Cheesy Cauliflower Pizza Bites
Hey guys!
Today I had the urge to make some vegetarian nuggets! They were sooooooo good! You need to make these as an appetizer for your friends and family. They will love love love it. And just so you know…not EVERYTHING I make turns out perfect. I just don’t tell you about it when I fail! In fact, this past two weeks I’ve been like burning everything and stuff just comes out either too spicy, too bland, or just too weird. Today, I was very happy that I broke my curse. Phew.
INGREDIENTS:
– 1 small head of cauliflower
– 1 and 1/4 cups of low fat mozzarella cheese
– 1/4 tsp dried oregano
– 1/4 tsp dried garlic powder
– 1/4 tsp dried basil
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 1 egg
– small handful of fresh basil leaves sliced thinly
DIRECTIONS:
1. Shred the cauliflower in your food processor until it looks like rice – I call this “ricing”.
2. Place the rice in a bowl and microwave it for 5 minutes.
3. Squeeze all of the excess water out by placing the rice on a cheesecloth or thin piece of linen and pressing the liquid out. If you skip this, it’s not the end of the world.
4. Then mix in your dried ingredients, egg, cheese, and basil leaves. Be careful! It’s hot. Don’t do what I did in my first Cheap Clean Eats video. You can watch that disaster here. (No, seriously, watch it!)
5. Form your “dough” into little nugget sized pieces on a tray that’s been sprayed with EVOO, PAM, or coconut oil.
6. Bake at 425F for 15 min. (I actually left mine in a little longer to make sure they get a bit crunchy.)
That’s it! It makes a few dozen nuggets and tastes great served with a side of marinara! The fresh basil gives it such a fantastic Italian feel. The recipe makes 6 servings (6 nuggets = 1 serving) and each serving is under 100 cals with over 10g of protein. How awesome is that?
Enjoy your weekend guys and hashtag #cheapcleaneats if you make this recipe! And for everyone wondering what happened to Cheap Clean Eats on YouTube, I just needed some time to create some fool proof recipes for you. Like I said above…it’s been a tough couple weeks in the kitch!!
Love you!
<3 Cassey
88 thoughts on “Cheesy Cauliflower Pizza Bites”
There are 88 comments posted by our users.
Can’t wait to try these out!
I am so pumped that these turned out amazingly and so easy too! Cassey your recipes never fail to disappoint 🙂
How is this 98 calories in total?? A cup of cheese alone is around 300 calories.
its low fat cheese and this recipe is for 36 nuggets. so if we divide the 300 calories to 6, one serving will get 50 calories from the cheese
You should add a Pinterest option! I would love to pin this on my healthy food board to share with my family! Love your recipes by the way, you’re beautiful and amazing and a true inspiration!
I just made these for the first time. My two kids asked to try them and loved them. One of them wants me to make them for her birthday party! They have never tried cauliflower before, so this is amazing!
thanks
http://www.kfs.edu.eg
Cassey, any replacement for eggs? please help!!!
I use agar agar powder when I need to bind something without using egg. It can be a little tricky to find, though- so sometimes I’ll use honey if you don’t mind some sweetness, or sunflower seed butter.
They are so so soooo good! Thank you Cassey for this great recipe!)
I just made these and they are DELICIOUS!! <3
These sound awesome and filling.
I’m a bit confused, does anybody know for sure if its 98 calories for 1 nugget or 6 nuggets? She said 1 serving is 6 nuggets and I find it so hard to believe that 6 of these is under 100 cal! Can anybody help?
I believe she said that it’s 6 nuggets for one serving.
they are in the oven right now !! If this recipe works, i will have hit jackpot !!!!
Are your recipes Gluten Free?
I would love to try this recipe, but is there another way beside baking it? My oven doesn’t work too well
I’m using this as a pizza crust and putting topping on it tonight!! They were good by themselves but i’m sure with extra cheese, marinara, and chicken it will be delish!
this looks yummy!! can’t wait to try it
Just made these and they tasted delicious!! I didn’t drain the cauliflower though and they turned out fine – just in case anyone was curious.
Thank you for the great recipe!
These are baking in the oven right now! So excited to try them. I’m normally not a big cauliflower person, so these may convince me to be a huge cauliflower lover!
These are so amaaaaaazing, another favourite recipe for the books 😀
Yummy.is it 6 of them that is 1 serving for 98 calories?? Want to be sure
Probably not! I’m assuming that, because of the cheese, it would be 1 nugget for 98 cals and that the recipe makes 6 servings!
I think it’s 1 serving = 98 cals, since she says “each serving is under 100 cals.” She also says that 6 nuggets = 1 serving.
Oh my God!! I just did them and they were unbelieveable! My parents loved them and I am definitely gonna do them again. Thanks a lot Cassey<3
Hi Cassey! I’m so excited that you’ve made another awesome cauliflower recipe!! I am really looking forward to making this.
