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Buffalo Cauliflower Dip

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This Buffalo Cauliflower Dip recipe is a vegetarian take on this classic hot dip, made with lots of roasted cauliflower, and — look out — it’s downright irresistible.

Vegetarian Buffalo Cauliflower Dip with Chip

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with one of my Catalan friends here in Barcelona when she asked out of the blue, “So what’s the story on all of these dips that Americans are always eating? You know, like spinach artichoke dip? Or that famous buffalo dip everyone talks about? What are they?”

Fast forward a few days later to our Spanish class, when the discussion turned to the topic of the American Super Bowl. Barclay and I were trying to explain some of the various traditions surrounding the big game to everyone, and I offhandedly asked our teacher to help me with the Spanish word for “dips”. She thought for a second, and was like, “mmmm, salsa?” (Spanish for “sauce”.)  I tried to clarify, “No, no, not the sauces that you mix into things. Like dips, you know, the ones that you dip bread or chips or veggies in?”

Turns out that, beyond romesco sauce, the concept doesn’t really seem to exist here. ?

As someone whose primary love language in life has always been chips and salsa, I’ve gotta admit — I had no idea that we were so spoiled in the United States by all of our dips!! ? ? ?

So naturally, my immediate response to both conversations was to invite everyone over to our place to try All The Dips. So this weekend, we’re making it happen. Barclay and I are going to host a little Super Bowlish party (ahem, without the Super Bowl, since it won’t be on here after midnight on Sunday). And I’m going to make a buffet of the classics — my favorite red and green salsas, guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, French onion dip, and cheddar bacon ranch dip. And of course, on Super Bowl weekend, you’d better believe there’s also going to be some buffalo chicken dip happening in the house. Although with so many vegetarians in the group, I decided to test out a cauliflower-based version ahead of time too. And oh my goodness, Barclay and I could not stop eating this stuff.

Vegetarian buffalo dip FTW!

Roasted Cauliflower

Bonus? It’s totally easy to make.

Just roast up a small head of cauliflower. (Here’s a quick video on how to cut cauliflower)

Buffalo Cauliflower Dip with Hot Sauce

Combine it with low-fat cream cheese, Greek yogurt, shredded Mozzarella, green onions, and blue cheese (optional) until combined. (You can also also do this a day ahead of time, if you’d like to prep the dip ahead of game day.)  Pour the mixture into a baking dish and pop it in the oven until it’s nice and hot and melty and starts to turn golden around the edges.

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Dip

Then sprinkle on your favorite toppings…

Buffalo Cauliflower Dip

…and SERVE!

Let’s be real, this one will never win any beauty contests. But man is it irresistible.

If you’re not into blue cheese, feel free to sub in feta (or just leave it out entirely). And if you’re looking for hot sauce recs, I’m a Frank’s fan all the way (we love it so much we even tracked a bottle down in Spain). Also, if you’re looking to save space in the oven, I’ve included slow cooker instructions for this one below as well.

Can’t wait to introduce all of our friends to the brilliance of “buffalo” this weekend. Hope that you all enjoy it too!

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Buffalo Cauliflower Dip

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 19 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 12 -16 servings 1x

Description

This Buffalo Cauliflower Dip recipe is a vegetarian take on this classic hot dip, made with lots of roasted cauliflower, and — look out — it’s downright irresistible.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 (8-ounce) block reduced-fat cream cheese, roughly cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup hot sauce (I recommend Frank’s)
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions
  • optional: 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • optional toppings: extra crumbled blue cheese, thinly-sliced green onions, chopped celery, and/or a drizzle of hot sauce

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 425°F.  Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil, if desired.
  2. Spread the cauliflower out on the baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to combine until the cauliflower is evenly coated.  Then spread the cauliflower out evenly on the baking sheet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is slightly charred around the edges.  Remove from oven.
  3. Transfer the cauliflower to a large mixing bowl, and add the cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, hot sauce, Greek yogurt, green onions and blue cheese.  Stir until evenly combined.
  4. Oven: Turn oven to 350°F.  Spread the mixture out evenly in a 9 x 9-inch baking dish.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheeses are completely melted and the edges of the dip start to brown.  Remove from the oven, and garnish with your desired toppings.  Serve warm, with your desired dippers.
  5. Slow Cooker: Spray the inside of the bowl of your slow cooker with cooking spray.  Add all ingredients to the bowl of the slow cooker, and stir until combined.  (You can also stir the ingredients together in a separate bowl, and then transfer that to the bowl of the slow cooker afterwards.)  Cover and cook on high for 1.5 to 2 hours, or on low for 3-4 hours, until all of the cheeses have melted.  Give the dip a final stir, then transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with your desired toppings.  Serve warm, with your desired dippers.

