Raw, vegan Cheezy Broccoli Poppers that are perfect for snacking. These will turn anyone and everyone into broccoli lovers- kids and “big kids at heart” included!
Don’t tell my boyfriend this, but I have never been a huge broccoli lover. If you asked him what his favorite food of all time is, he would probably say raw broccoli. How in the world that is even a possibility, I am not sure. Though I suppose some people would look at me strangely when I profess my love for carrots and sweet potatoes. To each their own!
I am honestly a little bit jealous of my main squeeze. I wish I looked at raw broccoli and thought, “man, that looks good!” Throw broccoli in a stir-fry, roast it up, or steam it and top it with cheese and I am 100% on board. But I just cannot get into broccoli right off of the stock.
So you can imagine my surprise when walking through Whole Foods about a month ago, and I saw Cheese Louise Broccoli Poppers from Brad’s Raw Foods and nearly did a double-take. Cheesy broccoli that isn’t messy, that I can take with me anywhere, that is raw and vegan (but doesn’t taste like it), and that is in poppable form? Um, yes please! What I was not loving, however, was the price. One single-serve bag was $4.99! Of course, I was so intrigued that I had to buy them anyways. It’s just money, right?
Bad move, Hannah. Bad move.
Now I am hooked. But since I have not won any more than $100 in the Powerball, my credit card is not having that! I can maybe justify them as a monthly splurge, but certainly not as a weekly purchase. You know that wasn’t going to stop me from indulging in vegan, raw, cheezy broccoli goodness, though. I put my beloved dehydrator to work and made my own! Do they taste exactly like the “real thing?” No. But they are a pretty darn good substitute for about a third of the cost!
Copycat Brad’s Raw Cheezy Broccoli Poppers
Vegan + Gluten-Free
*Adapted from this recipe.
Serves 4 as a snack or side
Ingredients
4 cups broccoli florets, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup unsalted cashews, soaked overnight (or at least 4 hours)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 TB fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/8 cup water
2 heaping TB nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
Directions
1. Drain cashews and add to food processor or high-speed blender. Pulse for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula.
2. Place chopped red pepper into the container. Process for another 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the container again.
3. Add lemon juice, water, nutritional yeast, onion powder, turmeric powder, and sea salt to the container. Process until mostly smooth, or for approximately 45 seconds.
4. Place broccoli in a large bowl. Add the cheezy cashew mixture to the bowl. Gently fold the broccoli and “cheese” together until every piece of broccoli is well-coated with the cheezy cashew mixture.
5. Place broccoli pieces onto the trays of your dehydrator, being careful to ensure that they do not touch one another.
6. Follow your dehydrator’s instructions and dehydrate at 125 degrees F for approximately 8 hours, or until crunchy.
7. Store in an air-tight container to maintain freshness.
*Note: I have only tried making these in my dehydrator, though I’m sure you could attempt to make them in the oven on very low heat. If you try this method out, let me know how it goes!
If you think you or somebody you know does not like raw broccoli, think again!
I am all for chocolatey, sweet snacks. But I think it’s about time that we bring some vitamins and nutrients to the snacking world. I’d say these Cheezy Broccoli Poppers will fit the bill just fine.
No more excuses, broccoli haters. No more excuses.
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$4.99 per saving? Do they think everyone walking down the isle is a rich celebrity?
Apparently!!! I only WISH I could afford them regularly 😉
Ooooo these look good! I love broccoli but have never been a huge fan of it raw. But I can totally see how these would change that opinion!! Hope you had a great weekend!!
Trust me, these taste WAY better than raw broccoli. If I was eating (and loving) them, then you know that’s a good sign! 😉
Josh is the same kind of weirdo: looooves crunching on raw broccoli. Especially if he can have a side of Ranch. He’ll eat anything with a side of Ranch. I actually looked for those poppers when I was at Whole Foods (a rare treat itself) and they were sold out :'( They look SO good. But sadly, a dehydrator is on the same list as toasters — I don’t have one. Hopefully someone else tries out the oven!
