Cauliflower and Potato Bites
A lovely lady on a Facebook group that I’m part of asked if anyone had a recipe to replicate the Yumi’s Cauliflower and Potato Bites found in Australian supermarkets. Although I hadn’t eaten or made these before, I jumped at the opportunity to test my recipe making skills. I went and bought a pack, tried them, and set about making a version that this group member would be able to create at home.
Her main motivation for wanting to make these cauliflower and potato bites herself at home was to save on single use plastic. What a great reason to cook at home! I hope that I’ve gone one better and given her a recipe that will be cheaper and tastier too.
Yumi’s Cauliflower and Potato Bites
I had never had these before creating this recipe and I have to say I really enjoyed them. They were quick and easy to heat up in the oven and I kept going back for more. The only criticism I have is that they are a little dry, so that’s something I wanted to fix in my recipe. I also wanted to make mine a little chunkier, as I love seeing bits of the ingredients in these kind of foods.
Recipe Requirements
As I didn’t want to directly recreate these bites and some of the ingredients on the pack aren’t common household ingredients, I had to improvise. The final flavour is similar but not the same and mine are a lot softer and a bit more delicate. These are the things I wanted to achieve with my cauliflower and potato bites. They had to be…
- Vegan
- Dairy Free
- Delicious
- Easy to make with household ingredients
- Moist
- Crunchy
I wanted them to be like a crunchy falafel on the outside but soft and moist not he inside. Admittedly I ignored the “Gluten Free” aspect of the original recipe and I’ve written this one using wheat products, but those products could be easily substituted for someone with gluten intolerances.
Chia Eggs
I use chia eggs as a vegan egg substitute in a lot of my cooking. I find that, especially for recipes like this, they help to hold things together without giving a dry/gummy consistency. Sometimes I use flax eggs or chickpea flour, but I find that they dry out and have a less natural consistency, so chia eggs are my favourite.
What about sauce?
I served these cauliflower and potato bites with a Sriracha Mayo that I made myself using the Chef Na Plant Based Kitchen Sriracha Sauce (which is so delicious) and some store bought vegan mayonnaise. You can play with different sauces but I think this is begging for something creamy and spicy. Something with a bit of acidity would go well too.
Storage
If you can avoid eating them all in one go, you can store them in an air tight container in the fridge for a few days. Just reheat them in a 180 degree oven for 7 or 8 minutes when you’re ready to dig in.
They’d also freeze well too, so don’t be afraid to make a bigger batch and chuck some in the freezer. Take them out at breakfast and they’ll be ready to reheat for lunch. These cauliflower and potato bites would make a good snack for work, so cook and store to your hearts content.
How do they compare?
If you’ve had the store bought cauliflower and potato bites and you make this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below. Give me your feedback and let me know if there are any other store bought favourites that you’d love a vegan recipe for.
Cauliflower and Potato Bites
Ingredients
- 400 g White Potatoes 2 medium sized potatoes. Chopped into 2cm cubes.
- 1/2 head Cauliflower If it's a small cauliflower you may want to use more. Chopped into 2cm cubes.
- 2 tbsp Olive Oile
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Dried Onion Flakes or 1/2 a tbsp of onion powder
- 1 tbsp Dried Thyme
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- Cracked Pepper
- 120 g Cooked Chickpeas I use the ones in the can
- 1 tbsp Chia Seeds
- 3 tbsp Hot Water
- 1 tbsp Plain Flour
- 1 tbsp Coconut Yoghurt
- 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
- Vegetable Oil for Frying
Instructions
- Place the chopped potatoes and cauliflower into a large baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat the veg in oil and then sprinkle the garlic powder, onion flakes, thyme, ceyen pepper and sea salt. Toss again to coat with spices.
- Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender. Not too soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough that you'll be able to mix with your hands.
- While the vegetables cool, mix the chia seeds and the hot water in a small bowl. They will start to turn gelatenous, this is your egg replacer.
- Transfer the veg to a mixing bowl and add the chickpeas.
- Use the edge of a spatula to mash the potato, cauliflower and chickpeas. I avoid a masher becuase I want chunks in the mix. It takes a bit longer this way but the texture is better.
- Once the mixture is quite mashed up and there aren't any huge chunks left, add the chia seed mixture, the plain flower and the coconut yoghurt. Mix with your hands.
- Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, garlic powder or cayenne according to your own taste. I am addicted to salt so add a little more at this step.
- Use your hands to roll out 18 equal sized balls. They should be around 40g each, a little smaller than golf balls.
- While you coat the balls, heat your vegetable oil in a small to medium size saucepan. You want enough oil in the pan to completley cover the balls when you put them in. Heat the oil to around 180 degress. If you don't have a thermometer, try dropping a small cube of bread into the oil, if it turns golden brown in 15 seconds, you're at the right temperature. If you're using a stove it's important you reduce the heat once the oil is up to temperature so that it doesn't keep getting hotter. You don't want to burn your bites.
- Place your panko breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl and coat each ball individually. Place them on a plate ready for frying.
- Fry in batches of 4 or so, depending on how big your pot is. Mine took around 6 minutes to go golden brown, but you need to keep an eye on them. If they are browning much quicker than that, turn the heat down and let the oil cool off a little bfore doing the next batch. You don't want them to brown too quickly otherwise the inside isn't getting a chance to cook/set. Use a slotted spoon to pull them out and allow as much oil to drip off as possible before transferring to your plate.
- Place cooked bites on a paper towel and serve with some sriracha mayo. I've been using a delicious sriracah from Chef Na's Plant Based Kitchen which I just mix with some store bought vegan mayo.
Ah! I just discovered your blog today and my partner (who is a meat eater but very open to vegan food) said how much he loves the Yumi bites. I mentioned that I would try and figure out how to make them in bulk but now I don’t have to! Very excited to make these.