Cauliflower rice is the perfect vegetable side dish for a quick lunch or light dinner. It’s easy to make in just 10 minutes with three simple ingredients.
We love serving it with a wholesome soup, earthy stew, or creamy curry instead of regular rice or bread.
Table of Contents
Check out our best vegetable sides recipe collection!
Our cauliflower rice recipe is cauliflower grated with a box grater or processed in a food processor, then lightly cooked on the stove and served as if it were regular rice.
Of course, cauliflower rice does not taste like rice; it has fewer calories and carbs and won’t make you as full.
However, if you are looking for a low-calorie, low-carb, and high antioxidants alternative to regular rice or bread, you might want to give this recipe a shot.
Its neutral flavor and appealing texture make it the perfect side dish for curries, soups, stews, stir-fries, or any meal with a sauce.
We love eating it for a light and nutritious dinner, then saving the leftovers and using them for a quick and light lunch.
Because it’s so versatile, you can also use it in wraps, tacos, burritos, salads, or toasted bread with a spoonful of hummus.
Ingredients
Cauliflower
We make cauliflower rice with a fresh, large, white cauliflower head. Half a cauliflower will feed 3 to 4 people. If you make more, you can store the leftovers for several days.
We use both the cauliflower florets and the stem.
Lemon Juice
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed, is a great flavor match with cauliflower. You can substitute lime juice for lemon.
Parsley
Flat-leave parsley, lemon, and cauliflower are also a perfect match.
If you use lime instead of lemon, you could substitute cilantro for parsley and make more Mexican-tasting cauliflower rice.
Chives, dill, and mint are other fresh herbs that go well with cauliflower rice.
Salt and pepper
We use sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Extra virgin olive oil
We don’t add olive oil to this recipe; however, if you want to add extra flavor to the cauliflower rice, you could drizzle it with some good quality extra virgin olive oil. You can sub avocado oil for olive oil.
Extra spices and flavors
Try grated garlic cloves, ground cumin, paprika, smokey chipotle powder, curry powder, and more.
Cauliflower is a blank canvas you can color with your favorite herbs and spices.
Instructions
Rinse, dry, and cut the cauliflower in half. Now chop each half into three large chunks.
Grate each piece with the large holes of a box grater.
Tip: grate the cauliflower starting from the florets so that the stem keeps the pieces together while you grate.
If you prefer, you can use a food processor with a grater attachment, making sure not to over-process the cauliflower, or it’ll turn mushy when you cook it. Pulse the cauliflower instead of blending continuously.
Transfer the grated cauliflower to a large non-stick pan or skillet, add the juice of a lemon without the seeds, and cook cauliflower rice on medium heat for about 4 minutes, moving it around often and without letting it brown.
Tip: restrain from using high heat, as the cauliflower will brown too quickly. Keep the heat to medium-low.
When the cauliflower is tender and there’s no excess moisture on the pan, add a handful of finely chopped parsley, salt, and pepper, then taste and adjust.
That’s it; in 10 minutes, we have an easy side dish to go together with many of our soups, stews, curries, or any main dish you choose.
Serving suggestions
This cauliflower rice is an easy vegetable side dish with tofu, legumes, and salads. Serve it with plant-based proteins such as:
- Mushroom tofu cutlets: satiating tofu cutlets with sauteed mushrooms
- Pizzaiola tofu steaks: a 15-minute dinner with a rich tomato sauce
- Chickpea soup with authentic Italian flavor and fresh herbs
- Lentil curry: a super simple curry and a guaranteed crowd pleaser
Serve it as a vegetable addition to a salad, for example:
- Easy chickpea salad with fresh vegetables and a creamy mustard dressing
- Black bean salad with roasted sweet potatoes
- Quinoa salad with chickpeas: a quick lunch idea ready in 20 minutes!
- Avocado salad with greens, tomatoes, and a creamy vinaigrette
Variations
Lime and cilantro cauliflower rice
You can change the flavors of this cauliflower rice by simply changing the herbs and the seasoning. For instance, substitute cilantro and lime for parsley and lemon for a more Mexican flavor.
Also, you can add spices such as paprika, turmeric, or ground cumin to make this meal even more exotic.
Oven-roasted cauliflower rice
Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer the raw cauliflower rice onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and season with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Toss and bake for about 10 minutes, until tender.
Storage
Cauliflower rice keeps for three days in the refrigerator; best if stored in an airtight container.
We reheat it in the microwave, but a pan with a dash of water would do too.
If you have people over for dinner, you can grate the cauliflower up to one day in advance and store it in the refrigerator.
This way, you’ll just have to cook it on a pan without having to do the grating and cleaning up.
Questions
Yes, cauliflower is a very healthy vegetable that has several health benefits. It’s nutritionally dense and low in calories, and it has high fiber content and antioxidants, including sulforaphane (associated with reduced cancer, heart disease, and diabetes risk).
Yes, you can eat raw cauliflower rice safely; however, some people might experience gas and bloat from raw cauliflower due to some hard-to-digest sugars found in cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli).
To avoid bloating, we recommend cooking the cauliflower rice lightly.
No, it doesn’t. It tastes like cauliflower.
More cauliflower recipes
If you love cooking with cauliflower, get fresh inspiration from these wholesome cauliflower recipes:
- Cauliflower curry: ready in just 30 minutes, a veggie-packed weeknight dinner!
- Cheesy cauliflower pasta
- Chickpea and cauliflower salad
- Lentil salad with roasted cauliflower
- Creamy cauliflower soup
More vegetable side ideas
If you’re looking to increase your veggie intake, look no further! Here are some of our favorite greens with plenty of delicious flavors:
- Red cabbage slaw with apple and carrot.
- Pear salad with orange and ricotta.
- Shaved Brussel sprout salad with a mustard-syrup dressing.
- Easy zucchini salad with raw zucchini, pine nuts, and cherry tomatoes.
For many more side dish ideas, check out our sides category page.
Cauliflower Rice
Equipment
- Box grater or food processor with grating disk attachment
Ingredients
- ½ head of a large cauliflower
- 1 medium lemon the juice
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 2 twists black pepper
- 1 handfull parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Rinse, dry, and cut off the leaves of a large cauliflower. Cut the cauliflower in half, then chop each half into three large chunks.
- Grate each piece with the large holes of a box grater.Tip: grate the cauliflower starting from the florets so that the stem keeps the pieces together while you grate.If you prefer, you can use a food processor with a grater attachment, making sure not to over-process the cauliflower, or it'll turn mushy when you cook it.
- Transfer the grated cauliflower onto a large non-stick pan, add the lemon juice, and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes. Stir often without letting it brown.
- When the cauliflower is tender add a handful of finely chopped parsley, salt, and pepper, then taste and adjust.
- Serve instead or rice with your favorite stews, curries, stir-fries, tacos, wraps, and more.
Notes
Nutrition
You might also like the following:
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”UDSa3oNe” upload-date=”2022-02-24T06:31:54.000Z” name=”cauliflower rice.mov” description=”Cauliflower rice is the perfect side dish to curries, stews, and anything with a sauce. It’s easy to make in just 10 minutes with a few simple ingredients.
We love serving it with our chickpea stew or with our beans in tomato sauce to make a complete and wholesome everyday dinner.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
