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Paleo Cauliflower Rolls
Cauliflower can do just about anything these days if you wish it hard enough! And these “Everything Bagel” flavored Cauliflower Rolls have been a magical recipe here on the site for over 7 years now! We’ve been re-making some of our most beloved recipes lately so more of you can find them, and these rolls definitely deserve top billing! While the recipe has stayed the same, we’ve added more tips and step-by-step photos to help you make it!
So you might be wondering…what are cauliflower rolls? And do they taste like regular rolls? And let me say straight off the bat, these are “rolls” made from cauliflower. They absolutely taste like cauliflower. So if you don’t like cauliflower at all, these might not be for you. If you are on the fence about cauliflower, or you are looking for ways to incorporate it more into your life then these are definitely for you.
This recipe uses finely processed cauliflower, bound together by eggs and baked up to make a really lovely side dish to serve along with dinner, or veggie-filled snack. Some people have had success in using it as a bun for a burger, but I much prefer to eat it as-is and served it with dinner.
This recipe is a healthy, low carb, paleo-friendly, roll alternative!
Ingredients Needed
- Fresh Cauliflower
- Eggs
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Everything Bagel Seasoning
Common Substitution Questions
We’ve had lots of questions about substitutions over the years. If your question isn’t answered here, check out the comments thread!
Cauliflower: This recipe as written is only for fresh whole cauliflower. You cannot use pre-riced cauliflower as it isn’t fine enough. If you did want to use pre-riced cauliflower, you’ll have to process it more in the food processor. We do not recommend using frozen cauliflower, as it will have too much excess moisture.
Eggs: This is the primary binding ingredient for this recipe. Some have had success using a flax or chia egg substitute, but we imagine that it can be a bit crumbly compared to the recipe as written. Please feel free to share if you make an egg substitute for this.
Almond Flour: A lot of people have commented below about using alternative flours, so feel free to see what has worked for others. If you need this to be nut-free, oat flour should work in place of almond flour.
Coconut Flour: This is a very absorbent flour, so if you wanted to attempt to replace it, you will likely have to triple the amount of flour that you plan to use. For instance, there might be some success with using 3 tablespoons of additional almond flour, but we haven’t tried so we can’t guarantee it will work. Please let us know if you experiment.
Seasoning: Go ahead and swap out the Everything Bagel Seasoning for whatever type of seasoning you’d like!
How to Make Them
The most important step in this recipe is starting with the right kind and the right amount of cauliflower! Start with a fresh, whole cauliflower and pulse it in a food processor until it is finely ground, about the size of a grain of quinoa. You may have more than you need, so make sure to measure out only 3 cups. Set aside any leftover cauliflower for another use, such as adding it into an omelet or a smoothie!
Next add the 3 cups of fine cauliflower to a bowl along with the flours, some seasoning and eggs. Mix it up together until it’s well combined, and measure out about 1/3 cup of the mixture. Roll it into a ball and press down slightly to make a roll shape, since they won’t change shape in the oven. Then place on a baking sheet!
Then mix together your everything bagel seasoning, if you are making it yourself, or grab your store-bought seasoning and put about 1-1/2 teaspoons of the seasoning on top of each roll, and gently press it in to make sure it adheres while it’s baking.
And finally, bake in the oven until it’s lightly golden and set all over.
Cauliflower Rolls FAQ
We’ve had lots of questions of the years! We’ve added them here to help you have success with this recipe. If you have a question and you don’t see it answered here, feel free to add it to the comments below!
Does this have the texture of bread? Not quite! It’s cauliflower, and it’s really tricky to make cauliflower have the same texture as bread. This is, however, a healthier wheat roll alternative!
Does it taste like cauliflower? It does taste like cauliflower.
Can I use pre-riced cauliflower? No. This recipe needs finely processed cauliflower, and the stuff you buy at the store won’t be fine enough.
Can I use frozen cauliflower? Unfortunately no. It has too much moisture in it.
Can I use an alternative flour? We recommend sticking with the suggested flours. However, if you have a nut allergy, we’ve had success swapping in oat flour in our other recipes, so you might try that here, though we haven’t tested it on this. Check out the comments for more suggestions on flour alternatives that others have tried.
Can I omit the eggs? Eggs are the binding agent in this recipe, and they’re pretty important. However, some people have had some success with a chia or flax egg substitute. We haven’t tested it though.
How long will they last? These cauliflower rolls are best consumed fresh, the day they are made!
Watch the video here:
If you like this cauliflower recipe, check out these others:
- How to Make Cauliflower Rice
- Kimchi Fried Rice (Cauliflower Rice or White Rice)
- Cauliflower Baked Ziti
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Pizza Bites (Gluten-Free and Grain-Free)
'Everything Bagel' Cauliflower Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower about 1-1/2 lbs, cut into florets
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add cauliflower to a food processor, and pulse until the cauliflower is finely ground, about the size of a grain of quinoa. Add three lightly packed cups of processed cauliflower to a large bowl, and set aside any leftover for another use.
- To the bowl add in eggs, almond flour, coconut flour, garlic powder, and salt and mix together until fully combined.
