Flamin’ Hot Cauliflower Wings

These easy cauliflower wings are totally inspired by summer snacking situations—think baseball games or outdoor movie nights. I love this time of year for all the fun it brings, and this vegetarian-friendly wing recipe just feels right! This post is sponsored by Frito-Lay, and these baked cauliflower wings are made with one pretty unique ingredient. Can you guess what it is?

We used Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch Cheetos for the breading. If you haven’t tried this flavor yet, you should! It’s got some heat (obviously, otherwise why in the world would it be called Flamin’ Hot?) paired with a little sweetness from the ranch flavor; it’s fun and a little unexpected. I loved hot wings and this just felt like a really fun pairing to me. 🙂

Flamin’ Hot Cauliflower Wings, serves two (or more as an appetizer)

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup crushed Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch Cheetos
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon water

Crush the Cheetos in a food processor. Remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower and cut into pieces. In a small bowl combine the milk, flour, and 2 tablespoons of crushed Cheetos. Whisk together.

Dip the cauliflower in the mixture and then place on a baking sheet lined with a baking mat or parchment paper. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes.

In another bowl, stir together the honey, 2 tablespoons of crushed Cheetos, and 1 tablespoon of water. Use a brush to brush this mixture over all the cauliflower wings. Then bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve alongside celery and some Lay’s Smooth Ranch Dip for dipping and enjoy this outdoors with friends if possible! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

  • Hi Emma, these look delicious I must admit 🙂 I love all the recipes you post and I have been a follower of this blog for a few years now so I hope you will not be upset if I say: I would prefer if the recipes you girls post did not have unhealthy and processed ingredients. We all turn to blogs like yours for food inspiration as it is very hard to find healty yummy recipes. Anyway, I know you normally have a split between healthy and unhealthy recipes and I think it’s totally humane to do that.

    • Hi Penny-thanks for reading! If you’re looking for a cauliflower recipe with more whole ingredients try this one:

      http://abeautifulmess.com/2018/01/buffalo-cauliflower-po-boy.html

      Also, on that post you’ll see a tag labeled “Weekday Approved” which if you click that you’ll find all our recipes that adhere to the weekday rules of our cookbook, Weekday Weekend. Just like our cookbook we (for real) eat a mix of healthy and indulgent things in life and we share both on our site here. But if you’re only interested in recipes with whole ingredients I’d stick with that tag. Thanks!

  • oh wow that’s super useful – thanks so much for sharing! also thanks for responding to my message 🙂

  • Emma,
    Your response to Penny was so kind and gracious-thank you! Because of a serious health problem I really have to watch my sodium levels- as in, counting the level of sodium in spinach vs. lettuce, giving up all salad dressing, etc. Thank you so much for helping me find healthier alternatives. Sometimes your readers would truly love the Cheetos, but honestly cannot indulge. ????

  • Does the 8.5oz bag of Cheetos yield 1/4 cup crumbs, or do you start off with 1/4 cup Cheetos and use the amount of crumbs you get from crushing those?

  • Hi, Thank you for the video. If I may, could I ask whether this recipe was your own or was inspired from some other dish? If it is the latter, could you please tell us where you took the inspiration from? Thank you in advance.

  • Tried this – too mushy for me. I really wanted to like it. Going to try skipping step one. Coating in step two. And only baking for 15 (TOP) minutes.
    No second bake.
    No flour milk.
    Just honey Cheeto powder.

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