I’m in love with my dehydrator. I know what you’re thinking.
You can’t be IN LOVE with an inanimate object. You can’t be IN love with something unless it/they can reciprocate. To that I say, “My dehydrator loves me.”
I’m not crazy. Well, at least in THAT way.
Part of love is doing nice things for someone, right? It’s folding laundry for you, picking a wild flower on a walk, foot rubs…
It’s making tasty foods for you to make you happy. Clearly the dehydrator can’t fold laundry, pick flowers, or rub my feet for me, but it surely turns out some of the tastiest foods to come out of my kitchen. That’s love.
And my dehydrator does another sweet thing. It gets my most confirmed anti-veg child to eat them willingly. In fact, he BEGS for the vegetables from the dehydrator.
This same kid -who will put on a show worthy of the stage replete with gagging and neck clutching rather than eat vegetable at the dinner table- eats eggplant from the dehydrator in other-wordly amounts. Can we all just say, “Whoa!”?
He eats kale, apples, bananas, and pears from the dehydrator. The key is my little man likes the crispy, crunchy texture. O
f all the goodies that we make, there’s one that stands head-and-shoulders above the rest: Cauliflower Popcorn.
It’s ridiculously easy, friends. You break down a head of cauliflower into florets the size you see in my weird pink paw there.
You toss the florets in extra virgin olive oil, the juice of one lime, chili powder, cumin, and salt, then you dehydrate it.
That’s all there is to it. You dry the stuff out and it magically becomes one of the most snackable snacks ever to be snacked upon.
This is coming from a girl who loves Fritos, salty pretzel sticks, and potato chips, people. This Chili Lime Cauliflower Popcorn is something special.
It’s so special, in fact, that I made two gigantic heads of cauliflower into it overnight and by noon the next day my dear husband and I had inhaled half of the batch.
In other words, we each consumed half of a head of cauliflower between breakfast and lunch at which point we suddenly found ourselves full of both now rehydrated cauliflower and regret. We metered our consumption after that day and confined ourselves to no more than a cup per day.
My little anti-veg boy, though? He’s welcome to eat as much as his little stomach can possibly hold because HE. IS. EATING. VEGETABLES.
I try to keep these stocked for him, which is pretty difficult because everyone in the house loves it. Their little friends even dig into the jar when they come over.
I heard one of them saying, “I don’t like cauliflower. Why is this so good?” I win and it’s all because my dehydrator loves me.
Which Dehydrator should I buy?
Okay. There are two answers to this. If picking up a questionable old dehydrator at a yard sale is what gets you to make this recipe, snap that cheap Ronco piece of junk up and run it ’til it dies. If, however, you’re more serious about putting up the bounty from the farmers’ markets and your garden this summer, invest in the one I have.
Note that I said invest. It ain’t cheap, but it’s worth every penny and a few more. (This is an Amazon affiliate link which means that if you purchase it after clicking on it, I get a small commission from Amazon which in no way effects the price of the item for you.)
Just one more thing about this dehydrator. My mom owns one, at least two of my sisters own one, I think my brother owns one, and I own one.
My stepmom had TWO and my dad has put serious miles on those things with apple, banana, and pear slices over the course of nearly a decade. These things hold up to a mega-beating and can work almost constantly from June through October without missing a beat.
They dehydrate more evenly than the old round-stack variety, don’t require any rotation of trays, and have variable, adjustable temperatures. If you’re a gardener these things are absolutely indispensable in saving excess produce.
And if you’re a parent, these things are dead handy. You can whip up fantastic fruit leathers and snacks that you don’t feel even the slightest guilt in giving to your little folks.
Chili Lime Cauliflower Popcorn
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- the juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder depending on strength of flavour desired
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Instructions
- Trim the leaves from the cauliflower and pull off large hunks of florets. Break them down until they are in florets not larger than the tip of your thumb. Wash and drain them well. Transfer the florets to a large mixing bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients.
- Spread them out in a single layer on dehydrator trays and dehydrate for 6-12 hours (at 135°F if you have an adjustable thermostat) or until the cauliflower is about the size of popcorn and is dried through. Open the dehydrator and let the cauliflower cool to room temperature. It will continue to crisp up as it cools. Store in an airtight container for up to a month. If it begins to soften, you can refresh it in the dehydrator for a couple of hours.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Carmen says
Thank you for all your idea’s on Dehydration.
Have you written a book on Dehydration
with all your recipes in it ?
Thank you cs .
Patricia says
Our daughter sent us your link. Since I love cauliflower I went out immediately and got a big one. This morning i put it together then into the dehydrator. There was liquid in the bottom of the bowl. If that flavor is any indication of how good the popcorn will be, we’ll, I will have to fight hard not to become a glutton….
