Cauliflower Fried Rice
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This Chinese-style cauliflower fried rice is a healthy, low-carb dish that’s hearty enough to serve as a main course.
Cauliflower rice — which is just cauliflower grated into rice-like bits — really does taste similar to rice, or at least it behaves similarly by soaking up all the flavor of its seasonings. In this quick and easy cauliflower fried rice recipe, I sauté grated cauliflower with aromatics, vegetables, soy sauce, and eggs, much like Chinese fried rice. It’s a healthy, low-carb dish that’s hearty enough to serve as a main course.
Cauliflower has a mild flavor that makes it an excellent blank canvas for other flavors. In addition to rice, it makes a great substitute for mashed potatoes in my cauliflower purée with thyme recipe. It’s also excellent roasted in my roasted cauliflower recipe.
What You’ll Need To Make Cauliflower Fried Rice
You’ll likely be able to find grated cauliflower in the produce or frozen vegetable section of your supermarket. But if not, it’s simple to make using a food processor (use the grating disc) or hand grater.
How To Make Cauliflower Fried Rice
As with any quick stir-fry, it’s important to have all of your ingredients prepped before you start cooking.
Begin by heating a few teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs and a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat until scrambled.
Set the eggs aside, then sauté the scallions, ginger, and garlic in oil until softened.
Add the grated cauliflower, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes.
Add the peas and carrots and continue cooking until the cauliflower “rice” is tender-crisp and the vegetables are warmed through, a few minutes.
Stir in the rice vinegar, sesame oil, dark green scallions, nuts (if using), and scrambled eggs.
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve hot and enjoy!
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Cauliflower Fried Rice
This Chinese-style cauliflower fried rice is a healthy, low-carb dish that’s hearty enough to serve as a main course.
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- Salt
- 1 cup chopped scallions, light and green parts separated (you'll need 5-6 scallions)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger, from a 1-inch knob (see note)
- One 2-lb head cauliflower (or 2 pounds "ready to cook" cauliflower rice), thawed if frozen
- 4-5 tablespoons soy sauce (use gluten-free if needed)
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Asian/toasted sesame oil
- ¼ cup chopped cashews or peanuts (optional)
Instructions
- Grate the cauliflower in a food processor fitted with the grating disc. Alternatively, grate on the large holes of a box or hand-held grater. Set aside. (Skip this step if using "ready to cook" cauliflower rice.)
- Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a large (10 or 12-inch) nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs and a pinch of salt and scramble until the eggs are cooked. Transfer to a small plate and set aside. Wipe the pan clean.
- Add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan and set over medium heat. Add the light scallions, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the grated cauliflower, 4 tablespoons of the soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. Add the peas and carrots and continue cooking until the cauliflower "rice" is tender-crisp and the vegetables are warmed through, a few minutes. Stir in the rice vinegar, sesame oil, dark green scallions, nuts (if using) and eggs. Taste and adjust seasoning (adding the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce if necessary). Serve hot.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Serving size: about 2 cups
- Calories: 273
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Sugar: 8 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 12 g
- Sodium: 1717 mg
- Cholesterol: 93 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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How can I cut down the sodium
Hi Marie, You can omit the salt and/or use low sodium soy sauce. Just keep in mind that the dish won’t have as much flavor.
This was delicious even though I had to fudge the ingredients a little (ie. I used tamari instead of soy sauce and I didn’t have sesame oil). Point being– I would encourage you to make it even if you don’t have exactly everything it calls for. Also, it kept well in the fridge for leftovers on day 2. I will definitely be making this again!!!!
Love it! Great healthy recipe – even my picky eaters enjoyed it!
Trying to figure out why this has so many calories..1 cup of Cauliflower is supposed to have 25 calories… surely the small amount of oil you consume in a portion can’t be that much?????
This would almost be the equivalent of having rice!!! It’s a NO for me!!!
Hi Derryn, It is definitely the oil that adds the calories here. Feel free to cut back on the oil a bit if you want to give it a try.
This was absolutely fantastic. I will be making this weekly, it’s my new favorite. I sautéed shrimp and added at the end as you suggested. The flavor was incredible. I’m excited to try adding different vegetables and proteins. Do you think it would be as good using low sodium soy sauce? Or cutting the soy sauce amount in half? Thanks again for all your wonderful recipes!
This was so tasty. I wasn’t sure without a meat in there but very filling and satisfying. The sesame oil is wonderful, i can taste it. I didn’t shred the cauliflower, i am too lazy. Just cut it up & it broke up just fine. I might have missed a bit of the texture but it was still excellent. Thanks so much! love your recipes.
Anytime I buy ginger most of it ends up being thrown out. Can I use grated, dry ginger with similar taste results?
Hi Lois, Unfortunately, there’s no comparison between fresh and powdered ginger. I usually just buy a small piece or freeze any leftover.
Lois Greer, the trick with ginger is to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and keep it in the freezer. Use a microplane/zester to grate however much you need. Keeps great that way!
Loved this recipe, very satisfying!
I had to make this recipe, the second I saw it, it was intended for my lunch, but by 9am, nothing was left, it had disappeared into my children’s lunch box. Nothing but a sandwich is usually allowed in there. I love everything on your website, it literally is the only one we ever use, but this has me shocked, to see my teenage son loving anything with vegetables…I still can’t believe t, thank you so much!!!
I imagine one could add shrimp at the last couple of minutes to make this an even more complete entree, correct?
Hi Bette, Absolutely. But I’d probably sauté the shrimp separately first with a little garlic and/or scallions, and then set them aside and add them at the very end.
How many cups of grated cauliflower does a 2 lb head translate to? In other words, if I buy a bag of pregrated at Trader Joe’s, is that the equivalent of what you would get by doing it yourself?
Hi Cheryl, I’m not sure of the amount in cups but there should be a weight on the bag. I believe the Trader Joe’s bag is 16 oz (1 lb) so you’d need two.
I very much appreciate you being specific about measurements, including and especially weights.
Loose ingredients like shredded cheese, cauliflower, etc can have different sized shreds. That makes measurement by volume variable depending on the compaction in a cup measure – more or less air.
Some websites use “can” or “tub” of something but not size of can, etc.
Thanks for a great website!
I made this with ONE bag of pregrated cauliflower from Trader Joe’s and it was the right amount.
This was delicious!
I adapted this recipe for my daughter who is on the Clean30 diet. I followed the recipe to the letter, except I omitted the soy sauce, and the peas. I added the tiniest pinch extra salt and crushed red pepper to make up for the lack of soy sauce, and guess what? It wasn’t needed! My daughter LOVED IT, and so did my picky husband who isn’t on the diet! The next time I made it, I did everything the same except I used cooked cubed chicken instead of eggs. Fantastic again! The prep took longer than the actual cook time, so I’d say this is a great recipe when you’re pressed for time, that is, if you’re fairly quick at chopping. Two thumbs up 👍👍
Oops, forgot to mention, I also omitted the sugar both times I made it.