Have you ever tried cauliflower rice? It’s a light side dish that can be used in place of rice. It is a low-carb, healthy, veggie-packed alternative to rice. Its texture is quite similar and is neutral in taste as well. Like traditional rice, cauli-rice takes on whatever flavor you season it with, making it the perfect low-carb side dish.
While you can find riced cauliflower in the frozen food aisle at your local store, I love making my own as it only takes a couple of minutes. If you’ve never made it before, it is a great way to lighten up your meals as it can be used in place of a starch-based side dish. The cauliflower gets tender when sautéed but holds up its shape well, making it perfect for stir-fries, rice bowls, curries, and more!
Key Ingredients You Need
- Cauliflower — When picking a cauliflower, you want one that’s dense and feels heavy for its size. Avoid any that have yellow or brown spots on them. The head should be compact and firm as well. They also come in colors like green, purple, and orange as well! However, the color does not change how it tastes, so feel free to pick up a different colored one to change things up.
How to Make Cauliflower Rice
Step 1: Cut cauliflower into chunks/florets, including the core/stem.
Step 2: Rinse the florets and pat dry.
Step 3: Place in food processor and pulse until the cauliflower becomes rice size.
Step 4: Add to a pan and sauté it over medium-high heat with olive oil for 5-8 minutes.
Step 5: Season to your liking.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Tips For This Recipe
- Use a grater if you don’t have a food processor to rice the cauliflower florets. If you don’t have a grater, you can finely chop the florets instead.
- Try to cut your florets similar in size, ideally just under 2 inches. If the florets are too large or too small, you’ll end up with uneven pieces when you pulse them in the food processor. The smaller pieces will end up mushy. So, if you see a large piece in the food processor, but the rest of the cauliflower has been riced, remove it and pulse it in a second batch instead.
- Add the florets in batches to the food processor if necessary; you don’t want to overload the food processor.
- Avoid overcooking the cauli-rice as the rice can go from tender to soggy if it has been on the stove for too long.
Frequently Asked Questions
While this post teaches you how to cook cauliflower rice, you can technically enjoy this raw. While you can eat it raw, I like to sauté it in a large skillet like I do as it helps get the seasoning to meld with the cauli-rice better. The cauliflower also has a mild nutty flavor when cooked.
Cooked cauli-rice can last for up to 4 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Raw cauliflower rice can last for a couple of days in the refrigerator, but toss it out if it smells sulfurous.
You can freeze riced cauliflower for later use! Simply transfer the uncooked cauli-rice to a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to a month. Then, when ready to enjoy, you can add it to your skillet straight from the freezer. I would skip thawing it beforehand as it can turn soggy.
There are so many ways to season this. While I stick to salt, pepper, or lemon juice to keep this simple, you can season this the same way you would with rice. Try fresh herbs, grated parmesan, minced garlic, freshly grated ginger, curry powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, or combine it with some toasted nuts. The rice will take on whatever flavor you add to it, so it’s a very versatile side dish that you can serve with any meal.
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How to Make Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower head
Instructions
- Cut cauliflower into chunks/florets including the core/stem and rinse and pat dry. To make it easier, you can just use pre-cut cauliflower florets.
- Place in food processor and pulse until the cauliflower becomes rice size. Optional to grate using a grater if you don’t have a food processor.
- You can enjoy the cauliflower rice raw or optional to cook it by sautéing it in a pan over medium high heat with olive oil for 5-8 minutes. Season the cauliflower rice to your liking (salt, pepper, lemon juice, etc.)
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have a food processor or grater, you can finely chop the florets instead to rice them.
- Try to cut your cauliflower florets similar in size, ideally just under 2 inches. If the florets are too large or too small, you’ll end up with uneven pieces when you pulse them in the food processor. The smaller pieces will end up mushy. So, if you see a large piece in the food processor, but the rest of the cauliflower has been riced, remove it and pulse it in a second batch instead.
- Add the florets in batches in the food processor if necessary; you don’t want to overload the food processor.
- Avoid overcooking the cauliflower rice as the cauliflower can go from tender to soggy if it has been on the stove for too long.
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