Cheesy Cauliflower Nuggets
These Cheesy Cauliflower Nuggets are delicious, easy to make, and kids love them! The perfect blend of rice, cheese and oodles of cauliflower they are naturally gluten-free and the perfect finger food for any meal!
I’m pretty sure making anything into a nugget makes it automatically taste better and more exciting to eat.
And as I learned, this includes cauliflower. Especially when you throw cheese into the mix! Cheese makes all veggies a little better in my book.
You see, I am not a big fan of cauliflower. Like, at all. Nor is my family. And while I don’t believe in forcing myself to choke down food I don’t like (I love food too much to hate eating) or glaring at my family over the dinner table until they have eaten what I’ve made, I do know cauliflower is worth our time to TRY and find a way to enjoy…since it is loaded with so much goodness!
It is for reasons like this and veggies such as cauliflower that the veggie-loaded approach was born. To make eating veggies (especially the ones we know are good for us but that we don’t love to eat) exciting, delicious and a joy over something we just have to get through at the dinner table.
So these Cheesy Cauliflower Nuggets are my newest way of downing that oh-so-healthy cauli in a way that is delicious, fun and that my family enjoys as much as I do! So much winning with this recipe, TNNers.
Health benefits of cauliflower
Cauliflower is pretty awesome veggie to add to your life and diet.
Why? Because it is high in fiber, is a great source of antioxidants, is high in choline (a nutrient that many people are low in and that is important in maintaining the integrity of cell membranes and brain development (source)), and is rich source of vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin B6, folate, potassium, and manganese.
Can these cauliflower nuggets be cooked on the stove top instead of baked?
I tested that and they did not hold together well for me. However, baking was successful and highly suggest sticking with that method for cooking these cauliflower nuggets.
Can these cauliflower nuggets be made vegan?
No. Sorry, friends! Unfortunately These did not hold together well without eggs.
They *might* work with vegan cheese for a dairy-free option. However, in my experience, each brand of plant based “cheese” melts very differently, so it will depend on if you have a vegan cheese that you love that melts well in the oven.
Suggested adapations for making cauliflower nuggets
- Used 3 1/2 cups cauliflower rice instead of florets. Cook as directed, but be sure to to carefully squeeze out as much water from the cauliflower rice as possible so that your nuggets are not mushy.
- Replace 1/2 or all of the cauliflower with broccoli.
- Use brown rice instead of white.
- Adjust seasoning to fit your personal taste. Add more. Leave some out. Add something different! Make them your own!
- Make them extra cheesy! I reheated these in a skillet one day and threw some extra cheese on them to make these cauliflower nuggets extra intriguing to my cauliflower-iffy daughter. She loved that little extra topping and gobbled these up. So after you flip them the second time, add a little bonus cheese on top for the cheese-lovers in your life.
Other cauliflower recipes your family will love.
If cauliflower is something you need to get creative with to help you family get jazzed about eating it, here are some other healthy, cauliflower-loaded recipes that are always winners in our house!
- Mashed Instant Pot Potatoes with Cauliflower
- Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce (vegan)
- Chicken & Cauliflower Meatballs
- Creamy Cauliflower & Blueberry Smoothie
Cheesy Cauliflower Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 cups cooked rice, I used white but brown would work too
- 3 cups cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen (about half m medium head of cauliflower)
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.
- Bring a pot with a steamer basket to a boil. Add cauliflower and steam for 5 minutes. When done cooking, transfer to a strainer and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Let cauliflower drain very well and press down on it with the back of a spoon to help draw out extra water.
- Run cauliflower through your food processor with your “S” blade until finely chop. Alternatively, you can finely chop the cooked cauliflower by hand, pulse it in a blender or mash it with a potato masher. DO NOT OVER PROCESS. The cauliflower should not be pureed but rather still have a bit of texture
- Place cauliflower in the middle of a clean towel or some paper towels. Wrap it up and press down on the cauliflower to help drain out as much water as possible.
- Add chopped and drained cauliflower to a large bowl with remaining ingredients. Mix well.
- Using a heaping tablespoon or small cookie scoop, portion the mixture into your hand and form a nugget. The mixture will soft and this is normal, but just luckily they will taste great no matter how they look! Place nuggets onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 7 minute. Flip, and press down gently on each nugget to flatten them a bit. Return to oven a bake for 7 more minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before enjoying warm with your favorite dipping sauce or as a side to any meal.
