I've tried dozens of plant-based fast-food dishes. This new fried cauliflower sandwich was the best.

Dave's Hot Chicken, backed by celebrities Drake and Samuel L. Jackson, sells Nashville-style hot chicken tenders, sliders, crinkle-cut fries, and mac and cheese. The chain's battered and fried chicken tenders come in seven heat options.

This week, the chain introduced a cauliflower slider and fried cauliflower bites for a limited time. Both can be ordered with any of the chain's seven heat levels: no spice, lite mild, mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and Reaper.

Dave's Hot Chicken was founded as a pop-up restaurant in East Hollywood in 2017. It became an overnight success.

The chain had the foresight three years ago to trademark "Dave's Not Chicken" when it began to consider non-meat options for the menu.

But the chain's culinary team couldn't find "any product that delivered the same craveability as our chicken," the chain told Business Insider.

Arman Oganesyan, one of Dave's co-founders and chief brand officer, tried fried cauliflower a few years ago and put it on the brand's radar.

Serious testing occurred after Chick-fil-A rolled out its cauliflower sandwich last year.

"Seeing Chick-fil-A's test further validated that this could be a viable option, so long as we could nail the flavor profile," the chain told Business Insider.

From there, it took several weeks in the test kitchen to create a meat alternative "that's so tasty, even our most dedicated hot chicken loyalists will want to try it," the company said.

First, I'd like to point out that the slider is misnamed. It is not a tiny slider as one might expect from a chain like White Castle. It is a full-blown sandwich served on a soft, spongy potato bun.

It better be big because it costs $8.69, a $2 upcharge compared to the chicken tender sliders on Dave's menu.

(Editor's note: I ordered from a restaurant in Santa Ana, California. Prices may vary in other markets.)

Battered and fried cauliflower florets are becoming a common item found on casual dining menus. It's refreshing and smart to see Dave's Hot Chicken add cauliflower bites to the menu, an alternative to french fries and mac and cheese.

I ordered mine with no spice. They were served piping hot. It was a nice meaty bite, but I probably should have ordered it with a tad more heat as it was bland. It tasted better when I doused it in the chain's proprietary dipping sauce.

For years, fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and KFC have dabbled with plant-based foods. They know demand is real.

About one in five consumers say that they want more plant-based foods in their diet, according to a February 2023 report by market research firm Circana.

"About 25 million consumers eat plant-based beverages and foods occasionally or regularly, consuming these foods as part of a meal or as an ingredient," according to Circana.

As a result, plant-based chains are also growing in popularity, such as Hart House, Next Level Burger, and Mr.Charlie's. The latter is a terrible vegan spoof of McDonald's.

But no one has gotten it right until now.

I've eaten plant-based fast foods over my two-decade-long career covering the restaurant industry. I've tried KFC's Beyond Fried Chicken Meat, nearly the entire icky menu at Mr.Charlie's, and Veggie Grill, widely touted as one of the first plant-based fast food chains in the US. The food at Veggie Grill is delicious. But the chain, founded in 2006, has struggled with finances. It was acquired this week by Next Level Burger.

That's good news because the plant-based food at Veggie Grill is savory and delicious. But the fried cauliflower slider at Dave's Hot Chicken is the best plant-based menu item I have ever eaten at a fast-food restaurant. It was crazily addictive. I couldn't stop eating it.

I tried my sandwiches with the following spice levels: lite mild, mild, and medium. Medium is one of the most popular spice levels overall on the Dave's Hot Chicken menu.

The cauliflower "steak" is hand-sliced in the restaurant. The battered and fried cauliflower looked meaty on the sandwich, with parts of the fried vegetable sticking out from the bun. Quite frankly, it looked like real food compared to the ultra-processed "fake" meats offered by fast-food chains that use Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat products.

The lite-mild and mild seasonings were the perfect complement to the cauliflower. I got a tad bit of heat, but the spices weren't hot enough to overpower the distinct flavor of the cauliflower.

The medium heat, however, caused me to gulp down a cup of ice water. This heat level overpowered the sandwich. I recommend it to anyone who wants a yummy plant-based meal but without the taste or smell of cauliflower.

Dave's Hot Chicken cauliflower items and chicken tenders are fried in the same oil. However, the fries are prepared in different fryers.

So, guests can request that the restaurant fry the cauliflower in the french fry fryer, which only has fries.

The kitchen staff working the fryer will also do a glove change. So it's essentially vegetarian-friendly. It is not vegan because the batter, buns, and sauce may contain mayonnaise or egg.

"No, our team did not try CFA's cauliflower offerings. Our goal was simply to make the best iteration of Dave's Not Chicken as possible," the chain told Business Insider.

Well, I think they accomplished that goal.

Dave's and Chick-fil-A are taking advantage of demand in the market. But Dave's is moving a lot faster.

Last year, Chick-fil-A tested its fried cauliflower sandwich in Denver, Colorado, Charleston, South Carolina, and North Carolina's Greensboro-Triad region.

The pilot program is over, Chick-fil-A told Business Insider, adding that there's "nothing more to share at this time."

I never tried Chick-fil-A's plant-based sandwich because it wasn't served in California. The sandwich, which cost nearly $7, was prepared like its classic fried chicken counterpart. The vegetable was marinated and breaded with the chain's signature seasonings and pressure-cooked.

The ingenious part of Dave's plant-based sandwich is that diners can customize it with the spice level of their choice. So, you're bound to find the flavor profile that suits your palate.

When you add the chain's zesty slaw, crinkle-cut pickles, Dave's tangy sauce, and potato bun, the result is a winning plant-based fast-food item for Dave's Hot Chicken.