OKAY THESE TACOS ARE SO GOOD. Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Crema!! Baked, not fried, and breaded in a two-ingredient batter. Crispy, tangy, fiery taco perfection.
Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Crema
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Had these last night and they were delish! Everything went together so perfectly..the sauce, the slaw, the spice. Will deferentially make this again and again.
Kendra Jenema
Whoa whoa whoaaa. Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Crema are hap-pen-ning. This is not a sad moment on Pinch of Yum.
There is a restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota called J. Selby’s. I adore it. It’s a “plant-based eatery” with pear ginger kombucha on tap, every kind of vegan bowl you could ever dream of, and deep fried buffalo cauliflower “wings” that will rock your world. The origins of this buffalo cauliflower taco obsession can be traced back to many kombuchas, “wings,” and burrito bowls shared by Bjork and I at the bar of this little restaurant. If you live in Minnesota and you want a fun place to eat, J. Selby’s will be your place.
Buffalo cauliflower (at least this version) is fairly simple to make – dip and bake – but flavor-wise, it’s not for the faint of heart. It packs some heat and a boatload of tang, like any good buffalo bar food. Its mostly-crispy breading sucks up the hot sauce and gives these little nuggets so much fiery flavor.
How To Make Our Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos (1 MIN):
Five Things To Know About Buffalo Cauliflower:
- Baked, not fried. Easier, healthier.
- The breading only has two ingredients. Don’t be scared.
- The little buffalo cauliflower pieces are extremely versatile. Salads, bowls, tacos, snacks… all of the above.
- These don’t reheat super well in the microwave, but they will do beautifully in a skillet with a little olive oil. Leftovers are yummy.
- Honestly, just YUM.
Part two of this recipe is almost as easy as the buffalo cauliflower: a nice smooth and creamy blender sauce of avocado, garlic, cilantro, lime, sour cream… you know, the usual suspects, and then just drop a few dollops of that creamy magic onto your slaw.
You can chop up your own slaw or you can use a bagged slaw mix. I will remind you that I love shortcuts and I will let you guess which category I fall into.
That’s it. So easy.
Final step is tucking these guys all into a tortilla together (current fave is the soft Handmade-Style Tortillas from La Tortilla Factory) and thwapping a little avocado crema on top.
MY MOUTH IS WATERINGGGGG.
You are ready for buffalo cauliflower taco greatness! Or buffalo cauliflower bowls! Or buffalo cauliflower salads!
Or buffalo cauliflower dunked in avocado crema put straight into your mouth. All would be reasonable.
😍😍😍
Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Crema
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 tacos (probably 4–5 servings) 1x
Description
This colorful, spicy, crispy, mega-yum recipe was inspired by the amazing buffalo “wings” at J. Selby’s in Saint Paul and this recipe from Sarah Sullivan. Thanks to both sources of inspiration!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon each garlic powder, salt, and pepper
- 1 head cauliflower (4–5 cups florets)
- 3/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s brand)
- 3 cups shredded cabbage or slaw
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 10 tortillas
Avocado Crema
- 2 avocados
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup sour cream (yogurt would work, too)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- squeeze of lemon or lime
Instructions
- Batter the cauliflower: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk flour, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Dip cauliflower pieces in the batter and let excess drip off. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake on an upper rack for 15-20 minutes until lightly crisped and browned.
- Spice the cauliflower: Gently toss the baked cauliflower in a bowl with the hot sauce. Return to pan. Bake for another 5-10 minutes.
- Avocado Crema: Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.
- Slaw: Toss the slaw with some of the avocado crema until it’s nice and creamy.
- Tacos: Fill each tortilla with slaw, cauliflower, a drizzle of avocado crema, and cilantro. Perfection!
Notes
Gluten Free: Use GF flour and GF corn tortillas. Note: you may need a few more tablespoons of milk to get the right consistency for the batter when using GF flour.
Vegan: use non-dairy milk and skip the sour cream in the sauce.
Cauliflower Pro Tip: It helps if you have a greased wire rack to bake the cauliflower on – this allows excess batter to drip down and promotes crispiness. 👍🏼 But it works fine without, too.
Notes about texture: The texture as written is pretty firm and crispy, but not deep-fried-level crispy. Not surprisingly, you’d have to deep fry to achieve that. Which you could totally do! Here’s a recipe with a deep fry batter that I’d recommend if you want to spend the time doing that (it’s delish). But to me, this is a really great middle-of-the-road alternative that is a) much easier, b) healthier, and c) still really tasty!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: buffalo cauliflower tacos, avocado slaw, avocado crema
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our easy summer dinners page. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Avocado Cauliflower Dairy-Free Dinner Gluten-Free Lime Main Dishes Sugar Free January Tacos Vegan Vegetarian Winter
January 22, 2018
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Looks delicious! I’ve been on a cauliflower kick lately. Can’t wait to try these!
