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.
What to expect
Cauliflower rice is cauliflower that is grated with a box grater or processed in a food processor, then lightly cooked on a pan, and served as if it were regular rice.
Of course cauliflower rice does not taste like rice, and it has a lot less calories so it won't make you as full.
Yet, it's neutral flavour makes it the perfect side dish to curries and stews, or any dish with a sauce really.
We love eating it for a light and nutritious dinner, then save the leftovers and use them for a quick and light lunch, either in a wrap, burrito, salad, or simply on toasted bread.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Cauliflower: the main ingredient here.
- Lemon: cauliflower and lemon juice are a perfect match. You can replace lemon with lime.
- Parsley: flat leave parsley and cauliflower are also a crazy good match. You can replace parsley with cilantro.
- Salt and pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil: we don't add olive oil to this recipe however if you are looking to add some extra flavour to the cauliflower rice, then you could drizzle it with some good quality extra virgin olive oil.
How to make cauliflower rice
We usually make half cauliflower to serve 3 to 4 people. Rinse, dry, and cut half of the cauliflower into two to three pieces, then take each piece and grate it with the large holes of a box grater.
To make it easier, 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, making sure not to overprocess the cauliflower or it’ll turn mushy when you cook it.
Transfer the grated cauliflower to a large non-stick pan, add the juice of a lemon, without the seeds and stir.
Cook the cauliflower on medium to low heat for about 4 minutes, moving it around often, and without letting it brown.
When the cauliflower has softened up a little add a handful of finely chopped parsley, salt, pepper, then taste, and adjust.
That’s it, in 5 minutes we have an easy side dish to go together with our super easy chickpea stew, with beans in tomato sauce, or with any dish of your choice.
We like to serve the cauliflower rice onto a plate and add some chickpea stew next to it.
We then drizzle with some soy yogurt mixed with parsley and a pinch of salt on top, but that’s totally optional. Chickpea stew and cauliflower rice is delicious as is.
Variations
You can change up 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 cumin seeds to make this meal even more exotic.
Get ahead
If you have people over for dinner you can grate the cauliflower up to one day in advance and store in it the refrigerator. This way you'll just have to cook it on a pan, without having to do the grating and cleaning up.
Dinner menu ideas
Serve the cauliflower rice as a side dish with:
Mini pizzas as a starter.
Oven-baked chickpea stew as a main.
Vegan lemon bars as a dessert.
Storage
Cauliflower rice keeps for 3 days in the refrigerator, best if stored in an airtight container. We usually reheat it in the microwave, but a pan with a dash of water would do too.
Recipe
Cauliflower rice with lemon and parsley
Equipment
- Box grater or food processor
Ingredients
- ½ head of a large cauliflower or 1 small cauliflower
- 1 lemon the juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 twists pepper
- 1 handfull parsley
Instructions
- Rinse, dry, and cut off the leaves and the woodier part of the stem of one large cauliflower. Then cut the cauliflower in half.
- Cut the half into three pieces, then grate each piece through the large holes of a box grater. Start grating from the florets, so that the stem keeps the cauliflower florets together.If you prefer, you can use a food processor, but in this case only pulse a few times, without overprocessing the cauliflower.
- Transfer the grated cauliflower onto a large non-stick pan, add the lemon juice without the seeds, and start cooking on medium to low heat.
- Cook while moving the cauliflower around the pan for about 4 minutes, without letting the cauliflower brown.
- Towards the end season with salt, pepper, and a big handful of freshly chopped parsley. Stir, taste and adjust for salt before serving.
Video Recipe
Nutritional Values
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