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Healthy and delicious, these Crispy Cauliflower Fritters are a Whole30 compliant, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, and low carb delight. This easy side dish is packed with flavor and is a tasty way to get more vegetables into your meals.
I fell in love with these little crispy baked cauliflower fritters and I think you will too. Perfect for a Whole30 round, paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian, or dairy-free eating, they are pretty much an awesome little side dish for anyone.
If you love poppable and healthy veggies, check out these Blistered Shishito Peppers and Spicy Sweet Potato Fries. Hold me, they’re yummy!
Can I Make These Vegan/Egg-Free?
Yes! Use your favorite egg substitute (like flax or chia egg), or 1 tablespoon of vegan mayo or plain dairy-free yogurt.
Can I Fry the Cauliflower Patties?
Sure thing! It is a bit messier but totally doable. Melt 2 tablespoons of ghee or olive oil in a cast-iron skillet and cook the patties until they have a crunchy sear (2-3 minutes). Flip and cook the other side. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel or newspaper.
If you’re new to cast iron, check out this post on removing rust from cast iron and learn to season love, and use your skillets.
Top with Cilantro Chimichurri, Homemade Green Goddess Dressing, or hot sauce. The beautiful pink veggies you see in the photos are from a batch of Encurtido. But these cauliflower cakes would also be amazing served alongside a batch of Refrigerator Pickled Beets.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- You don’t need to cook or steam the cauliflower prior to chopping it. I make my patties with raw cauliflower. You can also use store-bought cauliflower rice.
- Start by adding 1/2 cup of the flour and mix the rest in a tablespoon at a time. Depending on the size of your cauli-“mince” you may not need the full cup.
- No food processor? Feel free to finely hand chop the cauliflower or grate it on a large box grater.
- Have extra cauliflower? You can learn how to freeze cauliflower in this post.
Variations
- If you can tolerate gluten, feel free to sub in the same amount of all-purpose flour or panko.
- You can use your favorite gluten-free flour in lieu of the almond flour if desired.
- If you eat dairy, I think it would be a crying shame to not add a little bit of shredded cheese into the mix. I would add 1/4-1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella or extra sharp cheddar.
More Recipes Like This
- Instant Pot Cauliflower
- Crispy Teriyaki Cauliflower Bites
- Paleo Salmon Cakes
- Crispy Butternut Squash
- Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts
- Spicy Green Beans
- Air Fryer Zucchini Chips
- Roasted Frozen Cauliflower
- Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes
- Air Fryer Cauliflower
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS
One serving of Baked Cauliflower Patties has 3 WW Freestyle SmartPoints.
Crispy Cauliflower Fritters {Whole30, Paleo, GF, DF}
Ingredients
- 2 cups riced cauliflower {from ~3 cups cauliflower florets}
- 1 egg
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley {chopped}
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp powdered nutritional yeast
- Olive oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a rack in the top third of the oven.
- Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles a rice texture (see notes below if you don't have a food processor).
- Combine cauliflower, egg, parsley, nutritional yeast, spices, and 1/2 cup of flour in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together and you can form a ball with the mixture.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Make balls with the mixture and place them on the baking sheet. Gently press down with your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten into patties.
- Spray patties heavily with olive oil cooking spray.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 7.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We decided to give this a try as a side to our Sunday family dinner. They were super simple and very tasty. We used some frozen riced cauliflower instead of fresh. Once thawed, we patted out the excess liquid as Sarah recommended in a previous comment. I noticed that the fritters were a bit wet after 11 minutes at 400 degrees F, so I put it at 425 degrees F for the final 7 minutes after the flip. That did the trick! These tasted great with a homemade Sriracha dipping sauce but I bet you could modify the spice palette to fit almost any flavor scheme!
Rice cauliflower is soooo versatile! Love how you adapted this to fit what you had on hand.
why the nutritional yeast? can i leave it out or substitute something?
It adds a delicious white cheddar flavor. You can leave it out, but it will impact the overall flavor a bit.
Looks delicious! Since it’s a side dish, do you have any recommendations of what to pair it with?
Gudrun, *most* of my main dish recipes are one-pan kind of meals. But, I would say you could serve them with roasted chicken or some grilled sausage.
Honestly, I use them more as part of my breakfast. I serve them with a slice of bacon and some eggs because it is a super easy way to get some veg in at breakfast.
I can’t wait to try these!  Would I do anything different if I used the frozen cauliflower rice? Â
I think you would definitely need to defrost it and press excess moisture out of frozen cauli rice before using. Otherwise I think they would be way too soggy.
These look great and I happen to have a bunch of frozen cauliflower rice in the freezer!