A surprisingly tasty appetizer, made with pureed cauliflower and reminiscent of a buffalo chicken dip.
There doesn’t seem to be much desired when talking about cauliflower. I love it roasted and lightly salted, or slathered with melted cheese. But, it still is pretty overlooked when talking about favorite vegetables.
Let me help you change your perspective. Lately, I’ve seen recipes pop up all over the place with cauliflower as the star ingredient. It is used in such creative ways, from mashed “potatoes”, to faux buffalo wings (seriously!). Now I’m finding it as a dip!
This cauliflower dip I found on The Daily Meal, created by Heather Christo, was one of the two recipes I contributed to last month’s Pinterest Party. (This Snickers Cake was the other.) Not knowing what to expect, I ended up LOVING the dip and will make it again for the football season.
I did make quite a few changes, though. I hate/loathe/despise goat cheese, so omitted it altogether. Instead of shredded Monterey Jack cheese, I used shredded Mexican flavored cheese that was already in my fridge. More cayenne pepper was needed, and next time I make it I’m adding some hot sauce (indicated in my version below). This dip serves well with vegetables, crackers, chips or pretzels. At the party, I served it with sweet peppers, grape tomatoes, Ritz crackers and Cheddar Chipotle Pretzel Crisps.
Follow along with us as we add more of our favorite, tried and true, recipes from Pinterest to our own personal group board.
Pinterest Party: Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Dip
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon salt , plus more to salt boiling water
- 1 head cauliflower , cut into florets
- 2 cloves garlic , peeled and halved
- 8 ounces cream cheese , quartered
- 1 package (8 oz) shredded Mexican flavored cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper , more or less to taste
- 1/4 cup hot sauce , more or less to taste
- Vegetables , crackers, pretzels, chips (for dipping)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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Boil the cauliflower florets in a large pot of salted boiling water until just fork tender, about 3-5 minutes; drain and transfer to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the garlic to the bowl and pulse until combined. Add the cream cheese and process until somewhat smooth.
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Add the cheese, cayenne pepper and hot sauce then process until smooth. Sprinkle in more cayenne pepper and hot sauce, to taste. Transfer to a baking dish (at least 1 1/2 quart sized). Sprinkle the top with more cayenne pepper for garnish, if desired.
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Bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature with the vegetables, crackers, pretzels and/or chips.
This dip sounds awesome! Love the buffalo flavour!
FINALLY, I find someone else who does not like goat cheese! Thank you!! I am often an outcast, so I’m glad to not be alone. 🙂 This dip looks delish and perfect in time for football afternoons. Great way to sneak veggies into my family.
HAHA! I also feel like such an outcast whenever I announce I do not like goat cheese. 🙂 I used to choke it down just so I didn’t have to tell anyone. But, I can’t handle it anymore. 😉
Goat cheese is disgusting! I call it The English Patient of the cheese world 🙂
I hate goat cheese too! We need to start a club! But this dip sounds fantastic and I plan to try it as soon as possible!
This dip looks delicious! I, too, have seen cauliflower a replacement for many things, including Alfredo sauce. Not sure how that would taste! Glad the cauliflower worked here!
Oh man. I love everything about this. I didn’t even know they made chipotle pretzel chips! I love buffalo sauce, but I’m not a huge fan of wings so this looks awesome. Totally pinning this.
Thanks for including me, Nikki. I love all these cauliflower ideas!!
What is the texture of this? The picture looks like grits. I’m intrigued.
Hey Karen! I haven’t had too many experiences with grits, but I would say this is smoother. 🙂
This was one of my favorite recipes of the night! Totally unexpected because you are right, cauliflower doesn’t have a reputation for being tasty. But this really was! I will definitely make this on my own.
And for Karen’s question re: grits, I didn’t think it tasted like grits at all. It was much softer and smoother.
Wow this recipe is incredible, I bet this tastes so amazing 🙂 I can’t wait to make it!
I love all things buffalo and am always looking for new recipes. I happen to like goat cheese…would it call for the same amount? Also, do you think blue cheese would work? Amount? Thanks!
Hi Lisa,
Try about 2 ounces of goat cheese (or blue cheese). 🙂
What kind of hot sauce?? Can’t wait to try this.
Use your favorite! 🙂
I tried this today, making a few changes of my own. First, I halved the recipe, because this is my first time ever eating cauliflower and I didn’t want to waste the whole head on this dish in case I don’t like it! I used chive and onion flavored cream cheese for a little added flavor, I completely omitted the cayenne pepper because I’ve never used it, and don’t know my tolerance with it. I did, however, use the whole 1/4 cup hot sauce since I didn’t use the pepper. I used franks. I also used extra sharp cheddar cheese in my dish. It’s baking as I type and I hope it tastes good. I’m trying to incorporate more veggies into my diet any way I can! NOTE: I couldn’t get mine to turn out as smooth as yours, no matter how long I pureed it…so in answer to another comment, the texture of mine is kind of like grits!
Thanks for your feedback, Hillary! Let us know how you like the taste after it’s done baking! 🙂
Uh oh…I actually love goat cheese! This recipe looks awesome. Do you think I could do some goat cheese and some other cheese? How much of each should I do? Thanks!!
If I substitute greek yogurt for the cream cheese what amount should be used?
I was wondering if you could make this, put it in a casserole dish and instead of putting it in the oven right away if you could refrigerate it till the next day then bake it? I’d like to bring this to Christmas but I have so much to do the day of that I’d like to make it ahead of time if possible. Thanks
Hi Diane! That should be fine! Just make sure it’s baked long enough to be heated through. 🙂
Do you have the nutritional value of this dip?
Hi Theri,
I do not. Sorry! I believe there are helpful websites that can calculate it for you, though. A Google search of nutritional calculators might help where you can probably copy/paste the ingredients in. Hope this helps!