You won’t believe how easy it is to make cauliflower rice and how tasty it is! Find out everything you need to know about how to make cauliflower rice as well as how to store, eat and buy it in this comprehensive guide.
Cauliflower rice is a really easy substitute for rice if you are eating low-carb or wanting to increase your vegetable intake and improve your nutrition.
Any regular rice eaters in your family will be converted after trying a steaming bowl of healthy, low-carb cauliflower rice. This is because it is surprisingly more flavorsome than regular rice.
This guide on how to make cauliflower rice covers the simple steps to making cauliflower rice, how to store and freeze it, as well as how to buy it. You’ll find our recipe for basic cauliflower rice below and we’ve also included some of our favorite recipes variations too.
A simple method to cook it is to use butter and trust me, the taste is amazing. Cauliflower rice adds a wonderful flavor to the meal compared to rice which merely carries other flavors. It’s easy to create a variety of flavors by adding spices (dry or fresh), lemon juice, garlic or pine-nuts etc.
An added bonus with cauliflower rice is that it is much quicker to prepare than regular rice. You will have it on your plate in 10 minutes.
Common questions on how to make cauliflower rice
IS CAULIFLOWER RICE LOW-CARB?
Yes, cauliflower rice is low-carb and ideal for people following low-carb, ketogenic or keto diets.
Carbohydrate values for cauliflower rice:
- 1 cup (100g cup) – 1.0-2.0g net carbs, 2.0g fiber
*1 cup of cooked white rice has 40g net carbs. Cauliflower rice doesn’t swell up when cooked like rice, so I’ve quoted cooked rice here.
For more ideas on what to eat instead of your favorite carbs – read 9 Simple Ketogenic Carb Swaps.
HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN CAULIFLOWER RICE?
Calories in cauliflower rice:
- 1 cup (100g) – 25 calories
*1 cup of cooked white rice has 204 calories
BENEFITS OF CAULIFLOWER RICE
- Low-carb compared with regular rice
- Increases vegetables in diet
- Quicker to make than regular rice
- Cauliflower provides many more nutrients compared to rice
- Easy to flavor cauliflower rice by adding spices, herbs, oils etc
- Can be easily kept and stored in the fridge or freezer
- Can be bought in grocery stores in fresh, frozen and pre-packaged versions
- Can be cooked in minutes in the microwave
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RICE A CAULIFLOWER?
Ricing cauliflower refers to creating the small rice-like grains from the cauliflower, either using a food processor or a grater.
HOW DO YOU RICE CAULIFLOWER?
To rice a cauliflower, start by removing the outer leaves and wash and dry the cauliflower.
There are 2 ways to rice the cauliflower:
- Using a food processor (large or mini) – break off the florets or use a sharp knife to cut the cauliflower into rough florets. Place the florets into the food processor and whizz for about 30 seconds or until they form rice-like grains. See image below, steps 1-3.
- Using the large holes of a box grater – cut the cauliflower in half so that a piece can be easily managed in your hand while grating. Grate the cauliflower and this will create the rice-like grains. As the cauliflower becomes too small to grate, chop up the remaining pieces to be as small as possible.
DO YOU COOK CAULIFLOWER BEFORE MAKING CAULIFLOWER RICE?
No – it is important to process raw cauliflower into the rice-like grains before cooking.
Steps by step guide: how to make cauliflower rice
- Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower and wash and dry the cauliflower
- Chop the cauliflower coarsely or break off the florets and place into a large or mini food processor
- Blitz for about 30 seconds in the food processor. It will look like small rice-like grains. (image 3)
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the riced cauliflower. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until the cauliflower is cooked and heated.
- Add some salt and pepper
- Transfer the cooked rice to a serving bowl or onto a plate and serve with protein or vegetables for a complete meal
TIPS FOR COOKING CAULIFLOWER RICE
- If you don’t have a food processor, the cauliflower can be grated using the large holes of a grater
- Cook cauliflower rice in olive oil, butter, ghee or any cooking oil
- Add spices while cooking cauliflower rice to add different flavors e.g. cumin, turmeric, ginger
- Other options – squeeze over lemon juice, fry a little crushed garlic with the cauliflower rice
- Serve with fresh herbs such as coriander, mint or basil or pine nuts
HOW TO STORE & FREEZE FRESH CAULIFLOWER RICE
After blitzing the cauliflower in your food processor, it can be stored prior to cooking, in the fridge for 4 days or in the freezer for 2 months.
