Tater Tots were an obsession of mine as a kid. Ever since my mom used to buy them, they’d always be requested by me in place of mashed potatoes. They’re crispy, they’re crunchy, and they’re just plain good. Being that I’m keto now, I decided to take it upon myself to delve into the creativity of my childhood and re-create this favorite of mine with keto tater tots.
You definitely won’t miss the potato here, and unlike many other cauliflower goods – you can’t actually taste much of the cauliflower. This is partly due to the frying oil I used (bacon fat), as the flavors really impart themselves into the tater tots. If you can, choose lard, tallow, or some sort of animal fat to fry with. If you don’t have any on hand, feel free to use olive oil.
You’ll end up with miniature sized, golden brown bites of deliciousness that will go with just about every meal. Feel free to serve them up with fry sauce, and dip away!
Yields 4 servings of Keto Tater Tots (9 pieces per serving)
The Preparation
- 588 grams cauliflower
- 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup lard, or other high smoke point oil
The Execution
1. Cut cauliflower head into florets. Try to get rid of most of the long stems.
2. Steam the cauliflower until tender, then add to a food processor and pulse until it resembles mashed potatoes.
3. Let cauliflower cool, then put it into a dish cloth and wring out any excess water. Use 2 dish cloths if needed.
4. Add cheese, egg, and spices. Mix together until mixture is thickened and can be worked with. Add 1 tsp. extra psyllium husk powder at a time until your mixture can be worked with (if you find that it’s too runny).
5. Start by rolling tater tot batter into a ball. Then use your other hand to roll the ball into a log. Lastly, press the two ends together to form a tater tot shape (more squared off on the ends).
6. Roll all of the tater tots out before starting to fry.
7. Heat 1 cup oil in a cast iron skillet to medium heat. Once oil is hot, reduce heat to medium-low and add tater tots. Fry about 6-9 at a time, flipping as they crisp on each side.
8. Lay on paper towels to cool, then serve.
This makes a total of 36 servings of Keto Tater Tots. Each serving comes out to be 66 calories, 6.5g fats, 0.5g net carbs, and 1.1g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 588 gram cauliflower | 135 | 2.9 | 24.1 | 13.5 | 10.6 | 10.6 |
| 2 ounce mozzarella cheese | 170 | 12.7 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.2 | 12.6 |
| 1/4 cup parmesan cheese | 108 | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9.6 |
| 1 large egg | 79 | 5.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.4 | 6.9 |
| 1/2 teaspoon onion powder | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder | 5 | 0 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.3 |
| 2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder | 37 | 0 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 1.1 | 0 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 cup lard | 1849 | 205 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 2387 | 233 | 37.4 | 21.3 | 16.1 | 40.1 |
| Per Serving (/36) | 66 | 6.5 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
Keto Tater Tots
Ingredients
- 588 gram cauliflower
- 2 ounce mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup lard or other high smoke point oil
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into florets, discarding the longer stems.
- Steam the cauliflower until tender, then add to a food processor and pulse until it resembles mashed potatoes.
- Let the cauliflower cool, then place into a dish cloth and wring out any excess water (use two dish cloths if needed).
- Add the cheese, egg, and spices. Mix together until the dough is thickened and workable. If the dough is still too runny, add an extra teaspoon of psyllium husk powder at a time until it reaches the proper consistency.
- Start by rolling the tater tot batter into a ball. Next, roll the ball into a log. Finally, press the two ends together gently to form that characteristic tater tot shape (more squared off on the ends).
- Repeat for the rest of the dough.
- Heat up the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low and add in the tater tots. Fry them in batches until golden on both sides.
- Lay on paper towels to cool before serving.
We’ll be trying this tomorrow night, these look incredible. I’m really excited.
Can someone confirm that the recipe calls for 2 teaspoons and not tablespoons of psyllium husk powder?
Also, if you’re looking for the darn thing and can’t find it anywhere, I found it at the Vitamin Shoppe… the store brand was reasonably priced.
