Dehydrated Cauliflower Popcorn

Dehydrated Cauliflower Popcorn is an addictive, healthy snack seasoned with flavorful spices that you won’t be able to stop enjoying!

This original instructions for this recipe were for making Dehydrated Cauliflower Popcorn in a dehydrator. We still have the dehydrator recipe below plus now include instructions for making this recipe in an oven or an air fryer.

Dehydrated cauliflower is one of those overlooked treats but once you make it, it’ll be on permanent rotation. And SPICED CAULIFLOWER POPCORN sounds just too good to pass up, right?!

Cauliflower Popcorn Ingredients

The ingredients and measurements are the same for a dehydrator, oven or air fryer.

• 1 head cauliflower
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp smoked cayenne
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

How To Make Cauliflower Popcorn In The Oven

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Rinse the cauliflower and chop the florets into bites slightly larger than popcorn.
3. Toss them in a large bowl with the coconut oil, hot sauce, paprika, smoked cayenne and ground cumin. Get them nicely coated with all the seasonings. If you need to, go ahead and add in a few more dashes of hot sauce.
4. Place the cauliflower in a greased baking pan and bake, uncovered, at 400°F for 15-18 minutes or until tender. Mix halfway through.

How To Make Cauliflower Popcorn In An Air Fryer

1. Preheat air fryer to 375°F.
2. Rinse the cauliflower and chop the florets into bites slightly larger than popcorn.
3. Toss them in a large bowl with the coconut oil, hot sauce, paprika, smoked cayenne and ground cumin. Get them nicely coated with all the seasonings. If you need to, go ahead and add in a few more dashes of hot sauce.
4. Place the cauliflower in the basket. Don’t overcrowd the basket and work in batches if necessary.
5. Air fry for 9-12 minutes until golden brown. Toss halfway through and keep in mind the exact timing will depend on your air fryer.

If your air fryer has a dehydrate setting then you can dehydrate the cauliflower in an air fryer. Simply switch to the dehydrator setting, set the temperature to 175°F and air fry for 4 hours. I tested this dehydrator method with the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer Oven.

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Dehydrated Spiced Cauliflower Popcorn

Yield: 1 cups (total yield)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 12 hours 10 minutes

I used smoked paprika and regular cayenne since that's what I had on hand. Delicious!
"Cauliflower dehydrates to crumbly little bites that are reminiscent of popcorn. Because of its mild flavor, you can introduce any flavors you’d like. I enjoy my snacks with a spicy kick, so I’ve used hot sauce along with chili powder, though you can adapt this to your own tastes." - Michael Hultquist, author of "The Spicy Dehydrator Cookbook"

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Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp smoked cayenne
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Instructions

1. Rinse the cauliflower and chop the florets into bites slightly larger than popcorn. Toss them in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. Get them nicely coated with all the seasonings. If you need to, go ahead and add in a few more dashes of hot sauce.
2. Spread the mixture out onto a couple dehydrator trays and dehydrate for 8-12 hours at 130 degrees F, or until they are completely dried through. You can eat them when they are not completely dried, but they will be chewier. Drying all the way through will result in crunchier “popcorn”.
3. Store in a cool, dry place in airtight baggies. Enjoy!

Notes

See article for making cauliflower popcorn in an air fryer or oven.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 264Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 799mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 8gSugar: 7gProtein: 6g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix.

I love this dehydrated cauliflower recipe and I’m definitely a spice fiend. To the point that I maintain another website, Jalapeño Mania, where I share tons of recipes from other foodies and bloggers. My best contributor to that site (and favorite…shhh) is, BY FAR, Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.

Mike always delivers with solid recipes that are easy enough for just about anyone to make yet are off the flavor charts! I don’t know him personally and have no skin in this game other than a love for spicy foods and recipes that make me glad to be alive.

Enter his new cookbook!

{Which is where this Dehydrated Cauliflower Popcorn recipe comes from.}

Mike has created so many exciting recipes using his dehydrator. And yeah, “exciting’ isn’t normally a word that comes to mind when I’m thinking about doing some dehydrating. But with stellar recipes like Sriracha Leather, Kiwi-Blueberry Leather, Steakhouse Beef Jerky and Wicked Veggie Chips, I feel that word truly works here.

So far, however, my personal favorite is the dehydrated cauliflower popcorn (officially called “Spiced Cauliflower Popcorn” in his book). It’s healthy, spicy and so flavorful!

You can order Mike’s book, “The Spicy Dehydrator Cookbook”, on Amazon among other places. You can even browse it in your local bookstores!

Try these Cauliflower recipes next:

• Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
• Buffalo Ranch Roasted Cauliflower Nachos
• Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri
• Garlic Herb Browned Butter Cauliflower
• Mashed Cauliflower
• Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
• Roasted Cauliflower Soup

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Kristy Bernardo

Kristy Bernardo is the recipe creator behind The Wicked Noodle. She's a five-time cookbook author, has taught cooking classes to both kids and adults, and has been creating recipes for nationwide brands since 2009. She learned most of her cooking skills from her mom and grandmother, then honed those skills at boot camp at the Culinary Institute of America.

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