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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WOW — you definitely should make this! I have never tried cauliflower rice and just gave it a go. So happy I did. Had most everything in the kitchen (thank you Jenn!) and did skip the red pepper flakes. It was full of flavor and super satisfying. I may add some Fish or Oyster sauce next time and see what happens.
Absolutely delicious! I made a few changes due to my taste and ingredients on hand. No sugar added. Bragg’s liquid aminos in place of soy sauce. I didn’t have scallions, so I used red onion. I didn’t have rice vinegar, so I used apple cider vinegar. I used pecans and purple cabbage at the end with a squeeze of lime. Consistency is like rice, but light and not sticky. Very healthy meal. Thank you for the recipe.
I couldn’t tell this was cauliflower and not rice. Really good!
I was amazed on how much it tasted like real rice… and im asian but needing to cut carbs and rice is the hardest for me to give up… this was fantastic
This was so good! I omitted the sugar. At the end I added a little more soy sauce and spread the “rice” out so it charred a bit which gave it more rice flavor. I served it with tenderloin cubed seared in butter, garlic and a little soy and sesame oil. Topped with a drizzle of yum yum sauce. Will definitely make it again, tasted just like it was from a hibatchi restaurant!
omg this was amazing! I used half the sugar. Loved it so much. Better than regular fried rice. It’s going on our weekly rotation.
We loved this dish. Had it on Valentine’s Day 2023!!
Can you freeze it? There is only 2 in this family now so…
Hi Linda, Glad you enjoyed! Overall, I think this would freeze nicely, but I’m not sure how the scrambled eggs would do. Please LMK how it is once you thaw it!
I had this for dinner tonight. I had never had cauliflower rice before. I am not a vegetarian. I thought it was really good. The only change I made was to add edamame with the other frozen veggies for a little more protein. Next time I will increase the amount of sauce ingredients as I like mine a little wetter. Otherwise I would definitely recommend it even for those meat eaters like me out there!
Fabulous as written (as your recipes are). I had to substitute some yellow onion for the scallions (as it is too early in the year, and my egyptian onions are waiting for spring), and a whole carrot diced (I added with the onions, garlic and ginger to allow to cook and soften) as my frozen bag was peas alone. Wow wow wow! A new vegetarian favorite in my rotation!
Just the recipe I was looking for!!! Substituted 1/4 tsp dry ginger ILO grated fresh. Coarsely chopped 1/2c fresh carrots and added to 1/2c frozen peas, added cooked chicken and 1 c packed coarsely chopped cashews. It was a complete meal.