Cheesy Cauliflower Tots with Zesty Yogurt Dip

Crispy on the outside, cheesy on the inside, these Cheesy Cauliflower Tots are the most delicious appetizer or snack! Serve with the easy zesty Yogurt Dip.

Baked cauliflower tots

I love snacks. I probably enjoy snacks more than actually sitting down for a meal. I especially love it when I come up with healthy snacks.

After going through 3 containers of hummus this past month (there was a huge sale!!), we needed some other snack foods. I scrolled through my snack and appetizer recipes, and came up with these cheesy cauliflower tots. I once made delicious Yellow Squash Tots, and this time I decided to try making tots out of cauliflower.

I used only one half of a cauliflower head to make these tots because I figured if they didn't turn out right, I still have the other half of the cauliflower that I can use to make my pan-fried cauliflower. But luckily these tots turned out to be DELICIOUS!

I am actually regretting not making the whole cauliflower. I am pretty sure this recipe would be just fine if it was doubled.

The cheesy cauliflower tots were warm and delicious, crispy on the outside and cheesy and soft on the inside. They go perfect with a Greek yogurt dip with lemon juice, garlic, and fresh herbs. 

And the awesome thing is that these cauliflower tots are actually pretty healthy! Sure, there is a ton of cheese in there (which is why they're so yummy!). But if you have a few tots and dip them into the yogurt dip, you are actually eating lots of vegetables and protein in snack form.

By the way, if you want to see all my cauliflower recipes, you can find them in one place here: Cauliflower Recipes

How to make cauliflower tots:

You'll need cooked riced cauliflower for this recipe. This recipe doesn't work as well with uncooked cauliflower rice. So you have a few options here if you can't find riced cauliflower at the store.

How to make riced cauliflower:

• Buy riced cauliflower from the produce section of your grocery store, and then microwave 2 cups of it for a few minutes until it softens and cooks. Make sure you let it cool before you touch it!

OR

• Boil or steam a half a head of cauliflower and allow to cool. From there, you can either use a grater to make riced cauliflower, or pulse the cauliflower florets in a small food processor for a few seconds, until you get cauliflower rice.

Here is a great tutorial from the Minimalist Baker on how to make cauliflower rice.

If you use a grater to make cauliflower rice, you can then use the same grater to shred the cheese for this recipe. You can also rinse the grater off and then use it to grate the garlic to add to the yogurt dip.

Related recipe: Zucchini Fritters

What you'll need to make cauliflower tots:

You'll need the riced cauliflower and the shredded cheese, obviously. The recipe also calls for garlic powder and onion powder. Even though typically I am a big proponent of using fresh herbs and spices, I actually prefer to use powdered spices for this recipe because it is easier to mix them into the cauliflower mixture and give the tots a great flavor all around.

You don't want to use garlic salt because then the tots will come out too salty. Of course, you can use garlic salt and skip the additional salt in this recipe, but then you'll be missing out on a lot of the garlic flavor.

Try to look for garlic powder and onion powder without added chemicals. This McCormick Garlic Powder and this Simply Organic Onion Powder are good options. 

Same goes for the Italian breadcrumbs. Try to find breadcrumbs that only have ingredients that you recognize. No funky anti-caking chemicals necessary. Just bread (flour) and spices. These breadcrumbs are a good option.

You'll also want a grater and a citrus juicer for this recipe. Of course, you can use pre-shredded cheese and bottled lemon juice if you want to save time, but if you've got a couple of extra minutes you will get a much fresher tasting snack! I prefer a four-sided grater because they're sturdy and easier to use. There's less cheese flying all over the place when I use one of these. 🙂

Other Cauliflower Recipes you will love:

• Cauliflower Fritters with Garlic Dill Aioli
• Air Fryer Cauliflower Steaks
• Crispy Pan-Fried Cauliflower
• Cajun Shrimp with Cheesy Cauliflower "Grits" 
• Cheesy Cauliflower & Chorizo Casserole

If you enjoyed this cauliflower tots recipe, don't forget to leave a rating in the recipe card below, and save it for later on Pinterest!

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4.72 from 25 votes

Cheesy Cauliflower Tots with Zesty Yogurt Dip

Crispy on the outside, cheesy on the inside, these Cheesy Cauliflower Tots are the most delicious appetizer or snack! Serve with the easy Zesty Greek Yogurt Dip.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 15 tots

Author: Kate

  Cook Mode: Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Cauliflower Tots

• 2 cups cooked riced cauliflower (from ½ head of cauliflower) - (see notes)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder

Zesty Yogurt Dip

• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt - (fat free or low fat)
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• Juice of ½ lemon - (1 tablespoon)
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 clove garlic - , minced (or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

Cauliflower Tots:

• Preheat oven to 400F and grease a baking sheet, or spray with non-stick spray.
• Combine all the ingredients for the cauliflower tots in a large bowl and mix well. You should have a sticky mixture.
• Form little tots from the cauliflower mixture, about 2 tablespoons for each tot. Make sure to make tight little balls so they don't fall apart when baking. (

  Note: The best way to make tots is to wet your hands in cold water in between tots - this prevents the cauliflower from sticking to your hands)
• Carefully place the tots onto the greased baking tray, and bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes, or until the tots are golden brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Serve with Lemon Herb Yogurt Dip.

Zesty Yogurt Dip:

• Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl, and mix well. Serve chilled.

Notes

To prepare riced cauliflower: Cook ½ of a cauliflower to your desired done-ness, either in the microwave, by boiling, or steaming. Let it cool, then cut it in half, since you're only using half a cauliflower for this recipe.

Chop the cauliflower half into smaller pieces. To rice the cauliflower, you can either use a grater or a food processor. If using a grater, grate the cauliflower into a rice-like texture. If you are using a food processor, pulse the cauliflower until it has a rice-like texture, you might need to do this in batches if it doesn't fit into the food processor. You will need 2 cups of cooked cauliflower rice for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 60kcal (3%) | Carbohydrates: 3g (1%) | Protein: 4g (8%) | Fat: 3g (5%) | Saturated Fat: 2g (10%) | Cholesterol: 19mg (6%) | Sodium: 184mg (8%) | Potassium: 30mg (1%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 1g (1%) | Vitamin A: 100IU (2%) | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 71mg (7%) | Iron: 0.3mg (2%)

The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.