HOW TO USE FROZEN CAULIFLOWER RICE
When frozen cauliflower rice defrosts, it looks quite gluggy. Don’t worry though, it comes back to life when pan-fried!
HOW TO COOK CAULIFLOWER RICE IN THE MICROWAVE
Microwaving cauliflower rice is super easy to do but doesn’t require any butter or fats so is not as keto friendly. To make it – place cauliflower rice into a microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes.
Can you buy cauliflower rice?
Cauliflower rice has become so mainstream now that you can buy it in pre-packaged, refrigerated and frozen forms. You’ll find it in grocery stores like Trader Joes and Wholefoods. The large chains like Aldi, Walmart and Costco also carry cauliflower rice.
Cauliflower rice can also be found now in Europe and Australia, so check your local supermarket or grocer.
Look for it in the produce aisle or in the frozen section.
Pre-packaged cauliflower rice can even be found on Amazon. These packets would be great to have in your pantry! There’s even one that combines cauliflower rice and broccoli rice! Perfect for busy nights…
When using refrigerated (fresh) purchased cauliflower rice, be sure to use it up within a day or 2 of buying, as it won’t stay fresh long.
Store-bought Frozen Cauliflower Rice
The frozen products obviously last much longer but be sure to follow the cooking directions on the packet closely as they do differ between brands.
NOTE that frozen cauliflower rice actually cooks in half the time of fresh cauliflower rice because the frozen rice is not as firm as the fresh. If you’re short on time, go for frozen cauliflower.
Scroll down to try our simple 10-Minute Cauliflower Rice recipe below!
OUR FAVORITE CAULIFLOWER RICE RECIPES:
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Spanish Cauliflower Rice
- KETO Fried Rice Recipe
- Cauliflower rice – cooked in coconut cream (with video)
★ We hope you found this guide on How to Make Cauliflower Rice useful – let us know your experience with making it in the comments below.
★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
10 Minute Cauliflower Rice
Instructions
- Remove the outer leaves and chop the cauliflower coarsely.
- Whiz in your food processor for about 30 seconds. It will quickly be processed into small rice-like grains.
- If you don't have a food processor, the cauliflower can be grated with the coarse side of the grater.
- Place a fry-pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter.
- Add the cauliflower and any other ingredients (spices etc) and saute for about 5 minutes until well heated.
- Grind over some salt and pepper and serve.
★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission if you purchase some items. Ordering through my site will not change the price you pay. Small commissions like this help to support this blog and my bulletproof coffee habit…
Update Notes: This post was originally published in January of 2017, but was republished with step by step instructions and tips in June of 2018.
On the top of the page it says this recipe nets 1.6 g carbs.
The nutrition info on the bottom shows 11g – 4g for fiber… leaving 7g net carbs.
Which is it? What am I missing?
The recipe serving size is 225g whereas the info in the post is for 100g (1 cup) however, there is a discrepancy here as I’ve used different sources for the nutritional info (my bad!) This does show how difficult it is to get accurate nutritional info and how much sources can vary! I’ve updated the recipe to serve 4 people so it more accurately reflects what’s is in the post. I’ve looked at a few different (reliable) sources and the consensus is that has cauliflower rice has 1-2g net carbs for 100g (1 cup). Hope this helps 🙂
This is such a helpful guide! We love to make chicken fried “rice” with cauliflower! 🙂
That sounds delicious!
I’ve still not tried this yet! You’ve made it look so easy, and cauliflower is such a great vegetable! Now I have to try it this way!
Let me know how it goes!
Love this post! So full of good info! I’ve been wondering for a while- do you know if you can you rice frozen cauliflower florets?
I don’t see why not. Allow them to defrost and then blitz them in a food processor!
I’ve not tried cauliflower rice yet but I’ve heard lots about it. I really like this blog post, so much useful info! Will give it a try soon!
Try it – it’s delicious!
Cauliflower rice for fried rice is so good too!
what an information laden post – while I do either make my own or buy the store bought one from time to time – I need to start using it more
I’m so glad you found it helpful!
This is such a great how to guide, and adding a frequently asked questions is brilliant!
I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂
I have been wanting to try cauliflower rice for ages! I haven’t seen it ready made in supermarkets in Italy yet. You’ve inspired me to make it myself. It looks so easy! Thank you!
Yes – it is much easier than you think. Definitely give it a go!