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This dump-and-bake Buffalo Cauliflower & Chickpea Casserole is cozy and hearty, plus you only need 10 ingredients to make it! Naturally Vegan & Gluten-Free.
Cauliflower wings, step aside! Our favorite cruciferous veggie combines with protein and fiber-packed chickpeas, hearty brown rice, hot sauce and a few simple spices to make this tastes-so-good-but-its-actually-good-for-you showstopper of a dish.
The best part? It tastes so. dang. good. Oh yeah, and you only need 10 simple ingredients to make it…
Making a Dump-and-Bake Casserole couldn’t be any easier…
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Whisk the vegetable broth, hot sauce, and spices in a pot and bring to a boil
- Arrange the remaining ingredients in a casserole dish, pour the liquid on top, cover, & bake!
The secret to this one-pan wonder of a dish is to add just the right amount of liquid to the casserole so the rice will absorb it and get nice and fluffy. Pre-boiling the liquid also helps speed things along in the oven, too.
After the casserole comes out of the oven, I’d highly recommend topping it with some sliced green onions and a hearty drizzle of Nut Free Vegan Ranch. But you do you, boo 😉
This Buffalo Cauliflower & Chickpea Casserole is great for meal-prep, a hands-off weeknight dinner, or to share with friends! It’s bursting with spicy “buffalo” flavor and serves as a heartier, wholesome alternative to a few deep fried wings. It’d be perfect for a game day potluck, too – would serving it alongside my Healthy Buffalo “Chicken” Dip be too much? Asking for a friend…
A Few Final Thoughts:
- Substitutions: you can swap out the chickpeas for another bean, or add in up to 1 cup of additional veggies – broccoli or green beans would be great here.
- Unfortunately I have not tested this recipe with any other rice or grain, so you need to stick with brown rice here. Subbing it out would require altering the liquid amount and cooking time.
- If you’re looking for more casserole recipes, you’ll also love this “Cheesy” Broccoli Rice Casserole and this Fall Roasted Vegetable Casserole!
Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
Buffalo Cauliflower & Chickpea Casserole
This dump-and-bake Buffalo Cauliflower & Chickpea Casserole is cozy and hearty, plus you only need 10 ingredients to make it!
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 60 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 to 6 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups (470 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) buffalo hot sauce
- 1/4 cup (22 g) nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 rib of celery, finely sliced
- 2 cups (374 g) chickpeas, cooked*
- 1/2 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets (about 2 cups; 200 g)
- 1 cup (182 g) uncooked brown rice
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- Nut Free Vegan Ranch and chopped green onions, for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix the vegetable broth, hot sauce, nutritional yeast, and onion powder together medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
- While the liquid is heating up, pour the chickpeas a 9×13″ pan or casserole dish. Sprinkle the cauliflower and celery evenly over the chickpeas, then add the uncooked brown rice over the top of the dish.
- Remove the vegetable broth from the heat once it comes to a boil and stir in the minced garlic. Pour the liquid evenly over the casserole dish; if any spices stick together you can gently separate them with a spatula. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil (or parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil) and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 60 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with green onions and/or vegan ranch, or serve as desired. Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to one month.
Notes
- If you are using canned chickpeas, be sure to drain and rinse them well. You can also replace them with any other bean of your choosing!
Keywords: dump and bake casserole, buffalo cauliflower casserole, buffalo caulof
So cheesy and buttery tasting! So easy to make! Such a great meal prep. I have it with some sliced avocado on top.
★★★★★
Wow, absolutely delicious! Had a first, then second serving. I was concerned about the amount of buffalo hot sauce. I thought it might be too much, but I was wrong. The dish was wonderful. I did add 1/2 cup of brown lentils, increased the broth slightly, added a couple of extra vegetables, and made a cashew/hemp seed crema to go on top. So easy and delicious.
Cannot wait to try another Dump & Bake recipe.
Thank you Caitlin!
★★★★★
We’re happy you found it delicious, Marta! ♥
Delicious and filling! I’ve made this several times with different brands/amounts of hot sauce. A 1/2 cup of Frank’s buffalo sauce made it pretty spicy. I like a good amount of spice but I’ll still usually do mostly hot sauce with some vegetable broth added in to make it a 1/2 cup. I serve it with blue cheese or ranch dressing, plus extra celery and lettuce on the side.
★★★★★
There are no words to describe how fabulously tasty and easy this dish is, I made the vegan ranch and it was also delicious. Will be making this again for sure. I followed the instructions and amounts as written and it was perfect.
