Cauliflower is a veggie with a very mild flavor and it lends itself well to many dishes.  With no special tools needed, it’s really easy to make cauliflower rice for a healthy and delicious rice substitution!  This can be prepped ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen so it’s ready when you are!

Cauliflower Rice in a pan with a grater

While we’ve all had cauliflower covered in cheese or cauliflower soup, did you know that it can be an amazing stand-in for rice in many recipes?

Ricing cauliflower is easy to do and doesn’t require any special tools.  You can use either a food processor or a hand grater with equally delicious results!  I personally prefer to use a hand grater with larger holes for a bit of a larger “grain”.

Riced cauliflower keeps well in the fridge or freezer so I often rice a couple of heads of cauliflower to enjoy throughout the week, add to soups or use in recipes like cabbage roll casserole or stuffed peppers!

What is Cauliflower Rice?

While cauliflower rice isn’t exactly rice, it is fresh cauliflower prepared in a way that it takes on the texture of grains of rice.  It can be used raw in salads or cooked and added to any dish that uses rice.

Cauliflower Rice in a pan shown up close

Why Use Riced Cauliflower?

First off, cauliflower rice is actually really delicious!!

Regardless of what your eating plans or goals are, we all know getting more veggies is a good idea!  This is perfect to add to any dish that already contains rice either as a partial or complete substitute.  The kids will be getting their veggies and never even know it’s in there!

I personally use riced cauliflower in place of white rice to cut calories and carbs while still keeping a similar texture in my dish.  1 cup of cooked white rice contains about 205 calories and 45g carbohydrates whereas 1 cup of riced cauliflower contains only about 27 calories and 5 grams of carbohydrates.  Cauliflower rice is Weight Watchers friendly, paleo and 21 day fix approved.  And it’s DELICIOUS!!

Items You’ll Need For This Recipe

* Hand Grater or Food Processor * Non-Stick Pan * Olive Oil *

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Cauliflower Rice in a pan and with a grater shown and a blue and white napkin
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How to Make Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower is a veggie with a very mild flavor and it lends itself well to many dishes. With no special tools needed, it’s really easy to make cauliflower rice for a healthy and delicious rice substitution!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 6
Author Holly Nilsson
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Ingredients  

  • 1 large head cauliflower
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Rinse and shake cauliflower dry.
  • Cut into quarters removing any outer leaves or tough stems.
  • Coarsely grate cauliflower in a large bowl or pulse in a food processor in small batches until cauliflower is the size of grains of rice.
  • Heat olive oil in a large non-stick pan and cook riced cauliflower about 5 minutes or just softened.

Notes

Cauliflower rice can be oven-roasted on a foil-covered pan at 425°F for 20-25 minutes or until slightly dried and fluffy. Stir once halfway through cooking.
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Nutrition Information

Calories: 25 | Fat: 2g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 53mg | Vitamin C: 8.6mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American

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About the author

Holly Nilsson is the creator of Spend With Pennies, where she creates easy, comforting recipes made for real life. With a passion for nostalgic flavors and simplified techniques, Holly helps busy home cooks create delicious meals that always work. She is also the author of “Everyday Comfort,” which promises to inspire even more hearty, home-cooked meals.
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Comments

  1. I love cauliflower rice, so healthy and keto-friendly. I loved your recipe for it. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Tried the “rice” in stuffed cabbage rolls, I used some roasted eggplant, with spicy v8 juice and made it without any meat.

    They were awesome, very filling and not overly heavy.

  3. Can this be frozen? I usually buy the bagged riced cauliflower and steam it to use, so it’d be nice to make my own.

  4. Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I have wanted to try cauliflower rice for a long time, but all the recipes I saw used a food processor. I live in a small apartment and have no room for a food processor and was about to give up on making my own cauliflower rice! I am so relieved to find a recipe that is easy and healthy that I can make with a small kitchen tool!! YAY!5 stars

  5. Love the cauliflower rice idea! I have not used it as rice… only to make pizza crust. Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Cauliflower mashed potatoes are great also and simple cook the cauliflower until fills soft then drain as much of the water out as possible let sit in strainer for about 10 to 20 mins while you cook somethings else them put in bowl and lowfat better seasalt and pepper to taste then mash it all together