These Breaded & Fried Cauliflower Nuggets are the perfect game day snack! Even when you’re not into sports, you’ll love these crispy veggie nuggets. It’s almost unbelievable that these are made with cauliflower! Dip them into BBQ sauce and enjoy!
I really don’t know how to begin to describe these Cauliflower Nuggets because they are UNREAL. You have to try them for yourself to find out how amazing these are!
They are super crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. It’s almost unbelievable that it’s cauliflower!
These Breaded & Fried Cauliflower Nuggets are my favorite thing to make with cauliflower right now (and probably forever). I always felt that cauliflower is the meh-cousin of broccoli, but these nuggets made me fall in love with the vegetable for real.
Served with BBQ sauce, these are the perfect snack for game day get-togethers or parties!
How to make Breaded & Fried Cauliflower Nuggets
The Ingredients
The ingredients you will need for these CauliflowerNuggets are super basic. You can find the whole recipe at the end of the post. But here’s an overview:
cauliflower
frying oil (strain leftover-oil and reuse it!)
for the batter, you will need:
flour,
water,
and spices
for the breading, you’ll need:
fine breadcrumbs,
panko flakes,
flour (to make sure the cauliflower florets are coated completely),
sesame seeds,
and spices
If you don’t have panko flakes at home, no worries, just use more fine breadcrumbs! If you’re missing some of the spices, feel free to experiment with what you have!
If you’re unsure about frying, I’ve compiled a couple of tips on how to deep-fry in a pot.
More Cauliflower Recipes you will love
Looking for healthier, baked wings? > Baked BBQ Cauliflower Wings
Want spicy wings? > Spicy Cauliflower Wings
Golden Cauliflower Rice
Tandoori Cauliflower Wrap
Cauliflower Rice
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
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I hope you enjoy these cauliflower nuggets as much as I do! Let me know if you give them a try!
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Cheers, Bianca
Breaded & Fried Cauliflower Nuggets
Bianca Haun | Elephantastic Vegan
These Breaded & Fried Cauliflower Nuggets are the perfect game day snack! Even when you’re not into sports, you’ll love these crispy nuggets. They are quick and easy to make!
For the batter: In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, paprika powder, turmeric powder. Add water and whisk until it’s a smooth batter.*
For the Breading: Combine all the ingredients listed above for the breading in a bowl.
Heat the frying oil in a pot.** Make sure you don’t fill the pot more than half the height of the pot to prevent oil from spilling over.
Then take one cauliflower floret at the stem, dip it in the batter, then in the breading (make sure it's coated well), then carefully lower it into the oil. Work in batches (4-8 nuggets depending on the size of your pot). Let them fry for 8 minutes until golden brown.
Transfer the cauliflower nuggets onto a paper towel to remove excess oil.Repeat until you’ve used up all the cauliflower florets. They are absolutely delicious dipped in BBQ sauce or sweet & sour sauce!
Notes
*You can adjust the consistency of the batter by adding more flour if it’s too thin and more water if it’s too thick. Ideally, it should be between a crepe (thin batter) and a pancake batter (thick batter).
**If you have a deep-fryer you can use it of course!
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Eggless batter is a valid vegan substitute for the traditional batter used to fry fish, vegetables or meat: the basic mixture is the same – water and flour – but there are as many variations as there are possible additional ingredients.
The secret to giving cauliflower the perfect texture when battering and frying, is to not parboil it. When you fry cauliflower with batter, it also cooks the cauliflower. So if you parboil beforehand, you will end up with mushy cauliflower.
Fried cauliflower contains 183 calories per 85 g serving. This serving contains 11 g of fat, 3.3 g of protein and 18 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 0.9 g sugar and 1.4 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Fried cauliflower contains 1.6 g of saturated fat and 8.5 mg of cholesterol per serving.
History. Deep-fried and pan-fried cauliflower is found in many cuisines, and is well documented through the 19th century in Germany, Austria, Britain, and the United States. It is often called by its French name, choufleur frit.
Coconut oil. Coconut oil is widely used as an egg replacement in vegan baking and it's easy to see why. Once melted, this delicious oil will mix well into most batters, brownies and bakes. And it can be used to replace eggs when you're breading foods, such as tofu, before baking or frying.
If you're planning to roast the cauliflower whole or slice it into steaks, slice off the thick stem at the base. Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs.
Cauliflower has a very high water content, so it won't get crispy if you bake the florets crowded together. "Be sure to give each floret a bit of room so that the they have space for airflow. I'd also recommend baking them on a silicone baking mat," says Blay.
Unlike chicken wings, cauliflower is free of cholesterol and low in fat and saturated fat. It's also packed with fiber and antioxidants, making it a powerful food for heart health!
Nutritionally, cauliflower is lighter in calories and carbs than potatoes and is more nutrient-dense. That's why it's popular among the low carb and weight loss communities.
Every part of a cauliflower is edible, even the tough outer skin. However, we do recommend peeling this part before cooking as it's a bit tough to chew.
Purple. Purple cauliflower is the healthiest option, with numerous advantages. The purple hue is due to the antioxidants called anthocyanins. These are the pigments present in various other plants and plant-based products, including red cabbage and red wine.
Mixing 1 tsp (7 g) of baking soda with 1 tbsp (15 g) of vinegar can replace 1 egg in most recipes. When mixed together, vinegar and baking soda start a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide and water, which makes baked goods light and airy.
The key ingredient – nori/seaweed sheets. The nori imparts an amazing taste of the sea to the banana blossom. So after marinating the banana blossom in the seaweed spice mixture for an hour it tastes very close to real fish. The second important part to crispy vegan fish and chips is of course the batter.
THE BOTTOM LINE: We recommend using heavy cream when breading foods if you cannot use eggs. CREAM IS BEST: If you can't use eggs, use heavy cream to hold breading in place.
Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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