Buffalo Cauliflower Dip gives you hot wings flavor in vegetarian form. Cauliflower is roasted, then baked in a creamy hot sauce lightened with fresh herbs.
Planning a game day celebration and need a vegetarian offering? This Buffalo Cauliflower Dip with Fresh Herbs has got you covered, and spoiler alert, it's all kinds of yum. Same flavors as your favorite hot wings, without the bird. Tangy hot sauce, creamy Ranch dressing flavors, salty blue cheese—all mixed together in a dip you’re going to love.
Why Make This Recipe?
- Easy to make: Roast the cauliflower, make a sauce with cream cheese, Greek yogurt, garlic powder, and Frank’s Red Hot sauce, then add herbs and blue cheese, and bake. This recipe is easy to pull together, but has huge flavor. You won't even miss the chicken!
- Fresh herbs add a light, delicious touch: Unlike most buffalo chicken dip recipes, this recipe includes several fresh herbs. They play off the blue cheese and hot sauce beautifully, adding new flavor to a classic dish.
- Can be prepared in advance: This dish is perfect for those of you who want to get the bulk of the cooking done way before the party. Get the dip prepared and ready to bake, then pop it in the oven when guests arrive!
🥗 Ingredients
This recipe includes several ingredients that you can swap out in a pinch.
- Shallots: Try red, white, or yellow onions instead.
- Greek yogurt: Replace with sour cream or even crème fraiche.
- Frank’s Red Hot sauce: Replace with your hot sauce of choice, though Frank’s is a classic!
- Fresh herbs: Any combination will work in this recipe. I chose parsley, dill, and chives because those are the herbs typically used in Ranch dressing. But you could just use 2 herbs instead of three, or use green onions instead of chives. Or go for a different flavor profile and use cilantro instead.
- Blue cheese: Replace with feta cheese if you’d like.
🥣 Instructions
First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius. Slice a head of cauliflower in half, then cut out the core from each side. Chop each side into small florets. Peel 2 shallots and chop.
Toss cauliflower and shallots with 1.5 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Then place in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Roast for 10 minutes, then open the oven and stir cauliflower and shallots. Then roast an additional 5-10 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and starting to brown.
Meanwhile, with a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend 5 ounces of cream cheese, ½ cup of greek yogurt, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder until smooth. Mix in 1 tablespoon of hot sauce. Then taste and add more hot sauce depending on how hot you like it.
Stir in cauliflower, and several tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, dill, and chives. Spread dip into a shallow baking dish and top with blue cheese crumbles.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until dip is bubbling and starting to brown. Garnish with a tablespoon of chopped chives. Serve this vegetarian buffalo chicken dip with celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper slices, or tortilla chips.
🧐 Recipe FAQs
Yes, this dip works well for make-ahead. Prep it in advance by roasting the cauliflower and shallots, blending the cream cheese mixture, and assembling the dish for its final bake in the oven. Pop it in the fridge. I’d recommend letting it sit in the fridge no more than 24 hours before baking. When you’re ready to serve, just remove the cauliflower dip from the refrigerator and bake. You may need to add 5 minutes cooking time if the dip goes into the oven refrigerator-cold.
Freezing is not recommended with this dish. Any milk or cream-based recipes will separate if frozen. It might taste fine when you defrost and reheat, but the texture and appearance will suffer. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least 3 days after baking however.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Pay attention to the size of your cauliflower. Before you add the cauliflower and shallots, take a look at how much sauce you have—if your cauliflower was small, you may have more sauce than you need. If so, scoop out ½ cup of the sauce, and stir your cauliflower and shallots in. Then add more sauce as you need it—the cauliflower should be fully incorporated but not be swimming in it. (See photo above.)
Add extra hot sauce if you'd like. You can even add more than what's called for in my recipe. The only thing to watch out for is that you don’t add so much that the sauce gets too runny.
Want some other vegetarian dip ideas? How about this Sour Cream Chive Dip or this Spinach Artichoke Dip?
What should I serve with Buffalo Cauliflower Dip?
There are so many great options to go with this dip whether you are serving it at a Super Bowl Party or just upping your game at home. Some of my favorite other party dishes are:
Or check out my Appetizer Recipes page for more.
If you try this Buffalo Cauliflower Dip recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Buffalo Cauliflower Dip with Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower about 1 ½ pounds
- 2 small shallots (2 ounces)
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 5 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup 4 ounces Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot sauce, or whatever hot sauce you prefer (1 ½ ounces)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled (1.8 ounces)
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper slices, or tortilla chips to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius.
- Slice cauliflower head in half, then cut out the core from each side. Chop the remaining cauliflower into small florets.
- Peel shallots and chop.
- Toss cauliflower and shallots with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Place in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Roast for 10 minutes, then open the oven and stir. Then roast an additional 5-10 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and starting to brown.
- Meanwhile, with a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend cream cheese, greek yogurt, hot sauce, and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in herbs.
- Before you add the cauliflower and shallots, take a look at how much sauce you have—if your cauliflower was small, you may have more sauce than you need. If so, scoop out ½ cup of the sauce, and stir your cauliflower and shallots in. Then add more sauce as you need it—the cauliflower should be fully incorporated but not be swimming in it.
- Spread into a shallow baking dish and top with blue cheese crumbles. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until dip is bubbling and starting to brown.
- Garnish with chopped chives.
- Serve with celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper slices, or tortilla chips.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Linda says
The warm dip is cosy, savory, and satisfying while not tasting too rich. It's fun to eat, too.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
Your totally scrumptious dip would be perfect for both game day or a Christmas party. YUM!!
Chef Molly says
Yes! I really love this one--it's a crowd-pleaser for any occasion!
Alexandra @ It's Not Complicated Recipes says
I love the sound of this, Molly! I love cauliflower, and I think it would make such a great dip base with those lovely buffalo sauce flavours. Thanks for sharing this!
Chef Molly says
It really is! That buffalo sauce is so yummy, and adding cauliflower makes it almost healthy. 🙂
Jeff the Chef says
This looks extraordinary, and I love that it's vegetarian. My sister-in-law makes buffalo dip at every family get-together. I can't ge enough of it. However I especially love the way you presented yours. It's gorgeous. (I won't tell my sister-in-law that hers isn't quite as pretty ... or who knows, maybe I'll let it slip out!)
Chef Molly says
Ha! Thanks! Yes, it's definitely a classier presentation than your usual buffalo chicken dip. ? Same great flavors though!