I was requested to make this recipe, in order to find a better way around cauliflower tots. When you make them in the oven, they’re not that great – a little bit crispy on the top and then pure mush throughout. I figured…if people are making faux mac and cheese in the oven from roasting cauliflower, why can’t I do it fried?
When I made these, I wasn’t planning to eat them. I had just eaten dinner and was stuffed to the brim. You know what? They looked so good after I finished them that I not only at 1, I ate the entire batch. These things are seriously good eats, and if you can make them in bulk, you have some amazing snacks on your hands!
Keep in mind that in the pictures, I only made 1/3 of the recipe. I had leftover cauliflower rice from making Low Carb Cauliflower Fried Rice and decided to try something new with it.
You can also grate the cauliflower into larger pieces, but I don’t believe it would let out as much moisture when you cook it as when it’s completely riced. It’s up to you, but I honestly find grating cauliflower to be too much work when you can grind it in a food processor in 10 seconds.
Yields 27 total Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese Patties.
The Preparation
- 1 medium cauliflower, riced
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon rosemary
The Execution
1. Get your head of cauliflower ready. We’ll need to prep it before ricing it.
2. Cut your cauliflower into florets, making sure you get any excess stem off.
3. Add the cauliflower to your food processor and pulse it until it is the consistency of short grain rice.
4. Put your cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 5-7 minutes.
5. Once it’s done in the microwave, we want to get all the excess moisture out. I lay my cauliflower onto a kitchen towel to wring it out. You will get cauliflower “juice” all over the towel, so this will need to go into the laundry afterward. If you don’t want to do that, you can do this with paper towels also.
6. Once you have the cauliflower in the kitchen towel, roll it up tight and apply pressure (your whole body weight) to the cauliflower. Try to push as much extra moisture out of the cauliflower as you can.
7. Once you’re finished, extract the “mushed” cauliflower from the kitchen towel and put it into a bowl. Make sure that it’s room temperature by this point.
8. Add your eggs ONE AT A TIME to the cauliflower. You don’t want a mixture that too watery! Keep in mind that I only did 1/3 of the entire recipe.
9. Add your cheese.
10. Finally, your spices to the cauliflower – tumeric, rosemary, and paprika.
11. Mix everything well, using your hands if you want. I prefer using my hands because I can get the mixture to be balanced well.
12. In a pan, heat your olive oil and coconut oil on high until it gets very hot.
13. Form your cauliflower mixture into a ball, and then flatten it out in the palm of your hand.
14. Add your cauliflower “patties” into the hot oil and reduce the heat to medium high.
15. Allow them to get crisp on one side before flipping them.
16. Continue cooking them until they’re crisp on both sides.
17. All done! Serve on a bed of spinach, or just eat as a snack. They’re absolutely delicious!
Per Fried Mac & Cheese Patty it’s: 39.67 Calories, 2.71g Fats, 0.96g Net Carbs, and 2.59g Protein.
| Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese Patties | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 1 medium cauliflower, riced | 147 | 1.65 | 29.22 | 11.8 | 17.42 | 11.29 |
| 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese | 685 | 56.46 | 5.24 | 0 | 5.24 | 38.76 |
| 3 large eggs | 214 | 14.27 | 1.08 | 0 | 1.08 | 18.84 |
| 2 teaspoons paprika | 13 | 0.59 | 2.48 | 1.6 | 0.88 | 0.65 |
| 1 teaspoon turmeric | 9 | 0.1 | 2.01 | 0.7 | 1.31 | 0.29 |
| ¾ teaspoon rosemary | 3 | 0.14 | 0.58 | 0.4 | 0.18 | 0.04 |
| Totals | 1071 | 73.21 | 40.61 | 14.5 | 26.11 | 69.87 |
| Per Serving(/27) | 39.67 | 2.71 | 1.5 | 0.54 | 0.96 | 2.59 |
Per Fried Mac & Cheese Patty it's: 39.67 Calories, 2.71g Fats, 0.96g Net Carbs, and 2.59g Protein.
The Preparation
- 1 medium cauliflower, riced
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon rosemary
The Execution
- Rice the Cauliflower in a food processor.
- Cook it in the microwave for 5 minutes.
- Dry it out by wringing it in a kitchen towel or paper towels. You want as little moisture as possible.
- Add your eggs (one at a time - you don't want a watery mixture), cheese, and spices to cauliflower and mix together.
- Heat olive oil and coconut oil in a pan, on high.
- Form small patties out of the cauliflower mixture.
- Fry on both sides until crisp.
