oven fried lemon garlic pepper popcorn cauliflower with dill ranch dip
I put a cheeky poll up on Instagram the night I created this recipe to see if I could fool anyone as to this dish’s main component. 33% of the pollsters voted chicken. I’m flattered. See how appetizing the humble pale tree can become?
J and I hosted our inaugural gameday snack session, and by “hosted” I mean we made enough food for 20 people and ate practically all of it ourselves. I credit marathon training for our masticating prowess. I made a spread of tortilla chips, various dips, crackers, tater tots (holy shit, tots – haven’t had the pleasure of munching those in YEARS), errant grapes, and a few chocolates leftover from an upcoming charcuterie platter I’m saving for whenever I feel like posting it.
For the main dish, J air fried some Asian bbq chicken wings, and I baked these. Even his cauliflower-hating self admired the crunchiness exhibited by these bites. No soggy, sad winglets here.
Cauli Me Maybe
How to make cauliflower not dissolve into a mushy meh-ss?
High heat baking.
As with my Oven Baked Pb&J Cauliflower Wings, you mustn’t fear the heat. 450 degrees ensures the breadcrumbs crisp properly and the insides bake without losing too much of their structural integrity. The result? A coating with plenty of crunch, and a body with just enough tenderness to push it past raw but not to soup. I’ve never gone wrong with boosting the oven temp up.
That said, roll into your cauli-party with a preheated oven and two baking sheets lined with parchment. You might only need one if the sheet is big enough, but I prepped two just in case. Another point to remember is crowding the pans prevents proper crispage.
You will need two dredge bowls: one with a combination of all purpose flour and beer, and another with a seasoned breadcrumb blend. The latter involves a whisk-together of panko breadcrumbs, paprika (more for color than anything), garlic powder, black pepper, and salt. I usually prepare a third bowl with water to dip my messy fingers in. Clumped batters aren’t cute.
Take a big cauliflower floret and dunk it in the beer mixture. Let excess drip off. Then, drop and roll the floret into the breadcrumbs until nicely coated. Set onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining cauliflowers until all are spent. I got about 4 cups worth of florets, varying sizes, and still had some batters leftover.
Spray the cauliflowers with a bit of oil, and set in the oven to bake. 30 minutes does the trick. Be sure to flip them halfway through.
Butter Me Up
In the final 15 minutes of bake time, prepare the buttery lemon garlic pepper sauce. The final touch that’ll make you want to slap your own ass and call yourself Sally. It’s the easiest thing, but really adds an extra layer of awesome to the popcorn caulis.
Melt some butter in a large skillet with minced garlic, lemon zest, black pepper, and a touch of oregano. Watch the heat closely: the butter is okay to brown somewhat, but not too much, else it burns to the bottom of the pan. Once the garlic begins to turn golden, shut the heat off.
When the cauliflower is ready, remove the pan(s) from the oven. Working a few florets at a time, toss into the butter sauce until nicely covered. Set onto a platter or serving dish.
Last step? Ranch dip. Enlist your food processor and whip up some plain Greek yogurt, fresh or dried dill, parsley, garlic cloves, onion powder, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour the creamy dip into a bowl, set it on your gameday snack table, and dig right in!
My gameday spread of choice? Aside from these wings, try these:
…Summertime Melon and Peach White Sangria
…And for dessert? Dunked White Chocolate Confetti Sugar Cookies.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup very cold beer of choice
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups cauliflower florets
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
dill ranch dip
- 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, or 1 tsp dried
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and beer until frothy and free of clumps. In a second medium-sized bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, and salt.
- Working one floret at a time, first dredge in the beer mixture. Let excess drip back into the bowl. Then, press into the breadcrumbs, tossing finger-fulls into the crevices of the cauliflower. Set onto baking sheet. Rinse fingers between each cauliflower. Repeat until all the cauliflower is used, leaving space between each battered floret.
- Spray cauliflowers lightly with oil. Bake 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- In the final 15 minutes of the cauliflower's baking time, melt butter in a large skillet along with the garlic, oregano, pepper, and lemon zest. Heat until butter begins to brown and the aromatics are fragrant, then turn off the range. Remove cauliflower from the oven and, a few florets at a time, toss into the butter. Set onto a serving platter or a bowl/dish. Drizzle any remaining butter over the cauliflowers.
- Make the dip. In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the dill ranch dip. Blitz until smooth, tasting for seasoning. Pour into a small serving bowl. Dunk away!
