Ar we still into cauliflower as the latest and greatest thing? I hope so because damn, these tots are GOOD.
This recipe comes to from the wonderful mama and food blogger Lindsay from The Toasted Pine Nut, who came out with a cookbook dedicated to all things cauliflower. From cauliflower fried rice and cauliflower tots to cauliflower bagels and MORE.
The recipes in Lindsay’s cookbook are all gluten free and pack a serious nutritional punch thanks to the beloved cauliflower. I decided to try Lindsay’s cauliflower tots and couldn’t be more obsessed with just how delicious and amazing they turned out! Perfect for kids and even adults who are down to try a fun comfort food makeover.
Ingredients in cauliflower tots
You’ll just need six basic ingredients to make these super easy, low carb cauliflower tots:
- Cauliflower: as the bulk of the tots! You can also probably use cauliflower rice
- Egg: to help bind the tots together.
- Shredded parmesan & cheddar cheese: a great way to add delicious, cheesy flavor and a boost of protein to these healthy cauliflower tots.
- Almond flour: a bit of almond flour binds these cauliflower tots together and keeps them grain & gluten free while adding some healthy fats. I think regular flour would also work well.
- Salt & pepper: for the perfect amount of seasoning.
- Ketchup: or your favorite dipping sauce. Gimme a plate of ketchup, please.
How to make low carb cauliflower tots
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Bring an inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Place the cauliflower in a steamer basket set over the boiling water. Cover and steam the florets for 5 minutes, until they’re easily pierced with a fork.
- Working in batches, place the steamed florets in the food processor and process for 10 seconds until they are completely chopped into a meal. Transfer each batch of meal to a clean, thin dish towel or piece of cheesecloth. Continue to process the remaining florets. Once all the cauliflower meal is cool enough to handle, gather the corners of the towel and, working over the sink, squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Transfer the squeezed meal to a large bowl.
- Add the egg, grated onion, parmesan and cheddar cheeses, almond flour, and salt and pepper to taste to the bowl with the cauliflower. Use a rubber spatula to mix everything together. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so it can come together.
- Spray the prepared baking sheet generously with cooking spray. Use your hands to form 34 small “tater” tots, about 1 inch long by ½ inch wide, placing them on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. All the tots should fit on one pan, though you can work in batches if needed. Spray the tots generously with cooking spray.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Flip the tots and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until they are browned all over.
- While the tots are hot, sprinkle with additional salt and serve with ketchup, if desired.
How to store cauliflower tots
In the fridge: Any leftover tots can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a week. To reheat, place the tots on a baking sheet and broil them on high for a couple of minutes until heated through and crispy on the outside.
In the freezer: these grain free cauliflower tots are freezer friendly just like the ones you grew up on! Let the tots cool completely before transferring them to a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze them for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply bake them from frozen as directed.
Are cauliflower tots healthy?
Yes! Unlike regular tater tots, cauliflower tots are lower in carbs and are gluten and grain free. They, of course, pack in sneaky veggies from the cauliflower, and even have a boost of protein from cheese!
What to serve with cauliflower tots
These healthy, low carb cauliflower tots make the best side dish for kiddos and adults. I love pairing them with some delicious, healthy comfort food:
The Best Crispy Baked Chicken Nuggets
Seriously Good Sweet Potato Cheddar BBQ Chicken Burgers
Cheddar-Stuffed Sweet Potato BBQ Turkey Meatloaf
If you make these healthy cauliflower tots, be sure to tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram. We’d also love if you would leave a comment below and rate the recipe. We appreciate you! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Cauliflower Tots
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower florets (from 1 head of cauliflower)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 onion, grated
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Avocado oil cooking spray
- Ketchup, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Bring an inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Place the cauliflower in a steamer basket set over the boiling water. Cover and steam the florets for 5 minutes, until they’re easily pierced with a fork.
- Working in batches, place the steamed florets in the food processor and process for 10 seconds until they are completely chopped into a meal. Transfer each batch of meal to a clean, thin dish towel or piece of cheesecloth. Continue to process the remaining florets. Once all the cauliflower meal is cool enough to handle, gather the corners of the towel and, working over the sink, squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Transfer the squeezed meal to a large bowl.
- Add the egg, grated onion, parmesan and cheddar cheeses, almond flour, and salt and pepper to taste to the bowl with the cauliflower. Use a rubber spatula to mix everything together. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so it can come together.
- Spray the prepared baking sheet generously with cooking spray. Use your hands to form 34 small “tater” tots, about 1 inch long by ½ inch wide, placing them on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. All the tots should fit on one pan, though you can work in batches if needed. Spray the tots generously with cooking spray.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Flip the tots and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until they are browned all over.
- While the tots are hot, sprinkle with additional salt and serve with ketchup, if desired.
- Any leftover tots can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 10 days. To reheat, place the tots on a baking sheet and broil them on high for a couple of minutes until heated through and crispy on the outside.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Toasted Pine Nut | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
So good! Didn’t expect it to be this good for a cauliflower dish. Will definitely do this recipe again.
