CAULIFLOWER TOTS are the less-carby, healthier version of tater tots and they’re made with simple ingredients. We serve these up with ketchup or ranch dressing and they’re always a hit.
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Have you seen or tried the packages of frozen cauliflower tots yet? They’re pretty easy to find these days and they taste pretty okay, but have you read the ingredients list?
There are a few things in there that I’d prefer to avoid PLUS I knew I could make even tastier cauliflower tater tots at home. With WAY less carbs. I was right.
You guys, these are so dang delicious.
My kids were a little leary to try them, as they always are. They never seem to trust me when I present them with a vegetable dressed up as a potato. I suppose I can’t blame them, but they almost always love it so you’d think they’d just learn to trust me. 😉
Anyway, these were a TOTAL HIT. My whole family loved these.
We were split down the middle on which dip was best – 2 votes for ketchup and 2 votes for ranch. You really can’t go wrong with either, though!
I liked them best dipped in our keto ranch dressing. We’re also obsessed with broccoli tots!
Ingredient Notes for Cauliflower Tater Tots:
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Riced Cauliflower – We use the frozen, steam-in-bag riced cauliflower when making these. It makes the process so simple! If you want to make your own riced cauliflower, it’s best done with a food processor and a fresh head of cauliflower! When formed into tots, the riced cauliflower has a similar texture to tater tots that have been made from grated potatoes.
Cheese – Some cheddar and Parmesan cheese will help bind these tots together.
Coconut Flour – Along with the cheese and egg, the coconut flour is going to help bind the riced cauliflower together so it will hold the tot shape as it bakes. These do not taste like coconut.
Seasoning – A little bit of salt, onion powder, and garlic powder is all you need to season these cauliflower tots. Simple!
These cheesy cauliflower tots are packed with so much flavor you won’t even miss the tater tots, and the kids won’t complain that you’ve tricked them into eating something healthy!
Using the steam-in-bag frozen riced cauliflower makes this a really simple recipe. The cauliflower tots are easy to prepare and are finished baking in no time.
Tools Needed
Cookie Scoop – Makes even portions every time.
Sheet Pan – For baking!
How To:
Steam – If you are using the frozen steam-in-bag riced cauliflower just follow the instructions, otherwise steam the cauliflower as you normally would. You don’t want soggy cauliflower tots so drain any liquid before adding the cooked cauliflower rice to a mixing bowl. If you think there is still too much liquid, you can squeeze it out with a cloth. Move on to the next step while the cauliflower rice is still hot!
Mix – Add all of the remaining ingredients including the coconut flour, cheeses, and seasoning to the mixing bowl with the cauliflower rice. The residual heat from the cauliflower should help melt the cheese. Stir it all together until the mixture is well combined and the cheese is melty.
Shape – I recommend using a small cookie scoop for this next step. It’ll ensure you get evenly sized tots that all finish baking at the same time. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, use a small spoon and try to portion evenly. Start scooping out portions of the cauliflower and cheese mixture and shaping them into cauliflower tots. You can easily use your hands to shape these. I’d recommend grabbing a kid to help with that because while it’s not hard, it can be a bit tedious!
Bake – Once you’ve started shaping the cauliflower tots you can begin placing them onto a prepared baking sheet and then give them a light spritz with some non-stick spray. Bake the tots for 15 minutes and then flip them to be sure they get perfectly crispy all the way around. Give them another spritz of the non-stick spray and then return the cauliflower tots to the oven for 10 more minutes to finish.
For Serving:
We love sugar-free ketchup or my homemade ranch dressing as a dip for these.
These cauliflower tater tots go great with just about any protein. Serve them up with my spinach stuffed chicken, low carb meatloaf, pork tenderloin, or steak bites for a tasty dinner.
FAQs:
These will freeze beautifully! Arrange the tots on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer for an hour before transferring them to a freezer-safe bag. Bake as directed directly from the freezer. You’ll need to add an extra couple of minutes to the bake time.
I haven’t tried it with this recipe but I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work. Just follow the steps up to the point of baking, toss them in your air fryer, and see what happens! It’s hard to mess up air fried food as long as you keep an eye on it.
Our recipe for cauliflower tots is based on 7 tots per serving, which seems to be just the right amount for our appetites. You can adjust as you like, but keep in mind the nutriiton information will change accordingly.
More Low Carb Side Dishes:
- German Cucumber Salad
- Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
- Air Fryer Zucchini
- Air Fryer Butternut Squash
- Green Beans Almondine
- Broccoli Cheese Casserole
- Spinach Casserole
Cauliflower Tots
Ingredients
- 10 ounces frozen steam-in-bag riced cauliflower
- ¾ cup Parmesan
- ¾ cup grated cheddar
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Steam the rice according to package directions. Drain any liquid from the cauliflower and place cauliflower in a mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out portions of the mixture and then shape with your hands into tots.
- Place on the prepared baking sheet and spritz lightly with non-stick spray.
- Bake for 15 minutes, flip, spray with non-stick spray, and bake for 10 more minutes.
Catherine Windham says
Can these be fried instead of baked? My family likes crispy everything.
Karly Campbell says
I’ve never tried deep frying these. I’m not sure how well they’d hold up in the oil, but you can sure try!
Tarra says
A tip I found on a YouTube video for pizza crust, that saves the mess and painstaking step of getting all the water out of the cauliflower, after it is riced (or ueven better use the frozen riced cauliflower) just pan fry until almost all moisture is out of the veg, let cool and then you can work with it.