Hope you enjoy them!
Yum, I love buffalo cauliflower but I haven’t tried it in a taco yet!
You’ll LOVE it. Next level.
I love buffalo anything – and I love cauliflower. I’m pinning this to try next week. Wow!!
I’d be so honored if you shared it at our What’s for Dinner recipe link up!
http://www.lazygastronome.com/whats-dinner-sunday-link-132/
We made buffalo cauliflower one year for the Super Bowl and man it tasted so good, but we definitely ate too much! That’s the one thing it’s hard to overeat vegetables that’s for sure!
OK, I am actually drooling over here… that cauli batter could not be any simpler! I may try swapping out the ingredients for rice flour and cashew milk to make it vegan and GF 🙂
Great idea! Would love to hear how that goes!
lord have mercy. Will be making in the very near future! <3 I LOVE BUFFALO ERRYTHANG.
Enjoy! 🙂
Are there any substitutes for avocado? I’m really allergic and have to pass up a lot of yummy-looking recipes because of it.
Definitely! You could give the slaw in this recipe a try: https://pinchofyum.com/spicy-shrimp-tacos-with-garlic-cilantro-lime-slaw
This may sound odd, but have you tried avocado when mixed with lemon/lime juice? I’m not sure how severe your allergy is, but I’m allergic to raw avocado as well, but not when it’s mixed with lemon or lime. The acids in the citrus “cook” the avocado a bit which changes the protein structure that causes allergies. Just thought I’d share because avocado really is everywhere these days!
Love the fact that you are from MN. Almost everything wonderful is. I think this looks like a great Super Bowl option! I just wanted to mention that there is a FABULOUS dairy-free sour cream available just about every where that my whole family even likes – and I’m the only DF in the family! I can’t wait to make the Avocado Sauce!
Thanks, Wendy! Hope you enjoy them!
Our local vegan restaurant serves buffalo cauliflower and it’s an app that is to die for.
So good.
And I’m taken by your beautiful overhead shot! I was wondering to myself, what lens did Lindsay use? Real light or artificial? I think it would be awesome (for me anyway) if you listed the camera, lens, etc. somewhere at the end of your posts! 🙂 Thanks for all you already do.
Hey Nicole! You can check out all of Lindsay’s equipment here: https://pinchofyum.com/resources/resources-for-food-bloggers. For light, she almost always uses natural!
These look so yummy!! I live in MN and have not been to this restaurant. Might need to venture out.
Perfect for Meatless Monday. Yum!
Definitely! 🙂
Looks delicious! I might give this a try for the super bowl!
Yes! Do it!
Looks fantastic!
Which hot sauce would be best?
Lots of love from Holland
We love Frank’s Red Hot for this!
This looks fabulous!
Yum! That sounds amazing!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/superfood-beet-chips/
These look really good. We are fans of cauliflower in our house and this sort of recipe is a testament to their versatility.
You mention a vegan place in MSP… I remember reading about a vegan ‘butcher shop’ that I really want to visit. I am not vegan, but I love to experiment and always am on board for making my meals better (in health and otherwise).
Yes! It’s the Herbivorous Butcher: https://www.theherbivorousbutcher.com/
Nice
I’m unreasonably excited about the cole slaw in this recipe! Can’t wait to try.
Do the calories include the tortilla? Sounds all lovely!
Yes, it does!
Do you have a guesstimate of what the calories would be without the slaw and tortilla per serving? 300ish calories maybe?
Oh yum! I just love these buffalo cauliflower tacos. My mouth is salivating with the thought of that hot sauce batter and that oh so creamy avocado crema!
hello!! wondering if you had any thoughts on putting buffalo cauliflower in air fryer instead of oven? thanks!
We haven’t used an air fryer before so not sure how that would work!
Was just at J. Selby’s this weekend! I sooooo wanted to try the buffalo cauliflower wings but it was only brunch so I was super bummed but can’t to try your recipe!
I love the combo of the cauliflower and avocado cream. My kids love tacos and shockingly cauliflower, so this will make it into our Meatless Monday routine. Do they keep well for leftovers the next day?
Hi Amy! They aren’t awesome as leftovers, but are a little better if you heat them up in a skillet with some oil or warm them in the oven.
These were so fantastic! My boyfriend thought I was making him shrimp tacos and was very dissapointed when I told him they were cauliflower. Well, he ended up loving them! Another great recipe!
Ha! Glad to hear that, Mandie!
These were delicious! I made a few substitutes…almond milk, gluten free flour, greek yogurt and I used organic bbq sauce instead of hot sauce. SOOOOOO good, will make again for sure! Thank you!
So glad to hear that, Risa!