This very well could be the Ultimate Buffalo Cauliflower pizza! Tangy buffalo sauce infused pizza dough topped with even more buffalo sauce, two cheese blend, steamed cauliflower, crispy bacon, and a killer crispy ranch-seasoned slaw!
As you know, pizza is a pretty big deal in my life. Heck, I just moved a 1200 pound pizza oven plus a 400-pound stand over 2100 miles cross-country. Pizza to me is a food group.
It’s that one food, no matter what, I have never grown tired of.
And I’ve said it countless times, pizza is one of those few truly versatile foods where you can add whatever you want to it and it’s still pizza.
Recipe Inspiration
So I created on Instagram the Pizzaiolo Tribe a while back. Essentially it’s a group of Global Pizzaiolo artists sharing their master creations, providing knowledge & education. One of the members, Josh of @truecraftbbq, asked us to collaborate with him on creating our own rendition of a Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza.
Being a huge Buffalo-anything fan, I was totally on board. I put my own spin on it as I switched up the dough a bit. I also went with no blue cheese but rather used ranch seasoned slaw (with obligatory dipping ranch on the side). And I also went more of a flatbread style.
I wanted a pizza that could hold up to the cauliflower pieces.
Ingredients Needed:
- Pizza dough – I added some buffalo sauce to the dough and some finely shredded carrots. FYI this recipe makes 2 dough balls!
- Steamed Cauliflower – this couldn’t be any easier when you use my 1-Minute Instant Pot Recipe
- Buffalo Sauce – Your favorite prepared sauce works. If you’re not a buffalo fan, you can totally use a Gochujang type sauce like the one I use in this wing recipe
- Cheese – I loved the combination of feta and mozzarella
- Seasoned Slaw – a mixture of oil, salt, pepper, green onions, cilantro, and buttermilk ranch seasoning. *Make this as soon as you make the dough. See directions below.
- Bacon – it’s totally optional if you want to keep it strictly vegetarian. However if you can add it, DO! It’s AMAZING!
About this dough
As you’ll notice my dough is a little orange-ish. When I made the dough I added about 1/4 cup prepared buffalo sauce to the mix plus a bit of finely shredded carrot bits. The carrots are optional as well as the buffalo sauce but I HIGHLY recommend it to really amplify the buffalo flavor in each and every bite!
Cauliflower – Steamed or Roasted
For this recipe, I went with steamed cauliflower as it was the quickest thing to make. If you wanted, you could totally roast or air fry your cauliflower first before making your pizza. Don’t put it on raw as it’ll be too hard when you go to eat the pizza.
Let’s Make Pizza!
I have a bunch of recipes on here on how to make pizza dough. This is pretty straight forward. I’ll cover it all in the recipe section below.
Once your pizza dough has performed the first rise, you want to get it set in the flatbread pan. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the LloydPans products. They truly are THE BEST for dough.
If you want to get some amazing pans from them I have a 10% off discount code through their website to use. It’s good for one time only per person so order wisely. If you’re not sure what to get, send me a message and I’ll be happy to help you with pans!
Personal Discount Code: Lori-thekitchenwhisperer10
- Bring the dough to room temperature if it was in the fridge. Add a teaspoon or two of canola or light oil to the flatbread pan and brush it out coating the bottom and the sides. It just needs to lightly coat it
- Place the proofed dough ball onto a lightly floured surface and stretch out into at least a 12″x3-4″ rectangle. It’s OK if you don’t get it stretched the whole way.
- Place the stretched dough onto the plan and gently push/nudge it out towards the edges.
- Cover with a lightly sprayed piece of plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the dough rises a bit more and stretches out towards the ends. ~30-60 minutes.
Chef’s Tip For Stretching Pizza Dough
- If your dough is cold, bring it to room temperature before trying to stretch.
- If the dough snaps back and you find you’re finding that you’re struggling to stretch it, let it go. Just cover with a lightly sprayed piece of plastic wrap.
Dress the Pizza
- To the dough add half of the feta and mozzarella.
- If using, add the crispy bacon.
- Top with steamed (or roasted) cauliflower.
- Drizzle on the prepared Buffalow sauce and add the rest of the cheese.
- Bake at 550 F on at least 1 pizza stone (between 2 is best) for 7-10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, transfer the pizza to a cutting board, and top with the Ranch Seasoned Slaw
Add the Ranch Seasoned Slaw
While the plain buffalo cauliflower pizza is amazing as-is, it isn’t that “pretty”. But that’s a quick fix. Not only does this slaw add that pretty-factor but it also adds great flavor and texture!
This slaw is crazy delish and is almost embarrassingly easy!
- While the dough is proofing (sorry but I didn’t take pics of this process), add your bagged slaw to a bowl along with some chopped green onions and fresh cilantro.
- Drizzle over the olive oil, salt, pepper, and Buttermilk Ranch Seasoning. Using a spoon, mix to combine. Cover and place in the fridge until the pizza is ready to top.
- Place the pizza on a serving board and, using a slotted spoon (or your clean fingers), sprinkle the slaw over top of the warm pizza.
Any way you slice it!
Grab your trusty rocker pizza cutter (or sharp knife), and serve it up.
Perfect Pairings
This pizza is great served with the following items:
- Sliced Carrots and Celery
- Homemade Buttermilk Ranch dressing (or storebought). You can totally serve with blue cheese if you love that stuff too.
