How To Make The Best Cauliflower Rice
I don't throw the word "best" around that often (well, maybe I do). However, I'm not joking with you — this is seriously the best and only cauliflower rice recipe you'll ever need. I've had to stop myself from just eating an entire head of cauliflower for dinner and nothing else.
Cauliflower rice has long been a staple for my easy paleo food piles: Exhibit A (Chimichurri Grilled Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Cauliflower Rice), B (Paleo Paella) and C (Mint-Coriander Chutney with Salt-n-Peppa Shrimp).
Those are just a couple of examples, but this list goes on and on and on forever. Endless recipes can start with this cauliflower rice. Endless. I've tried everything from cilantro-lime rice (just add lime zest and cilantro at the end) to lemon curry rice (just stir in a little curry powder before roasting and lemon zest at the end) to tabouli salad (let it cool and use it in place of the bulgar) to pesto risotto (stir it into a creamy pesto sauce with some leftover chicken) to next-day kimchi-bacon fried rice (fry it up with kimchi, bacon, scallions and eggs)... I'll stop there and just say that cauliflower rice is my absolute favorite.
The easy, roasty, toasty, BEST way to make it is to throw it in the oven. Yep, it’s baked.
Don’t get me wrong—I still make cauliflower rice on the stovetop sometimes when I don’t feel like turning the oven on or if I’m making fried rice. It’s a very valid way to cook cauliflower rice and you can still achieve some toasted bits, but when it’s roasted you will have to hold yourself back from just eating it right off the pan. It’s that good, plus the oven recipe doesn’t require much attention and it can cook while you’re preparing the rest of your food.
This method works with freshly grated cauliflower or pre-riced cauliflower (frozen or fresh) that you can buy at most supermarkets these days (I get mine frozen from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods). It's nice to have the option to buy it pre-riced because it saves time and dishwashing, but it's never quite as good as the homemade version.
The Best Cauliflower Rice
a gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, whole30-approved and paleo recipe
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower or a bag of pre-riced cauliflower (frozen or fresh)
~2 T olive oil
sea salt, to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
If you are starting from scratch, make riced cauliflower using the grater attachment on your food processor (<-- this one is my fave). If you don't have a grater attachment, you can pulse the cauliflower with the normal blade until it's in small crumbles. You can also use a normal grater as well, but it will be messy.
Toss the riced cauliflower with a drizzle of olive oil (you don't need much) and spread evenly on a lined baking sheet. Depending on how much cauliflower you have, you may need two baking sheets.
Sprinkle sea salt over the pan(s), along with any other seasonings you are choosing to add. Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Give it a stir about halfway cooking. With frozen cauliflower rice, you may need to give it a little more time. The additional moisture can prevent it from caramelizing the same way as fresh cauliflower does.
That’s it!
What are you going to make to go along with this rice? I gots'ta know.
