Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice
Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice is INSANELY delicious. It's an easy to make and low carb option for when you're craving Chinese takeout. Made with cauliflower, eggs, your favorite veggies, garlic, ginger, cashews, and sesame seeds. Yum!
What you're looking at here, friends, is the best cauliflower fried rice ever. It's a big claim, I know. But it's 100% true. Honestly, I'd even go as far as to say it's the best fried rice ever. (gasp!)
This recipe is meant to serve 4 people as a side dish, but it takes all my will power not to eat the entire batch all to myself. It's that good.
5 reasons you'll love this cauliflower fried rice
- Garlic, ginger, scallions, and sesame oil give it SO MUCH flavor. There is nothing bland or boring about this recipe.
- Crunchy toasted cashews. Big time in the flavor department AND the perfect bite.
- If you can't control yourself (no judgment!) and wind up eating the whole batch to yourself, you can still be happy knowing you're full of healthy vegetables and protein.
- Low-carb, gluten-free, vegetarian, paleo fried rice that magically tastes better than any Chinese takeout I've ever tried.
- The perfect recipe for meal prep. Seriously, this cauliflower fried rice is even delicious served cold for tomorrow's lunch. I've tested this enough times to know it's true!
READ MORE: How to make cauliflower rice
The first time I made this recipe was YEARS ago when I started learning about the paleo diet. I remember being amazed that cauliflower rice could taste so good. Honestly, it still does my head in.
It's so similar to the real thing that even my handsome man, who generally will not eat veggie versions of rice and noodles, loves this recipe. That's how I know it's a real winner.
How to make cauliflower fried rice
Lucky for us, this recipe is super easy to make.
- Saute some garlic, ginger, and scallions. Then add your cauliflower rice, carrots, chili flakes, and coco aminos. ← If eating paleo isn't important to you, feel free to use soy sauce instead of coco aminos.
- Let the veggies soften then add some peas and sesame oil to the pan.
- Now all you have to do is push the rice to the sides of the pan, pour in some whisked eggs, and scramble them.
- Mix the cauliflower fried rice with the scrambled eggs, the cashews, sesame seeds, and some green onions and dinner is ready!
How to make cauliflower rice
If you're new to using veggies to replace rice or noodles, it might seem difficult. Don't worry, it's really easy. There are a few different ways you can make cauliflower rice:
- Buy it! This is by far the easiest. Most stores carry packages of cauliflower rice in the refrigerated section of the produce department.
- Use a grater. Take a head of cauliflower and use the large holes on a grater to grate it.
- Use a food processor. You'll need to work in a couple of batches and make sure not to process it too much or the texture will be too fine.
- Use a knife. When I don't buy cauliflower rice, I use my knife to make it as I find it's the easiest and least messy option. Separate the cauliflower into florets and mince them into rice-sized pieces.
What to serve with this cauliflower fried rice recipe
You could easily serve this recipe as a main dish. If you do, count on it serving 2 people. But it's also great as a side dish. Here are a few of my favorite chicken recipes that I think go great with this cauli fried rice:
- Sweet and Spicy Paleo Chicken Fingers
- Smoky Gochujang Korean BBQ Chicken
- Baked Sesame Orange Chicken
- Quick and Easy Honey Lemon Chicken
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Favorite Cauliflower Rice Recipes
- Paleo Orange Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
- Sweet Korean Paleo Chicken Thighs with Cauliflower Rice
- Spinach Lemon Cauliflower Rice Risotto with Spicy Garlic Prawns
- Sweet and Sticky Pistachio Honey Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
- Curried Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Soup
- Spanish Chicken with Cauliflower Rice and Olives
Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower, about 12 ounces of riced cauliflower
- 3 teaspoons avocado oil, divided
- 4 green onions, chopped (white and green parts separated)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
- 2 large carrots, diced small
- ¼ cup coco aminos, can use soy sauce if not paleo
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 large eggs, whisked
- ¼ cup roasted cashews, chopped
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- Sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Either grate the cauliflower or pulse it in your food processor to make the cauliflower rice.1 large head of cauliflower
- Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the light parts of the green onions, the garlic, and ginger. Let them cook for 2 minutes. Add the cauliflower rice, diced carrots, coco aminos or soy sauce, and chili flakes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.4 green onions, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger, 2 large carrots, ¼ cup coco aminos, ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- Add the peas and sesame oil to the pan and continue to cook until the vegetables are soft and the peas are warm.1 cup frozen peas, 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan and pour the remaining teaspoon of oil into the center and let it warm. Pour the eggs into the pan and scramble them. Once they are cooked stir them into the cauliflower rice. Sea salt to taste and stir in the remaining green onions, cashews, and sesame seeds.3 large eggs, ¼ cup roasted cashews, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
This was delicious!! I am not a fan of peas or carrots, so I ended up adding broccoli and mushrooms instead. I just cooked sauteed them in the pan before adding all the other ingredients and following the order of the recipe. Thank you for this!
I made this , but egg-free, as I’m vegan. Absolutely delicious! So easy to make my own cauliflower rice too ( quick pulse in mini food processor…) This recipe makes A LOT too! Yay!!!! I had it as a side dish with a vegan Chipotle sausage. Yum yum! Thank you for this easy tasty recipe!
Amazing! I’m fairly new to Paleo and have been looking for tasty recipes. I miss rice. This recipe is better than any rice I’ve ever had! Winner for sure!
Made this tonight and the family loved it!
That’s so great to hear, Annie! Thank you for letting us know!
I am allergic to legumes, lentils and nuts of any kind. Do you have a suggestion to substitute for the peas and nuts or can I just leave them out?
You can omit them. This recipe is quite flexible so if there are any other veggies that you want to add in place of the peas you can do that. Broccoli works well. 🙂
This cauliflower fried rice recipe is healthy and filling and the flavor in this meal is an amazing experience in itself, the perfect thing to indulge in on your paleo diet.
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!
Just had this as a side dish with garlic honey chicken. We’re eating low carb, and this is great! Almost couldn’t tell the difference between this and fried rice. We all loved it. I’ll be using this one often.
That is so great to hear! Thank you for taking the time to come back to let us know!
Even though it is early in the morning, I would, by all means, eat this fabulous looking cauliflower fried rice right now. I love how easy and how healthy this recipe is. Thanks so much for sharing!
Haha I love it! I’ve definitely eaten leftovers for breakfast before lol. It’s delicious!
I made this the other day after you posted it to instagram and it was everything you said it would be. Even my young son loved it. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit with your family!
I am in much need of gluten free options in my diet.
I’m moving toward a Paleo diet, but have yet to try cauliflower as a replacement for grains. Will have to try this!
Love cauliflower rice! finding inventive ways to replace some not so great carbs/starches with veggies is something i’m looking to do after an indulgent holiday season (which somehow starts at the end of November now, what?).
This cauliflower fried rice looks amazing! I definitely need to incorporate more healthy eating habits into my life right now. All those Christmas cookies and cocktails really did me in!