Looking for ways to add a little more health (and a few less calories) to each day? You’ll love these instructions on How to Make Cauliflower Rice, a simple rice replacement for so many recipes!
If you love rice, you may be wondering why anyone would want to replace it in a recipe. Well, I love rice too! However, every now and then it’s fun to try something different. And if you’re watching your calories, it’s nice to have an alternative.
Besides, in this guide on how to make cauliflower rice, you’ll notice something. It’s super easy!
Look at that! Only 3 ingredients!
How to Make Cauliflower Rice
I like to break the cauliflower into sections and then place in the food processor with some nutritional yeast flakes and rice vinegar.
This adds a little flavor to the cauliflower rice.
Then you simply pulse the cauliflower, a few seconds at a time, until you get to the consistency of rice. Feel free to take the lid off several times during this process to check on the size of your cauliflower. You can also check for large bits that are not breaking down. I use a knife to break up any large chunks.
Then I place a skillet over medium heat, spray it with some vegetable spray and cook the rice until tender, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of your skillet.
Look, you don’t have to cook the cauliflower rice. You could skip that step entirely. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper and you’re good. It’s just that the flavor is a little more mild after it’s lightly sautéed. I like that.
Is Cauliflower Rice Healthy?
As if you had to ask! Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable. What does that mean? I’m gonna tell ya! Cruciferous vegetables are named after the four equally sized petals in the plants’ flower, basically resembling a cross. There are a lot of healthy plants in the cruciferous family, including:
- Arugula
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Collard greens
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Turnip
- Watercress…and more!
Did you see cauliflower right in the middle of the pack? This means that cauliflower is loaded with the same nutrients as other cruciferous vegetables, like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, fiber and more! According to the World’s Healthiest Foods site, “Significant increases in the blood levels of these key antioxidant nutrients have been seen very quickly in subjects who consume generous amounts of cruciferous vegetables in research studies.”
Another thing to note is that 100 calories from a cruciferous vegetable will provide up to 25% of your day’s fiber. Pretty sweet!
And speaking of calories, let’s do a little comparison.
1 cup of brown rice = 218 calories (3.5 grams of fiber)
1 cup of white rice = 205 calories (0 grams of fiber)
1 CUP OF CAULIFLOWER RICE = 27 CALORIES (2.1 GRAMS OF FIBER)
That means you can have more vegan sushi or more Crispy Orange Tofu!
Also, I love using cauliflower rice in my Vegan Sushi recipes. It’s makes the sushi much healthier and the taste is amazing! I confess that it is a bit messier than rice, but it still works!
We hope you love these instructions on How to Make Cauliflower Rice as much as we do! If you decide to make this recipe, take a photo and share it with us using #namelymarly on Instagram. We love seeing your photos!
Cauliflower Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower stems removed, broken into florets
- 1 – 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Combine the cauliflower florets, nutritional yeast flakes, and rice vinegar in a food processor. Pulse a few seconds at a time until it breaks into small pieces.
- Remove the lid and use a knife to break any large pieces that are not breaking apart. Pulse in multi-second increments until the entire mixture is down to the size of rice.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and spray with vegetable spray. Add the cauliflower rice and cook for about 5-10 minutes, until the cauliflower rice is tender.
- Serve immediately in place of rice in your favorite recipes, or store in a lidded container.
Notes
Enjoy!
Just made my first cauliflower fried rice earlier this year and now I am love. I need to try it with nutritional yeast!
Isn’t that stuff the best? I’ve been using it in my vegan sushi (recipe coming soon) and just loving it! I’m going to make some more today in fact! 🙂
I tried pizza with cauliflower but this looks even better! 🙂
I personally think this is better. Glad to see you agree!
Cool! I’ve actually never heard of cauliflower rice before… Would love to try it out! 🙂
Ooh, I hope you love it as much as I do! You can add other spices to it, like taco seasoning and serve it over a salad to make a very nice, flavorful, and low-calorie taco salad!
Oh my gosh I made cauliflower rice earlier this month and it’s amazing! Best of all my hubby who loves rices says he would have this as a substitute and begged me to make more. I LOVE what you added to it!
Your hubby is one smart dude! I am putting cauliflower rice on everything now. I keep cauliflower in the fridge because it’s so easy to make this stuff! I put it on my salads even. Yum!
Until reading this article I didn’t know that anti oxidants had blood levels
Hi Bryan. The data is amazing. Here’s a video that shows why you can’t get the antioxidants from a pill. And here’s a quick video showing the impact of the blood of vegans on cancer. The video shows that the blood from vegans “has 8X the stopping power when it comes to cancer cell growth.” Also, check out this video that talks about antioxidant levels in different fruits. Impressive stuff!
Can I use without nutritional yeast? I can’t find it in my country! ugh!
Hi Zarina. Sure, you can make this without nutritional yeast. It adds a little flavor, but it will be fine without it.
What is the ingredient in the spoon? I couldn’t find it listed in the article. Thank you 🙂
Hi Lee! It’s nutritional yeast flakes. I find adding just a little bit adds a little more “brown rice” flavor to my cauliflower rice. Hope you enjoy!
I think you should put the recipe first. That’s what I’m looking for and your blurb after. That would be nice.
Hi Shelly. Thanks for your comment. We do have a jump to recipe link at the top of every recipe for people who want to go straight to the recipe. Hope that’s helpful!
Please could you post your recipe first then your blurb? I think that would be very affective.