Yes, it’s 2 teaspoons. You can add more depending on if you need it to thicken up more or not.
Oh goodness….no wonder mine didn’t turn out, I didn’t even notice the TSP not TBS…hello??? I’ll try again. Thanks for asking or I would have done it again!
Could you use a deep fryer?
I’m not 100% sure. I think so, but putting them in a basket might make them “melt” slightly at first when you put it in. You may find adding them in with a slotted spoon and then letting them roll off would work better.
Can you freeze these and then reheat in the oven?
These were amazing! I threw them in my deep fryer for 2 minutes and they were perfect. I made some really small ones and those tasted like tater tots, but, if you make them larger they taste like hush puppies. I am definitely making these again!
They definitely are time consuming, though I think piping them from a ziptop bag might be a way faster way to make them. Their shape won’t be perfect, but it will be a lot easier on the amount of time it can take! Really happy you liked them 😀
What a great idea, will definitely try that next time! FYI, I have made a metric ton of your recipes and they’re all awesome (especially your creamy cauli mash, which is better than potatoes). If you were a woman, my husband would have left me for you, lol.
If you do get a chance to try it, let me know how it goes. That’s the idea I had when I was making them because I even said to myself “bah, this takes forever”. When I tasted it…I didn’t care how long it took.
Haha, that is probably the strangest, nicest compliment I’ve ever gotten 🙂
Yep another Home Run!!! Thank you Craig for helping me find ways to have my fried potato fix!
Always happy to hear good reviews, Whitney – glad you liked them!
This is the bomb!
Thanks – glad you liked it!
EPIC FAIL! Followed the instructions to the letter, and after all that work, they just completely fell apart in the oil. I was pretty pissed that we did all that work for nothing.
I’m really sorry to hear Matt, because I know how much work is involved – it’s definitely a lot. I wish I could tell you what might have gone wrong, but I’ve made these a few times and many have made them without issue.
Ok, before I post this, I have to say that most of the recipes on this site are great. However, not sure what I did wrong but the Tater Tots looked like they were the only survivors of a 50 cattle car train wreck and tasted like a sponge soaked in bacon grease. This is the third time I have tried to masquerade cauliflower for potatoes and each time my family asked that I just use arsenic if I am trying to do them in. I’m sure it’s the cook and not the recipe but I’ve had nightmares less scary then these…
Sorry to hear they turned out bad. I think this recipe seems to be a hit and miss (I’ve had super positive comments and super negative ones). I think I may go back and re-test with some other brands of flours and such to see how they turn out. I’ll adjust from there.
Can I use broccoli in lieu of cauliflower?
Sure!
Would ground flax seed work in place of the psyllium husk powder? Have you tried baking them?
Hi Melissa, the husk powder is very absorbent. I don’t think it will be the same. I have not tried baking them yet.
Do you have a rough idea of how much cauliflower to use by weight?
Sure! I would freeze spread apart on a baking sheet, then they can be put in a bag or other container.
I bought whole psyllium husks at Trader Joe’s- can I use that instead of the powder, or should I try to grind up the husks? Thank you for any help. I want to make these for Super Bowl- they look wonderful.
You would need to grind it up into powder. The type that we use can typically be found at a supplement store like Vitamin Shoppe.
A medium, whole cauliflower is about 585g before chopping excess.
Could you use thes for gnocchi?
You could but I don’t think it’s that comparable of a texture.
Would cauliflower rice work for this? Just cook it up like mashed potatoes first?
Yes, I think it would make the prep quite a lot quicker for this.
oof. i missed your recipe and used a different one–that calls for stir-frying the cauliflower.
didn’t mention the squeezing (i should have realised–i make cauliflower crust pizza often) and thinking about it, it would be messy squeezing cauliflower cooked in oil). they came out like a sloppy mess–even after i refrigerated to try and make the “dough” more solid.
well, there’s always a next time.
i look forward to trying this one!
Good luck!