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Patricia! I hope you love it!!
soleilnyc says
Hi! I tried this recipe and it is SO tasty! But I was never able to get to the crunchy stage, and I left the dehydrator running for 21 hours! Granted, it’s a cheap Nesco, but it’s served me well with other recipes for the past 8 years 🙂 Should I try a higher temperature? Leave it for longer?
Also, I cut them into small pieces, the size of actual popcorn, and when dehydrated they ended up the size of grape nuts and panko breadcrumbs.. Are your pieces much bigger than that? I’m so afraid I might have to dehydrate for 2 days! 🙂
Rebecca says
Hi there Soleilnyc! I think you should probably try a higher temp and leave it longer. Also, my pieces were what I would categorize as bite size before dehydrating, but I find myself hard up to describe the size. Small floret size, perhaps? I hope that helps! 😀
Claire says
These look delicious! My neighbor just gave me her husband’s twice-used nesco dehydrator (that’s what he gets for taking a long business trip while she’s nesting :-p) and I’m super excited to use it! Any other family favorite recipes? Jerky? More fruit like the banana chips? Love your blog!
Rebecca says
HA! Men should NEVER go on business trips when their wives are nesting. BAD PLAN… but good for you! I am a dehydrating maniac but haven’t put much up here due to low demand. I’ll have a few more dehydrator recipes up late this summer and early fall, though. In the meantime, try this one because cherry tomatoes are all over right now! https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2010/09/14/home-sundried-tomatoes-with-basil-and-garlic/
Maureen says
In the body of the article you mention using cumin–which I love–but I don’t see it in the recipe?
Rebecca says
Hi Maureen- Great question. I mentioned the cumin because all of the chili powder blends I use contain cumin as a major flavour. I didn’t actually add separate cumin. 🙂
Marly says
This is craziness. I mean crazy awesomeness. I could eat the whole bag and not feel the least bit guilty! Love it!
Laurie {Simply Scratch} says
I love urrrrrverything about this! Now I just need a dehydrator!
Connie | URBAN BAKES says
This is awesome! I didn’t know such equipment even existed. There are so many things I want to dry. This is one I’m putting on my wish list to hint the bf. 😉
Dawn Lopez says
Oh my! What a clever recipe idea. Now I think I’ve officially seen everything! This sounds out of this world!
katie says
I may just have a fried brain from finals, or perhaps I’m blind, I don’t see the link to amazon for the dehydrator
Rebecca says
For some reason, it’s failing to show up for a lot of people… Does this work here for you?
katie says
still not showing up :/
Rebecca says
Iiiiin that case I do believe you have a browser setting to prevent certain types of ads. If you’d like, you can send me an email and I will shoot you a link!
Rebecca says
…because I can see it on myiPhone and in Mozilla Firefox, but I know to see these affiliate links I had to do some adjustment of the basic settings..,
cheri says
Hi Rebecca, this sounds like a real winner to me, now I feel like I have to have one. I bet this is great for most any veggie. Thanks for the info!
Amy | Club Narwhal says
I never knew I even needed a dehydrator until this very minute 🙂 I love cauliflower and I love popcorn so this sounds like a match made in heaven. Looks fabulous!
Maria | Pink Patisserie says
This looks so delicious and healthy! A perfect snack. Thanks for the information on dehydrators! I’ve been thinking about making the plunge and buying one!
LaNell says
Is the texture of the fruits and veggies chewy or truly crunchy? I think I may be confusing freeze dried with dehydrated. What fruits and veggies come out crunchy and which ones are leathery? Sorry for all the questions, but I am interested and don’t want to spend a lot on a dehydrator only to get leathery blobs. I love crunch! The cauliflower sounds amazing!
Rebecca says
This particular recipe is tested to be crunchy! Not ALL veggies or recipes will get you crunch. Some are designed to be leathery. I promise you, though, that this one is crunchy when prepared as directed and in an Excalibur dehydrator!
beth says
very cool – looking forward to trying this in our dehydrator! we do a lot of herbs, tomatoes, and fruits, but haven’t done much with vegetables yet (other than mushrooms).
Annylem says
What dehydrator are you recommending? The affiliate link is just a big ole blank spot in your post for me. 🙁
Rebecca says
I think you may have your browser settings adjusted so inline ads don’t show, possibly! Does this link show for you?
Christiane ~ Taking On Magazines says
I used to have a dehydrator but for some reason it didn’t survive our latest move and I’m really bummed about that, especially after seeing your popcorn. if your son loved it, there’s a good chance that I could get my daughter to eat it too. I know I’d want to chow down.
Lauren @ Healthy Delicious says
This recipe is blowing my mind. I might need to go out and buy a dehydrator now.. thanks a lot 😉
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
This recipe is so original and looks absolutely delicious! Love cauliflower!
Paula-bell'alimento says
How did you know I’ve been eying a dehydrator ; ) Now I know I need one.