These low carb cauliflower fritters are a great way to use up a little of your leftover holiday ham! Cheesy, grain-free goodness. This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm.
I’ve never understood people who don’t like leftovers. In our house, leftovers are a precious commodity and treated with the great respect they deserve. I often make extras of whatever we are having for dinner in the hopes that there will be some leftovers in the days to come. Mind you, I sometimes underestimate the appetites of my young growing family and can sit in astonishment watching all of my hoped-for extras go down their gullets in one fell swoop. This family likes to eat, that’s for sure. But when there are leftovers, I love the idea that I will get an extra meal out of one night’s cooking. Sometimes it’s lunch, sometimes it’s another whole dinner. And sometimes those leftovers get repurposed into a whole new recipe.
There always seem to be leftovers of holiday ham. Everybody loves it and digs right in, but unless you have a serious crowd to feed, those hams can seem endless. The whole boneless family ham from Jones Dairy Farm is no exception to this. I received one for recipe development and created a delicious Rosemary Garlic Crusted Ham when my sister-in-law and her family came to stay for a few days. The 9 of us put a noticeable dent in it, but there was still plenty for another full meal, some lunches and these low carb fritters. I am not complaining, as we enjoyed it in all of its iterations!
These fritters did prove a bit of a challenge. Cauli has so much moisture, you really need to press on it in a fine-mesh sieve to get as much of it out as possible or your fritters will be soggy puddles. And the lack of gluten makes them a bit prone to falling apart until that first side is fully cooked. I found that it was best to form the patties by hand, really pressing them together, before putting them into the hot pan. And be sure to cook the first side completely before flipping over, as that will help hold them together better. They are worth all the effort though! They are delicious and a great low carb side dish for any occasion. You might just want to buy yourself a holiday ham, if only for the leftovers!
This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm. As always, all recipes, photographs, thoughts, opinions, random tangents and incoherent ramblings are my own.
These low carb cauliflower fritters are a great way to use up a little of your leftover holiday ham! Cheesy, grain-free goodness.
- 1 medium head cauliflower
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1 1/4 cups finely diced ham
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Plenty of oil or butter for the pan
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Chop cauliflower into 1/2 inch pieces and steam about 10 to 15 minutes, until quite soft. Drain well in a fine-mesh sieve. Mash up with a fork or potato masher, pressing to release as much liquid as possible. You don't want it perfectly smooth, it should be a little chunky.
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Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl and add eggs, cheese, ham, coconut flour, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
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Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add oil or butter to the pan. Using 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, form cauliflower mixture into flat patties, pressing together firmly. Don't make them more than about 3 inches in diameter.
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When pan is hot, add a few of the cauliflower patties, being careful not to crowd them. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, until browned on the bottom, then flip carefully and cook another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with remaining patties.
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Serve hot.
Serves 8. Each serving has 4.55 g of carbs and 1.86 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 2.69 g.
Food energy: 223kcal
Saturated fatty acids: 10.10g
Total fat: 16.17g
Calories from fat: 145
Cholesterol: 118mg
Carbohydrate: 4.55g
Total dietary fiber: 1.86g
Protein: 12.92g
Sodium: 585mg
Catherine says
What delicious looking and sounding fritters. Catherine
KalynsKitchen says
I love this idea!
Janet says
Leftovers rule!
I made a large batch of Coq au Vin yesterday so we could have lots of leftovers for the week. I tend to do that a lot, not sure how others get things done without leftovers to fall back on. : )
Carolyn says
I know a few people who don’t like leftovers and throw everything away after the first meal. Can you believe that???
Lauren Kelly Nutrition says
I LOVE leftovers too! This is such a great idea!
[email protected] says
Oh my gosh, I totally agree! I do not understand no leftover people at all. I purposely make more to have leftovers, make more, cook less. I actually wrote those words in my last post! Love this!
Liz says
These look terrific! I need to cook a ham just to have leftovers for these fritters!
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
These look so wonderful- I could eat the whole stack!
Jenny Flake says
What perfect little fritters! So hungry now!
leslie says
You make cauliflower look soon good!
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
I’m a huge, huge cauliflower fan. These look amazing. Pinned.
Lauren @ Healthy Delicious says
I’m with you on leftovers – I always get upset when there aren’t any. I don’t usually repurpose them, but with things like ham that make SO much you kind of have to at some point. These cauliflower fritters look awesome!
Rachael @ Cabot Cheese says
Love this idea! What a PERFECT breakfast idea….!
