How to Make Cauliflower Rice 5 Ways

Name: How to Make Cauliflower Rice 5 Ways
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 head cauliflower, riced; 2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari if gluten-free); 1/4 cup diced deli ham; 1/4 cup diced pineapple; 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 head cauliflower, riced; 1 tbsp lime juice; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tsp chili powder; 1 tsp paprika; 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 head cauliflower, riced; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp oregano; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper; 1 tbsp sesame oil; 1 head cauliflower, riced; 2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari if gluten-free); 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp ginger, minced; 1 tbsp coconut oil; 1 head cauliflower, riced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp turmeric; 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper

Learn how to make Cauliflower Rice 5 Ways! Choose from chili lime, ham & pineapple, Mediterranean, curried and garlic sesame seasonings.

Ingredients and substitutions

Ham & pineapple

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Cauliflower – I recommend using fresh cauliflower. You can use frozen cauliflower but your rice might be mushy.
Soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
Diced deli ham – swap out for another protein of your choice like diced chicken or turkey.
Diced pineapple – use fresh pineapple or canned pineapple.
Salt & pepper – to taste.

Chili lime

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Cauliflower – I recommend using fresh cauliflower. You can use frozen cauliflower but your rice might be mushy.
Lime juice – fresh lime juice is best but bottled lime juice will work in a pinch.
Garlic – I prefer fresh minced garlic. The jarred variety will also work.
Chili powder – use a blend of paprika, cumin and cayenne instead.
Paprika – double up on the chili powder if you don’t have any paprika.
Salt & pepper – to taste.

Mediterranean

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Cauliflower – I recommend using fresh cauliflower. You can use frozen cauliflower but your rice might be mushy.
Lemon juice – use fresh lemon juice if you can. Bottled lemon or even lime juice can be used as well.
Oregano – basil would be the best substitute although oregano provides that authentic Mediterranean flavour.
Garlic – I prefer fresh minced garlic. The jarred variety will also work.
Salt & pepper – to taste.

Garlic sesame

Sesame oil – if you don’t have any sesame oil you can use another neutral oil, although you won’t get that delicious sesame flavour.
Cauliflower – I recommend using fresh cauliflower. You can use frozen cauliflower but your rice might be mushy.
Soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
Garlic – I prefer fresh minced garlic. The jarred variety will also work.
Ginger – use fresh garlic or a bit of ground ginger.

Curried

Coconut oil – any neutral cooking oil can be used instead like avocado oil or canola oil.
Cauliflower – I recommend using fresh cauliflower. You can use frozen cauliflower but your rice might be mushy.
Garlic – I prefer fresh minced garlic. The jarred variety will also work.
Curry powder – use ground cumin or garam masala for a similar flavour.
Turmeric – saffron is the best substitute for turmeric.
Salt & pepper – to taste.

Skip the Ads and Get Right to the Recipes!

ZERO ADS on over 600 recipes!
Weekly Meal Plans, Grocery & Prep Lists
Bonus eBooks

LEARN MORE

How to make cauliflower rice

Rice the cauliflower.
Mix together your seasonings.
Sauté the rice in the seasoning.
Cook until softened.
Serve and enjoy!

Is cauliflower rice good for you?

Now that you've learned how to make cauliflower rice, you might be wondering how healthy it is.

In the world of low carb foods, cauliflower is king, which means cauliflower rice must be the queen. In all seriousness, it is a fantastic low carb substitute for traditional rice. Also, cauliflower is packed with nutritional benefits, including:

Low in calories
Full of fiber
Rich in Vitamins C, K and B6
High in folate
Good source of potassium and pantothenic acid (aka, Vitamin B5)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is cauliflower rice?

Cauliflower rice is raw cauliflower that’s been chopped or processed into tiny pieces of ‘rice’. It’s a great low-carb alternative to rice and is so tasty! Once you learn how to make cauliflower rice, you'll want to serve it with everything.

Is it full of carbs?

Nope! Cauliflower rice is super low in carbs and a great low-carb alternative to traditional rice. One serving of cauliflower rice only has about 10 grams of carbs.

Can you make it without a food processor?

If you don’t have a food processor, don’t worry; you can still make these cauliflower rice recipes! Use a box grater or hand-held vegetable grater to grate smaller sections of the cauliflower or use a sharp kitchen knife to finely dice the cauliflower into rice. You could also just use frozen cauliflower rice – easy-peasy!

The Best Cauliflower Rice Recipes

Wondering how to season cauliflower rice? From Mediterranean-inspired to garlic sesame and curried, there are plenty of seasoning and flavour options that will spice up your rice!

Mediterranean-inspired cauliflower rice

Curried cauliflower rice

Garlic-sesame cauliflower rice

Ham & pineapple cauliflower rice

Chili lime cauliflower rice

Storing and reheating

You can store your leftover cauliflower rice in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight glass container. When you’re ready to eat your rice, you can reheat it in the microwave for a minute, steam it or even heat it up in a pan on the stovetop.

Freezing this recipe

If you plan to freeze the rice to use for your meal prep, it is important that you flash freeze the rice before bagging it. Flash freezing is very easy to do and it will prevent the rice from freezing into large clumps.

To flash freeze the rice:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread the cauliflower rice into an even layer on the pan and try to avoid crowding. Use more than one pan if you need to or flash freeze the rice in batches.
Pop the pan into your freezer and keep it there until the pieces of rice are frozen. This will take about an hour, but you can leave it in the freezer for longer than that if you need or want to.
Transfer the frozen cauliflower rice into meal prep containers or freezer-safe Ziploc bags.
Frozen cauliflower rice will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months.

When you are ready to use your frozen cauliflower rice, remove it from the freezer. Unless you plan to stir fry or make fried rice with it, you don’t even have to worry about thawing it! Just reheat it as you would any other frozen vegetables.

Wanna Learn How To Meal Prep?

My meal planning service, Dinner Prep Pro, removes the guesswork and helps you get dinner on the table in 15-20 minutes each night. My meal prep checklists only take 1 hour each week!

Learn more

More cauliflower recipes

See more related recipes

Meal Prep Tools

A collage of different meal prep containers with the text "The Best Containers for Meal Prep" layered over top.

Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on using the rice in your weekly lunches.
Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
A box grater helps get the cauliflower into rice-like texture.
A food processor speeds up the process.
**Get my full list of tools here**

Join The Girl on Bloor Premium!

ZERO ADS!
Weekly Meal Prep Checklists
Bonus eBooks