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How to Make Cauliflower Rice

How to Make Cauliflower Rice

Last Updated on 24th February 2022 by

Cauliflower rice is a new trend going through the food industry, and I’m excited about the possibilities of this food. The basic idea behind it is to take pieces of cauliflower and pulse them through a food processor for a little while until they come out like puffy little granules of rice.

Of course, since cauliflower is white like rice, the look is practically identical. This gives you the ability to use cauliflower in much the same way that you would use rice. Instead of a starchy rice, you are eating a vegetable, though. As you can imagine, the nutritional benefits are profound.

Rice is the most commonly eaten food in the world, serving as the main dietary staple throughout Asia and Central America. What if some of that rice were to be replaced with cauliflower and people were to start getting all those great nutritional benefits of cauliflower?

How to Make Cauliflower Rice

I want to share with you a method for making raw cauliflower rice. You may want to cook it if you’re going to include it in a recipe that calls for it, and you want to make sure you’re not using it indiscriminately in place of rice. It can’t work in every rice recipe as though you’re using rice until after it has been cooked.

You start with raw cauliflower and cut it into chunks, cutting up the core of the cauliflower as well. Then, put your cauliflower chunks into a food processor and pulse. You want to continue pulsing until the cauliflower has the same texture as rice grains.

You may need to work in batches, depending on how much cauliflower you’re going to pulse and rice. Do not allow the cauliflower to over-pulse, as that can make it mushy and cause it to lose its consistency.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice without a Food Processor?

If you don’t have a food processor handy, you can always use a box grater. Just grate the cauliflower from top to bottom until you’ve worked through all of your cauliflower. This creates a very similar effect to running it through the food processor, but of course it’s a lot of extra work. The food processor is definitely easier and preferable, but it may not always be an option.

How to Make Fried Cauliflower Rice

Raw cauliflower can be somewhat bitter on its own, so you may want to season it to get rid of some of the bitterness. How to make cauliflower rice taste good? If you season it and fry it up, it’s so delicious, and I want to share with you a simple way to do just that.

You can heat up a large skillet on the stovetop and add about a teaspoon of olive oil to it. Heat that on medium heat until it warms, and then add in your cauliflower and some chopped scallions. Heat these together for about 3-5 minutes, sauteing them and coating the cauliflower with the oil. Stir your food around as it warms so that it cooks evenly and does not burn.

Then, you can season the fried cauliflower with lime juice and a little salt and pepper. All of these work together to make the cauliflower more flavorful and to get rid of any of the traces of bitterness that may still remain.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice Crispy

If you’re concerned about your cauliflower rice being soggy or mushy, or you tried it and you don’t like the texture and consistency, you may want to make it crispy instead. How to make cauliflower rice not soggy? The simplest and easiest way is to bake it in the oven. I’m going to share with you a recipe you can use, you can modify this as necessary to change up the seasoning as you like.

Ingredients:

  • 20 ounces of cauliflower rice
  • 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet by spraying down with cooking oil.
  2. Toss the cauliflower rice with salt, pepper, and olive oil in a large bowl.
  3. Then, spread the cauliflower rice onto the prepared baking sheet as flat as possible, trying to eliminate as much overlap as you can. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cauliflower rice has become crispy and turned brown.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice Sticky

Try this recipe for sticky cauliflower rice.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of cauliflower rice
  • 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 3 tablespoons of cooking oil
  • 2/3 cup of coconut milk
  • 2 teaspoons of beef gelatin

Directions:

  1. After your cauliflower has been riced, you need to heat a large pot on the stove top with your oil in the bottom. Add in the rice cauliflower once the oil is hot and allow it to sauté for two minutes. Stir as it cooks.
  2. Then, add in the apple cider vinegar and salt and gently sprinkle in the gelatin. Stir together.
  3. Next, add the milk and stir frequently until it starts to boil. Continue stirring until the liquid almost evaporates completely.
  4. You know it’s done cooking when the liquid no longer pools at the bottom and you can see the bottom of the pan when you push the spoon through. At this point, push the rice down to the bottom of the pot and allow it to cool for a few minutes in front of a fan. Then, place it in the fridge to finish cooling.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice from Frozen Cauliflower

You can actually find frozen cauliflower rice in the freezer section of your grocery store in many areas. This is already riced for you, and you just need to roast it or fry it up however you wish.

Cauliflower rice can be prepared from frozen cauliflower. It’s best to thaw it out first. You can set it in the fridge for a day or two to thaw out naturally or put it under cold running water to thaw out faster. Then, just grate it or process it as normal to create cauliflower rice.

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Pauline Loughlin

I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!

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