Simple, creamy and more-ish home-made vegan pumpkin tots recipe, perfect for a delicious fall snack or side!
Fun fact! ( or not ) – This is the first year I have EVER actually cooked pumpkin. Even though I love the various squash in general, I’ve always thought of pumpkins as something to carve for Halloween ( something I’ve also only ever done once in my life…) and aside from Pumpkin Katsu in Japanese restaurants, I really didn’t know what to expect.
Spoiler! – I like pumpkin! It’s got this mix between a sweet potato and butternut squash but with a slightly denser ‘feel’ to it – so perfect for hearty Fall/Winter recipes and so I went into a frenzy, thinking up all the recipes to use pumpkins for before pumpkin season has come and gone and these vegan pumpkin tots are SO more-ish!
Here’s the thing though: I love thinking of recipes, I love looking at recipes, I love eating – BUT I’m also a lazy cook. If someone shows me a gorgeous recipe but it has 30 ingredients in it then it’s not happening! Or at least not this year…
And that’s where my Five Ingredient vegan pumpkin tots come in.
Okay, so technically these pumpkin tots have slightly more than 5 ingredients if you want to include every single herb/spice as an ingredient but I’ve found that these seem to be down to taste more than anything. For instance, I usually add the same 4-5 spices in practically everything I cook – Garlic powder, Onion Powder, Paprika, Cayenne and salt. However, this recipe could be just as yummy with just salt & pepper so I’m just going to include ‘seasonings’ as one ingredient with my personal suggestion of what to use.
Side note = This recipe is 100% Vegan. It would be very easy to swap out the vegan cheese for normal cheese if that’s what floats your boat or even leave out cheese altogether if you want a healthier version.
What’s amazing about these little tots is that they are actually surprisingly simple to make! By removing the oven time and swapping to Microwave it makes the process alot quicker and works amazingly. That’s not to say that you can’t roast the pumpkin the traditional way if you want. Simply rub a little oil and salt onto it and bake in the oven at 190 degrees for between 30-50 minutes ( depending on the thickness of the pumpkin pieces- you may need longer!) until tender and lightly browned.
NOTE* In the above photo’s It was my first batch, where I’d added extra cheese and as you can see they exploded slightly and remained soft – However by the time I’d made the second batch it was dark and they didn’t last till the morning to take a good photo so I only have this one as proof ->
5 Ingredient Pumpkin tots recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Small Pumpkin
- 1/2 Large Cauliflower
- 1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1/3 Cup Vegan Cheddar cheese brand of your choice
- Seasonings salt, pepper and any additional seasonings, to taste
Instructions
- First, cut the top of the pumpkin off and, using a large spoon begin to de-pulp and de-seed it as much as you can.
- Chop the pumpkin into quarters ready to bake. For very small pumpkins like mine then simply peel with a vegetable peeler and place into a microwaveable bowl then microwave till the flesh is tender ( but not too soft!). This depends entirely on how thick the flesh is. Mine took between 5-7 minutes.
- Meanwhile, steam the cauliflower till tender and then pulse in a food processor till a thick 'rice' texture and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Once the pumpkin has cooled slightly then grate it into the bowl with the cauliflower, if the flesh is too soft then simply mash it up. This will lead to a 'softer' textured tot but still delicious.
- Mix together the pumpkin, cauliflower, nutritional yeast, vegan cheddar and seasonings*.
- Once combined then begin to form the tots. I took a small handful per tot and rolled them within my palm of one hand, using my thumb and finger to flatten and shape the ends. My aim was to try and make them around the size of my thumb.
- Place the tots onto an oven tray lined with baking paper and leave to chill in the fridge/ freezer for ten minutes to help
- Just before putting in the oven, lightly drizzle with olive oil (and a little extra salt - if wanted).
- Cook on 180 for 40-50 minutes, turning over halfway through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- When microwaving the flesh, try for five minutes on the highest setting, to begin with, and then check if ready. If more time is needed then do it in spurts of 2 minutes to make sure you don't make it too soft.
- For seasonings, I used 1/4 tsp Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Smoked paprika and 1/8th tsp Cayenne as well as salt. This is really up to what seasonings you prefer. these taste delicious with just a bit of salt and pepper too!
- These can VERY easily be too soft. It's a good idea to try to keep the cauliflower with a bit of bite to it and be careful about the amount of cheese you add.
I’d love to see any pics if you make these for yourselves. Tag me @memoirssoluciie !
Till next Time,
To pin for later!
