Low Carb Cauliflower Breadsticks
Melted cheese & fresh herbs make these Low Carb Cauliflower Breadsticks an indulgent treat that are even better than traditional breadsticks!
I am totally late to the cauliflower recipe trend, but I am jumping on board as fast as I can. These cheesy cauliflower breadsticks are just as good as a restaurant’s cheesy garlic bread. The kind smothered in melted mozzarella… but without all the carbs! Flavored with fresh, fragrant herbs, these “breadsticks” are the perfect appetizer or side dish for any Italian meal. Even my kids beg for me to make these (yes, I swear…my kids are begging for cauliflower!!!).
LOW CARB CAULIFLOWER BREADSTICKS
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Growing up, I was a HUGE fan of those cheesy breadsticks you can get delivered with pizza. (Let’s be honest, I‘m still a huge fan…). It’s really mind-blowing to me that you would order bread covered in sauce and cheese with a SIDE of more bread covered in cheese. Talk about carbo-loading!!
A few years ago I created a recipe to make homemade pizza dough breadsticks. To this day they are still one of my kids’ most requested family night dinners. But, this year, both my husband and I decided that we were going to try to cut out some carbs from our diets. So I decided to make a more low-carb, keto-friendly version of this cheesy treat!
This cauliflower bread sticks recipe is bursting with garlic flavor that will have you stuffing more and more onto your plate. Normally all the carbs of cheesy garlic bread would make my insides churn. Luckily these cauliflower breadsticks are low-carb and won’t leave you feeling icky like the takeout cheesy bread does!
Ingredients for Cauliflower Breadsticks
Cauliflower – for this easy cheesy garlic cauliflower breadsticks recipe you’ll want to start with a large head of raw cauliflower. All you need to do is core it and cut it up into small florets. Once you’ve got your cauliflower chopped up, throw it into your food processor and pulse it until the cauliflower is the texture of rice! Super super easy and quick.
Cheese – no cheesy bread “wannabe” recipe is complete without tons of cheese and these low carb breadsticks are no exception. The combo of some melty, bubbly mozzarella and salty parmesan is cheesy perfection!
Seasonings – in my opinion, the most important thing about the ingredients to cheesy cauliflower breadsticks is that you use FRESH herbs. Fresh basil, fresh garlic, fresh parsley, they really make all the difference and make your breadsticks taste like they are straight out of a five-star restaurant.
How to Make Cheesy Cauliflower Breadsticks
In under 30 minutes you can prep, cook, and start eating some delicious low-carb breadsticks. It’s super simple, just follow these directions!
- I am ALL about being efficient, so before you even start prepping your cauliflower breadsticks, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Then line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. This way, once your breadsticks are ready to cook, your oven will be ready to bake them!
- Then core the head of cauliflower and cut it into florets. Throw the cauliflower florets into a food processor and pulse it until it’s the texture of rice. No need to cook the cauliflower first. (If your cauliflower seems excessively moist, squeeze the riced, raw cauliflower into a paper towel or kitchen towel to help remove moisture.)
- Next, in a large bowl, mix the riced cauliflower, shredded mozzarella, parmesan cheese, egg, fresh garlic, fresh basil, fresh parsley, and salt & pepper until it’s combined and holds together.
- Place the cauliflower mixture onto the lined baking sheet and spread out into a 9-inch x 7-inch rectangle that’s 1/4-inch thick.
- Bake your cheesy cauliflower breadsticks in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Then make them even better by adding MORE cheese! Remove the pan from the oven and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Then return the pan to the oven to continue baking until the cheese is melted and the edges are golden brown.
- Let it cool for about 10 minutes and cut into “breadsticks”. Garnish with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce and enjoy!
What Sides Can you Eat on Keto?
Cheesy cauliflower breadsticks are the perfect side dish for any Italian meal. But, if you’re on the keto diet (or simply trying to cut down on carbs), finding other side dishes that are low in carbs can be tough! Here are some of my personal favorites for dishes that aren’t necessarily Italian!
Cauliflower Hummus – This yummy dip is great as an appetizer, but it also works perfectly as a keto-friendly side dish! Serve it with your favorite veggies and it’ll round out your meal!
Big Mac Salad – This salad is my GO-TO meal. It tastes just like a classic McDonalds Big Mac, but without all the guilt. I love serving this salad family style as a keto-friendly side dish.
Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles) – Whether you’re making an Italian pasta dish or an Asian stir-fry, zoodles are the perfect way to cut carbs and still eat “pasta”!
Can you Freeze Cauliflower Breadsticks?
While my family will devour an entire batch of cauliflower breadsticks in under 10 minutes, other less indulgent people may have some leftovers. Haha. If you find yourself with some extras, just let them cool completely. Then you can pop them into a freezer-safe bag, and put them in the freezer! When you’re ready to eat some cheesy cauliflower breadsticks, let them defrost and then crisp them back up in the oven!
How Many Carbs in Cauliflower Breadsticks?
While they’re not technically NO-carb breadsticks, these definitely are LOW-carb breadsticks! With about 2 grams of carbs per serving, these breadsticks are perfect for anyone on the keto diet or really for anyone! I promise you, you won’t miss the carbs at all…. these breadsticks are delicious!
Try these other tasty low carb recipes!
- Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- Cheesy Cauliflower Pancakes
- Low Carb “Fried” Pickles
- Loaded Cauliflower Casserole
- Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Low Carb Cheesy Bacon Cauliflower Chowder
- more APPETIZER recipes…
Tools used to make this Low Carb Cauliflower Breadsticks recipe
Silicone Baking Mat: I love this mat because NOTHING sticks to it. It saves my baking sheets from becoming brown, burnt messes.
Food Processor: I’ve had this food processor for years and I absolutely love it!
*This post originally posted on 01/03/2016.
Low Carb Cauliflower Breadsticks
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shaved, plus more for garnish
- 1 large egg
- ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon fresh basil chopped, plus more for garnish
- ½ tablespoon fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- Marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Rice the cauliflower by coring the head and then cutting it into florets. Then place it in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it is the texture of rice. (If your cauliflower seems excessively moist, squeeze the riced cauliflower in a paper towel to help remove moisture.)
- In a large bowl, mix the riced cauliflower, 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper until combined and holds together.
- Place the cauliflower mixture onto your prepared baking sheet. Spread it out into a rectangle that's about 9-inches x 7-inches and 1/4-inch thick.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and top with 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese and return to oven to continue baking until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
- Cool about 10 minutes and cut into 'breadsticks'. Garnish with fresh herbs and more Parmesan cheese. Serve with your favorite red sauce and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Here are a couple more of my favorite low carb recipes I think you will enjoy too…
Easy Low Carb Chocolate Mousse
Excellent recipe. I added chopped kalamata and stuffed Spanish olives. I will definitely be making this a lot.
Can you tell me how you came up with the nutritional data? I ran this throgh the Very well fit calculator and got 3.4 net carbs for EACH breadstick! Thanks.
I made this recipe this morning. I was worried at first about the rice being to watery so I added a lil bit of Romano and Parmesan powder; the Kraft kind. And took the mixture off of the parchment paper and baked on the bare baking sheet. As I was watching closely it seemed to over bake on the bottom, while the top was still mushy, on the paper. I also added more time and they were yummy!
This recipe is good as far as the type ingredients mixed, however it will not turn out right unless the amount of cauliflower is listed in a measurable way ( 1 head is too general and varies enough to mess up the recipe) I had a really large head of cauliflower grown in my backyard and only used half of it about 4 cups of riced and 2 eggs and when done it hardly kept together to pick off the tray. It also was pretty bland for the same reason! If I try this again in future I would have to figure all the ingredients amount which takes multiple efforts. Isn’t avoiding that the reason for trying others recipe?
Turned out great! Delicious. A keeper recipe!
This looks so good! What a fun alternative to gluten breadsticks! So versatile!
Friend on FB sent me pic & link 🔗 to your site. Got there, found pic, but after reading comments, etc couldn’t find recipe. Site would not “Jump to Recipe”. I foundingredients on “CopyMeThat.com but that site said instructions were at RealHouseMoms.com. Filled their link 🔗 back & still no recipe or instructions. What did I do wrong? Alwayspinning recipes & searching for really good Keto recipes. Yours looks like a really good one. Thanks for your help. 🙂
Hello Freda! Sorry about that. The link has been fixed. Let me know if you have any more trouble with this.
I have a newly diagnosed diabetic in the house and now I am always on the lookout for low carb food to prepare. Having never made riced anything I made sure to follow this recipe to a tee. As it turns out it had to much water in the cauliflower and that makes all the difference. That being said, and a tip from a friend, next tune I will put the riced cauliflower in a clean dish towel and squeeze out the excess water, worth the mess and does a much better job than paper towels. Thanks for the place to start, this has loads of potential.
Followed recipe to a T – even wrung out the water from the cauliflower. Way too soggy makes it unenjoyable. No way could use it as a dipper
Sorry, did not read the myriad comments…can these be made ahead?
The honest answer is, it depends. I’ve never attempted to make ahead so it’s a bit hard to answer. How far in advance do you plan to make ahead. Try it out and let us know!
These can also be deep fried. it changes the taste a little. I use peanut oil . put peanut oil in a deep pan heat to 350. spread mixture on parchment paper and cut to size you want. carefully put slices in oil using a metal flipper. fry both sides until golden brown. these will be crispy. top immediately with mozzarella cheese.
Thanks for sharing!
I peel the cheese and toppings off the crust for pizza. I take the first bit with crust because the first bite of anything is always the best, but then I peel. My husband saves the crust and eats it LOL but I can’t have carbs or sugar. I don’t even notice the difference. I’ve been low carb since 2011 and remain a size 6 with no effort.
Tried this recipe and loved it. I will definitely make again its a keeper!!
Awesome!! Thank you so much.
What type of red sauce do u use on the bed sticks?
Hi Louise! I like dipping these breadsticks in homemade pizza sauce: https://realhousemoms.com/best-ever-pizza-sauce/
But any red pasta sauce you like will work just fine. 🙂
I wanted soooo bad to like this recipe as I am a Type 2 diabetic trying to loose some weight, but I found the bread sticks came out too wet and so you could barely pick them up. I ended up peeling off some of the mozzarella just to salvage some of the cheese. I wish I had known to squeeze out some of the moisture before making this. Maybe then it would have ben better. Sorry, not a fan.