Mama Cozzi’s Cauliflower Breadsticks

Cauliflower is a popular stand-in for bread, rice, potatoes, and other starchy foods these days. Some people like cauliflower-based products because they sometimes — but not always — have lower carb counts. They also can be a way for people who eat gluten free diets to indulge in some foods they might not otherwise be able to eat.

At different times in recent years, Aldi has gotten in on the trend by selling cauliflower crust pizza, mashed cauliflower, cauliflower crackers, cauliflower pizza snacks, cauliflower meals, riced cauliflower, and riced cauliflower stuffing. The most recent cauliflower product Aldi has offered is cauliflower breadsticks.

Mama Cozzi’s Cauliflower Breadsticks cost $3.49 for an 8.2-oz. package of six breadsticks (about 58 cents per breadstick) at the time of publication. These look very similar to name-brand Green Giant Cauliflower Breadsticks.

The Aldi cauliflower breadsticks are an Aldi Find (Special Buy), which means they’re only in stores for a short time.

These are made with real cauliflower, with garlic butter, and they are certified gluten free.

These should be kept frozen until you’re ready to bake them. To bake the breadsticks, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the breadsticks in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 minutes.

Heating these in the microwave is not recommended.

The primary ingredient is cauliflower. These also contain corn starch, rice flour, brown rice flour, sunflower oil, tapioca starch, unsalted butter, yeast, sugar, Parmesan cheese, garlic salt, extra virgin olive oil, egg yolk powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, sea salt, red wine vinegar, and tara gum.

If you’re watching out for allergens, these contain milk and egg.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The bag contains six one-breadstick servings (39 grams each). A single breadstick has 120 calories, 5 grams of total fat (6% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 420 mg of sodium (18% DV), 16 grams of total carbohydrates (6% DV), 1 gram of dietary fiber (4% DV), 2 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugar (2% DV), and 2 grams of protein.

The Aldi breadsticks are higher in sodium compared to name-brand Green Giant Cauliflower Breadsticks (420 mg vs. 125 mg), but otherwise the two brands are almost identical nutritionally and have very similar ingredients lists.

So, do these have fewer carbs and calories than traditional flour-based breadsticks? A 60-gram serving of name-brand traditional New York Bakery Frozen Breadsticks contains 190 calories, 27 grams of total carbs, and 1 gram of dietary fiber. The cauliflower breadsticks are a smaller serving size (just 39 grams), and after doing some math, we determined that 60 grams of the Aldi breadsticks would have about 25 grams of total carbs. So these aren’t really lower in carbs.

The real benefit of these cauliflower breadsticks is that you get some extra veggies, and people who eat a gluten free diet will appreciate being able to indulge in a bready treat.

Our breadsticks after baking.

As for how these taste, they’re fine. They taste like breadsticks with notes of cauliflower, and they’re not highly seasoned, which may be good or bad depending on your preferences. We didn’t detect much butter or garlic flavor, and only a small amount of saltiness. We have not yet found the Green Giant cauliflower breadsticks in a regular grocery store in order to compare the two, so we can’t speak to how these stack up to the name-brand version.

If you want more flavor, you might brush these with melted butter and perhaps sprinkle on some extra garlic powder or minced garlic, and maybe some additional grated or shredded Parmesan cheese. My family only ate half of these breadsticks when I first served them, so a couple of days later I heated the leftovers in the oven for a few minutes, then brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled them with garlic powder, and they were much better and more flavorful.

The Verdict:

Mama Cozzi’s Cauliflower Breadsticks feature cauliflower as the primary ingredient, and they are similar to Green Giant Cauliflower Breadsticks. They taste fine but aren’t big on buttery garlic flavor, so we recommend doctoring them up a bit if you want more flavor. They are not necessarily lower in carbs than traditional breadsticks, but they might appeal to people who eat a gluten free diet, or to people who are looking to work in some extra veggies.