Zingy 10-Minute Vegan Buffalo Sauce

With a bold, fiery kick and buttery smooth texture, this buffalo sauce recipe is a must-make for anyone that wants to spice up their life! Made with hot sauce, vegan butter and a splash of white vinegar, it’s the perfect balance of tangy and spicy. It all comes together in less than ten minutes – no special equipment required!

After ten years cooking and eight years cooking plant-based, I’ve experimented enough to know that some recipes don’t need reinventing, just a bit of refining! If you get it just right, you can drizzle it over vegan chicken quesadillas , or my vegan chicken fingers – the possibilities are endless!

My buffalo sauce has been around a long time, and it’s not an overly complex recipe, so adjusting this recipe to being vegan and just as delicious is exactly what I was looking for. Through all my testing, I discovered the perfect balance of silky smooth sauce combined with a zesty taste that sticks to whatever you toss it in. Don’t believe me? This buffalo grilled cheese is all the proof you’ll need!

Buffalo sauce isn’t “just hot sauce“

People often assume that buffalo sauce is just another word for hot sauce. While they are often used interchangeably, it isn’t the truth! There’s a very specific way that I bring that well rounded, unmistakeable buffalo sauce flavour to the dinner table:

• Soften the flavour with vegan butter – it mellows out the intense heat.
• Keep it lively with vinegar! Extra tang never hurt anyone.
• Add depth with garlic powder. Adds a bold flavour that never lets your meal fall flat.

I always tell people that mastering some basic sauces should be top priority when learning to cook. With a quick and easy sauce like this, it’s rather simple to master flavour harmony!

There’s more to a good sauce than just good ingredients

Over time, I’ve learned that there’s more to getting a sauce to delicious perfection than just adding the right ingredients, or even the best ingredients! That’s of course still an important part of the process, but take the following with the idea that any sauce can be elevated to be even better by perfecting the method.

How you heat and whisk the sauce can have a huge impact on the end result. Too much heat and the vegan butter breaks, too little and the sauce has a hard time clinging. Here’s how to whisk to your tastebuds delight:

• Whisk in small circles once both the butter and hot sauce meet in the pan for early incorporation.
• Whisk quickly – this creates a frothy texture with small bubbles and gives a restaurant quality finish.
• Toss the sauce over anything you like gently in a bowl to make certain of an even coat.

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