The BEST Cheesy and Crispy Baked Cauliflower Nuggets
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a chicken nuggets mom and proud of it. However, I wanted to come up with a vegetarian alternative to traditional nuggets that could possibly “fool” my toddler into eating more veggies.
Joke’s on him (sorry little dude!) because these crispy cauliflower nuggets were a smashing success. They have the familiar crispy coating from a breadcrumb and parmesan cheese blend and paired with his favorite dipping sauce, he had zero clue it was cauliflower inside.
If you’re looking for homemade chicken nuggets, you must try my Vegetable Chicken Nuggets, Panko Chicken Tenders or Salmon Nuggets. All are so easy and kids will go crazy for them.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Cauliflower Nuggets:
- Great way to get kids to eat cauliflower.
- Simple ingredients.
- Makes a perfect snack or side dish.
- The entire family loves these.
- Healthy alternative to processed nuggets.
- No oil.
- Serve with your favorite sauce.
🍲 Ingredients
Cauliflower Florets
Breadcrumbs
Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt and Black Pepper
Whole Egg
Avocado Oil Spray
👩🍳 How to Make Cauliflower Nuggets
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add steamed cauliflower, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, and egg into a large mixing bowl. Using a fork, mix until well combined putting some pressure into the cauliflower florets to break them up.
- Using your hands, scoop about 1 to 2 tablespoons of cauliflower mixture to form a ball shape then flatten sides to make nugget-like shape.
- Place the cauliflower nuggets on the prepared sheet pan in a single layer.
- Spray the cauliflower nuggets with avocado oil spray or lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the nuggets are golden brown and crispy, flipping them halfway through for even cooking.
- Once the cauliflower nuggets are crispy and golden, remove them from the oven.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- For BLW, make your nuggets into smaller than bite-sized pieces so they’re not too big for your baby. You can also break them up once they’re cooked if your nuggets seem too big.
- After steaming the cauliflower, lay them on a paper towel before mixing with the rest of the ingredients. Gently pat dry. If there’s too much water, the nuggets will be soggy. This step helps remove any excess water.
🗒 Substitutions
- Use broccoli instead of cauliflower.
🗒 Best served with
- Favorite dipping sauce: buffalo sauce, ketchup, ranch, honey mustard, etc.
- I like to add a protein to these, such as Air Fryer Bison Meatballs or 3 Ingredient Meatloaf.
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 months. Re-heat in the air fryer to crisp them back up.
🤔 Common Questions
These are gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free breadcrumbs.
You can make these dairy-free if you omit the parmesan cheese or use a plant-based alternative. The parmesan helps make them crispy and crunchy, so keep that in mind if you omit it.
Yes! Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees F. Air fry for 9-12 minutes, shaking halfway through.
Cauliflower Nuggets
Ingredients
- 3 cups cauliflower florets steamed
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
- avocado oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add steamed cauliflower, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, and egg into a large mixing bowl. Using a fork, mix until well combined putting some pressure into the cauliflower florets to break them up.
- Using your hands, scoop about 1 to 2 tablespoons of cauliflower mixture to form a ball shape then flatten sides to make nugget-like shape.
- Place the cauliflower nuggets on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
- Spray the cauliflower nuggets with avocado oil spray or lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the nuggets are golden brown and crispy, flipping them halfway through for even cooking.
- Once the cauliflower nuggets are crispy and golden, remove them from the oven.
Your instructions say to add egg but the ingredient list doesn’t list it. How many eggs should we add? Thank you! And excited to try these for my one year old. 🙂
Hi Jeannie, just one egg! Hope your one year old enjoys!