
If you have ever had buffalo cauliflower before then you will love this dish. Peri peri is a sauce made from the piri-piri chili (isn’t that fun to say) and was originally created by Portuguese colonists in Africa. The most famous example would have to be peri peri chicken, but this peri peri cauliflower is a great vegetarian alternative. It also makes a great party appetizer idea if you want to impress vegetarians. You can even sub out the milk in the batter to make it vegan!

Unlike making buffalo nuggets, these cauliflower bites are baked and brushed with the peri-peri sauce to lock in that flavor. Don’t worry, the cauliflower comes out nice and tender.

I break up the cauliflower into one to two bite florets. I want them to be easy to eat, but if you make them too small you run the chance of burning them. The trick with cauliflower is to cut from the underside, so you can see where you are breaking off the stalk.

The batter in this recipe is super simple. I use a cup each of flower and milk, a tablespoon each of paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper, and a teaspoon of salt. Whisk that together until you get a slurry. Don’t adjust the flour or milk until the next step because we are adding one more key ingredient.

That’s right, we are adding panko style bread crumbs. These flaky bread crumbs add a great crunch to the final peri peri cauliflower. Just add a cup of panko and mix it in. At this point you can add some more milk if it seems too thick.

Dip in a cauliflower so the floret is completely coated and then place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Pop the tray into an oven preheated to 225 Celsius and bake for 10 minute. Take out the tray, flip the battered florets, and then brush over the peri peri sauce. I used a peri-peri tomato sauce since it is thicker and allows for better coverage, but you can use whatever brand/style you prefer.

After 10 minutes take out the tray, flip the cauliflower again, and brush on another coat of your peri peri sauce. Lower the temperature to 200 Celsius and bake for 20 more minutes undisturbed. You’ll end up with perfectly tender cauliflower in a hot baked batter, perfect for dipping!

After the peri peri cauliflower is done you can move them to a bowl or plate for presentation. I find these make a fantastic appetizer when entertaining guests, especially ones that have never had peri-peri sauce before. Of course, just like buffalo cauliflower, I serve these with a whipped blue cheese dressing.

The whipped blue cheese dressing is the same one I used for my Iceberg Wedge recipe, which is just a whipped instead of simmered version of my classic Gorgonzola sauce.


Peri Peri Cauliflower
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 1 large Cauliflower broken into 1-2 bite florets
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup Panko Japanese style bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Black Pepper freshly cracked
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Peri Peri Sauce plus more for dipping
Instructions
- Prepare the batter by whisking together the milk, flour, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt. Add the panko and adjust with more milk if it is too thick.
- Dip the cauliflower florets into the batter so they are completely coated, and place them on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet.
- Place the tray in the oven preheated to 225 Celsius for 10 minutes. Flip the cauliflower and brush on some peri peri sauce. Bake for another 10 minutes, flip again, and add more peri peri sauce.
- Reduce the temperature to 200 Celsius and place the tray back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Remove and serve with blue cheese dressing and extra peri peri sauce.