Does anyone know a rough measurement for how much cauliflower we should be using though? “1 small head” isn’t very precise and I don’t want to mess up this recipe by using too much or too little. I bought a pretty big cauliflower so I don’t think I’ll need to use all of it.
I made them today… they turned out delicious! I made changes to the recipie to indinafy it! I am an Indian… 🙂
I used 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder and 1/2 tsp cumin powder plus 2 green chillies and salt.. mixed them all together with a little water in the mixer… for ricing…
then microwaved it.. for 5 min on high power..
then mixed 1 egg and cheese.. i used cheddar cheese though… didnt hav mozeralla …
mix ..mix..mix…
and baked for 20- 25 minutes.. on 218 °c …
Thankyou Cassie for the wonderful idea…
oh and i used 1/2 tsp garlic paste
Oh man, I know what you mean about weird food. I tried some healthy alternative for pumpkin recipes that would be vegan and gluten free….it was a terrible mess and made an even worse smoothie. That is what happens with experimenting though, when you have the idea but no recipe that means you have no idea what will happen chemically (specifically for baking) These look awesome! I know it must be hard keeping up with everything and having a normal life ‘balance’ but we all appreciate you and so many more will learn from you still. Thank you so much.
i finally got to try these and can I just say they taste AMAZING! wow, definitely making these again!
kendrrat
http://heyyber.blogspot.com
These look SO GOOD! So simple too. I feel like cauliflower is the magical vegetable… you can turn it into anything!
I’ve never thought of making vegetarian nuggets but these look so good! Definitely going to try them tonight.
I don’t have a food processor though, so would chopping the cauliflower really finely work ok?
Can’t wait to try them!
paperwingsxo.blogspot.co.uk
I chopped the cauliflower by hand and it worked out just fine. But it took about 45 min so definitely prepare a distraction for yourself!
i think we need a pumpkin recipe next! It would be perfect for fall, maybe healthy pumpkin bread or pumpkin pie? anybody agree? 🙂
I just made these! Definitely had some issues (possibly caused by too much cauliflower), but they were super tasty, even though I forgot the garlic! Had some with homemade tomato sauce and courgette noodles and it was lush, and taking the rest in to uni tomorrow to eat with soup. 😀
Did you make healthy tomato sauce? I want something else but marrinara sauce. Would you share the recipe?
Thank you 🙂
omg are you kidding me !! these look so good ! I hope you will do a video on them ! check out my blog form healthy food and lifestyle 🙂 almondsonja.blogspot.com
loved this!!! You need to do some more cheap clean eats videos!!! its been a while. Also my inner calves are great but my outer calves aren’t.i cant balance facing in on calf raises. Can i do a different move or is there a way to fix my horrible balance? Finally, my neck is getting REALLY bulky from some t of the abb workout that require to lift you head up and my neck always kills when i do.
I love this recipe! Just one of many great ways to use Cauliflower. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.mockeri.com
Does anyone know if I can heat the “rice” differently (I don’t have a microwave)? Is it ok to heat it a bit in the oven or in a pan?
I think you could heat it on the stove its like texture of steamed cauliflower after you cook it in microwave
Microwaving isn’t the healthiest way to make your dishes, because it will lose beneficial nutrients :/
Hey 🙂
I live in a college dorm and I don’t have access to a microwave (yup!) or oven. Can I make these also in a pan?? Fry them?
Cheers 🙂
This looks so good!!
I wish there was a way to make it Vegan! 🙁
I’m vegan as well, maybe with nutritional yeast and/or “fake” cheese… And I’ve got an egg-substitute as well (some sort of soy powder). Could work I think 🙂
You may be able to! I haven’t tried it, so I have no idea if this will rival the original recipe, but nutritional yeast is similar to the taste of cheese. Use some of that.
As for the egg, you can make a flax egg: 1 tablespoon flax seed + 3 tablespoons water. Place flax seed into a bowl. Add water, mix together, throw into the fridge, let “gel” for anywhere from ten minutes to an hour. The longer you let it set up, the better.
Then all you have to do is throw your flax “egg” into the recipe 🙂
CASSEY! I don’t know if you’ve tried the chocolate muffin recipe that uses pumpkin? It’s one box of chocolate cake mix, one can of pumpkin, and one cup of chocolate chips. You put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or however long it says on the cake mix box. They each come out to be a little under 200 calories and would be great with some berries! I know that some dark chocolates are vegan, so this could be a good vegan treat too!
Just made these super yummy! Thanks!
this looks incredible! i LOVE healthy versions of my favorite recipes. actually, I’m going to try some healthy versions of Pumpkin Spice drinks soon, and these cheesy nuggets sound like the perfect snack to try this month too!
check out the pumpkin spice recipes i’ll be trying here:
http://heyyber.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-skinny-pumpkin.html
kendrrat
http://heyyber.blogspot.com
(health and fitness motivation)
Just did it and it’s sooooooo good! Super simple and light, thanks for the recipe!
