These low carb, Tex-Mex flavored baked cauliflower tots are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and jam-packed with Tex-Mex flavor! The addition of chipotle along with a generous amount of cumin, smoked paprika, and cilantro makes them the perfect solution to your Tex-Mex cravings.
For this recipe you’ll need: cauliflower, shredded cheddar, cilantro, chia seed, chipotle in adobo, coconut flour, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and minced garlic.
If you are in a hurry click here to go straight to the recipe.
I’ve just gotten back from 10 days in France, which is why I haven’t been posting much lately. My husband took me for my birthday and I can tell you it was the trip of a lifetime for me — I definitely got to mark it off my bucket list. We were on a tour that began in Paris, then travelled up through Giverny, visited the American Cemetery, over to Mt St. Michel, down through the Loire Valley and back up to Paris. I’d love to tell you that I continued my low carb lifestyle but that would be a big, juicy, fat lie. I ate croissants for breakfast, baguettes, cheese, and wine for lunch, and huge dinners with more wine.
I didn’t gain a pound.
How does that happen? If I ate half that much here at home I’d puff up like a puffer fish. Anyway, the oddest thing happened about three or four days into the trip. All of a sudden I craved Tex-Mex like I’d never craved it before. I was surrounded by pain au chocolat, Paris-Brest, Nutella crepes, and fountains of wine but I just wanted a Margarita and some enchiladas.
Story of my life…
Well, I’m back home now and back on track. AND I am happily eating my favorite Tex-Mex foods. You can shape these any way you want – I made them into thin, crispy pancakes, almost like potato pancakes but you can make them in balls or whatever. I know that a lot of you had trouble with the fried faux tater tots falling apart so I decided to make these baked. Do leave them on the cookie sheet for several minutes so that they can cool a ?little bit and firm up. Here are some tips for making these baked cauliflower tots –
- Make sure that the cauliflower is very dry after steaming. Too much moisture will make them fall apart.
- Allow the batter to sit for about 5 minutes before shaping. This allows any excess moisture to be absorbed.
- If you make them thin like I did your baking time will be about 10 minutes. If you make them thicker then you are probably looking at 20 minutes. Be flexible.
- Keep any leftovers in the refrigerator.
There is no substitute for the chipotle in adobo — if it isn’t available locally you can get it on Amazon. A good food processor is a must have for so many low-carb dishes. Chia seed and Coconut flour are both available on Amazon as well.
Here’s the baked cauliflower tots recipe – let me know what you think! If you make it add it to Instagram and use #lowcarbology hashtag. I love seeing how your recipes come out.
Table of Contents
Baked Cauliflower Tots with Bold Tex-Mex Flavor
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cauliflower chopped – about 2 cups
- 1 cup cheddar shredded
- 1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chia seed
- 1 tablespoon chipotle in adobo mashed
- 1 teaspoons coconut flour
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika smoked
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Steam the cauliflower in 1 tablespoon of water in a covered bowl the microwave for 3 minutes.
- Drain and pat gently with towels to remove as much moisture as possible.
- Pulse in the food processor until finely chopped.
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
- Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Form the mixture into 12 patties (2 tablespoons of mixture each) on a Silpat lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until done.
- Let stand for 5 minutes to firm up.
What a wonderful birthday trip, Marye! I think the Fench know a thing or two about waistlines and good food eh?! Or maybe its the side effects of walking around such a gorgeous place! As for these baked cauliflower tots – I must say, these are such a genius idea! This is my first time seeing cauliflower used to make delicious tots and I LOVE it!
🙂 Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed your trip and took a break from the cares (and dietary restrictions) of everyday life. I happen to have a cauliflower sitting in my fridge and this looks like the perfect way to use it. Maybe I’ll play around with the spices, but the general technique is definitely going to get heavy use in this house.
They are so good. Next time I am going to leave them thicker, though.
Dear Marye, sounds like a fabulous trip…I think you have discovered the secret to having our bread and eating it too! We must all move to France!! These cauliflower tots sound wonderful…what a delicious idea! xo, Catherine
LOL! Possibly!
These look amazing Marye, packed full of flavor. So glad you had an awesome trip, I was thinking about you while you were gone! So amazing you didn’t gain a pound, good for you!
🙂 Thanks Allie!
I love everything about these!! I can not wait to make them! And your trip–so jealous!
It was SO wonderful!