Have I told you about my cauliflower obsession? Seriously, I love cauliflower a lot. I also love tater tots – I can’t resist making a whole batch of them every weekend with a side of ketchup.
Today I decided to marry the two. I ran out of potatoes and thought I’d try cauliflower instead. After all, why not? It’s much healthier, plus I won’t feel guilty eating like a million of these little cauliflower tots. They are also baked so that’s another plus.
The mixture for this recipe is pretty simple and easy to put together. You’ll need 2 cups of cauliflower (obviously..), an egg, 1/2 cup of minced onions and 1/4 cup of bell pepper (I used red although, the bell peppers are completely optional), 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, cheese and salt + pepper to taste. Oh and I almost forgot, I also used 1/4 cup of minced cilantro but you can also use parsley instead.
The only pressure point to the recipe is chopping the cauliflower. I chopped it in the food processor but only pulsed it 3 or 4 times, no more than a few seconds because it can over process very quickly. If you are not sure or think you’ll mess it up, I suggest just chopping it up with a knife real quick.
Next mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, shape them into little tots and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with ketchup, eggs, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Skinny Baked Cauliflower Tots
Ingredients
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup onion, minced
- 1/4 cup bell pepper, minced (optional)
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 minced cilantro or parsley, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray or oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray or lightly grease with oil. Set aside.
Steam cauliflower in hot water for 3-5 minutes or until nice and soft, drain and chopped with a knife or blend in the food processor ( just a few seconds.) - In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of mixture in your hands and roll into small oval shaped tots.
- Place on the cookie sheet 1/2 inch apart and bake for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until golden.
These look great! Can you freeze if you have leftovers?
I LOVED these! I had the same problems some others had mentioned about getting them to stick together, so I added an extra egg white. They worked much better after that!
I love all the unique ways people are using cauliflower these days. A friend and I were talking last night about the need for warm comfort food when it’s cold outside, but that it’s hard to eat “healthy” comfort food. This will fit the bill for sure. I will have to share this recipe with her! Thanks.
I am making these for my sister, who can’t have gluten or dairy. I replaced the cheese with soy cheese. I don’t know how to replace the parmesan, so I just left it out. Used corn meal instead of bread crumbs.
They don’t hold together well at all, I couldn’t even get the tot shapes, so they’re just mounds. I chopped the cauliflower up as finely as shown in the picture, so that doesn’t seem to be the problem. Just put them in the oven, so I’ll see how they hold together once it’s time to turn them.
I’m going to have to learn how to veganize these. They look great. I was a little disheartened by the egg lol. Replacing the cheese is easy. Egg replacer is kinda pricey.
Aww I’m sorry to hear that!The egg is what keeps everything together and to be honest I haven’t tried the tots without it. How about trying it without the egg and see what happens. If you do try it without the egg let us know how it worked out. Best of luck! 🙂
Ground flax seed in water. Works great as a egg replacement, tastes great and adds omega 3! I tablespoon water to 3 tablespoons flax meal = 1 egg.
cauliflour cooked or raw when making this?
I just made these today. I used the cauliflower, egg, cheddar cheese and some onion powder. (I was in a hurry) They turned out great! Thank you so much for the recipe. I am going to try them ‘your way’ the next time. I like parmesan cheese but just didn’t have any on hand.
Try it a n d every one love it tkx
hi there!!
Thanks for this recipe – we made it with a few substitutions and loved it!
My husband wanted to make it again the next day and here is the result 🙂
http://www.kumocafe.com/2015/01/cooking-with-us-e33-cauliflower-cheese.html
I linked back to you of course:) Thanks again!
-Val!
I made these last night but subbed breadcrumbs for crumbled gluten free Chex cereal (I also made DIY chicken fingers with the same cereal), and they were delicious but I had similar problems as some other commenters with them not sticking together. One egg didn’t seem enough, and two didn’t seem to help. I was able to smash them together enough to make some little fritters/tots, but wasn’t able to shape them much at all. Still, they were tasty and I will be making this recipe again!
Shannon, thanks for the tip on the gluten free breadcrumbs! If you have issues with them sticking together feel free to add more breadcrumbs and that should solve the issue.
These look so yummy. I’ll need to adapt to suit our food intolerances but I’m off to get a cauli now! Thank you so much x
I was sceptical making these, sceptical cooking them but they are great. I did them with breadless bread crumbs. I would reduce the onion next time but there will be a next time! Thanks for sharing.
i have celiacs, what would you use instead of the bread crumbs?
Hi! I’m Keto and use almond flour (or coconut flour sometimes) as replacement for flours or bread. It totally worked in my zucchini tots and I’m planning to use it when I make these.
do you think frozen cauliflower would work? thanks.
Hi Layla, thank you so much for this recipe! It is amazing. I have just put a link to it in my own blog post 🙂
I must be honest. I don’t really like cauliflower but i love pizza. I have been trying to eat better and had actually made a cauliflower crust pizza with healthy ingredients and i really really liked it. I am going home to cook this today and i just know that i’ll love it!
This is awesome! I am going to try making a vegan version and post the results on my Facebook (www.facebook.com/teammakedamnsure). For all of you vegans and lactose intolerant folk out there, feel free to check back this weekend 🙂
I can’t wait to try these with rice cereal instead of bread crumbs to make them gluten free! They look like a great snack for movie night.
I just tried them but they were falling apart:( do you have any tips what I can do so that doesn’t happen? Thank you! The taste was great though 🙂
We are currently following the “Banting Food Plan” so always looking for different ideas, we don’t use wheat so I replaced the flour with dessicated coconut and because we love it added garlic. Turned out great, delicious!