Buffalo Cauliflower Dip

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37 comments on “Buffalo Cauliflower Dip”

  1. YES! I’ve been missing this dip since I gave up meat. I’m adding it to our super bowl menu now!

  2. This sounds soooo good. I’m lactose intolerant, but feta, greek cream cheese, and dairy free mozzarella would totally work in this. :D

  3. Although this recipe sounds delicious, I haven’t made it because I have a question. Because my daughter was on the Keto Diet at the same time cauliflower was in season, I froze many, many small bags (2-4 cups) of it
    to have on hand. Is there some way to use the grated, frozen cauliflower in this recipe as there is no way to roast raw florets in the oven?

  4. This looks AMAZING!!! I will be making it this weekend for sure!!

  5. I like to mix in some finely chopped celery for some crunch (reminds me of chicken salad) and to make it even more like buffalo chicken in a bowl.

  6. Anything spicy and good for dipping is all I want right now (17 weeks pregnant)! I can’t wait to try this!

  7. I love spicy cauliflower anything. This looks delicious!

  8. This looks so good. I’ve been obsessed with cauliflower lately. This will be a great addition to my meals. Thanks for sharing!

    Alexis
    https://simplehealthstyle.com

  9. Be sure to let us know how everyone liked the dips!! And you still managed to make this cauliflower dip look irresistible. I know it isn’t isnt low calorie but because there is cauliflower I somehow think I could justify eating the whole thing myself…

  10. great recipe, looking delicious and new to me






  11. I made this for a Superbowl party yesterday, and it was the hit of the evening! I only made a half recipe, which still made quite a bit. I prepped it several hours before & stuck it in the fridge, and baked it just before people arrived. It was great!






  12. Thanks for sharing with us. Very good recipe I’ll try it at home






  13. I made this but put the roasted cauliflower in the food processor to get small chunks as the large pieces were a turn off to some guests.






  14. If you are cooking it in a slow cooker should you still roast the cauliflower in the oven beforehand?






  15. This was amazing!!! I used sour cream instead of yogurt.






  16. I made this last night for my sorority’s rush event and OMG – THIS WAS AMAZING! It was perfect and for many vegetarians (including myself) who haven’t had buff chic dip in a while this was a perfect alternative! Going to make this so many more times to come haha thank you for an amazing recipe!






  17. Can I use frozen rice cauliflower and roast that for the dip? How much would I use?

  18. I made this last night for the Super Bowl. O M G it was TO DIE FOR! I was iffy about the cauliflower but it helped make this recipe special! Firstly I halved the recipe, since I was only making it for two people and it was still more than enough. I chopped up the cauliflower into very little bits to avoid having big chunks and baked the bits til they were all mostly charred. I used plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream and omitted the blue cheese (didn’t have any), but followed everything else to a T. The charred taste of the cauliflower added such am interesting depth and texture. I drizzled ranch dressing over top of the dip at the end to help balance the heat (since I didn’t have blue cheese) and it was just enough. I couldn’t stop eating it! I will definitely be making this again!!!!






  19. Made this tonight for a football get together. Great recipe! Tastes almost identical to buff chick dip with a healthy twist. Got asked for the recipe multiple times… definitely will be making again.






  20. Another gimmesomeoven recipe favorite! This is SO good. I made it tonight and ate it with fresh cold carrots! This is definitely a new favorite! This and your jambalaya recipe are a couple of my favorites! Adore your page!






  21. I made this tonight for a Super Bowl party and literally every single person freaked out over how good it was. Thanks for an incredible recipe!






  22. Made this for Super Bowl party. It got rave reviews.






  23. Can’t recommend this dip enough! We’ve made it twice for parties over the past couple of months and gotten rave reviews (and a clean pan!) every time. So tasty, and one of our meat-eating friends said it was just as good, if not better than the chicken version.

  24. I made this for my husband and WE both devour this delicious dish every-time i make it! We have shared this recipe and everyone has loved it! Easy directions and huge hit! Sorry i didn’t comment sooner!






  25. Made this to take to a party and everyone loved it and was wanting the recipe! I used white cheddar instead of the mozzarella and then added 1/3 cup of feta cheese at the end. Delicious!






  26. Wow, this is amazing!! I followed the recipe for the most part – used sour cream over yogurt, added extra hot sauce, diced jalapeño and some ranch dressing. Was a big hit!!!






  27. Easy and yummy recipe.






  28. We made this over Thanksgiving, and the whole family LOVED it – even the hard-core meat eaters.






  29. I made this with sour cream instead of the yogurt and it came out so good! I added another half a cauliflower head (cut the pieces to 1/2” sizes before roasting) and baked it for 30 minutes in a larger (10×14) pan and it was perfect!






  30. I used a cup of cheddar instead of the mozzarella and forgot the blue cheese. 1 cup of Baby Rays hot sauce was way too hot.






  31. If you don’t like the cauliflower taste, throw the cauliflower in a blender before you cook it and it’ll get rid of that typical taste and save you some time. I also found that using franks Buffalo dip instead of regular dip gave it an added flavor.

  32. Can this be made ahead of time and frozen

  33. Making this over the weekend.. Thanks!
    I have lots of cauliflower in tbe freezer.
    I’ll pop it in my air fryer.
    I’ll come back and tell you all how it was