Some foodies stick their noses up at the thought of broccoli wings, but not you. You may have loved chicken wings once, but these days, fried, greasy food is seldom (if ever) on your menu. When Meatless Monday rolls around, try this boldly flavored recipe for a healthy, vegan and gluten-free take on the classic finger food. The secret behind the intense taste of these broccoli wings is in the two coatings of sauce. These double-dipped doppelgangers are crispy, caramelized and so near-authentic, you’ll never miss the deep-fried duds.
Vegan Sweet Chili Wings
Ingredients
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets (or 1 bag of florets)
⅓ cup tapioca flour
⅓ cup white rice flour
1-½ cup water, plus more, as needed
¼ cup sriracha sauce
4 oz. sweet chili sauce
Salt & pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except for the broccoli and sweet chili sauce. Add the water in slowly until the mixture reaches a similar consistency to pancake batter. A thick batter means a heavy crust and a thin batter means a light crust.
- Dip each floret into the batter, one at a time, and remove it with a fork, gently tapping off the excess batter. Place coated florets on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping each wing half way through.
- After baking, add wings to a large bowl. Add in half of sweet chili sauce and mix gently until all wings are coated.
- Transfer wings back to baking sheet and bake for 10 more minutes.
- Remove from wings from oven, put them back in the bowl and pour in the remaining sauce and bake again for an additional 10 minutes or more. When wings are done, they will be crispy and slightly sticky with a deep orange color.
Margaret’s tips:
- Keep the florets bite-size. Small pieces become crunchier, but keep in mind, if they’re too small, they’ll burn. Adjust cooking time as needed.
- The sriracha measurement is just a guideline. Feel free to use as much or as little as you want.
- For baking, I placed the wire rack to the middle-top section of the oven.
- If you’re pressed for time, you don’t have to bake them twice in the sweet chili sauce. Just mix all the sauce in at one time.