I’m really excited to share these awesome Cheesy Cauliflower “Ranch” Bites with you. They are addictive though, so fair warning. Luckily the recipe makes 30 little bites, which will disappear quickly. This can also be easily doubled or tripled for a larger crowd. It’s great for Game Day or any gathering you might have coming up over the next year.
When I started playing with these ingredients, I never imagined how could these would taste. The crunchy shell adds a nice texture to each bite. And because you are not “cooking” anything, they essentially need to go into the oven to melt the cheese and crisp the shells, about 10 minutes. If you have a convection oven you can make several trays at once, but I would turn down the temperature by 25 degrees.
Mini fillo shells are one of the handiest and most versatile food items the kitchen. I keep them in the freezer at all times for when inspiration hits.
The cauliflower filling is mounded high over the shell, a little more than a Tablespoon is the perfect amount.
The extra sharp cheddar is in the filling and then placed on top for the ultimate cheesy taste. Green onions are then sprinkled on top. They look good enough to eat just like this.
One bite or two? They can definitely be eaten in one bite, but two lets you savor them more. You decide.
These are amazingly tasty treats, I hope you enjoy them.
Cheesy Cauliflower Ranch Bites
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped cauliflower, blanched* (make sure cauliflower is as dry as possible before adding to the cheese mixture)
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2-1/2 cups packed, finely shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided (shred yourself)
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped green onion, plus more for garnish
- 1 Tablespoon ranch dressing powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 2 (1.9 oz) packages mini fillo shells
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, green onions, ranch powder and black pepper. Beat with a hand mixer until fully incorporated. Stir in cauliflower.
- Add 1 mounded Tablespoon of cauliflower mixture to each phyllo shell. Add a large pinch of remaining cheese to the top of each mound of cauliflower. Sprinkle each with more green onion for garnish.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and shell is slightly crisp. Serve immediately.
- *Blanching cauliflower is easy. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add cauliflower florets to the water and let boil for 2-3 minutes or just until softened. Remove from water and immediately plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking process. Let them sit in ice water for 2 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined tray.
Cass says
These look delicious — and to make an easy transition to a lovely low-carb option or for people who need to avoid grains … put the cauliflower-cheese deliciousness into mushroom caps. Perfect little vessels to hold it.
Thanks for the recipe — Cass
pam (Sidewalk Shoes) says
Mini phyllo shells?! How did I not know these existed?!
Cathy says
I know, they are in most grocery stores and they don’t spell them with the “ph” but fillo. Not sure why…I guess I need to look that up.
Cathy says
Well I just looked it up…they have both spellings on the box, but “phyllo” is small and in parentheses. So odd.
Minnie@thelady8home says
This sounds very very delicious!!!
Bernice says
Cheesy Cauliflower “Ranch” Bites looks very promising! Oh hey, how much did you spent for this?