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Home Rice Recipes

Cauliflower Rice

By:Nagi
Published:6 Jan '20Updated:8 Dec '20
23 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Cauliflower Rice is the low carb alternative to rice, with 77% less calories and 89% less carbs. When made well, you will be astonished how delicious it is served with anything and everything you usually serve with rice!

Cook it in the microwave, oven or stove. Use the method that best works for you!

Close up of Cauliflower Rice in a bowl

Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower masquerading as rice.

Is it as good as rice? No. And anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying, or doesn’t know what tasty food is.😂

But is it a very good healthy substitute for rice that can be made to be delicious in its own right?

YES IT IS!

So what does it taste like? It tastes MILDLY like cauliflower. It’s not as cauliflowery as plain steamed florets because the cauliflower flavour is tempered when grated into little rice size pieces – which is what you want.

And because cauliflower has a neutral flavour, it’s easily disguised when doused with a tasty sauce – like this Honey Garlic Chicken with Cucumber Salad on the side. When you get stuck into it, you may well forget it’s not rice!

Honey Garlic Chicken

How to make Cauliflower Rice

The best and fastest way is to push cauliflower florets through the feeding tube into a food processor fitted with the grating disc.

This blitzes up the cauliflower into rice shaped bits and will make your cauliflower rice eating experience as similar as possible to rice.

How to make Cauliflower Rice

Don’t have a grating disc attachment?

The grating disc works better than the default “S” curve blade that food processors come with to evenly grate all the cauliflower into rice shaped pieces.

While you can just use the default “S” curve blade, you’ll find that some ends up more like couscous while some is rice size. Or some are lentil size and some are rice size. You get the gist. 🙂 “S” blade works pretty well, but the grating disc works better.

No food processor?

No worries! Just use your everyday standard grater. This actually works better than using the “S” blade of a food processor to make rice-size pieces, but it’s messier. You will get little bits of cauliflower everywhere – on the counter, and probably on the floor!

Grating Cauliflower Rice

Today I’m going to show you how to cook plain cauliflower rice, intended to be served like white rice with saucy things like stir fries and curries. In the coming weeks, I’ll also share some recipes made by cooking cauliflower rice which are knock-your-socks-off delicious!

How to cook Cauliflower Rice

Choose the method that fits in best with your way of cooking:

  1. Microwave steam (fastest) – place in container with lid (no water), microwave on high 4 minutes

  2. Oven steam – place in baking dish, cover with lid or foil, bake 20 minutes at 200°C/390°F

  3. Oven bake (great nutty flavour) – toss with a bit of oil, bake 15 minutes at 200°C/390°F.

  4. Stove – sauté with a little oil for around 4 minutes

How to cook Cauliflower Rice

How to serve Cauliflower Rice

Serve with anything that you usually serve with rice, and use it in place of rice in things like rice salads! Here are some suggestions.

1. Stir Fries

Perfect to soak up tasty Stir Fry sauces!

Chinese Cashew Chicken with sauce on a white plate, ready to be served
Cashew Chicken
Chinese Beef and Broccoli in rice in a bowl, ready to be eaten.
Chinese Beef and Broccoli
Close up of Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans in a black skillet, fresh off the stove
Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans
Close up of Kung Pao Chicken with Kung Pao Sauce, fresh off the stove
Kung Pao Chicken
Chop Suey / Chicken Stir Fry on a rustic white plate, ready to be served
Chop Suey (Chicken Stir Fry)
Close up of pork mince stir fry - Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls
Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls
Close up of Thai Basil Chicken in a wok, fresh off the stove ready to be served
Thai Basil Chicken

2. Curries

Ideal for dousing with rich, flavour loaded Curry sauces….

Butter Chicken served over basmati rice in a bowl, ready to be served
Butter Chicken
Thai Green Curry in a black skillet, fresh off the stove
Thai Green Curry
Photo of Chickpea Curry (Chana Aloo) in a bowl over coconut rice with a dollop of yogurt in a rustic bowl, ready to be eaten
Chickpea Curry with Potato (Chana Aloo Curry)
Overhead photo of chicken tikka masala on basmati rice in a dark rustic bowl with a piece of naan wedged in on the side.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Thai Red Curry with Chicken in a skillet, fresh off the stove.
Thai Red Curry with Chicken
Homemade India lentil curry (Dal) served over rice in a rustic white bowl, ready to be eaten.
Dal (Indian Lentil Curry)
Overhead photo of two bowls with Massaman Curry on rice with a side salad, ready to be eaten
Massaman Curry

3. Anything saucy

Anything saucey that you like served with rice!

