Recipes Side Dishes Whole30

Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice

When hubs first started this paleo thing, he told me that we could make a rice substitute from cauliflower. Now I’m (half) Chinese, and I grew up eating rice at pretty much every meal. My first thought was it sounded sacrilegious! My second thought was that it didn’t sound very tasty. But, being the good wife that I am (ha!), I agreed to try this “cauliflower rice” if he made it. So he grated up a whole head of cauliflower and served it for dinner. Raw. And you know what it tasted like? That’s right. Raw cauliflower. Nope. Not going to ever eat that again.

Fast forward two years, and I’m now on maternity leave and doing a lot more of the cooking. As I was browsing for some new side dishes, I happened to stumble upon a recipe for cauliflower rice and damned if you aren’t supposed to cook it!

paleo cauliflower fried rice

So I decided to give it another chance. Surprise! Cauliflower fried rice is actually pretty good when it’s seasoned and cooked!

Chop up a whole head of cauliflower and throw the pieces into a food processor. You’ll probably have to do this in two batches. Pulse the processor until your cauliflower is about the size and texture of couscous. It should look something like this.

#Paleo Cauliflower Rice #Recipe | This West Coast Mommy

Heat some coconut oil in a large wok over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the cauliflower and garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, chili powder, ground ginger, cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. Be generous with your seasonings and don’t be afraid to experiment with them! Change up the spices to suit your taste. Cover the wok and cook for about 5-10 minutes and the cauliflower is soft.

Cauliflower fried rice goes great with butter chicken or curry dishes. This makes a great substitute for fried rice too.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Ingredients
  

  • One head of cauliflower
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Quarter head of cauliflower and discard leaves and stem. Roughly chop into smaller pieces and place in food processor. Pulse until cauliflower is the texture and size of couscous.
  • Heat coconut oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat.
  • Add cauliflower and spices and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until cauliflower is softened.

Leave a Comment

21 Comments

  • You will never believe this! I’m watching Food Network and I just saw them make a couscous cauliflower! This cauliflower rice looks yummy. I haven’t cooked with coconut oil yet. We have just been using it on our skin. Looks like a nice way to try it. I haven’t made cauliflower in so long! Thank you for sharing! xoxo

    • πŸ™‚ We eat a lot of cauliflower here! Roasted, mashed, stirfried, etc. I love how versatile it is.
      Coconut oil is great! I use it for a lot of cooking, and diaper rash too! (Not the same jar obviously.)

  • After trying cauliflower rice and thinking it tasted pretty decent, I decided to try making broccoli rice the same way. It’s seriously amazing with some sausage on top πŸ™‚

  • My husband is low carbing it and I’ve tried a few recipes using cauliflower to replace starch. (Plus I love cauliflower)
    We’ll have to try this out! Thank you for sharing with See Ya in the Gumbo!

  • It’s great as a side for salmon too! That’s what I’m making tonight, in fact we have this all the time now. Thanks for sharing the recipe, between this and your roasted veg recipe we always have cauliflower on hand these days πŸ™‚

      • Very simple preparation on the salmon. I season the fillets with a little salt and pepper then heat an oven proof pan, when it is good and hot I add a little coconut oil and the fillets and sear them on one side. When they have a lovely sear (only takes a couple minutes)I flip them over and throw the whole pan in a preheated 350 oven for about 7-10 minutes. It makes for a really nice quick and healthy protein. Sometimes to change things up I will add a little cumin to the seasoning or do a mix of coconut oil and ghee. Subtle differences but it keeps it interesting!

  • This looks/sounds fantastic, and a far healthier option for us. We eat a LOT of rice. I’ll def have to try this (and I happen to have a head of cauliflower in my fridge right now)! πŸ™‚ Thanks for linking up to Delicious Dish Tuesday! I’m featuring this as my favorite for this week! <3

  • First I had to chuckle when I read your story, that was just to funny raw cauliflower rice, mind you I’ve never heard of this before till now and after reading your recipe I am going to make it, we should like it since we all love cauliflower and I’ll make sure I cook it…lol….but my hubby would of probably of done the same thing!

  • Just wanted to let you know I made this and was amazed at how good it was, and it looked liked rice, my hubby wouldn’t have any because he doesn’t like rice to start with, but I will be making this again, I loved it!!

  • I love your idea for Fried Cauliflower! I am trying to cut out grains from my diet so this would be a terrific substitute. Thank you!

  • I hadn’t thought much about the seasonings, but being generous with them is a great tip! Otherwise, cauliflower has the potential to be bland…