These roasted cauliflower nuggets are gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan. They're delicious, easy to make, and kids love them! Covered in a crispy coating made of cheesy nutritional yeast, crunchy cornmeal, and healthy turmeric, these little cauliflower bites will please the whole family!
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❔ Why should I roast cauliflower?
Roasted vegetables are delicious! Even veggies that my kids claim to hate are soon devoured when I roast them with a little oil and a sprinkle of salt. They devour my balsamic roasted veggies, roasted root vegetables, or roasted Brussels sprouts and potatoes every time I make them.
I never had much luck getting my kids excited about cauliflower until I started playing around with some seasonings, and added cornmeal for some crunch. Now my kids ask me to make these roasted cauliflower nuggets all of the time.
They can be served as a side dish or work as an appetizer. However, many times they don’t even make it off the cookie sheet before my kids descend on them.
Drizzle them with vegan buffalo sauce for a healthy vegan buffalo cauliflower or orange sauce to make orange cauliflower.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Cauliflower - one large head of cauliflower or about 4 cups of florets.
- Olive Oil - or any neutral-flavored oil will work. This will help the breading stick to the cauliflower and help it crisp up and not stick to the cookie sheet.
- Cornmeal - as a gluten-free breading that will give the cauliflower a nice crispy texture.
- Nutritional Yeast - for a cheesy flavor, golden color, and extra nutrition. (optional)
- Salt - for flavor.
- Garlic Powder - for flavor.
- Paprika - for flavor.
- Turmeric - for color.
🥄 How to make cauliflower nuggets
Step 1 - Start by preheating your oven to 425° F (218° C)
Step 2 - Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and put them into a bowl.
Step 3 - Drizzle them with oil and stir to coat the pieces.
Step 4 - In a separate container, mix the cornmeal and spices.
Step 5 - Sprinkle about ¾ of the mixture over the cauliflower and stir well to coat.
Step 6 - Pour cauliflower onto a baking sheet and put it into the oven.
Step 7 - After about 15 minutes, take it out of the oven and sprinkle the remaining mixture. Mix well to coat the cauliflower. (The cauliflower will now be moist and more of the mixture will stick to it.)
Step 8 - Bake again for about 15 more minutes. Take out of the oven and stir well again.
Step 9 - Bake for another 15 minutes, totaling about 45 minutes of baking. (They should be cooked through and slightly crispy on the outside).
Step 10 - Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
✨ Dipping sauces for cauliflower
Check out all of my homemade vegan dipping sauces! These are a few of my family's favorites for cauliflower...
- Vegan Chipotle Mayo
- Spicy Tahini Sauce (oil-free)
- Vegan Tartar Sauce
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Vegan BBQ Sauce
- Vegan Buffalo Sauce
- Chinese-Style Orange Sauce
- Vegan Honey Mustard
- Vegan Ranch Dip
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Be sure to bake the cauliflower at a high temperature to make sure that it cooks thoroughly and gets crispy on the outside.
- Cut the pieces of cauliflower into evenly sized pieces so they cook at the same rate.
- The size of the pieces will determine the cooking time. Larger pieces will need about 5 more minutes of baking time. Small pieces will need about 5 minutes less of bake time.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Baked cauliflower nuggets are best served hot and fresh. I recommend only making as much as you can eat in 1 sitting. If you have extras, they can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, but they will not be as crisp and fresh. You can bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400° F for 5-7 minutes to reheat them.
➕ More cauliflower recipes
- Vegan Cauliflower Cheese
- Fried Cauliflower
- Riced Cauliflower Risotto
- Cauliflower Stuffing
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
✨ More vegan finger foods
- Vegan Chicken Nuggets
- Vegan Popcorn Chicken
- Zucchini Fries
- Tofu Fries
- Rice Paper Pork Rinds
- Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- Vegan Shrimp Cocktail
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Roasted cauliflower nuggets recipe
Roasted Vegan Cauliflower Nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower (large head)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil or any other oil of choice
- 1/3 cup cornmeal
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and put them into a bowl.
- Drizzle with oil and stir to coat the pieces.
- In a separate container, mix all remaining ingredients.
- Sprinkle about ¾ of the mixture over the cauliflower and stir well to coat.
- Pour cauliflower onto a baking sheet and put it into the oven.
- After about 15 minutes, take it out of the oven and sprinkle the remaining mixture. Mix well to coat the cauliflower. (The cauliflower will now be moist and more of the mixture will stick to it.)
- Bake again for about 15 more minutes. Take out of the oven and stir well again.
- Bake for another 15 minutes, totaling about 45 minutes of baking. (They should be cooked through and slightly crispy on the outside).
- Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
- My kids love to dip them in ketchup, barbecue sauce, vegan ranch, vegan honey mustard, or vegan buffalo sauce.
- Baking time will vary depending on how small you cut the cauliflower.
- These work great as an appetizer, snack, or side dish.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
Can you cook these in an air fryer? If so, for how long?
Love this recipe! It's not really crispy (hence the 4-star review) but great flavor and gluten free which is nice. I've made this recipe twice since discovering it.
I'm glad that you enjoy the recipe. 🙂
Wonderful! I did a small change: I omitted oil and coated the cauli in aqua faba (juice saved from cooking chickpeas). And I used smoked paprika, doubling it to give some pop of heat. Hubby and I loved it! thanks
Do you have any advice if someone were to make this with frozen cauliflower florets?
I always use frozen cauliflower! It’s the only thing they sell here! (lol)
I put the whole bag of cauliflower (12-16oz) in a bowl – remove bag- and microwave, on medium for about
3 minutes. Check and see if there is still ice on it. If there is microwave an additional minute at a time, just until it is not frozen or icy anymore.
May be warm or hot and slightly cooked at this point.
Drain and dry if necessary, then allow to cool before adding to recipe.
Reduce heat by 25 degrees (Fahrenheit).
Start checking for doneness about 15 minutes before the time given in the recipe.
What makes them so high in calories? Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely making these anyway 🙂
I think it's mostly the oil that makes it high in calories. However, the recipe is calculated using all the ingredients added to the whole recipe divided by 4 servings, but some of the coating and oil falls off, so unless you will be licking all the crumbs off the cookie sheet, it really won't be that high. (But no judgment if you do lick the crumbs)! 🙂
Is there a substitute for Nutritional Yeast? I don’t need it to be vegan just dairy free. I have Brewers Yeast...
The nutritional yeast just gives it a little bit of a cheesy flavor. There isn't anything with a similar flavor that is also dairy free unless you can find a vegan parmesan without it. You can simply leave it out. Brewers yeast does not have the same taste.
These were delicious! My whole family loved them. It was the fastest we ever ate a head of cauliflower! 🙂