- Buffalo Chicken dip (or pizza)
- Extra Ranch Seasoned Slaw
- Chicken Crack Braided Bread
Substitutions/Additions
- Protein – add cooked chicken, shrimp, or shredded cooked pork
- Veggies – steamed broccoli, crispy chickpeas
- Sauces – If you’re not a buffalo fan you can totally go with my Gochujang Wing Sauce
- Cheese – Mix it up! Go with bleu cheese and gorgonzola! Cheddar and Habanero pair really well together
- Want it Spicier? – Add jalapeno peppers or hot banana peppers and a hotter buffalo sauce
Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza with Ranch Seasoned Slaw
This very well could be the Ultimate Buffalo Cauliflower pizza! Tangy buffalo sauce infused pizza dough topped with even more buffalo sauce, cheese blend, steamed cauliflower, crispy bacon, and a killer crispy ranch-seasoned slaw!
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 9-12
- Total Time: 75 minutes
- Category: pizza, buffalo, vegetarian
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: artisan pizza, buffalo cauliflower
Ingredients
For the 5×15” flatbread pan
- 1 Simple Pizza Dough ball mixed through the first rise *see below plus optional 1/4 cup Buffalo sauce and 3 tablespoon shredded carrots
- 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup Prepared Buffalo Sauce
- 2 cups steamed cauliflower florets
- 2 slices crispy cooked bacon, chopped
- 3/4 cup feta crumbles
- 3/4 cup cubed mozzarella (or ~1 cup freshly shredded)
Ranch Seasoned Slaw
- 2 cups coleslaw mix
- 1–2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 chopped green onions
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Buttermilk Ranch Seasoning
Simple Pizza Dough – this makes 2 dough balls
- 1 packet platinum instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon or 1/3 of a 2-ounce block (so .66 ounces of cake yeast)
- ~350 grams of water or 1 1/2 cups * if using the same day use warm water(105-115 degrees F/40-46 degrees C). If fermenting overnight in the fridge use cold water
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1/8 cup olive oil (about 2 tablespoon)
- ~475 grams or 3 – 3 1/2 cups 00 Pizza flour or any high gluten bread flour, plus extra as needed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- optional 1/4 cup Buffalo sauce and 3 tablespoon shredded carrots *If using, increase the flour by 34 grams or ~1/4 cup
Instructions
Simple Pizza Dough
- Proof the yeast by pouring the yeast and sugar into the water in a bowl of your stand mixer and gently stir until the yeast dissolves. *Cake yeast you make have to break up with your fingers
- Let the yeast and water stand until foamy, about 5 minutes*. If using cold water, just mix and move to the next step as the yeast won’t quite bloom with cold water.
- Once the yeast has bloomed, add in the flour and fit your mixer with a dough hook. Mix on low just until loosely combined. Add in the salt (*If using, add in the carrots and 1/4 cup buffalo sauce now) while the mixer is running stopping if need be to scrape down the sides. After 3 minutes of mixing, drizzle in the oil.
- Mix until a soft, smooth elastic ball form; ~8-10 minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but still be wet/tacky to the touch. If needed, add a tablespoon of flour or so to help combine. If it’s too dry, you may need to add a few tablespoon of water. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a very lightly floured surface. Give it a few kneads to form the dough into a smooth ball tucking the ‘ends’ underneath.
- Allow the dough to rest, covered for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, using very lightly floured hands, knead the dough gently by hand just to smooth it out and divide it into smaller portions. If using the same day, divide the dough in half, shape as balls, and put in 2 separate bowls (covered), and allow to rise until doubled in size; about 60-90 minutes. If you’re placing it in the fridge, divide it into 2 equal-sized balls, and place it in 2 bowls covered with plastic wrap (just be sure it has enough room to rise), and refrigerate (covered) overnight. The slow cold rise will help build the flavors.
Make The Ranch Seasoned Slaw
- Before stretching the pizza dough, add the slaw ingredients to a bowl, mix, cover, and allow rest for at least 15 minutes.
Stretch The Pizza
- Once the dough has doubled in size, pan the dough. *Bring one of the dough balls to room temperature if it was in the fridge before using it. If you’re making 2 pizzas, bring both to room temperature
- Add the canola oil to the flatbread pizza pan and, using a pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides with the canola oil.
- Place the dough ball on a lightly floured board and stretch out to a 12-13″x3-5″ rectangle. it’s OK if it doesn’t stretch out first. You just want to stretch it out into a rectangle.
- Place the lightly stretched dough into the oiled pizza pan and gently press it out towards the edges as much as possible without ripping it. If the dough springs back it’s ok. Cover the pan and dough with sprayed plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough has puffed and spread out more towards the edges.
- Preheat the oven to 550F placing the rack on the lower third of the oven with a pizza stone on it. Add one more rack to the upper third. As the oven is heating up, uncover the pizza, and gently push the dough out towards the edges of the flatbread pan.
Top & Bake The Pizza
- Add half of the feta and mozzarella. If using, add the bacon. Top with the steamed cauliflower, drizzle on the buffalo sauce, and the rest of the cheese.
- Place the flatbread pan on the pizza stone (lower third rack) and bake for 7-9 minutes or until the crust has turned golden brown. Move the pizza to the upper rack if the cheese has not melted and allow to bake for 1 minute more.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the pizza to a cutting board.
- Add on the ranch seasoned slaw and cut with a Pizza Rocker (it’s the easiest) and serve.
Notes
*Prep time does not include making the pizza dough
Using a Standard Size 18×13” rimmed baking sheet
- Stretch the dough out to cover the whole pan, top the pizza, and bake.
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