Cauliflower Rice
Published 12/28/2020 • Updated 1/25/2021
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Do yourself a favor and make cauliflower rice at home. There is only one ingredient you need to make cauliflower rice and it’s cauliflower!
Cauliflower rice is naturally gluten-free and vegan and is a low-carb alternative to any grain.
What is Cauliflower Rice?
Cauliflower rice (also known as cauliflower couscous) is raw cauliflower that has been processed in a food processor or high speed blender and it ends up into rice shaped cauliflower!
Why would I make cauliflower rice?
- Cauliflower rice is a great low-carb substitute for rice or couscous in many dishes.
- Cauliflower rice is naturally gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, and keto.
- Cauliflower rice is high in fiber and low in fat.
How to Make Cauliflower Rice?
Prepare the Cauliflower
The first thing you have to do is prepare the cauliflower to go into the food processor. You can use any size cauliflower, but remember the bigger the cauliflower the more cauliflower rice you will have.
You want to cut off all the green leaves off of the cauliflower, but you can process the trunk of the cauliflower, it will also turn into cauliflower rice.
Chop the cauliflower into medium/large pieces and place them in the food processor.
Process Cauliflower in a Food Processor
Once you have placed the cauliflower in the food processor, cover the food processor and pulse the cauliflower on high until the cauliflower processes into small rice pieces.
Be sure not to process the cauliflower into a paste!
Remove Moisture from the Cauliflower
Once the cauliflower is processed it’s time to remove the moisture from the cauliflower rice so that you don’t end up with mush when you prepare your cauliflower rice.
To draw the moisture out of the cauliflower rice, line a large tea towel or cheese cloth. Place the cauliflower rice in the cheese cloth and sprinkle the cauliflower rice with salt.
Mix the cauliflower rice with the salt and let the cauliflower rice sit for 15 minutes. The salt will help to draw any moisture from the cauliflower.
Once the cauliflower rice has sat, twist the top of the tea towel and squeeze moisture from the cauliflower rice allowing the moisture to drip into the bowl below.
Guess what, now your cauliflower rice is ready to use!
How do you use cauliflower rice?
There are countless ways that you can use cauliflower rice! You can use it raw and mix it into a salad or you can heat the cauliflower rice and use it as a delicious side. Here are a few other ideas for how to use your cauliflower rice.
All you have to do is replace the rice with cauliflower rice in the recipe below.
don’t try this
Though cauliflower rice is a great replacement for rice, couscous, and other grains in many dishes, you can not substitute cauliflower rice for grains in dishes like casseroles, one pot dishes, or any recipe where the rice must be cooked in water!
How long does cauliflower last?
Cooked Cauliflower Rice
Cooked cauliflower rice will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator from the time when it is first cooked.
Raw Cauliflower rice
Raw cauliflower rice will last for up to 7 days in the refrigerator. We recommend placing the cauliflower rice in the refrigerator before the step where you salt the cauliflower rice to draw out moisture.
This will help the cauliflower rice last longer in the fridge.
just buy it
Don’t have time to make cauliflower rice? Most grocery stores sell either raw or frozen cauliflower rice.
How do you store cauliflower rice?
Store your cauliflower rice in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Just be sure it is room temperature before you place it in the fridge.
Can you freeze cauliflower rice?
Yes, you can freeze cauliflower rice. Here’s how:
- After you have processed the cauliflower rice place it in a freezer safe ziploc bag or airtight container.
- Place the container in the freezer and freeze for up to 3 minutes.
Easy Homemade Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
Instructions
- First, line a medium-sized bowl with a tea towel or cheesecloth. Set aside.
- Chop the cauliflower up into small pieces and place them in a high powered food processor. Be careful not to overfill the food processor. You may need to make the cauliflower in two batches.
- Pulse the cauliflower in the food processor on high until cauliflower turns into small rice-sized pieces. Pour the cauliflower rice into the bowl lined with a towel. Repeat this step until all cauliflower pieces have been turned into rice.
- Add a pinch of salt to the cauliflower rice and stir. Let the cauliflower rice sit for at least 15 minutes.
- Finally, twist the top of the tea towel to strain the excess water from the cauliflower rice.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
