Cauliflower “rice” is a surprisingly delicious alternative to white rice. It’s popular among healing grain free diets like SCD and GAPS as well as the paleo/primal and low-carb lifestyle of eating. You can serve it just as you would white rice or create more complex variations like mushroom risotto, fried rice, curried rice, and rice salads.
Here I demonstrate its most minimal preparation which you can use in place of rice in other recipes to enhance as desired or serve plain to soak up the juices of an asian flavored salmon or a decadent beef bourguignon.
Also try my cauliflower tabbouleh for a refreshing herb salad without the grains.
Step One – Remove the outer leafy greens from the cauliflower, coarsely chop, and wash. (Read more about How to Wash Your Produce).
Step Two – Drain the cauliflower and pulse in a food processor until it resembles rice grains.
Step Three – Heat one tablespoon of butter, coconut oil, or preferred fat in a skillet and sautee the cauliflower “grains” until just softened. Flavor as desired and serve.
Cauliflower Rice
This is the basic preparation for transforming cauliflower florets into a rice alternative – season as you would any rice dish.
1 head cauliflower
1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
1 shallot or onion finely chopped (optional)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1. Coarsely chop and wash cauliflower florets.
2. Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles rice grains.
3. Heat the butter or oil in a wide skillet and and sautee onions if using. Add the cauliflower “rice” and sautee until softened – do not overcook.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Some optional variations;
Curried cauliflower rice – add 1 tablespoon turmeric or curry powder.
Herbed Rice – Add 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsely, cilantro, mint or other herbs.
Chinese “Fried Rice” – add 2 eggs to the middle of the pan with the cauliflower and stir until the eggs start to cook. Begin incorporating it with the rest of the cauliflower until cooked. Season with naturally fermented soy sauce and green onions.
Rice salad – mix in chopped cucumbers and tomatoes and season with an oil and vinegar dressing.
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I’ve made cauliflower mock mashed potatoes, but had never heard of cauliflower rice until your post – this is such a great idea. Looking forward to trying it. Thanks so much for sharing! Blessings, Kelly
What a fantastic idea. I’ve never seen this technique. Brilliant.
worked well for me with butter as well as with chuck roast . thanks for yet another good veggie idea!
Is this Cauliflower organically grown , or its a genetically modified crop.
Delicious! I have never imagine a simple rice can be this delicious! The distinct taste it presents is heavenly awesome.
I am trying to get into the paleo concept, but my husband is Japanese and rice is essential to much of the food we eat. We did this tonight, along with grilled Japanese eggplants with ginger and a kind of Chinese-style pork, and it was delicious! Not just decent for cauliflower, but truly tasty. (I don’t even like cauliflower.) It tasted most like couscous, but we both really enjoyed it. I plan to make my fried rice with it, using bacon, scrambled eggs and bean sprouts too. (Since the food processor was in use, I put some onion in it, along with olive oil. I was skeptical, but I am a convert.
So glad you liked it! I don’t eat bacon, but your fried rice sounds delicious.
We tried the caulifower rice tonight with vegetable curry. Even my children loved it! I never imagined I could get them to convert. Thank you!!!!
You had better luck than I! Only one of my kids eat this now …
If you’re going to make a cold salad with it, do you cook it first, and if so, by what method? I’m afraid sauteeing it with oils would make it so it didn’t absorb the salad dressing (the one I have in mind is lime juice and olive oil).
I do cook it first – that’s how I make my tabbouleh (http://www.realfoodkosher.com/cauliflower-tabbouleh/).
You could always do the same preparation but instead of oil use a few tablespoons of water and gently steam the cauliflower until it softens a bit.
I haven’t tried making raw salads but it might work fine. Let me know if you do!
Hi! Looks excellent! Do you know if this freezes ok?
I haven’t tried freezing it yet – but I would probably try freezing it raw instead of cooked since freezing it will probably change the texture a bit and soften it.
Let me know if you try it.
We generally only use frozen cauliflower-easier to check.
Would there be any adjustments to the recipe when using frozen cauliflower? Or just the cooking time?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it with frozen cauliflower – the texture may be different. Let me know how it come out.
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