pepper and chili powder.  You can also omit the hot pepper flakes or reduce the 1/2 tsp to a 1/4 or 1/8 teaspoon.  I don’t think Frank’s Hot Sauce is as hot as other brands and the Chipotle Sauce can be reduced as well.  I hope you enjoyed this recipe.  I would love to hear if you tried it and how it turned out!  Enjoy!

Looking for more appetizer recipes, check out my previous blog posts here:

Salt and Pepper Wings

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Tips For Making A Party Appetizer