A healthier snack, main dish or side these buffalo broccoli bites are full of bold, spicy flavour. Crisp outside and tender inside, serve with a cooling dip for a spice lovers favourite!

I think this is probably the first ever recipe I’ve made that I’ve not even tried.  I made these buffalo broccoli bites exclusively for Phil to indulge his love of all things hot and spicy.  I am a bone fide spicy food wimp.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and the flavoursome ones like cumin and smoked paprika.  But if it’s hot spice I tend to avoid, I never enjoyed that burnt throat sensation or overly tingling lips.

Phil on the other hand LOVES hot spices.   And apparently this is H.O.T.

Really simple to make too.

Normally vegan buffalo ‘wings’ are made with cauliflower rather than broccoli.  But as Phil doesn’t like cauliflower it was broccoli or sprouts.  And as he’s only just decided he likes sprouts so I thought I’d go with a tried, tested and now loved veg – the humble broccoli floret.

I also wanted these to be crispy and have an almost batter like coating so they’re baked twice.

How to make vegan wings:

Break the broccoli into florets.  How much stalk you leave is up to you.  Fussy fusserson Phil doesn’t like the stalks.  I blame his rubber teeth.

Toss with seasoning and flour.  The onion salt, garlic powder, fresh herbs and salt and pepper give a greater depth of flavour than just using the hot sauce alone.  The flour, cornflour and milk give the broccoli florets crisp, almost batter like, little jackets.  This makes them crunchy on the outside while remaining tender on the inside.

These would also be really easy to make gluten free.  I love this fava bean flour from Hodmedods.  Such a wonderfully mild flavour.  Cornflour is naturally gluten free.

Bake in a hot oven.  This is the first part of the roasted broccoli and allows the flour and cornflour to crisp up before coating in the hot sauce.

Hot sauce time!  Carefully tip into a bowl with the hot sauce and stir well to coat.  Tip back onto your tray and bake the broccoli for a second and final time.

These buffalo broccoli bites make a quick and healthy snack.  And I’m assured a cooling tzatziki works wonders for toning down the spice.  Hummus would probably be equally as good.  Apparently they also go really well with homemade vegan mayonnaise potato salad and crisp lettuce leaves for a flavoursome and healthy meal 🙂

Love healthy snacks as much as we do?  Here’s some of our tried and tested favourites (all vegan too!):

Savoury scones – also gluten free!

Herb roasted cashews – so SO moreish!  Make extra.  You’ll thank me later.

Pina Colada Ice Lollies – kid friendly version!

Healthy Cookies – so much goodness crammed into a cookie.

I’d love to hear from you if you make these Buffalo Broccoli Bites.  Just leave a comment as it’s so helpful and I love to hear how the recipe worked out for you!  Thank you so much

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