Easy air fryer Nashville Hot cauliflower bites, battered, air fried and then smothered in a sweet homemade Nashville Hot Sauce. This Crispy Cauliflower Bites recipe is not for the weak!
Preheat air fryer on AIR CRISP function for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Depending on the brand you have, it may be called AIR FRYER.
Mix together all-purpose flour, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.
Add 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup hot sauce and mix together well creating a batter.
Add raw cauliflower florets and swirl well to coat all sides of the vegetable.
Grease the air fryer basket with a thin layer of vegetable oil.
Place a single layer of battered cauliflower into the air fryer and heat on the air crisp function for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Air Crisp function is related to the "Ninja Foodi" air fryer. Other brands may call it something different.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup hot sauce and 2 tablespoons brown sugar and whisk together well.
Dredge cooked cauliflower in the mixture to evenly coat with Nashville Hot Sauce.
Serve immediately with favorite dipping sauce. Suggested are ranch or blue cheese.
Notes
What size should cauliflower be?Use an entire cauliflower head and break it into sizeable individual cauliflower florets. No need to go itty bitty bite-sized. Can frozen cauliflower be used?This recipe does not test using frozen cauliflower; however, these are my thoughts. The Tiktok version includes raw and uncooked cauliflower that softens in the air fryer. If using frozen cauliflower, it's typically cooked through.Any cauliflower would need to be defrosted and drained of moisture, battered, and then cooked. While it would likely have a positive outcome, the cooking times would be WAY different and need to be monitored. Frozen cauliflower may be better for deep frying as you can flash fry the coated cauliflower and pull quickly. How many cups of cauliflower are in a typical head?On average, about 4 cups of cauliflower. Sauces that Complement this RecipeIf preferred, instead of dredging air-fried cauliflower in a sweet hot sauce mixture, instead try blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, or your favorite sauce of choice.