Buffalo Cauliflower Dip is a vegetarian alternative to traditional buffalo chicken dip. Serve as an appetizer at parties or Sunday game day!
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Buffalo cauliflower dip makes an easy and always-loved game day food, especially for New Year's Eve and Super Bowl parties. This dip is a super quick vegetarian dish and you won't even know you're eating cauliflower.
I debated about whether to post my buffalo recipes because they really aren't kid-friendly, unless of course your kids like spicy. But this buffalo cauliflower dip, along with my buffalo chicken dip and buffalo chicken pizza poppers, are just too delicious not to share.
This delicious vegetarian dip is very simple to make. It takes only 10-15 minutes. If you use frozen cauliflower rice packages, you can cut down the time even further.
Ingredients
To make buffalo cauliflower dip, you need
- a package of cauliflower rice (or a head of grated cauliflower)
- buffalo sauce (your favorite brand)
- mozzarella cheese
- sour cream
- cream cheese
- chives or scallions to garnish
- veggies and chips for serving
- a loaf of artisan bread if making a bread bowl
The quickest way to make buffalo cauliflower dip is with a pre-grated frozen 5 oz package of cauliflower. I buy these in bulk from Sam's Club because they are steam-in-bag packages and less messy and time consuming than grating fresh cauliflower yourself.
The downside of using a package of already grated cauliflower is that it isn't as fine as when you grate it or run it through a food processor yourself.
For the bread loaf, choose one that is fat and football shaped and is soft on the inside but crispy on the outside. My favorite is an artisan cheese bread, but any kind will be delicious.
How hot you make your buffalo cauliflower dip is up to you. Choose your favorite brand in the heat level that you prefer. I prefer a mild buffalo sauce, but use medium, hot, or extra hot.
As for the garnish of chives or scallions, both give it a little extra kick. Use what you have on hand, or skip the garnish all together.
Step-By-Step Directions
The first step to making buffalo cauliflower dip is to saute the cauliflower rice in olive oil for a few minutes. Break up any large clumps with a wooden spoon.
Next, add the sour cream and cream cheese and continuously stir until the cream cheese melts. This takes about 5 minutes.
While it's cooking, slice the bread long ways and pull out the inner bread with your fingers to make your bowl (if using the bread bowl).
Now add the buffalo sauce and salt to the cauliflower mix. Start with ½ cup of sauce and only add more if you want. Add salt to taste.
Next add the mozzarella cheese ½ cup at a time. Stir while it melts and then remove the dip from the heat.
Last, scoop the dip into the bread bowl or into a serving dish.
Garnish the dip with chives or scallions.
You can also top buffalo cauliflower dip with extra mozzarella. If doing this, toast the finished dip for about 5 minutes once in the serving bowl, or until the cheese melts.
Recipe
Buffalo Cauliflower Dip
Ingredients
- 1 loaf bread of choice
- 1 package frozen cauliflower rice (5 oz), or 1 grated cauliflower head
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 oz cream cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½-1 cup buffalo sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- chives or scallions, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat and add cauliflower rice. Saute for 2-3 minutes, breaking apart chunks with a spoon.
- Add the cream cheese and sour cream. Stir consistently until cream cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. While cooking, slice the bread in half long ways and pull out bread from inside to make a deep hole.
- Add ½ cup of buffalo sauce and salt to cauliflower mix. Stir to incorporate. Taste and season with more salt and buffalo if desired.
- Add the mozzarella cheese ½ cup at a time. Mix until cheese has melted and then remove from heat.
- Scoop into bread bowl and top with extra mozzarella and chives/scallions if desired. Serve with chips, pretzels, carrots, celery, or veggies of choice.
- Optional: toast the cauliflower bread bowl dip to melt the mozzarella.
Notes
Nutrition
Serving
Serve buffalo cauliflower dip in the bread bowl or a regular serving bowl alongside your favorite dipping sides.
This dip is best served warm. The bread bowl acts like an insulator to keep it warm for a longer time than when in a regular bowl. It's also easy to pop the whole thing in a toaster for about 5 minutes if it cools too much.
Great dipping options for buffalo dips are:
- celery
- carrots
- peppers
- tortilla chips
- pretzels
If you do have leftover buffalo cauliflower dip, store it in the fridge for around 3 days.
Once the buffalo cauliflower dip is gone, you can pull apart or slice the bread and eat it as "buffalo bread".
Or, freeze it in pieces and enjoy as a snack later on. Another option is to put the bread in a food processor and make buffalo bread crumbs for chicken. Freeze buffalo breadcrumbs until you plan to use them.
That's all there is to making this dip!
If you've made this recipe and loved it, please let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you!
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Mary Cate
good recipe. I riced 7 oz of fresh cauliflower and i think you could definitely use more if youre trying to eat more veggies!