Big news! I moved to Los Angeles last week. I packed up my little car and took off for a cross-country road trip with my dog. This is actually my second time living in California. I just can’t stay away. There’s so much delicious food here – it’s like a dream for vegan foodies. I’m really enjoying visiting all of my favorite restaurants and exploring some new ones, too.
Hands down, one of my favorite vegan dishes to eat in Los Angeles is the Buffalo Cauliflower at Mohawk Bend. It’s kinda famous. Perfectly tender cauliflower smothered in spicy buffalo sauce and served with a side of vegan “bleu cheese” dressing, it doesn’t get much better. My mouth is watering just typing about it. Until I can make it there for apps and a cocktail, I’ll be baking these Jerk-style Cauliflower Wings on repeat.
Cauliflower wings were one of the first vegan dishes I learned to make years ago. I followed a recipe from the PETA website and decided it was time to write my own. I adore buffalo sauce, but this time I decided to go with a Caribbean-inspired flavor profile. This jerk-style sauce is well balanced, complex, and perfectly spicy. If you want more heat, add another habañero. Easy!
It’s worth noting that habañero peppers are not authentic to Jamaican cuisine; the Scotch bonnet pepper is typically used in Caribbean dishes. If you can get your hands on some, use caution. On the Scoville Scale, habañero peppers are 260,000 SHU and Scotch bonnet peppers are a lot spicier at 445,000 SHU. Start with one (seeds removed for less heat) and add more to your blender if you like spice.
These Jerk-style Cauliflower Wings are a great party snack and can easily be an appetizer for a hungry group of four. They're also gluten-free thanks to the chickpea flour. If you want a dipping sauce, serve with a side of plain non-dairy yogurt mixed with a squeeze of lime.
Jerk-style Cauliflower Wings
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 23 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 8 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
These Jerk-style Cauliflower Wings are a great party snack and can easily be an appetizer for a hungry group of four. They're also gluten-free thanks to the chickpea flour. If you want a dipping sauce, serve with a side of plain non-dairy yogurt mixed with a squeeze of lime.
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup chickpea flour (or your favorite flour)
- 1 cup Jerk-style sauce (recipe follows)
- Green onion, chopped, for serving
- Plain non-dairy yogurt with lime juice, for serving (optional)
For the Jerk-style sauce:
- 1 to 2 habañero peppers, seeds removed and diced
- 2 scallions, diced (dark and light green parts)
- 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme
- 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. allspice
- 1 ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce or liquid coconut aminos
- 1 Tbsp. agave nectar (if using soy sauce)
- Pinch of salt (if using coconut aminos)
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- ¼ cup canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Combine the chickpea flour and water in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Dredge the cauliflower pieces though the batter until completely coated and place in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake the cauliflower for 18 minutes, until lightly golden brown on the edges.
- Meanwhile, prepare the jerk sauce. Combine all of the ingredients except the canola oil in a blender or food processor. Blend on low, drizzling in the canola oil, then turn your blender to high. Blend until completely smooth; adjust flavors to taste.
- Remove the cauliflower from the oven and pour the jerk sauce over the pieces, tossing gently to coat all sides. Continue baking for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve the cauliflower wings sprinkled with fresh chives and a side of plain, non-dairy yogurt for dipping, if desired.
Notes
Nutritional info does not include yogurt dipping sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 248
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 272.8 mg
- Fat: 15.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.9 g
- Protein: 6.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: appetizer, vegan appetizer, cauliflower, jamaican
Nicole
These were SUPER great. Highly recommend. Now I'm on a whole cauliflower kick - searching for all recipes cauliflower-related
ERH
A friend of mine brought this to a dinner party at my house and it was incredible! The sauce alone smells so delicious, we were practically drinking it out of the container. The habaneros provide a real kick that complements the other flavors wonderfully. I'm now thinking of ways to turn this into a full meal - perhaps by making it into a sort of curry sauce by adding a bit of coconut milk and cooking some cauliflower and chickpeas in it to serve over rice. Thanks for the inspiration - truly one of the most memorable dishes I've had lately!
Katie Koteen
You got it. Sorry about that. We've updated the name and will be more conscientious in the future 🙂
Javon
Please take Jamaica's name out of this. . there is nothing Jamaican about this. ..
Sarah De la Cruz
Oh wow! These look delicious! I love cauliflower, and these have so much flavor going on!
Cadry
Congrats on the move back to sunny California! I can totally understand not being able to stay away. It's pretty addictive! I totally agree on those cauliflower wings at Mohawk Bend. They are worth the hype! I like it that you took these cauliflower wings in a different flavor direction, though. Sounds incredible!