What is with our CRAZY boyfriends?? 😉
The fact that you don’t have a dehydrator is a bit more understanding than not having a toaster, haha! But if you ever get a chance, you should totally get your hands on one.
I like broccoli best steamed and cauliflower best raw! But either way, I love it all! Hahahah! These look so good! So fun! <3
Ahh, you are one of THEM!! 😉 Haha, jk!! I am not much of a raw cauli fan either 🙁 I do love it in cauliflower rice and cauliflower pizza crust, though!
These look really good- coming from another person who does NOT like raw broccoli. My husband and oldest daughter LOVE it. I only like it cooked- with other things 🙂 I will have to give this a shot though, I think with the “cheese” it would be good 🙂
Yes!!! I think you would love these. They taste nothing like plain raw broccoli. Trust me, if I was shoveling them in, you should like them 🙂
These do look damn delicious, Hannah! I tried to make something similar with cauliflower just over a year ago. I detest cauliflower and thought it would be a good way to convince myself to eat it. Anyways, it didn’t turn out nearly as nicely as this has!
I’m not a raw cauliflower person either! I really only like it in cauliflower rice and cauliflower pizza crust. Maybe I’ll have to try it out in the dehydrator, too!
Broccoli is one of my all-time favorites too! Jeremy knows what’s up 🙂
Jeff on the other hand, not so much. I still have to semi hide his broccoli in dishes, haha! I bet these could change his mind though.
(And your photos are seriously awesome)
I think Jeff sounds like the smarter one here… haha, jk!! 😉 But in all seriousness, I think he might enjoy broccoli this way!
I love Brad’s Nacho Kale snacks. I will have to try this too!
Aren’t they SO good??? Brad’s products are so delicious!
These look really good…I like broccoli, but not raw! I feel ya girl!
Well it sounds to me like YOU need to make these!! They will definitely change your opinions on raw broccoli!
These look so good, great job, thanks for sharing I am repining for later =)
Thanks Christine!! I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Just bought some nutritional yeast yesterday for the very first time! GOTTA MAKE THESE!
Oh, you are going to LOVE nutritional yeast!! It is one of my favorite vegan ingredients to cook with!
My 5 year old son LOVES broccoli! Very excited to try this, thanks for sharing!
You are SO welcome! This is a great, new way to get raw broccoli into the diet. Who knew snacking on broccoli could be so good?
I love this idea! I don’t have a dehydrator, but have done stuff in the oven on the lowest temp. Will have to try it here!
PLEASE let me know how they turn out in the oven! I’m very curious, and I know others are too!
I love broccoli! This is a great twist on kale chips, only broccoli is sturdier so less crumbs. 🙂
Such a great point, Linda!! These are definitely less messy. Kale chips are SO much crumbier and less “poppable” than these!
This sounds great! I want to put it on kale! (Is it weird I like kale more than broccoli? haha)
This originated as a kale chip recipe (see the link above in the ingredients area), and is my GO-TO kale chip recipe. I totally hear you. Kale is definitely better 🙂
Brilliant idea to recreate these poppers- they sound amazing! I can already see my husband eating the whole batch within 5 minutes!
Oh trust me, they are SO hard to have self-control around… kind of like kale chips for me. I had to portion them out into separate containers for snacks for the week or they would have been gone in a DAY! 😉
This looks really good! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Nancy! I hope you give them a try 🙂
Pinning now. Can’t wait to try these asap!! They look amazing and I have all the ingredients at home! Thanks for sharing!
It sounds like they are meant to be!! I hope you love them 🙂
Confession: I’ve been waiting for this recipe ever since you mentioned you were working on it. Kale season is pretty much over so having an all-year version of healthier ‘cheesy’ snacks sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try these once I’m reunited with my Vitamix!
I really think you will LOVE these… at least I sure hope so 🙂
I was first introduced to the concept of vegan cheese by my church, and I adore it! 😀 I’ve actually never been much of a fan of raw broccoli either, but this would make me way more inclined to have it! :]
It is AMAZING how you can create the cheese flavor with some cashews and nutritional yeast. I just LOVE getting creative with both ingredients and seeing what I can come up with!