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
My husband and I have completely opposite opinions on leftovers. Me? Awesome. Him? Feels the need to eat every serving of the meal (even if it’s a 4 serving meal and just the 2 of us eating it) when it’s served to not allow for leftovers. It kills me! These fritters look awesome. Ham is the perfect addition to cauli to add some salt and flavor.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I love making veggie fritters but never have tried making them with cauliflower before. What a great and delicious idea.. definitely something I need to try!
Priscilla @ She's Cookin' says
Leftovers rule! We love cauliflower, so these fritters would be a big hit in our house!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Priscilla.
Allyson says
Love the idea of using cauliflower in these fritters! Yum!
Nancy says
We love leftovers at my house too! Cauliflower has become one of my low carb favorite dishes because it is SOOO versatile. I tried these last week and they were AMAZING! Mine tried to stick to the pan making them hard to flip so I ended up just scrambling them and making a hash. We ate on this dish for several meals and enjoyed it more each time. Thanks Carolyn for another amazing recipe. I always check your recipes first when looking for a low carb edition.
Anthony DiFiore says
I just made these and they’re delicious!!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them!
Michelle K says
I have some bags of frozen cauliflower. Could I use that instead?
Carolyn says
Yes, I think that should work.
Kelly says
This looks so good!.
Candace Spaid says
Loved the crunchy outside.
Cindy Horvath says
Hmm. I have ham. I have a bag of microwaveable garlic cauliflower. I have cheese. Off to try.. (putting cauliflower in a nonstick searing hot pan removes a lot of moisture very quickly, FYI)
Juanota Richards says
They look great and I’d love to try them but I never never have any kind of flour or sugar in my house. No carbs of any kind. So I need recipes like this which cater to my dietary needs,
Margaret says
OMG! Just made these and they are fabulous, just like potatoe pancakes. Who would think it is cauliflower
Lise says
I make something similar but I use spaghetti squash. Will have to try it with the cauliflower. I make a dill and onion sour cream dip for mine. Yumm
Ginger says
Would riced cauliflower (fresh not frozen, comes in a bag, already chopped up, each piece is about the size of rice) work?
Carolyn says
Yup, just make sure to cook it until it’s pretty soft.
Season C says
These were delicious, thank you very much. I used lunch meat ham. I just need to work on getting more water squeezed out of the cauliflower – the last couple patties turned into hash browns in the pan!
Lisa says
Yummy. I topped worth an over easy egg & low carb yums Avocado ranch dressing. Filling fabulous meal.
Andrea says
This was a delicious low carb keeper!! Will continue to make and know you can put almost anything you want in it. Delicious!!!
Sheila says
These are delicious! Used asiago cheese and ricotta (had some I had to use up) and green onion. Added a 4th egg because they were not holding together (made them too big – should have listened to your advice). Second pan full much better. Smaller and fried well over 5 min per side. Patties that fall apart fry up really well as a hash. Delicious!
Charity says
This was so yummy! Next time I’ll cut back on the salt because the ham I used was salty and so the fritters ere a little salty too, but still good! My picky kids didn’t even notice the califlower!!
Please help! I am trying to determine the serving size for the data listed of calories etc. It says it makes 20-24 fritters and serves 8. For easy math I’m assuming that the serving size is then 3 fritters but that seems high for the data. Could you confirm or give the correct serving size. Thanks so much!
Nina says
Can you still make this if you omit the cheese?
Carolyn says
Not sure how well it will hold together.
SHARON J says
Since this recipe came out we can now find cauli rice in the freezer section, SO how many cups of processed cauliflower is in this recipe? I know I know it wont be cost effective at all to use the frozen cauli rice, but I am wondering. Thanks so much.
Carolyn says
It’s hard to say for sure but I think you’re looking at about 16 ounces (3 to 4 cups). I know the Trader Joe’s cauli rice is only 12 ounces.
Suzy says
I love to have a couple of these as an afternoon snack!
Kristyn says
I could eat so many of these!! I love how crisp & tasty they are! The ham adds nice flavor. Perfect for appetizers or snacking!
Anna says
These fritters are delicious! My family loved them!
Becky Hardin says
These are amazing! Love everything about them. So delicious!
Jocelyn says
Oh these are so getting made! Can’t wait to try them!
Kara says
Would almond flour work in place of coconut flour?
Carolyn says
Possibly but you need to add 3 times the amount which changes the carb count.
Heather says
Can these be frozen? I’d love to make a bunch and then have them in the freezer for those days when life is too hectic to cook meals!
Carolyn says
Yes, they would freeze very nicely.