When you want a snack or a side dish that is a perfect treat for game day, friendly get together, or just a Sunday afternoon, you have a winner with these keto tater tots. These cauliflower tots are crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and there is a spicy chipotle dipping sauce to dip to your heart’s content.
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How many carbs in tater tots cauliflower?
These cheesy, little puffs of perfection are great for popping in your mouth during the big game, as a side to your favorite burger, or however you want to eat them. The secondary cheese can be varied to change the flavor a bit. Additionally, you can add onion powder, garlic powder, or finely chopped jalapeno peppers to really take up the flavors. My husband asked if I could add some bell pepper to the mix next time. Hmmm, love it!
Best of all, these keto cauliflower tots have only 3 grams of carbs per serving. How? By using cauliflower instead of carb laden potatoes. Like potatoes, cauliflower florets soak up flavors. But unlike potatoes, cauliflower is perfect for this keto recipe. Tasty, crunchy with low net carbs for our low carb lifestyle, perfect !
Really, the possibilities are endless.
Tips for Keto Tater Tots
- Use the dry Parmesan that is usually found in the pasta aisle at the store. I use the Kraft Grated Parmesan in a big green can. It works really well as breadcrumbs and for holding Use the dry Parmesan cheese that is usually found in the pasta aisle at the store. I use the Kraft Grated Parmesan in a big green can. It works really well as a substitute for bread crumbs. It works really well in holding things together plus it has 0 carbs and my favorite thing is, it isn’t terribly expensive. When I want Parmesan cheese on my pasta it’s the good, expensive stuff. Yes, the one you have to grate fresh. For this a low carb recipe like this the cheap kind works the best.
- When I was researching for this keto cauliflower tater tots recipe I saw some cooks that baked rather than fried their cauliflower tater tots. When I was recipe testing I put some of a batch in the oven and deep fried the rest.
- My suggestion? If you have one, use the deep fryer. Seriously. The baked ones don’t come out nearly as crispy. I really want to try to air fry these. I think it they would come out crispy and have less oil. But an air fryer is one more appliance that I don’t have room for lol !
- I didn’t steam the cauliflower the first time I tried making these cauliflower tater tots. I just grated it raw and used it that way. It cooked just fine and I think it soaked up less of the cooking oil. Plus it saves about ten minutes which is always a good thing.
- I put the cauliflower in the food processor and pulsed until it looked like bread crumbs. Next, I put the cauliflower in a colander and pressed it with paper towels to get out as much of the moisture as I could. After the rest of the ingredients were mixed in, I let it sit for about half an hour to blend the flavors and to absorb any excess liquid.
- Form the tater tots by taking a pecan sized piece of the cauliflower mixture and gently rolling it into a cylinder. Gently flatten the ends to make it look like a traditional tater tot shape.
- I always fry in peanut oil. It is the lightest oil and I think it works the best. Heads up. It is pretty common these days for people to have nut allergies. If there is a nut allergy in your family or your guests may have it, then please use whatever oil you normally do.
- If you don’t have a deep fryer, you can pan fry these tots in about 1-inch of oil. A good alternative is olive oil to fry with. Olive oil has rich flavors and as long as you keep it under the 400 degree smoke point. This is pretty easy to do as most pan frying works well below that temperature. I tried cooking spray but it just wasn’t enough oil. Best of all, olive oil is lower in saturated fat.
- While you are at it, why not make a bunch of extras? You can heat them back up in the oven so they are warm and toasty.
That’s about it. Now all you need to do is to make these addictive, low carb Parmesan cheese tater tots. Make sure to make more than you think you need because they disappear really fast.
Pro Tip: if these are falling apart it is because there is too much moisture in the cauliflower or you didn’t let them sit for the 15 to 30 minutes. Try to really soak up as much moisture from the cauliflower with paper towels and then let the mixture sit for a solid 30 minutes to build flavor and mix well.