So good! My toddler loved them, which is an accomplishment with vegetables these days 😂
Can I bake it in a small muffin tins?
I haven’t tried, but if you do, I’d line them or heavily grease it the tin. The egg cheesy combo will stick!
I tried them and used your recipe to a T. They wouldn’t brown. I increased the temp to 475 F but it still took long to cook and didn’t combine well. Did I do something wrong?
Well thats a bummer to hear! Did you squeeze out the water from the cauliflower?
Mine did the same, followed the recipe exactly. They were like mush and even stuck to the baking paper. Super dissapointed.
I’m so sorry to hear that, Carly. If there were no swaps and you squeezed out the cauliflower, than I truly have no idea what went wrong. The only thing I can think of is perhaps the cauliflower was over processed in the food processor and became mush. I have had that happen with other recipes and not over blending is key! I value the feedback. I know many people have made these with success, but I will revisit it and see if I can troubleshoot.
I just made these and they are amazing! I think the problem for the others was to much water in the cauliflower. I actually used some napkins to squeeze out the additional water and was amazed how much water was still coming out. My 15 month old truly enjoyed!!
I’m so glad to hear all of that!
I put in some breadcrumbs to take out some moisture as I did accidentally blend the cauliflower too much and it worked perfectly
Family loved them. Will be making them often.
These were delicious. I tried to pan fry them and bake them. The baked were better but I liked the crunch of the pan fry! I may broil a bit next time. 2/4 kids loved them but I will try again!
I’m glad you enjoyed and that some of the kids enjoyed! I agree that pan frying didn’t work out great with these. I wonder if you give them a little crisping up after baking if that would work out better? Hmmmm. More work but something to try my next round with this recipe!
Like!! Really great
Delicious! The mix of cheese and cauliflower was perfect.
The stars didn’t post the first time
💚
I am so glad you enjoyed them! There is something magical about that combo!
These are so delicious!! Found the recipe yesterday and since I had some cauliflower in the fridge (and not a lot of time to prepare lunch today…), I thought I’d give it a try. Really loved the result, and it was so easy and quick! I’m not the biggest fan of garlic and onion, so I used curry powder and cumin for it, which gave it kind of an Indian flavour 🙂 Also great as fingerfood, my 11mo loved it!
What a great idea! I will totally try it with curry and cumin next! My husband is a huge fan of those flavors!
Do you cook rice before mixing?
Yes. 🙂
I’m going to try it. Any suggestions on how to make a batch and store them? I like to have preped meals for my toddler.
Are you looking to freeze or just have them available for the week? They store great in the fridge and reheat easily in a toaster oven. If you need to freeze them, freeze in a single layer and then when solid, transfer to a container for easier storage.
These were a hit with my 3- and 6-year-old! Also with my husband and I. 🙂 Thanks so much for the fun recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that, Brittany! Family approved is always my goal!
So yummy. My 19 month old ate 4 without pausing! Can you freeze leftover nuggets?
Well THAT is a success! You can but they might be a bit crumbly after defrosting.
I put in some breadcrumbs to take out some moisture as I did accidentally blend the cauliflower too much and it worked perfectly
Oh that is so good to know! Thank you for sharing, Jess.
the flavor was great, but I used riced cauliflower (steamed for 5mins per directions) and my mixture wasn’t able to form a nugget at all. It ended up being like baked cauliflower rice. with riced cauliflower, do I still need to blend/process it?
Hi Amy! When you say it couldn’t for nuggets, was it because the mixture was too wet? If that is the case, I’m thinking you needed to squeeze the water out of the cooked cauliflower rice a bit more before adding to the rest of the ingredients. And I am also wondering if your riced cauliflower wasn’t as processed as small as my cauliflower was going through the food processor. I’ve seen some cauliflower rice that has nice small bits and other brands that are chunkier…which can impact the texture of these.
This was delicious! My toddler gobbled these up, even cold. The only thing I did differently was use a nut bag to squeeze out the water from the cauliflower. Worked great!
That is so awesome to hear, Michelle! Yay for kid-approved veggie-loaded recipes!
These were so good!! I loved how the rice got crunchy. I added some black pepper too. My 2 year old loved them!
O, the reason I gave it 4 stars is because I couldn’t get them to retain their shape very well.
I’m glad you enjoyed them but a bummer to hear about them not holding their shape well. Perhaps the mixture was too wet??