Honey Garlic Chicken Breast in a skillet, fresh off the stove
Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
Beef Stroganoff in a rustic white bowl over noodles
Beef Stroganoff
Poached Salmon in Coconut Lime Sauce in a black skillet, fresh off the stove ready to be served
Poached Salmon in Coconut Lime Sauce
Close up of ladle scooping up Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Chili
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Chili
Corn chip being dipped into a bowl of Chili topped with sour cream, grated cheese and cilantro
Chilli Con Carne
Close up photo of Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce in a white pan, fresh out of the oven
Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce
Close up of easy chicken breast recipe - Creamy Lemon Chicken
Creamy Lemon Chicken Breast

4. Rice and Couscous Salads

Use in place of Couscous or Rice in salads, such as these:

A 12 minute giant no-cook couscous salad with feta and sun dried tomatoes. A terrific side or satisfying lunch - and it keeps well for days!
12 Minute Couscous Salad with Sun Dried Tomato and Feta
Bright, zesty, and full of flavour, this Cowboy Rice Salad will transport you to the wild, wild west!
Cowboy Rice Salad
A simple white wine vinaigrette is the perfect Wild Rice Salad dressing. recipetineats.com
Wild Rice Salad

How to cook with cauliflower rice

Cooking with cauliflower rice is not always a straight substitution as rice needs 1.5 to 2 cups of liquid for every cup of dried rice, whereas cauliflower rice doesn’t require liquid to cook it. It also cooks in about 1/3 of the time as white rice.

However, you can use the sauce and non liquid flavourings in my rice side dish recipes as a guide to dress up your cauliflower rice.

And it’s particularly good for fried rice. You can use any of my fried rice recipes and do a direct swap substituting cooked rice with raw cauliflower rice.

Fried Rice Recipes

Close up of Egg Fried Rice in a wok with a wooden spoon, fresh off the stove
Fried Rice
Nasi Goreng on a plate with a side of fried egg, tomato and cucumbers
Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice)
Two bowls of Thai Fried Rice, ready to be eaten
Thai Fried Rice
Chicken Fried Rice in a white bowl, ready to be eaten
Chicken Fried Rice
Chinese Fried Rice - A recipe for those who want Chinese Fried Rice that really does taste like what you get at restaurants..
Chinese Fried Rice with Shrimp / Prawns

Or you could just use my Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe!

Close up of Cauliflower Fried Rice in a bowl, ready to be eaten

Even if you’re a cynic (and I was for a very long time), I really hope you give this a go at least once. Think of all the calories you’re saving – and what you can use all those calorie credits for! 😂 – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

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Close up of Cauliflower Rice in a bowl

Cauliflower Rice

Author: Nagi
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 5 minutes mins
Total: 10 minutes mins
Side Dish
Western
5 from 4 votes
Servings5
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. Don't make this expecting it to taste exactly like rice. It doesn't - the texture is different, the flavour is different. BUT it's a tasty, much lower calorie alternative to rice with a neutral flavour that makes it a great healthy option for serving with saucy foods. Once doused with tasty stir fry sauces or curries, you may well forget you're eating cauliflower. And think of what you can do with all the calorie credits!!! {77% less calories, 87% less carbs than rice}

Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower (or 500g/1lb store bought prepared cauliflower rice, Note 1)

Instructions

  • Cut / break cauliflower into florets (including stems) that will fit into the feeding tube of food processor.
  • Fit food processor with grating disc. Place lid on, then push the florets into the feeding tube with the motor running on low.
  • Cauliflower will blitz into rice shaped bits! Can use raw but I prefer cooking it - use a method below.

Other grating methods:

  • Food processor standard "S" blade - fill halfway with florets, pulse 4 to 5 times until largest bits are the size of cooked rice (half will be couscous size, half rice sized). Repeat as needed.
  • Hand grating - cut whole cauliflower into quarters, then grate by hand.

