Vegetarian Pigs in Blankets with Riced Cauliflower and Baby Carrots

---

A cheesy cauliflower patty recipe baked with a carrot inside to resemble vegetarian pigs in blankets.

---

April fools’ day or not, this is a fun way of adding more vegetables to the table.

Vegetarian Pigs in Blankets

Thought pigs in a blanket had to be made with meat? Here’s a way to make them out of vegetables too.

Combine a mixture of riced cauliflower with cheddar cheese. Form them into patties. Then add a baby carrot to the center and you get a veggie packed version of pigs in blankets. Cute right?!

About the ingredients

Baby carrots – steam them first to help cook faster in the oven.

Cauliflower rice – use a blender or food processor to reach a consistency more like garlic paste than minced cauliflower. Save any leftover cauliflower rice for these crispy cauliflower quinoa bites with vegan buffalo sauce.

Cheddar cheese – cut from a large block of cheese and processed in the blender. If using shredded cheese, chop it before adding to the recipe. Shred too much? Try these broccoli and cheese bites.

Quinoa flour – made from quinoa seeds that are ground into a fine powder (How to Make Quinoa Flour). Use it here to keep this recipe gluten free or substitute with another kind of flour.

---

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Please see here for more information on affiliate links.

---

How to steam baby carrots

Fill a pot with 1-2 inches of water*. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high.

Have a steaming basket nearby and ready to use. You can use a flexible steaming basket insert, a pot topper, bamboo basket or even a pot strainer. *Make sure to use the right sized pot to fit your steamer basket and fill with enough water to reach the bottom of the basket.

If using regular carrots, peel and chop them into uniform sized pieces. This will ensure they cook evenly.

Once the water is boiling, uncover the pot. Insert your steaming basket filled with carrots. Recover the pot with its lid and cook for 3 minutes or until desired tenderness. Remove carrots/basket and set them aside to cool.

Ways to shape them

Use a cookie scoop to evenly portions the cauliflower mixture straight onto your baking tray. Press a baby carrot into the center of each scoop.

You can stop there and leave the carrot visible. This will look the most like vegetarian pigs in blankets.

Or you can add an additional half a scoop of the mixture to the top of each one. If necessary, cup your hands and use your palm to reshape each piece on the tray.

How much does this make?

This recipe will yield 12 pieces of veggie pigs in blankets if you cover the carrot with the cauliflower mixture on top.

If you want to make more, do not add another layer of cauliflower on top of the carrot. This single layer, open face style will yield 18 pieces. Remember to cook a few more baby carrots for this method.

More fun food ideas

“Chocolate” Easter Eggs – Play a sweet April Fools’ food joke on your family and friends. Swap pieces of chocolate filled Easter egg candy with colorful fruit instead.

Candy Jewelry – this is the candy necklace from your childhood that you may have bean missing.

Food By the Foot – Need to get back at someone for an April Fools Day prank? Tell them lunch/snacks are on you with these foot long foods ideas. See how your prank measures up with these two food by the (cookie cutter) foot ideas.