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Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites

January 27, 2021 Modified January 27, 2023 By Nicole Charles 5 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.

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These AIP Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites are a crispy, savory and healthy bite-sized snack, appetizer or vegetable side. They’re paleo and Whole30 compliant and super easy to make.

grey speckled plate with air fryer cauliflower bites surrounding a small white bowl with green cilantro lime sauce with two small white plates with crispy cauliflower florets, a lime wedge and a light pink cloth napkin in the top left corner

This post contains affiliate links.

These paleo and AIP Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites are so easy, delicious and perfectly crispy. Have them on their own as a snack or appetizer, on a grazing board, or serve them as a vegetable side dish.

Many have asked and this is the air fryer I have. It’s my first air fryer and I’m happy with it so far. I chose this one because I wanted an Instant Pot and love the 11 in 1 functionality. After speaking with the manufacturers online they confirmed that the air fryer basket coating was made of ceramic and did not include PTFE or PFOA chemicals.

Here’s what you need to make these AIP Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites:

  • one small head of cauliflower
  • cassava flour
  • carbonated water
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • garlic powder
  • pork panko rinds

Here’s how you make these cauliflower bites:

  • Begin by chopping and discarding the leaves and stems of your cauliflower. Chop the cauliflower head into small florets and drizzle with olive oil. Massage the oil into the florets using your hands.
  • In a large bowl combine cassava flour, salt, garlic powder and carbonated water. You want the mixture to be pourable and easily coat the cauliflower, so add more bubbly water to achieve this consistency if necessary.
  • Place the pork panko rinds into a large bowl.
  • Dredge the cauliflower florets into the cassava flour mixture and then immediately dip into the pork panko, coating all sides carefully.
  • Cook the cauliflower in two batches so that you don’t crowd the air fryer basket. Place each batch of florets into the air fryer and cook at 400F for 12 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
  • Serve on their own or with the cilantro lime dipping sauce in the recipe below.
speckled plate with crispy cauliflower bites with a cilantro lime sauce

Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites FAQs

Can I make these without pork panko?

The pork panko provides a perfectly light exterior and crunch here. I recommend these as this is what I’ve used here. If you don’t eat pork, you can also try shredded coconut or crushing plantain chips into a very fine powder and coat your cauliflower in these after dipping it into the liquid mixture.

Are there any substitutions for the cassava flour?

I have not had success using any other flour so cannot recommend a substitute.

Can I make these without an air fryer?

I haven’t tried myself but suppose you could make these on the stovetop using some additional oil and frying until crispy on each side.

If you try these Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites I would appreciate it if you would give them a rating and short review. Also, be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious.

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Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites (AIP, paleo, Whole30)


★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Nicole @healmedelicious
  • Total Time: 44 minutes
  • Yield: 4 portions 1x
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Description

These paleo, Whole30 and AIP Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites are a crispy, savory and healthy bite-sized snack, appetizer or vegetable side.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 small head of cauliflower
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1/2 cup cassava flour
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 3/4 cup carbonated water
  • 1 – 1.5 cups panko pork rinds

Cilantro Lime Sauce

  • 1 avocado
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • 2 TBSP water
  • 1.5 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice 
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 TBSP olive oil 

Instructions

  1. Remove and discard the leaves and stem of the cauliflower and chop head into small florets.
  2. Place florets into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, using your hands to massage the oil into the florets.
  3. In a separate bowl combine cassava flour, salt, garlic powder and carbonated water. You want the mixture to be pourable and easily coat the cauliflower, so add more bubbly water to achieve this consistency if necessary.
  4. Place the pork panko rinds into a large bowl.
  5. Dredge the cauliflower florets into the liquid mixture and then immediately dip into the pork panko, coating all sides carefully.
  6. Cook half the florets in the air fryer at 400F for 12 minutes, flipping once halfway through and then repeat with remaining half.*
  7. Serve hot on their own, with an AIP compliant ketchup or with the cilantro lime dipping sauce below.

Cilantro Lime Sauce

  1. In a large bowl or food processor, combine avocado, cilantro, water, freshly squeezed lime juice, crushed garlic, sea salt and olive oil until smooth and well combined. Adjust consistency as desired with more water and/or olive oil.

 

Notes

* It’s important that you cook the cauliflower in two batches so that you don’t crowd the air fryer basket.

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 24 minutes
  • Category: Appetizers

Keywords: aip, paleo, whole30, airfryer, air fryer cauliflower, appetizer

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag @healmedelicious — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Categories: AIP, All Recipes, Appetizers, Coconut Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Paleo, Sides, Whole30 Tagged With: AIP, AIP appetizers, cauliflower bites, game day, paleo

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jo

    February 8, 2023 at 11:22 am

    Hi Nicole, these look delicious! Any suggestions for a pork panko substitution? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Nicole Charles

      February 11, 2023 at 6:53 pm

      Hi! Yes I included both in the post – crushed plantain chips or shredded coconut.

      Reply
  2. Amy Palacios

    March 27, 2022 at 8:58 pm

    I didn’t think I could find better cauliflower wings then a favorite restaurant near me where I would go almost on a weekly basis to have those wings specifically. It was my favorite thing in their menu and I badly wanted a recipe to make cauli wings at home. Now I have this AMAZING recipe and they came out even better than the restaurant ones. They are so light and crispy, they remind me of Japanese tempura. These are incredibly tasty! I added a little ginger powder to the mix and made a sauce of coconut aminos with honey and chopped cilantro. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Nicole Charles

      March 29, 2022 at 10:58 am

      Aw I’m so glad Amy!

      Reply
  3. Christina

    August 27, 2021 at 11:41 am

    These are GREAT! I’ve tried them both in the air fryer and stove top with success. My non-AIP friend couldn’t stop eating them.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Nicole, the recipe developer, food enthusiast and photographer behind Heal Me Delicious. Read More

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