Cooking Method options (6 - 8 cups rice):

  • Only cook cauliflower rice until it is just cooked - don't let it go soft and mushy (it gets watery).
  • Roasting - drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Toss, spread on tray, bake at 200°C/390°F for 15 minutes, tossing halfway through cook time.
  • Microwave - place in container with lid with vent open. Microwave 4 to 5 minutes on high until tender crisp. Don't overcook too soggy.
  • Oven steam - place in covered baking dish, bake 200°C/390°F for 20 minutes.
  • Stove - Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Optional: Cook 2 minced garlic cloves 20 sec until golden. Add rice, cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so, for 5 minutes until just cooked.

Serving:

  • Serve in place of rice with stir fries, curries, anything saucy that you like serving with rice.
  • Use in place of rice or grains in salads and fried rice.

Recipe Notes:

1. Frozen - if using frozen, can microwave or oven steam from frozen. For other cook methods, thaw, drain excess liquid then cook per directions.
2. Yield - 1 medium cauliflower 1.25kg/2.5lb (including stalk) yields about 700g / 1.4 lb 7 cups of raw rice.
3. Cooking with cauliflower rice - cannot use as a straight sub in recipes where rice is cooked in liquid because unlike normal rice, cauliflower rice does not need to absorb liquid to cook. See in post for tips for how to cook with cauliflower rice.
4. Storing:
  • Raw - airtight container for 5 days in the fridge, or freeze
  • Cooked - 4 days in the fridge (I find it gets a bit soggy after this)
5. Nutrition per serving, cauliflower rice only.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 35cal (2%)Carbohydrates: 7g (2%)Protein: 3g (6%)Fat: 1g (2%)Saturated Fat: 1g (6%)Sodium: 42mg (2%)Potassium: 419mg (12%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin C: 67mg (81%)Calcium: 31mg (3%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Keywords: cauliflower rice, healthy rice, low carb side dish
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

100% complete and utter zero interest in today’s recipe 😂

Dozer the golden retriever completely uninterested in cauliflower rice

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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23 Comments

  1. Abir says

    July 27, 2023 at 1:03 pm

    5 stars
    Your comment in the post “ Even if you’re a cynic (and I was for a very long time), I really hope you give this a go at least once. Think of all the calories you’re saving – and what you can use all those calorie credits for! 😂 – Nagi x”

    Cracked me up !!!!! Hahaha

    Thanks for the recipe, as always !

    Reply
  2. Karen in NH, USA says

    February 10, 2023 at 7:25 am

    I tried making cauliflower rice tonight and, despite how much I love so many of your recipes, I was skeptical after my Zoodles disaster of a few years ago. (“They taste just like pasta!”, some said. HA! They taste NOTHING like pasta!) Anyway, the riced cauliflower was a TOTAL SUCCESS!! I cooked sesame chicken tonight (must admit I was in a hurry, so I used a pouch of cooking sauce with 4 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed) and added a lot of veggies to the pan too (as I always do). I cooked only 1 small portion of the riced cauliflower just in case … and it was great! No, it doesn’t taste like rice, but it’s no more bland than my typical rice, which I use to soak up the SAUCE, as you wrote on this page. And the riced cauliflower soaked up the sauce beautifully, AND the texture is very similar to rice, so it was a totally satisfying and delicious meal (and I cooked MORE of the riced cauliflower when I finished eating and put it in the 3 leftover sesame chicken portions that I will freeze). THANK YOU for helping me stay on a healthy eating plan! I LOVE your site and look forward to buying your cookbook too!

    Reply
  3. Helen says

    March 22, 2022 at 12:06 pm

    Hi Nagi I’m keen to try it but was wondering can it freeze well once I cook it? Thanks

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 22, 2022 at 5:44 pm

      Yes Helen it freezes well! N x

      Reply
  4. Helen says

    February 22, 2022 at 6:32 am

    5 stars
    Excellent! We ate it with salmon in lime coconut sauce. Not sure it will stop me reaching for the jar of rice every time but the carb saving alone certainly makes it very attractive. Many thanks for all your fabulous recipes 😋

