I’m obsessed with tots and whipped up this healthy-ish version with brussels sprouts in my latest RECIPE?! episode!

The inspo…
“Napoleon, gimme some of your tots…”
“No, go find your own!”
If you didn’t know… Napoleon Dynamite is my spirit animal.
Keeping in mind this whole idea came out of thin air as part of the YouTube series RECIPE?! I don’t have the exact measurements but I think it’s fairly close!
I drizzled the tots with the cashew pesto sauce and topped with tofu bacon crumbles! You could also try coconut fakin’ bacon bits or a simulated veg-friendly bacon bit from the grocery store! If you wanted to use other dipping sauces, the ranch dip would be awesome or you could just coat them afterward or dip them in buffalo wing sauce too the way I do the cauliflower wings.

cheesy brussels sprout tots
These crispy and cheesy tots are healthy-ish since they’re made with brussels sprouts!
Ingredients
brussels sprout tots
- 38 to 40 brussels sprouts
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp olive oil
- pinch sea salt
- 1 C panko-style breadcrumbs
- 1/3 C vegan parmesan
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/3 C heaping all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 C unsweetened nondairy milk
- 2 to 3 C vegetable oil, for frying
toppings
- creamy cashew pesto
- tofu bacon crumbles
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425°F.
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Wash and clean up the brussels. I just trimmed off a small sliver of the stem where it was a bit dis-coloured. Toss them with olive oil, lemon juice, and a pinch of sea salt.
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Lay them onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Check them after 10 minutes, as they should be tender, but not over cooked, and still have a bright green-ness to them.
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While the brussels are baking, combine the panko-style breadcrumbs with vegan parmesan, oregano, basil, sea salt, and ground black pepper in a mixing bowl. You can make your own parmesan as well by grinding up raw cashews, nutritional yeast and sea salt in food processor or clean coffee grinder.
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In another bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and nondairy milk. It should be a lose batter but not drip too much. Adjust the amount of flour and/or nondairy milk if necessary to get the right consistency. It’s basically like my cauliflower buffalo wing batter.
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Heat fryer oil in a stock pot or deep fryer to at last 350°F and it can go as hot as 365°F. It should be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep to submerge the full brussels. Coat one brussels sprout at a time in the batter and then coat very well in seasoned breadcrumbs.
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Deep fry the coated brussels in small batches for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Place fried tots onto paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve immediately while hot!
9 thoughts on “cheesy brussels sprout tots”
Mhhh!! I can’t get enough of brussels sprouts at the moment. So these look absolutely delicious!
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hi! quick question. when i put the brussels in the oil the batter falls off almost completely. any tips to prevent this?
This was amaze-balls!! Served it with the cashew pesto but it tasted even better with this chipotle aioli I had made!!
Relatively simple and delicious! One tip is to definitely be sure that the Brussels sprouts are fork tender when taking out of the oven. If they’re too tough it becomes extremely hard to eat when finished. Good recipe!
Just great!
Thank you for sharing. These tips are very useful! Oh, I don’t have any milk, otherwise I would do it .
i’m late as heck to this recipe, but I was wondering if it would be possible to bake these, and if so how long you’d do that for? let me know if you see this
hey! since this hasn’t been tested I don’t know! I do find there is a major difference between frying and baking though. For these I wouldn’t do it personally – do you have an airfryer?