Cauliflower Fried Rice

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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 fried rice

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

Rice ingredients including cauliflower, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil.

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.

Food processor full of grated cauliflower rice.

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.

Chopped vegetables on a wooden board.

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.

Wooden spoon stirring a skillet of scrambled eggs.

Set the eggs aside, then sauté the scallions, ginger, and garlic in oil until softened.

Skillet of garlic, scallions, and ginger.

Add the grated cauliflower, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes.

Skillet with riced cauliflower and soy sauce.

Add the peas and carrots and continue cooking until the cauliflower “rice” is tender-crisp and the vegetables are warmed through, a few minutes.

Peas and carrots in a skillet with riced cauliflower.

Stir in the rice vinegar, sesame oil, dark green scallions, nuts (if using), and scrambled eggs.

Scrambled eggs in a skillet with riced cauliflower.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve hot and enjoy!

Wooden bowl of cauliflower fried rice.

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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.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

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

  1. 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.)
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

  • Thank you! This recipe was easy and delicious.

  • This dish is excellent! I have tried a few cauliflower rice dishes and they have all been blah. This one is delicious! My boys and husband loved it as well! We all like a bit of heat, so I added a little more crushed red pepper and I used edamame in lieu of peas (boys have something against peas for some reason…). Thank you for yet another amazingly delicious recipe!

  • Jenn. you say two pounds ready to cook
    Tried that with already riced and way too much cauliflower
    If I am buying it already riced, how many ounces should I use
    Thanks, carol

    • — Carol Winkelman
    • Reply
    • Hi Carol, you’ll need 32 ounces. Hope that helps!

      • That’s what I did, 32 ounces already riced was enough for an army. I had to change pots mid way through and the flavor was lacking. Guess I will have to rice it myself and see how many cups I get

        • — Carol Winkelman
        • Reply
  • first time i experiment with cauliflower rice. Big success! this recipe is perfect. My partner could not believe it wasn’t rice 😁

    • — Rosaria Imbroglia
    • Reply
  • EVERYONE – THIS RECIPE IS A KEEPER!!!

    I’ve tried soooooooooo many recipes for cauliflower fried rice, and Jenn you did it again!! this is the BEST recipe!! My husband inhaled it and we both agreed I can finally STOP looking for new recipe. I think that vinegar & sesame oil at the end made a huge difference!!!

    MODIFICATION: I threw in CELERY instead of PEAS (working with what I had on hand)

    THANK YOU AGAIN for bringing new meals to my table!!

    • How many bags of frozen cauliflower rice should I use. Your recipe calls for a 2 lb cauliflower, and the frozen comes in 10 oz bags. 3 bags?? Thanks!

      • Yes, technically you’d need 32 ounces, but 30 ounces is totally fine. Enjoy!

  • Another 5 star recipe! Thanks so much for sharing your delicious and consistent food with my family. This was yummy! The only change – we added chopped ham to the stir fry. All Good!

  • Perfect recipe, spiced just like the real deal and easily adapted to keto.

  • I love making this recipe and my family and I enjoy eating it! Easy to make and very delicious.

  • Yum yum! I used frozen riced cauliflower. And added more veggies. Oooooooo good

  • This was excellent. I made it in a wok and added some shrimps at the end of the cooking for a main course.

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