    Reply
  5. Macy says

    April 6, 2021 at 6:04 am

    If I’m going to trust anyone it’s going to be you on this one. I’m half Asian and it almost tears me up at the thought of no rice. How did our peeps ever survive eating the dreaded carbs if they’re so horrible..but I’m willing to at least give this a real try. I’m gonna pair it up w your cashew chicken recipe you posted today.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 6, 2021 at 8:04 am

      Hi Macy, I’m all for carbs, but sometimes it’s great having an alternate options for various reasons (this is perfect for Diabetics too!) – N x

      Reply
  6. Kim Bemis says

    January 19, 2021 at 10:58 am

    Made this cauliflower rice tonight. With the flavoring of whatever you serve it with you really can’t tell its not regular rice.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 19, 2021 at 6:40 pm

      Yes, isn’t it great for a low carb option Kim – and I’m all for added veg in my meal! N x

      Reply
  7. Jack McCall says

    December 11, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve been making cauliflower rice for a few years now, but I never thought of roasting it, always opting to nuke or sauté it What a revelation! There were some browned crispy bits on top (yum!) and as you said, roasting imparted some nuttiness to the dish. Thanks Nagi!

    Reply
  8. Cres says

    December 4, 2020 at 4:31 am

    Delush! Thanks for the recipe. I am very Asian. I am not a cook. I would like to learn how to cook Asian
    cuisine in my old age.

    Reply
  9. zehra says

    December 3, 2020 at 3:20 am

    Dear Nagi I enjoy making recipes form your website. You are very inspiring.

    Reply
  10. Elle says

    August 10, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    I’d love a cauliflower rice sub for your fabulous lemony, oreganoy, chickeny greek baked rice – it’s my favourite hence I eat way too much of it…

    Reply
  11. Susan Hall says

    April 23, 2020 at 1:06 am

    Would you use these same cooking methods with frozen cauliflower rice?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 23, 2020 at 9:17 am

      Yes Susan – check the recipe notes 🙂 N x

      Reply
  12. Lucinda Glover says

    January 28, 2020 at 5:14 pm

    5 stars
    Oh boy! I am a total convert to the mighty cauliflower rice. So easy and so delicious. Next I will be making all the rice recipes I can find with cauliflower as a sub. Yummy yummy

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 28, 2020 at 5:25 pm

      I’m so glad you love it!!

      Reply
  13. N says

    January 13, 2020 at 12:21 am

    I like adding some of the cauliflower leave and some mint leaves in the processor and then microwaving the lot. I process it with the knife attachment of a stick mixer.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 13, 2020 at 3:46 pm

      Sounds like a great idea!

      Reply
  14. Christianne says

    January 8, 2020 at 2:20 pm

    Hi Nagi! I could not believe my eyes when I saw this cauliflower rice posted today. I recall the first time I saw your web site and you were definitely against cauliflower anything, except for its natural reason for being perhaps. 😉Anyway that’s what I remember. I could be wrong. Just wanted to say, I’ve made cauliflower fried “rice”, mashed cauliflower (still not as good as actual potato), and one of my faves a cilantro lime cauliflower rice. I went this route when doing a Whole30 round and reducing carbs sure can help this girl’s waistline. 😆. Just wanted to welcome you to the cauliflower craze! 😘

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 8, 2020 at 2:52 pm

      Desperate times called for desperate measures! 😂 Truthfully, I’m not a fan of cauliflower things like pizza and bread, where the end result is seriously so lacking compared to the real thing. But if you look at cauliflower rice as an alternative to real rice, and make it so it actually tastes nice, then it’s still very good in its own right. Also like Cauliflower Mash. Posh restaurants serve cauliflower puree, it’s a totally done thing! It’s not the same or as good as mash – but still tasty! N xx

      Reply
      • Christianne says

        January 9, 2020 at 1:04 am

        Haha! Cauliflower bread does not sound good. And I have had a cauliflower crust pizza…it was alright but I rather just have a salad. 😄 Well no matter what the ingredients you make it all taste yummy!

        Reply
  15. alimak says

    January 8, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    I’ve always been somewhat skeptical about cauliflower rice – and cauliflower puree as well, to be honest. I do love a good cauliflower cheese – time to move out of my comfort zone and try both!! Plus if it’s a Nagi recipe, it’s guaranteed to be epic!!
    x

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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