Glad you enjoyed!
These are so delicious! I used a head of cauliflower for them but want to try using frozen riced cauli next time. To save some time. They are light, flavorful, and satisfy that ‘tot craving’!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
👌 Really excited and looking forward to making these!! I get the frozen cauliflower rice from costco I will try it out with that. Thank you so much for such incredible & nutritious recipes!
Perfect! Enjoy!!
tHE RECIPE IS AMAZING
The best part, it’s a veg recipe
Glad you enjoyed!
My whole family loved these- even my son who hates cauliflower! They are so flavorful, and the texture is crispy on the outside and kind of pillowy on the inside. I actually ended up air frying them instead of baking. I sprayed them with cooking spray, air fried them at 400 for about 7 minutes, flipped them and then air fried them for 5 more minutes. Great recipe!
Amazing! I’m glad they worked out in the air fryer, too!
These are amazing in the air fryer! Super crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I saw the video on AK’s instagram story and made right away.
Love that idea! YUM
I’m giving this 5 stars just by looking at it….looks yum! I can’t make it till I see the sodium content. You posted some of the nutrition facts for the recipe but not all of them. Can you please send the full nutrition facts to me? Thank you.
So delicious! I actually don’t calculate the sodium content for my recipes as many of them have “salt to taste” or people use different brand of ingredients with varying sodium levels.
This was great, I actually tried to give it a five but it wouldn’t let me. I used frozen cauliflower which was 750 g and after it was riced and dried out, it made the perfect amount. I needed a little more spice for my taste so I added 1/2 tsp of powdered garlic. Yum-ohhhhh!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
I forgot to boil the cauliflower first but I added a little bit more almond flour, made my little tots and baked them., Dipped them in spicy catsup. Pretty darn good.
Glad they still turned out delicious!!
Made these for my family last night and everyone loved them! I used normal flour instead of almond flour and still turned out great! Thanks!
Nice! So happy you guys all loved them!!
This also works if you use riced cauliflower, cook them first then after cooking them. You place that and everything else into the food processor.
Thanks for sharing!
These were absolutely scrumptious! I made them as a way to use up some leftover cauliflower. They are incredibly addictive and have wonderful texture! I processed the cauliflower the way that is recommended in the cauliflower pizza crossed as opposed to exactly what was done here. Worked great!
Could I use coconut flour instead of almond flour? I’m dying to make this but my daughter is allergic to almonds. Thank you!
Hi! I haven’t tested it but it might work. I think all purpose flour (possibly even a 1:1 GF all purpose flour) would work well, too!
Great recipe base! To cut some time I used frozen cauliflower (after microwaving as instructed on the package), used regular flour, and added some garlic and onion powder for seasoning. I didn’t squeeze out the moisture since I was lazy, but baking them a little higher at 425 and flipping every 20-25 mins until they were crispy worked for me. Also reccomend freezing and reheating in the airfryer after if you make em in bulk. Great for snacking and getting veggies in!
Hi, I’m whole food plant based. I was trying to figure out what I could replace the cheese with. No meat or products from animals. Do i have to have the cheese? Is the cheese what’s holding it together? Can this be cooked in the airfryer? It looks so good.
Hi Faye – I bet a good vegan cheese would be great in these (as long as it melts because it does help hold them together). I haven’t tried these in the air fryer so I am not sure the temp/how long you would need to cook them, but I am sure it would work. Let me know if you give these a try and enjoy!
These worked great in my convection oven, AND I didn’t use any cooking spray! I was thrilled that it still worked. They browned lightly and tasted great with chipotle mayo as a dip, and my husband and I finished the whole batch for dinner. Delish!
Differences in how I did it –
I used two packages of Trader Joe’s frozen riced cauliflower. I didn’t cook it first, just thawed and squeezed. (I learned this from another author’s cauliflower pizza crust years ago -frozen, thawed, squeezed works great and saves time.)
I used unbleached no-silicone parchment paper (you can get it in the Western US from Sprouts Market), I didn’t oil it. I did baste the tots lightly with avocado oil, but I wasn’t that thorough about it.
This seems like a surprisingly flexible and forgiving recipe. I often overlook recipes that rely on cooking spray, since i don’t use it and I know it has different effects for some recipes. It didn’t matter in this one. This is a winner!
Amazing! So glad these turned out great for you, Kim! Thanks so much for sharing your subs 🙂
These tots are absolutely delicious! Needed a healthy-ish snack for all the bowl games being watched here, and found your site…and this recipe. Had two bags of riced cauliflower in the freezer, perfect! So easy, fast, and guilt-free! I’ve just spent the past hour browsing your site, the cashews are soaking for your Mac and cheese next, it is similar to what I’ve been making, but with twice the notch and some different flavorings, can’t wait to try! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Amazing! I hope you keep finding recipes here that you love 🙂
I made this recipe and it is delicious! Highly recommend giving it a try!
These were really good! I didn’t have any Parmesan so used nutritional yeast instead and it still tasted great. A great way to use up cooked cauliflower. I will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for trying this one out, Chris!