Crispy on the outside, cheesy on the inside. These cauliflower cheddar fritters are packed full of vitamins and are delicious.
Ever since I began making cauliflower tots and cauliflower pizza my family has been in love with cauliflower. I’ve added it to our dinner routine in so many different ways but we just can’t seem to get enough!
I don’t mind the obsession at all, considering cauliflower is a super healthy vegetable and contains antioxidants and phytonutrients that can protect against cancer. It’s also high in fiber so it helps with satiety and weight loss. Hurry to healthy yummy food! So who’s complaining, right?! ????
To begin, boil the cauliflower for 8-10 minutes then process it in the food processor. This step can also be done by hand, to do this mince the cauliflower finely with a knife.
Next, combine the cauliflower with shredded cheddar, parmesan, eggs, breadcrumbs, and seasoning. Shape into patties and pan fry for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve with a side of sour cream, ketchup, chipotle sauce, avocado sauce, or your favorite dipping sauce! They work well for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Cauliflower Fritters
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower or a 16 oz bag of frozen cauliflower
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup bread crumbs panko or italian, I used panko
- 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning optional
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper more of less to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic or onion powder
- olive or canola oil
Instructions
- Cut cauliflower into florets and cook in boiling water until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain, then process the cauliflower in the food processor until it become the texture of rice. This can also be done using a knife.
- Combine the minced cauliflower, cheeses, eggs, breadcrumbs, and seasoning.
- Heat skillet to medium/high heat. Coat with oil (about 1/2 inch) Form cauliflower mixture into patties about 3 inches across.
- Cook until golden brown & set, about 3-4 minutes per side. Enjoy with sour cream or your favorite dipping sauce!
Nutrition
The flavor is good but the technique needs to be changed in order to have a more predictable outcome. They are way too delicate and fall apart when trying to fry. The answer to this problem is to put them in an air fryer. Once I had them patted out as firmly as I could get them onto a piece of parchment paper, and no larger than 3 inches across, I gently used the parchment to flip one onto a spatula and transferred it to my Ninja Foodi. (There is only enough room to do 3 at a time so it takes awhile to get through the whole batch). Cook them on 400 degrees for 10 minutes flipping them over after 7minutes and continuing for the 3 more. This eliminates all the oil as well. I thought they tasted extra good with some Texas Pete sauce. I did not wring the water out of my cauliflower but I did let it cool down so there wasn’t any extra water with the steam.
This recipe was delicious. I did make some changes…
*used a head of cauliflower washed and ground up fine in a food processor
*used some left over hoagie buns also ground fine in food processor
*used pepper jack cheese
* I also added some steak seasoning (I it that on everything)
I did fry them in olive oil and let the oil get hot it they were perfect. It only took about 10 minutes to cook since my cauliflower was so fine
so I just made these used half the califlower same amount of cheese 2 eggs and about 2 tablespoon flour. Came out beautifully, didn’t fall apart, cooled the califlower down a little before mixing it with the crumbs and eggs and cheese . then made 7 patties.
Good to hear!
I made this a few hours ahead of time,I let it sit in the fridge, until I was ready to cooked it, was not wet at all…they were great tasting, Will make them again
I followed the recipe, and they turned out very good , delicious recipe, but from what I am reading from the reviews that some are having trouble when frying , the patties falls apart, well what I did, after dicing the Cauliflower, I squeezed the liquid out of the cauliflower by pressing with my hands , than I added all the ingredients, and they did not fall apart at all when frying. Thank you for this great recipe
Thanks for the feedback, Helen. Happy you enjoyed the fritters <3
Could rice flower be used instead of Panko?
I haven’t tried that but please do update us if you try it out!
I am wondering if pork rind panko instead of bread crumbs will work in keeping with keto?
I followed the recipe but I substituted the Pablo for almond flour and added an extra egg. I did air fry it for 30 min. Came out great they just stuck only a little to the pan next time I’ll make sure to spray it w non stick .
But it’s def a better choice than frying . Thank you
Thank you so much! I was wondering what to substitute bread crumbs with, low carb version. Will make it in the air fry. Thanks!
A couple helpful thoughts on this recipe:
– 25 minutes is not nearly how long it takes. Definitely at least an hour, so don’t let that fool you. But I think the work is worth it!
– Yes, these are likely to fall apart. Frustrating. But by my third batch, I felt I had it down OK. So…
– I recommend cooking 3 MAX at a time. The nature with frying anything is the more you put in the pan on the stove, the harder it is to cook. With this recipe, I get my best fritters when I only cook 2 at a time. Gotta be patient.
– Make sure you heat up your oil pretty hot. The first batch of anything fried usually is a test run. But waiting for the oil to heat up really helps.
– Next time I might try making the centers just a bit thinner and the edges a bit thicker. The outsides are always really quick to cook.
Hope that helps!
Same issue as others – they fell apart; very wet. Tasted ok, but would need to get rid of excess moisture, if I were to ever attempt again.
I read all the posts about the ways of dealing with the patties falling apart. I had no problems. I made sure the oil was heated before placing a small flat patty in the pan. I did not touch them until I saw browning edges. I used 2 spatulas to turn over. Fried for
only a couple more minutes. Used 2 spatulas to remove from pan onto paper towel to soak up oil..
worked great
Thanks for the tips and detailed feedback!
I just finished my 1st ever batch and WOW! SO good. I followed the recipes ingredients for the most part but tweaked it a little. I added 1/3 cup more cheddar cheese,about 10- 15 mashed thawed tater tots, added an extra egg and some chopped onions.
To avoid burning, cook on medium to medium high. To totally prevent crumbling, do NOT touch the patties until they’re brown around the edges and then be extra careful when flipping them. I followed this advice in another members txt and it worked perfect. They turned out looking just like the pictures and taste SO yummy! Woo hoo!
I made these and they were a mess! They fell apart at the slightest touch. They basically turned into cauliflower cheese scramble.
Next time I would squeeze the liquid out of the cauliflower using a cheese cloth which is what I do for my cauliflower crust.
These cauliflower fritters have a delicious taste, however mine crumbled and fell apart while frying even after adding additional eggs and bread crumbs. I think the problem was too much moisture in the boiled cauliflower. Next time I will rice the raw cauliflower and quick fry it till slightly browned then add it to the other ingredients. This should eliminate the excess moisture and hopefully they will hold together.
PS: I added them crumbled to a lettuce wrap with an Ahi tuna patty recipe also on Pinterest. Delicious!!!
Absolutely delicious! Made 2 dozen for Thanksgiving and there were no leftovers. Working on a vegan version for a friend 🙂
I haven’t tried these yet but am anxious to do so. I noticed the nutrition information says “52kcal”. Surely, that is not meant to be interpreted as 52,000 calories!?!
Cannot get it print???
There is a print button on the top of the page and under the recipe box. What browser are you using?