Healthy Baked Broccoli Tots are a tasty way to add a little fun and nutrition to your meal. They are clean-eating, delicious, and soon to be your family’s favorite side! My kids ask for these ALL the time!
So, I’m not gonna lie… I’m pretty darn impressed with myself on this one, guys. I’d been wanting to make homemade broccoli tots for years and am so glad I finally tried it out.
We’ve got a keeper right here. Yep, still boasting. You’ll see… There’s something about forming these little tasty tots of healthy broccoli goodness that makes you feel super accomplished.
Like, “Hey! I just made BROCCOLI TOTS!” accomplished. Knowing that you are feeding your family the best healthy food out there has got to make you proud, right?
Now, I know what you’re wondering right about now… Are they yummy and as good as tater tots? Will my kids like them, too?
To your questions, let me just say this. Yes, they are very tasty. Yes, your kids will love them and ask you to make them again and again. Yes, they taste like tots, but with broccoli. This means they are even more flavorful and will surpass the taters when it comes to dinner time requests!
I mean, we’re talking about healthy tots here, peeps. Clean-eating broccoli tots, even. Delicious nuggets of nutrition that bring you one step closer to cooking for a clean lifestyle that you can easily maintain, while loving the food at the same time!
How To Make BAKED Broccoli Tots Healthy
If you’re wondering how to make broccoli tots healthy, the good news is it’s pretty simple. Here’s how we do it:
- Use only whole, unrefined ingredients
- Replace a lot of the potato with low carb, high fiber, high protein broccoli
- Replace any breadcrumbs with almond meal
- Bake the broccoli tater tots instead of frying in oil
- Reduce the amount of overall sodium by lessening the sea salt in the recipe
- Enjoy it with this no-sugar ketchup instead of high fructose corn syrup ketchup
These baked healthy broccoli tots wind up with just about 200 calories and 13 carbs for a serving (7 tots), leaving you feeling full, satisfied, and a little bit giddy that you just enjoyed something so scrumptious, yet super good for you.
HOW TO PREP BROCCOLI FOR HEALTHY BAKED BROCCOLI TOTS
To ensure that your broccoli tots are as crispy and yummy as possible, there are a few points to keep in mind as you prep the dish.
- Choose fresh broccoli that has no evidence of browning. The greener your broccoli bunch is, the fresher it is.
- Wash thoroughly and then steam the broccoli.
- Allow the broccoli to drain in a colander as it cools. If the broccoli is too wet when you mix it with the other ingredients, the tots will be soggy and fall apart as you attempt to form them into shapes for baking.
- Be patient as you work with the mixture. Press into a ball first and then shape into tots. A little practice makes perfect!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY BAKED BROCCOLI TOTS VEGAN
Vegans, you will want to replace the egg in the recipe. Here’s how you do that:
- Mix 1 teaspoon of chia seeds and 3 teaspoons of water
- Let sit for 5 minutes
- It will form into a gel that can be used in the recipe instead of the egg
For the parmesan cheese in the recipe, use a non-dairy vegan cheese substitute. Nutritional yeast can be used, too. Make it into a parmesan replacement this way:
- 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Pulse in a food processor and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for several weeks.
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY BAKED BROCCOLI TOTS NUT-FREE
If you are unable to have nuts, you can still enjoy these healthy broccoli tots. Substitute the almond meal with sunflower seed meal. It’s a great nut-free replacement that is low in carbs and the ratio is 1:1, making it a simple alteration.
Can You Freeze Broccoli Tots?
Yes! You can easily freeze broccoli tots to enjoy later. You can make this tasty broccoli tot mixture ahead of time and store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days. To freeze, place the individual tots, separated, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper into the freezer and freeze the tots until frozen, about 1-2 hours. Then, gather the tots into a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze up to 3 months. Can be placed directly into the oven to bake when frozen. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and you should totally enjoy them with this clean no-sugar ketchup, too!
THE PERFECT DIPS FOR HEALTHY BAKED BROCCOLI TOTS
Because your gonna LOVE these crispy baked broccoli tots, you’ll be looking for things to dip them in. Dipping is just the best! These little veggie nuggets can be served as an appetizer or as a side with any dish.
Either way, I’m a big fan of dressings and dips for veggies, whether raw or cooked. Try these clean-eating dips, easily whipped up at mealtime from ingredients you have in your fridge.
Plus, you gotta check out my Crispy Sweet Potato Tots recipe for another great healthy tater tot option. So much yum.
Clean Broccoli Tots
These healthy, clean, and delicious baked broccoli tots are a great kid-friendly fun veggie side. Perfect for tater tot lovers wanting to eat healthy.
- 5 cups raw broccoli florets approx. 2 med. heads
- 2 med. red potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 2 tbsp italian parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Add the broccoli florets and red potato to a steamer basket and steam until fully tender, about 8-10 minutes. Once tender, remove from heat and allow to cool.
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Chop the broccoli and potatoes very finely. You'll need 2 cups chopped broccoli and 1 cup chopped potato.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped broccoli, chopped potato, egg, parmesan cheese, almond meal, parsley, yellow onion, salt, garlic powder, and pepper and mix well.
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Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture and gently press between your hands to form a ball, then shape into a tater-tot shape by gently pinching together both ends with your fingers.
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Place the tots, slightly separated, on the prepared baking sheet.
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Bake until golden brown and crispy, about 18-24 minutes, turning half way through.
Recipe Video
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Do they freeze well?
Genius! Why didn’t I think of this!? Thanks for this recipe. I saved this and gonna try during this quarantine with my kids!
These things are SOOOO good. I made a couple personal modifications by adding some mushrooms and adding a little cayenne pepper. I steamed about 2 cups of portobello mushrooms with the potatoes and after steaming, put them in a food processor to get them finely chopped (reduced to about 1 cup after steaming and food processing). I added about 1 tsp of cayenne pepper to add a little zing. Was a hit at Supper Club! Thanks Lacey!
Lacey, I am a vegetarian and highly allergic to nuts. I dont use sugars except honey in my coffee and I have a hard time eating wheat products. Any recommendation for a almond flour substitute for someone like me? Also, I am trying to find a good kung pow “chicken” (I use cauliflower as the chicken) recipe that I dont have to use those horrid chemical laden packets in the grocery stores, any ideas on clean ingredients to use?
Hey there! I’d recommend using chickpea flour or sunflower seed flower as a nut-free replacement 🙂
Just tried this recipe and love it!!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
These look fantastic! I can’t wait to try them, I’ll probably eat all of them myself in one sitting. Do you think it is okay to sub coconut flour for almond flour?
You can definitely sub in an different flour, but coconut flour requires a lot of moisture, so I’d imagine you’ll need at least one additional egg to do it.
This looks incredible! Yall come over and visit sometime as we are right around the corner!!
BTW your site seems to be a bit sluggish.
Thanks for the feedback, Steve!