Tater Tots were an obsession of mine as a kid. Ever since my mom used to buy them, they’d always be requested by me in place of mashed potatoes. They’re crispy, they’re crunchy, and they’re just plain good. Being that I’m keto now, I decided to take it upon myself to delve into the creativity of my childhood and re-create this favorite of mine with keto tater tots.
You definitely won’t miss the potato here, and unlike many other cauliflower goods – you can’t actually taste much of the cauliflower. This is partly due to the frying oil I used (bacon fat), as the flavors really impart themselves into the tater tots. If you can, choose lard, tallow, or some sort of animal fat to fry with. If you don’t have any on hand, feel free to use olive oil.
You’ll end up with miniature sized, golden brown bites of deliciousness that will go with just about every meal. Feel free to serve them up with fry sauce, and dip away!
Yields 4 servings of Keto Tater Tots (9 pieces per serving)
The Preparation
- 588 grams cauliflower
- 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup lard, or other high smoke point oil
The Execution
1. Cut cauliflower head into florets. Try to get rid of most of the long stems.
2. Steam the cauliflower until tender, then add to a food processor and pulse until it resembles mashed potatoes.
3. Let cauliflower cool, then put it into a dish cloth and wring out any excess water. Use 2 dish cloths if needed.
4. Add cheese, egg, and spices. Mix together until mixture is thickened and can be worked with. Add 1 tsp. extra psyllium husk powder at a time until your mixture can be worked with (if you find that it’s too runny).
5. Start by rolling tater tot batter into a ball. Then use your other hand to roll the ball into a log. Lastly, press the two ends together to form a tater tot shape (more squared off on the ends).
6. Roll all of the tater tots out before starting to fry.
7. Heat 1 cup oil in a cast iron skillet to medium heat. Once oil is hot, reduce heat to medium-low and add tater tots. Fry about 6-9 at a time, flipping as they crisp on each side.
8. Lay on paper towels to cool, then serve.
This makes a total of 36 servings of Keto Tater Tots. Each serving comes out to be 66 calories, 6.5g fats, 0.5g net carbs, and 1.1g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 588 gram cauliflower | 135 | 2.9 | 24.1 | 13.5 | 10.6 | 10.6 |
| 2 ounce mozzarella cheese | 170 | 12.7 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.2 | 12.6 |
| 1/4 cup parmesan cheese | 108 | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9.6 |
| 1 large egg | 79 | 5.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.4 | 6.9 |
| 1/2 teaspoon onion powder | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder | 5 | 0 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.3 |
| 2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder | 37 | 0 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 1.1 | 0 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 cup lard | 1849 | 205 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 2387 | 233 | 37.4 | 21.3 | 16.1 | 40.1 |
| Per Serving (/36) | 66 | 6.5 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
Keto Tater Tots
Ingredients
- 588 gram cauliflower
- 2 ounce mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup lard or other high smoke point oil
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into florets, discarding the longer stems.
- Steam the cauliflower until tender, then add to a food processor and pulse until it resembles mashed potatoes.
- Let the cauliflower cool, then place into a dish cloth and wring out any excess water (use two dish cloths if needed).
- Add the cheese, egg, and spices. Mix together until the dough is thickened and workable. If the dough is still too runny, add an extra teaspoon of psyllium husk powder at a time until it reaches the proper consistency.
- Start by rolling the tater tot batter into a ball. Next, roll the ball into a log. Finally, press the two ends together gently to form that characteristic tater tot shape (more squared off on the ends).
- Repeat for the rest of the dough.
- Heat up the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low and add in the tater tots. Fry them in batches until golden on both sides.
- Lay on paper towels to cool before serving.