This look so yummy! Trying it out tonight! 😀
I found something very similar to this recipe online a couple weeks ago but instead of the cauliflower, it was quinoa. It was pretty good but now I’d like to try these cauliflower pizza bites see which one i like better or mix it up
I just bought a “cheddar” cauliflower that will be perfect for this!
Oh goodness! I always make cauliflower pizza and wondered why Its so wet. Now I know I need to strain it in cheesecloth!
Ahhh! This looks so yummy! I used to hate cauliflower but i’ve learned to love it. this has my tastebuds all a-tingle! I’m still hoping you will create some sort of healthy pumpkin treat for the holidays <3
These look great but what do you want to bet most people eat all 6?? Its hard to make a batch of something yummy and eat just one…lol
She said one serving was 6, and the batch makes 12. =) Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to eat just one I’m sure.
This looks so delicious! Now I’m getting hungry!
Today I got 2 plushies from the “Goodness Gang”, the garlic & the strawberry for free in my supermarket! They look so cute^^
Yum! Are you coming up with a meal plan at all? 🙂
This looks and sounds extremely good! I checked the recipe like two times thinking where’s the wheat flour (it looks like it has some in it) cause that would mean I can’t eat it 🙁 But there was none of it!! 😀 Too good to be true~ I have to try making these asap!
Thanks Cassie for this great recipe♥
♥Rora
http://sweetimpatience.blogspot.fi/
I was just wondering what you can use as a subsitute for egg? Great recipe btws! 🙂 xx
They sound so yummy! I love cauliflower but am always stuck for ideas about what to do with them except nibbling them as crudités. Xx
http://makeupbycandlelight.blogspot.co.uk
Ohmygosh this looks so mouth watering! Great post. Thanks for sharing this Cassey
xoxo Zoe
http://www.thatszoe.blogspot.com
Just wondering whether I can substitute the cheese with something..? Yogurt, flour, or any please..? Thanks 🙂
I second that question… and no non-dairy cheese. It’s weird and yucky…lol
Oh have you done a cauliflower rice sushi video yet?
Is that 98 cals for ALL or for 1?? Also, I have an intolerance to broc and the cauliflower family (sad days I know).. Do you recommend any alternative ingredients I can use? Thanks and keep up the awesome work on healthy recipes. x
it’s 98 cals per serving
1 serving=6 nuggets (:
Maybe sweet potato? And the serving size is 6 the recipe makes 12. =)
I made some veggie nuggets recently using 250g of quark (errr… curd cheese, I suppose you could use cottage cheese or greek yogurt) and 125g of wholemeal spelt semolina. I mixed the semolina with a little salt and Italian herbs, then mixed it with the quark and left to stand for a while. I got a nice firm dough that I shaped into little nuggets and popped them in the frying pan. We ate them with low-sugar organic ketchup – totally yummy!
Hi Cassey! Love the recipe! Can you please make a video on portion control and what a good portion looks like? I eat healthy but struggle with portion control and wanting seconds… ;(
Me too! This would be so useful for me x
Woohoo, it’s vegetarian. 🙂 These look amazing and I actually had a craving for some cauliflower “rice” today. Definitely gonna try making this.
:O purple cauliflower will be amazing!!
Amazing! These look delicious! Love your blog 🙂 Inspired me to make my website
I shall make these tomorrow! They look absolutely delicious! *drools*
Amazing! I’m one of those lucky people who actually like cauliflower. I could eat a whole bunch of them! Will try your recipe next week. Also, good to heear that you’re not perfect as well. I’m always wondering how you come up with all these ideas for Cheap Clean Eats.
I love this idea, but i just don’t understand why cassie uses the microwave… i mean that defeats the whole purpose of healthy eating.
I’m pretty sure it’s because if you’re in a dorm in college, you probably only have access to a microwave. At my college, the only reason I even saw a stove/oven was because there was one in the Honor’s building and I had special access to that building. Otherwise, it was just microwaves, no hotplates allowed either. 🙂
Trust me, if you’d see the food at my college, a microwaved cauliflower is not the end of healthy eating. LOL
microwave does not make your food unhealthy!
here are some links!
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Microwave-cooking-and-nutrition.shtml
http://blog.doctoroz.com/oz-experts/to-nuke-or-not-to-nuke-should-you-microwave-your-food
now you’ll find some “naturallynews.com” type sites that say microwaves are bad, but these sites tend to be biased and don’t support their “facts” or claims.
just don’t use plastic wrap or plastic containers – use glass ware 🙂
It looks so good ! Thanks cassey , you inspire me to be the best I can be. 🙂