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Cauliflower rice for the win! This 10-minute appetizer recipe for Buffalo Cauliflower Dip is a hot, cheesy, and delicious vegetarian twist on classic Buffalo Chicken Dip.
Hot on the heels of California Pizza Kitchen’s Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower and other cauliflower snack recipes, this easy, cheesy Buffalo Cauliflower Dip is a delicious way to showcase the versatility of cauliflower. It gets its inspiration from the flavor of classic Buffalo Chicken Wings but without the chicken.
Grab your carrots and celery sticks, round up a few stacks of crackers, and prepare to dive in to this hot Buffalo Cauliflower Dip recipe. The entire easy appetizer idea can be ready to savor and share in 10 minutes, and you’ll love the creamy texture and spicy taste.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Riced cauliflower: Use a food processor or box grater and cauliflower florets to make your own cauliflower rice. To do it by hand, use the largest holes on a box grater to shred the bite-size pieces of cauliflower into tiny pearls. To use a food processor, simply cut the cauliflower into pieces and pulse the vegetable until evenly minced. Or buy a 16-ounce bag of cauliflower rice in the produce section.
- Hot sauce: Frank’s Red Hot is the classic Buffalo wing sauce. Feel free to substitute this zippy condiment with your another hot sauce you prefer.
- Cheddar cheese: Pre-shredded cheddar is just fine here.
- Ranch Dressing or Blue Cheese Dressing: For traditional Buffalo Dip, this recipe must be made with blue cheese dressing. However, if you don’t like blue cheese and do want to channel your inner Midwesterner, ranch is delicious, too.
Step by step instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add cauliflower rice and water. Cover and cook until fork-tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in buffalo sauce, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and ranch or blue cheese dressing. Continue stirring until the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with blue cheese crumbles or green onions. Serve hot with carrots, celery sticks, or crackers. Or, transfer to a slow cooker and keep warm until serving time.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: A single batch of this Cauliflower Buffalo Dip will feed about 16 for a snack or appetizer. Half or double the recipe as desired to fit your crowd.
- Storage: Store extra Buffalo Cauliflower Dip in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Since this easy snack recipe comes together in just 10 minutes, chances are, you won’t need to worry about making it in advance. If you must, however, stir everything together up to 24 hours ahead, store it in the refrigerator, and gently reheat it on the stove.
- Flavors: Add garlic powder, onion powder, or scallions to your dip for a customized buffalo dip.
- Oven method: Bake and serve this hot and cheesy buffalo dip from a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or baking dish if desired. Combine all dip ingredients, spread in bottom of pan, and bake at 400 degrees until hot and bubbly, stirring occasionally.
- Creamier: For a thinner, creamier texture, stir plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, or shredded mozzarella cheese into your cream cheese mixture. More dairy for the win!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, frozen cauliflower rice works just fine here!
Pretty much any sturdy dunking vessel you’d use for other dips like Hummus, Dill Dip, or Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Consider baked or fried pita wedges, tortilla chips, corn chip scoops, toasted baguette slices, baby bell pepper halves, or cucumber slices.
In a medium bowl, add 1 cup raw cashews and cover with 2 cups boiling water. Let soak for 30 minutes. Drain well and discard soaking liquid. In a high-speed blender, add drained cashews and ½ cup water. Blend until smooth, adding more water as needed to get a creamy consistency. For a savory sauce, I add an additional ½ cup water for 1 ½ cups total. Season to taste with salt (I like ¼ teaspoon).
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Buffalo Cauliflower Dip
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 pound riced cauliflower (see note 1)
- 1 (5-ounce) bottle hot sauce (see note 2)
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing (see note 3)
- blue cheese crumbles for garnish
- carrots and celery, peeled and cut into 4-inch pieces, for serving
- crackers for serving
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add cauliflower rice and water. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in hot sauce, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and ranch or blue cheese dressing. Continue stirring until hot and bubbly, about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with blue cheese crumbles. Serve hot with carrots, celery sticks, or crackers. Or, transfer to a slow cooker and keep warm until serving time.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Riced cauliflower: Use a food processor or box grater to make your own cauliflower rice. To do it by hand, use the largest holes on a box grater to shred the vegetable into tiny pieces. To use a food processor, simply cut the cauliflower into pieces and pulse the vegetable until evenly minced. Or buy a 16-ounce bag of cauliflower rice in the produce section.
- Hot sauce: Frank’s RedHot is classic Buffalo wing sauce; I wouldn’t use anything else. But you can try your favorite hot sauce if you have one.
- Ranch Dressing or Blue Cheese Dressing: For traditional Buffalo Dip, this recipe must be made with blue cheese dressing. However, if you don’t like blue cheese and do want to channel your inner Midwesterner, ranch is delicious, too.
- Yield: A single batch of this Buffalo Cauliflower Dip will feed about 16 for a snack or appetizer. Half or double the recipe as desired to fit your crowd.
- Storage: Transfer any extra Buffalo Cauliflower Dip to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Can you freeze this dip?
Hi Diane, I’ve never tried this but I don’t see why not! I’d suggest letting it thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving. Hope this helps! – Meggan
Super delicious! Great veggie-friendly alternative to hummus!
High-praise coming from a vegetarian! 😀 Thank you!