Cauliflower Fried Rice

Cauliflower Fried Rice

RECIPE Acid Reflux, GERD, IBS
Published on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 by Lisa Green

A new spin on a classic recipe!

One of the first dishes that I had to cook in one of my beginning classes in culinary school was Thai Fried Rice. It was love at first bite! The flavors, the aromas, and even the technique used in cooking the rice fueled my passion for cooking and creating different recipes.  

This recipe replaces the traditional rice with minced fresh cauliflower. 

Cauliflower is a hearty vegetable and is available year-round. Cauliflower is loaded with nutrients, especially vitamin C. This recipe calls for the additional vegetables of carrots, mushrooms, onion, and jalapeno, but these are completely customizable depending on your food preferences and dietary triggers. Some vegetables that would be great additions to this recipe include bell peppers, celery, green peas, and/or corn. 

Cauliflower, when minced in a food processor, resembles white rice. If you don’t have a food processor at home, they sell frozen cauliflower “rice” at most grocery stores or you can use a cheese grater to mince your cauliflower. Cauliflower, like rice, doesn’t have a super strong flavor, so it takes on whatever flavor you are pairing it with. For this recipe, I am sticking with the flavors I fell in love with when I first made it, Thai. You could also add any sort of meat protein to this dish as well. I recommend pork, chicken, shrimp, or even steak!

Pro-Tip for This Recipe:

Depending on how big your food processor is, it might take several batches to get all the cauliflower minced. Once in the food processor don’t turn it on full blast. Slowly mince the vegetable, you don’t want it to turn accidentally into a paste.

[[ recipeID=recipe-8lbkyzcxg, title=Cauliflower Fried Rice ]]

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Cauliflower Fried Rice

Servings: 6

Keywords:

  • Prep Time: 25 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower or 3-5 cups minced
  • 1 carrot (diced)
  • 2 bunches of green onions or ½ Vidalia onion (optional)
  • 1 jalapeno (optional)
  • 8 oz package of mushrooms (or more)
  • 1 lime
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ tablespoon minced ginger
  • 3 cloves garlic (optional)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 dash fish sauce (a little goes a long way)
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • ½ cup low sodium soy sauce or Tamari GF soy sauce
  • Dash sriracha
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. First, cut the cauliflower (or break it apart) into 2-4 inch chunks. This step helps the food processor mince the cauliflower into a rice consistency.
  2. Put the pieces of cauliflower into the food processor. 
  3. Then slice the mushrooms, carrots, onion, and jalapeno, and mince the ginger and garlic.
  4. In a large skillet on medium-high heat add 2-4 tablespoons of oil (your choice). Then add the carrots. Once the carrots start cooking add approximately ¼ cup water, to steam the carrots and accelerate their cooking time.  
  5. Once the water evaporates add the mushrooms and onion. 
  6. When the carrots are soft and the mushrooms and onions are cooked add the ginger and garlic. Saute for about 1 minute then add the cauliflower. With the cauliflower we are just heating up, we are not cooking it all the way through. We want to keep the cauliflower firm, like rice.  
  7. Adding the eggs might have to be done in stages, depending on how big your pan is. My recommendation would be to take ½ of the cauliflower mix out of the pan. Reduce the heat of the remainder of the cauliflower mix. 
  8. Whip the eggs in a separate bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the rice mixture still on the stove. Turn the heat up to high. Now add ½ the eggs to the middle of the pan, with the cauliflower mixture around it. Cook the eggs about halfway then start mixing the eggs into the rice. 
  9. Once the eggs are completely cooked and mixed into the rice, add the seasonings. Be careful with the fish oil. It’s very strong and a little goes a long way. Remember you're just using half of the flavorings. 
  10. Remove from the pan and repeat this step with the remainder of the eggs, rice, and seasonings.  
  11. Before serving, squeeze the fresh lime right over the top. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1

Serving Per Recipe: 6

Amount Per Serving
Calories 137
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7.3g 11%
Saturated Fat 1.4g 7%
Trans Fat 0g
Sodium 886.3mg 36%
Total Carbohydrate 11.1g 3%
Dietary Fiber 3.6g 14%
Sugars 3.3g
Protein 8.5g

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:

Notes

Difficulty level: 7


*Difficulty level on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being easy (little to no cooking experience required) and 10 being difficult (having a strong background in cooking, and using equipment)


Nutrition Analysis includes all optional ingredients.