- Scoop 1/3 cup of the cauliflower mixture, form it into a ball and place it on the baking sheet. Gently press to flatten it slightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
- Mix together poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion and coarse salt in a small bowl. Divide the mixture evenly on top of the cauliflower rolls, pressing it in slightly.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from baking sheet and let cool directly on a cooling rack.
- Serve as a snack or as a roll along with dinner!
Notes
Nutrition
Amazing. I swapped the eggs for chia seeds to make it vegan & it was delicious. Thankyou so much for the recipe., you are amazing! Frozen batch load imminent :)) . Namaste
P.S O & btw to anyone who is put off by cauliflower (not the sexiest vegetable) . These will change your mind as they did mine! Delicious.
YAY!!!!
I just made these using the riced cauliflower from Trader Joes, almond flour (no coconut), eggs, spices, etc. The batter was so wet it fell apart when I put on baking sheet. Should I be using a muffin pan instead? I couldn’t roll it into balls b/c it just fell apart. Any idea what i did wrong?
The cauliflower rice needs to be ground up more than the rice in the bag!
Also, the coconut flour helps absorb moisture!
I’d like to make these, but only have minced garlic and onions on hand (not dried). Would those work in place of the dried?
I just made these! They were super delicious! I made the mistake of using Frozen Riced Cauliflower, and not letting it thaw long enough… They were cooked, but slightly cold on the inside and still quite wet. Next time I think ill have to thaw longer and drain the water out!
Overall super delicious and really healthy. Cant wait to make these again!
would it be possible to just completely omit the flour? how much would it affect the overall recipe?
It definitely needs something in there! I don’t think it would hold without.
hey! 🙂
first off all i love ur recipes! thanks for sharing!
my question is, i just bought some Garbanzo Fava Flour to try, would that work instead of both the flours? or do i still need to use 2 different ones?
OR! can i use the garbanzo fava and flax? and then what would be the portions?
Thanks!!!!! 🙂
That may work for both! I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it goes! xo!
These were great! Used zatar seasoning. The whole family enjoyed them.
Awesome idea!
I made half the recipe (5 rolls) and baked for 30 minutes and they turned out great. My husband is not a fan of grain-free baked goods, but he liked these. Next time I may add a little cheese to them. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you liked them!!! Cheese would be great.
Any idea why mine crumbled after cooking when I tried to pick it up?
Was there a lot of moisture in the mixture?
I agree with Annie that these do not resemble a bagel. However it’s a great way to use riced cauliflower (I bought a bag already done) as it tastes very good and a decent texture. Also with a change of seasoning they would be a PERFECT low carb hash brown. I had one with breakfast this morning as my ‘potato’ patty.
In my opinion, these are NOTHING like rolls, bagels, or any type of bread for that matter.
HOWEVER, they make AWESOME baked veggie burgers when smushed into semi-flat patties! And, they make SUPER awesome veggie tater tots when rolled into small rounds!
I also found them to be a yummy salad mix-in when “veggie burger” patties are chopped into cubes. They have a meaty texture similar to tofu and add that extra substance to your salad, even though they are still just veggies!
I followed the recipe exactly, but substituted flax seed meal for the almond flour and the corn starch.
I also found that the “everything bagel” topping doesn’t really stick onto the patties when you bake them. It IS yummy, so I added cooked quinoa to make it a little sticky and treated it like relish, spreading it on the “veggie burgers”.
The everything bagel is just the flavor, not to say they are actual bread-like! I love them as a side. Next time, try pushing the topping a little harder into it — it should definitely stick!
I made these today. I made them flat and smaller which yielded 8 buns. I still had to cook them longer than 20 minutes. I served them with hummus. I thought they were good and I would make again.
Can you freeze these for busy days?
Yes!
Do you pre-cook the cauliflower? Do you need to squeeze out some of the water it releases? I’ve made a cauliflower pizza crust. Needed to do both things to get it to cook properly. Advice?
Do you think this would be good as a hamburger bun? Would they compliment each other?
Don’t expect real bread-like texture with these, for that I’d use my sandwich rolls. This would be tasty though, just not totally bread-like since afterall, it is cauliflower!
These look great. I am making these Everything bagels now. I hope they come out. I added a little parmesan cheese in the mixture. My kitchen smells so wonderful with the flavors combines in this complete snack. You have a veggie, healthy carbs, and lots of protein with the eggs, cheese and almond flour and even the coconut it you have it. I did not but I had my own blend of gluten free flour. As of now I am baking them. I will comment later on how they turned out. I was wondering, should the calif lower be squeezed to get rid of the excess liquid?
Wow, just came across this recipe. I was looking for something quick, to go with my homemade black bean burgers tonight. I will probably just sprinkle some course sea salt over top. Btw. Trader Joe’s sells already pre-grated cauliflower ‘rice’ – hooray!
Sorry, the cauliflower is raw, only riced in a food processor or I have to steam it before? Thank you so much, this baggels look amazing!
Raw!
Hi Lexi! Thanks for posting this recipe! Would you be able to gestimate how many cups of the riced cauliflower you used for the recipe?
Is there any way of replacing almond and coconut flour. I have a daughter that can’t have those but loves bagels.
I haven’t tried this with anything else so I can’t promise results. Though, this is flavored like an everything bagel, doesn’t sub 1:1 as a bagel in my opinion!