I’ve been doing this for all of my cauli recipes and it has not failed me yet. I prefer the frozen riced cauliflower to skip the grating step.
Karly Campbell says
These might be a bit dry if you go that route, as we’ve added coconut flour to soak up the liquid in the cauliflower already.
Lindsay L says
Yea, I squeezed the cauliflower in a Kitchen towel and I think I removed too much water. Next time I won’t squeeze all the life juice out of it.
Bee says
When I make these with fresh cauliflower that I cook myself, instead of puting it through a ricer, I just mash it up with a potato masher real good then drain out the water and then blot with paper towels. It’s never been too wet when I follow this routine!
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for sharing, Bee!
Courtney says
What kind of parmesan cheese do you use? Grated or shredded?
John Vorkman says
I just made this recipe and it is AMAZING!!! We like to make things like this in large batches to freeze for future meals. I found it quicker to pack the mixture into a 1/4 cup measure, and flatten with a tiny spatula into a patty. Makes 13 patties in a double batch. Cooked in the air fryer at 400, for 6 minutes on each side. I also added 1 tsp of TexMex seasoning, as we found them to bland for our tastes. Thank You!!!
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for sharing, John! I need to try these in the air fryer and with different seasonings. 🙂
Stacy S. says
Trying t his next week. I forgot to get cauliflower rice this weekend.
AllieB says
Cauliflower rice is so easy to make. There are many recipes out there. But I put my raw cauliflower through the smallest cube on my slapped chopper as I like the texture.
diana v horowitz says
How many tots do you get with this recipe? Your yield says “4” and serving size says “1.” I don’t understand your numbers. 4 what? yield 1?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Diana! Sorry about that – our recipe card started updating the yield to 1 in cases where it was blank. We usually get around 7-8 tots per person, for a total of 50-ish tots.
Northern Belle says
Okay, now I really AM confused! If you say the recipe makes 4 servings and a serving is 7-8 tots, that would be 7×4=28 or 8×4=32, so around 30 tots. How did you arrive at the recipe making FIFTY tots??
Karen says
Question: Pre-riced and/or frozen cauliflower is not available where I live in southern Mexico. I can rice my own to make the recipe but wonder what the measurement would be for fresh riced cauliflower. Frozen things weigh and measure differently than fresh so I would like to know how much fresh to use. Thank you.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Karen! I’m not sure what the difference would be. I’d still just go ahead and use 10 ounces. Add a little more coconut flour if it’s too wet or a splash of water or melted butter/coconut oil if it’s too dry. 🙂
Valerie Phillips says
Hello! You say to drain the liquid from the cauil rice… do you mean squeeze out the extral liquid? Bec they sure do hold a lot of moisture!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Valerie! I don’t squeeze the cauliflower, just tilt the bag and drain out any excess liquid. 🙂
Carmen Borrero says
Thank u sooo much for your help and quick reaponse
Carmen Borrero says
Hi I just love your recipes so 4 servings, is one serving 7 tots?
Karly Campbell says
That sounds about right. However many tots you end up with, divide by 4 for a serving size. 🙂
Kim says
Can you please tell me how much almond flour I could use instead of the coconut? They were so good but I couldn’t get over that coconut taste!!
Karly Campbell says
I’ve not tried these with almond flour, but you’ll need quite a bit more to get them to hold together well. I’d just add it until it holds together well.
Elizabeth says
Can I air fry these instead of baking them?
Karly Campbell says
I’ve only tried these in the oven, so I’m not sure how they’d work. If you try, please let me know!
Teresa says
Hi! I just tried these in my air fryer! I used 400 degrees for 15 minutes. They were almost overdone. I would definitely use my air fryer again…sooo handy! I would probably do way less time in order to be able to turn them over and spray with Pam. These are sooo delicious though!!! You can’t even taste the cauliflower! They just taste like cheese bites!
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for sharing!
Roxanne Arber says
Can you leave the Parmesan cheese out? Family is not a fan of it’s flavor
Karly Campbell says
The Parmesan actually helps bind it together in this recipe. You could try adding in a bit more cheddar or coconut flour, but I’ve only made them as directed so I’m not sure how much you’ll need or if they’ll stay together quite as well.
Elyse says
Hi! Can I use almond flour instead of coconut flour? If yes, how would that change the measurement?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Elyse! I’ve tried these with almond flour as well, and they didn’t hold together quite as well. You’d need to use quite a bit more almond flour to get the right consistency and then you’re adding a lot of carbs into them.
Melissa says
Sorry, found them!
Melissa says
Hi, these look great! Just wondering the measurements you used for the ingredients? Thanks!
Jeanne Chambers says
I don’t understand the nutrition info, “yield 4, serving size 1”. Does that mean that a serving is 1/4 of the recipe?
Karly Campbell says
Yes, that’s correct. 🙂
Vicki says
If I were to use fresh cauliflower i riced – Would i just steam it once it was riced or cook it before i riced it. I don’t always find frozen riced cauliflower.
Thanks for posting – i am going to make these for when my grandson visits he loves to help me in the kitchen.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Vicki! I would steam the cauliflower after ricing it. If you steam it first, it’ll probably turn to mush when you try to chop it into rice. 🙂
Mary Eaton says
Thank you for these healthy recipes.