These look soo good! I can’t believe it is vegan and has no actual cheese! It’s crazy!
SO crazy, right? I actually think the ingredients in this recipe work SO much better than actual cheese would. Yay for cashews and nutritional yeast!
WOW this looks fantastic!
Thank you!! They are definitely one of my favorite things ever right now 🙂
Okay, so broccoli is my favorite veggie and everything is better with cheese so I know I will be using this recipe as soon as we are in our new house in NM. Thank you for sharing 🙂
You are so welcome. I hope you love it as much as I do!
That looks amazing! Now that I’m trying to switch my family to a Paleo diet, I’m thinking that I definitely need to invest in a food dehydrator!
Oh my gosh, you totally should! I got it 2 years ago for Christmas and now I will never again make kale chips or dried fruit in the oven. It’s the best! And.. they are really quite affordable.
Yay, I’m so happy to have found you in the Omaha Bloggers group! These look fab – going to follow you everywhere now. xo
Ahh, thaks Rachael! I’m so glad you found me too. I will be following along with your blog 🙂
So happy to have found your site! We attempted a month of eating raw last year and made it 10 days before I thought I was going to sit in the middle of the grocery store and cry LOL (vegan & gf are hard enough to work around) but we love incorporating raw dishes in our diet and really need to invest in our own dehydrator (borrowed the mother-in-laws for our raw food trip)! Can’t wait to make this! BTW – Accidentally made brussell sprout chips the other night when roasting my brussel sprouts and having pulled off the outer layers of too many of them – ACCIDENTALLY DELISH! Just evoo, salt & pepper. Could likely dehydrate something similar to keep it raw too. 😀
Just curious what you might substitute as nutritionally equivalent if severely allergic to both cashews (and almonds) and red (and green) bell peppers? Do you think hazelnuts and yellow bell pepper would suffice?
Gosh, what a bummer! Honestly, Chelsea, I am not sure. I have not tried it with other nuts or peppers. I know that cashews are almost always used when making a cheese equivalent, so I am not sure if it would work for other nuts. If you give it a try, I would love to hear how it goes!
Oh my gosh, you ROCK! TY for posting this! I am a raw vegan and have been trying to copycat this delicious Brad’s product for a while because they are awesome and I can’t afford $5 a few times a week (I would eat them every day if I could, LOL) TY! Bought broccoli yesterday for this very reason!! Going in the dehydrator tonight to be ready for our weekend trip!!! 🙂
I hope you love them as much as I do, Beth! I hear you.. $5 is WAY too much to spending so frequently!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS POST!! I just finished my bag of broccoli poppers and began my search for a larger bag! You can’t eat just one!
Aren’t they awesome? I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Does the nutritional yeast have much of an effect of the flavor or texture? Or is it simply for nutritional value? I have never used it before so I was wondering if it could be omitted?
It actually helps to give the broccoli its cheesy flavor. While it could technically be omitted, I think it would be missing something without it. Don’t let it intimidate you, though. You can easily find it at most grocery stores or online!
Thank you! My concern was going to be finding it, so I feel better now. The Whole Foods in my area is a bit of a hike. I will be trying them in the oven so I will let you know how that goes as well!
It is amazing how many “regular” grocery stores carry it now. Just look in the health foods section of your local stores and hopefully they have it!
Hi! Loved the recipe. I don’t have a dehydrator so I used my oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes flipping halfway. I recommend using the convection oven bake setting towards the end or broiling if you want it crispier. My ‘cheezy’ sauce was so thick my blender couldn’t handle it😩 so I added some coconut milk to it to make it creamier. I also sprinkled some Herbs de Provence with breadcrumbs to make it crispier (though it didn’t really need the breadcrumbs). Turned out well for my lactose-intolerant friend and really tasted like cheese! Would definitely recommend at least trying this out!