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Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese

Keto Recipes > Keto Recipes

I was requested to make this recipe, in order to find a better way around cauliflower tots. When you make them in the oven, they’re not that great – a little bit crispy on the top and then pure mush throughout. I figured…if people are making faux mac and cheese in the oven from roasting cauliflower, why can’t I do it fried?

Fried Mac and Cheese

When I made these, I wasn’t planning to eat them. I had just eaten dinner and was stuffed to the brim. You know what? They looked so good after I finished them that I not only at 1, I ate the entire batch. These things are seriously good eats, and if you can make them in bulk, you have some amazing snacks on your hands!

Keep in mind that in the pictures, I only made 1/3 of the recipe. I had leftover cauliflower rice from making Low Carb Cauliflower Fried Rice and decided to try something new with it.

You can also grate the cauliflower into larger pieces, but I don’t believe it would let out as much moisture when you cook it as when it’s completely riced. It’s up to you, but I honestly find grating cauliflower to be too much work when you can grind it in a food processor in 10 seconds.

Yields 27 total Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese Patties.

The Preparation

  • 588 grams cauliflower, riced
  • 3 large egg
  • 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons paprika

The Execution

1. Get your head of cauliflower ready. We’ll need to prep it before ricing it.

Fried Mac and Cheese

2. Cut your cauliflower into florets, making sure you get any excess stem off.

Fried Mac and Cheese

3. Add the cauliflower to your food processor and pulse it until it is the consistency of short grain rice.

Fried Mac and Cheese

4. Put your cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 5-7 minutes.

5. Once it’s done in the microwave, we want to get all the excess moisture out. I lay my cauliflower onto a kitchen towel to wring it out. You will get cauliflower “juice” all over the towel, so this will need to go into the laundry afterward. If you don’t want to do that, you can do this with paper towels also.

Fried Mac and Cheese

6. Once you have the cauliflower in the kitchen towel, roll it up tight and apply pressure (your whole body weight) to the cauliflower. Try to push as much extra moisture out of the cauliflower as you can.

Fried Mac and Cheese

7. Once you’re finished, extract the “mushed” cauliflower from the kitchen towel and put it into a bowl. Make sure that it’s room temperature by this point.
Fried Mac and Cheese

8. Add your eggs ONE AT A TIME to the cauliflower. You don’t want a mixture that too watery! Keep in mind that I only did 1/3 of the entire recipe.

Fried Mac and Cheese

9. Add your cheese.

Fried Mac and Cheese

10. Finally, your spices to the cauliflower – tumeric, rosemary, and paprika.

Fried Mac and Cheese

11. Mix everything well, using your hands if you want. I prefer using my hands because I can get the mixture to be balanced well.

Fried Mac and Cheese

12. In a pan, heat your olive oil and coconut oil on high until it gets very hot.

13. Form your cauliflower mixture into a ball, and then flatten it out in the palm of your hand.

Fried Mac and Cheese

14. Add your cauliflower “patties” into the hot oil and reduce the heat to medium high.

Fried Mac and Cheese

15. Allow them to get crisp on one side before flipping them.

Fried Mac and Cheese

16. Continue cooking them until they’re crisp on both sides.

Fried Mac and Cheese

17. All done! Serve on a bed of spinach, or just eat as a snack. They’re absolutely delicious!

Fried Mac and Cheese

This makes a total of 3 servings of Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese. Each serving comes out to be 380 calories, 26.9g fats, 6.6g net carbs, and 24.8g protein.

NUTRITION CALORIES FAT CARBS FIBER NET CARBS PROTEIN
588 gram cauliflower 135 2.9 24.1 13.5 10.6 10.6
3 large egg 236 15.7 1.2 0 1.2 20.7
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese 742 61.2 5.7 0 5.7 42
1 teaspoon turmeric powder 10 0.1 2.1 0.7 1.4 0.3
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary 3 0.1 0.6 0.4 0.2 0
2 teaspoon paprika 13 0.6 2.5 1.6 0.9 0.7
Totals 1139 80.7 36.1 16.2 19.9 74.3
Per Serving (/3) 380 26.9 12 5.4 6.6 24.8

Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese

This makes a total of 3 servings of Low Carb Fried Mac & Cheese. Each serving comes out to be 380 calories, 26.9g fats, 6.6g net carbs, and 24.8g protein.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 3 servings
Calories 380 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 588 gram cauliflower riced
  • 3 large egg
  • 1 ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¾ teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 2 teaspoon paprika

Instructions
 

  • Get the head of cauliflower ready. We'll need to prep it before ricing it.
  • Cut the cauliflower into florets, making sure you get any excess stem off.
  • Add the cauliflower to your food processor and pulse it until it is the consistency of short grain rice.
  • Put your cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 5-7 minutes. Once it's done in the microwave, we want to get all the excess moisture out. I lay my cauliflower on a kitchen towel to wring it out. You will get cauliflower juice all over the towel, so this will need to go into the laundry afterward. Alternatively, you can do this with paper towels, but you'll need to use multiple ones to avoid tearing.
  • Once you have the cauliflower in the kitchen towel, roll it up tight and apply pressure (your whole body weight) to the cauliflower. Try to push as much extra moisture out of the cauliflower as you can. Once you're finished, extract the mashed cauliflower from the kitchen towel and put it into a bowl. Make sure that it's room temperature by this point.
  • Add your eggs ONE AT A TIME to the cauliflower. You don't want a mixture that's too watery! Keep in mind, in the pictures I only did 1/3 of the entire recipe.
  • Add the cheese.
  • Finally, add the spices to the cauliflower - tumeric, rosemary, and paprika.
  • Mix everything well, using your hands if you want. I prefer using my hands because I can get the mixture to be balanced well.
  • In a pan, heat the olive oil and coconut oil on high until it gets very hot. Form the cauliflower mixture into a ball, and then flatten it out in the palm of your hand.
  • Add the cauliflower "patties" into the hot oil and reduce the heat to medium high.
  • Allow them to get crisp on one side before flipping them.
  • Continue cooking them until they're crisp on both sides.
  • All done! Serve on a bed of spinach, or just eat as a snack. They're absolutely delicious!

Nutrition

Calories: 380kcalProtein: 24.8gFat: 26.9g
Keyword vegetarian