★★★★★
Thank you for making it, Val. Glad you found it delicious! ♥
I tried this for our Sunday meal. My oven is not working, so I used a crock pot (the older, metal dish one that you set on the heating unit and cover). I considered reducing the liquids, but ended up covering all the veggies with the full 2 c. of broth mix to help it cook. When the veggies were cooked to a bit less than soft, there was still a good amount of liquid. I added about 2/3 c of breadcrumbs which thickened it up perfectly. Definitely agree with others–this is wonderful and I will make it again!
So happy you liked it, Valerie!
OMG, SO GOOD! I made this for dinner last night and it was so fast and easy. I made a vegan ranch to drizzle on top and served it with a side salad for a complete meal. I will definitely be making this again.
★★★★★
Glad you loved it, Michelle!
Made this exactly as recipe stated. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My whole family loved it It will definitely be added to ur list of favourites. Already want to make it again!! Thankyou!!!
You’re so welcome! Glad the whole family loved it.
Made this again and added extra firm tofu, crumbled for extra protein. Still just as good!!!!
★★★★★
So happy to hear that, Jayne!
This is one of our go-to weekday meals! It’s easy, healthful and delicious. I make lots of variations based on what ingredients I have on hand, but it always turns out. Thank you!
You’re so welcome, Melanie!
This is one of THE BEST recipes EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I made it twice within 5 days because we couldn’t’ get enough of it! I used Trader Joe’s vegan dill dressing (didn’t have ranch) and if anyone wonders- no it doesn’t taste like dill lol it was PERFECT for this recipe! My husband was even obsessed with this! THANK YOU!!!
★★★★★
So happy you and your husband loved it, Renee! Thank you for the review.
Really tasty, and I loved that I could pack it full of veggies and still serve more veggies on the side! My kids thought it was a little too spicy, so next time I’ll make it with half the hot sauce, but I’ll definitely making this again! If you don’t need the recipe to be vegan, a sprinkle of blue cheese on the top really added some delicious flavor and interest to an already delicious recipe. Thanks!
★★★★★
Thank you for the review, Alisa! We agree you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy the recipe.
I absolutely love this recipe, I like making it when I crave chicken wings!! It’s there any nutritional info you can provide?? And yesss I’d love to see a general tso dump and bake!!!
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious! Only bad thing is I didn’t make enough for leftovers.
★★★★★
That’s awesome, Debra! This surely means you’ll double the recipe next time! 😉
We really love this dump and bake recipe! It’s easy and full of flavor. We are spice wimps so we reduce the buffalo sauce, but it still is super yummy. Thank you for an easy all-in-one meal!
★★★★★
You are so welcome! So glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
SO easy and delicious! the perfect comforting winter meal! it’s definitely spicy but I personally love spice
★★★★★
Glad you liked it! ❤️
WOW. I am OBSESSED with this recipe. It is such a hearty vegetarian meal and so simple to make. I drizzle a little extra buffalo sauce on when I remove it from the oven for the extra spice, but otherwise follow exactly. And the ranch dressing recipe is a wonderful edition. Could not recommend more!
★★★★★
This feedback warms my heart. I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you, Kacie! 💕
So spicy but so good! I meal prepped this for my lunches and will be making this again and again. It’ll definitely be on my list for next football season as well.
★★★★★
This is really good, we make it once a week. Its a favorite of everyone in the house. My daughter doesn’t like too much Buffalo sauce so I cut it in half for the recipe, then after its cooked the rest of us top our dishes with more.
★★★★★
Thank you for the feedback, Michelle! I’m glad you and your daughter like it! 😊
Wow this was so good! I made it for my non vegan husband and mother-in-law and both loved it. My husband even requested I make it again the following week. I doubled the batch next time. So delicious but also so easy to make!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you all loved it, Kirsten! Thank you for the feedback! ♥
Yesss!!! Soo good and savory! Thank you!
★★★★★
Thank you for the feedback, Amy!
You’re so very welcome, Amy!
Could I substitute the Buffalo sauce with Frank’s Red Hot Original or would it be too spicy? Thank you! Can’t wait to try it!
Yes, you can use Frank’s Red Hot Original. Excited for you to try the recipe. Let us know how it goes!
I love this recipe and make it all the time! When I dont have buffalo suace, I use Franks Original and add about a TBS of vegan butter to the sauce mix
★★★★★
This is delicious! I added a chopped onion in with the cauliflower and celery (did 3 large stalks) and also subbed a cup of quinoa instead of the rice. I rinsed it the quinoa to get rid of any bitter flavor and reduced the veggie broth a bit (used about 1.6 cups instead of the full 2). Otherwise followed everything exactly as is and it turned out awesome!!!
★★★★★
Thank you for the feedback, Hannah!
Loved it! To me it didn’t feel like an entire meal though. What other veggies do you recommend to add and how? Cook first? Was thinking maybe sweet potatoes but don’t think they’d cook enough. Other ideas?
★★★★★