Low Carb Parmesan Tater Tots with Chipotle Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Tater Tots
- 2 cups finely chopped cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon finely minced onion
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese I used Kraft
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Chipotle Mayo
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon chopped chipotle in adobo blended to a paste
Instructions
Tater Tots
- Chop the raw cauliflower in a food processor until it looks like crumbs.
- Line a colander with paper towel and add the cauliflower.
- Lay another paper towel over the top and gently press to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Mix i the onion, Parmesan, and pepper jack cheeses.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Mix in the egg.
- Let stand for at least 15 minutes. 30 is better.
- Preheat the oil in the fryer to 360F
- Form the dough into cylinders.
- Blunt the ends for the perfect tater to shape
- Add to the preheated oil and fry until golden.
- Drain on paper towel.
- Add salt and serve.
Chipotle Mayo
- Mix the chipotle and mayonnaise.
- Let stand for a few minutes to blend.
Yum!! I’ve made a lot of Cauli Tot recipes and was never impressed with any of them. This one is a keeper!! I love cauliflower but I don’t like it mashed or in most tot or “hash brown” style recipes. The flavor is just always off to me but this recipe is a keeper! There is still a slight cauliflower flavor but not so strong that it overpowers everything else. These are chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. Excellent recipe! I got 28 tots from the recipe. I used a 10″ skillet and 1 cup of oil (I measured after and the tots only absorb 1/4 cup of that). I did 2 batches but they fry really quick so it didn’t take long at all. Here’s how I did the cauli rice: I prepped it in the morning. I used fresh and grated it by hand using a box grater. I used the small shred blade and then chopped it even more after that. I lined a colander with a towel then a couple layers of paper towels. I let that sit for a while then I pressed paper towels on top to get even more water out. I lined a medium bowl with paper towels and then placed the cauli rice in that. I folded the paper towels over the top of the cauli, covered with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge until I was ready to use for dinner. It drained even more during the day so it was nice and dry! As long as you use a gentle hand when you’re forming the tots, this recipe works great! Thanks for another great recipe!
These are soooo fabulous! YUM! I gotta admit, I didn?t follow the recipe exactly as written. Ouch.. yes, I?m one of those ppl.. totally defiant and a rebel.. but the basic recipe is a fantastic idea!! I used frozen riced cauliflower. The key to this recipe is to dry your cauliflower (not as much as possible.. gotta push yourself further than that). I added a few extra spices to my liking, put in extra fresh onion, a blob of cream cheese n whatever cheese I had in my fridge. I also added a touch of almond flour. I fried the tots in an inch of oil in a frying pan. They held together great but need a careful hand in turning them. Cook with love!! Thank you for a great recipe!! I recommend everyone give it a try!!
Ummm these turned out AMAZING!! I think where most people are going wrong is not getting all the water out of the cauliflower, there is ALOT! I use a tea towel and squeeze that bad boy out until I have to switch tea towels and squeeze again! Also, indont see where people are getting “it takes so long to make.” No, it doesn’t, it literally took me 25 minutes. I always grate a ton of cauliflower at one time and then freeze it into individual quart size ziploc bags. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Even my 7 year old loved it!!
These are amazing I ate them with Spicy Mayo instead of the Chipotle dipping sauce. THEY ARE ADDICTING 🙂 I prepped them one night for my lunch for the next 2 days and I decided to eat 2, one fried and the other baked. It was so good I almost fried and baked the rest of them because the taste was just so good. Now I don’t have to miss tater tots and hashbrowns THANK YOU!!
These were delicious! I added a scant tablespoon of coconut flour as a binder. I used frozen cauliflower, which I parcooked, then chopped fine, and substituted cheddar cheese for the pepper jack.. There didn’t seem to be much excess liquid. I pan fried 2 small flattened patties in about 1/4 inch of oil. One fell apart when I turned it, but I didn’t use a non-stick skillet. The rest, I refrigerated, and will cook later tonight in a non-stick pan. Thank you for this delicious recipe! I am a very picky eater, and would not recommend it if it didn’t taste exactly as expected.