Cauliflower Fried Rice is tasty low carb stir fry even your kids will think it is real fried rice. Skip the Chinese takeout and have this healthy dinner ready in 15 minutes!
Thai cauliflower rice and Mexican cauliflower rice are on repeat in this house as well!
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If you’ve been on the hunt for a lighter version of your favorite Chinese takeout, I’m a huge cheerleader for this cauliflower fried rice!
This life-saving way of whipping up a quick and easy weeknight meal has come in handy when I don’t have time to cook or my well-intentioned meal planning goes out the window.
This is one of the easiest cauliflower rice recipes that I get zero complaints about!
Just like with egg roll in a bowl, in just 15 minutes, you’ve got a low carb stir fry meal that entire family loves. My boys thought it was Instant Pot chicken fried rice the first time I made it. So, you know it’s delicious!
No one will know the difference! Most people end up liking this low carb version even better.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Convenience. Made in 15 minutes with a bag of store-bought cauliflower rice. It’s cheap too!
- Taste. It’s got all the flavor of traditional fried rice without all the MSG, extra oils, and added calories.
- Mess-free. Not flying bits of cauliflower when you use store-bought cauliflower rice in recipes.
- Healthy. Low carb, tons of veggies, keto-friendly, and flexible enough to mix in all the good things!
Ingredients You Will Need
- Cauliflower rice
- Peas and carrots
- Eggs
- Green onion
- Soy sauce
- Maple syrup or honey
- Oil, I used toasted sesame oil
- Garlic and ginger
How to Make Cauliflower Fried Rice
All stir-fried recipes like teriyaki chicken and cauliflower, for example, move quickly! This cauliflower fried rice is no different, so have all the ingredients ready to go!
1. Saute onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, and peas for 4-5 minutes in a large skillet. The larger skillet, the more “fried” vs. steamed your vegetables will be. This is because there is more room for the pieces to spread apart. Too close and they can become mushy.
2. Push vegetables to the side and add eggs. Cook until eggs are scrambled.
3. Add cauliflower rice and cook until warmed through. The key is not to overcook the cauliflower otherwise it starts to release the water. Since we can eat raw cauliflower anyway, we only need to cook it for 2-3 minutes.
4. Push cauliflower rice to the side and add honey and soy sauce. If using thick honey, a hot skillet is perfect for melting it.
5. Sprinkle with green onion. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Variations of Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Make cauliflower chicken fried rice. Use ground chicken or finely chopped boneless chicken breast and sauté first in the pan before adding the other ingredients. Pork works the same way.
- For shrimp fried rice, cook diced raw shrimp first, transfer to a plate, then follow the recipe as directed. Add back the cooked shrimp at the end to warm through. If you use cooked shrimp, dice it and add it at the end.
- Plant-based protein: Toss in air fryer tofu or here is quick recipe on how to fry tofu.
- Make spicy rice by adding a pinch of red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of sriracha.
Tips for Best Results
- Buy a few bags of fresh cauliflower rice and freeze. This way you can always make yummy, quick, and, healthy dinners like cauliflower risotto.
- If you have picky eaters, store-bought cauliflower rice has a coarse texture that closely resembles real rice grains because it’s made with only the stems. I throw in a bag at the end when making Instant Pot goulash and nobody ever notices the hidden veggies.
- Avoiding eggshells. If you’re worried about bits of eggshells falling into your skillet, crack the egg into a separate bowl first. Fish out any pieces and then add them to the skillet.
FAQs
Yes! Do not thaw it. If you defrost cauliflower rice before cooking, it will be soggy and make cauliflower stir fry a watery mess. Even for cauliflower pizza crust and cauliflower breadsticks, I never thaw frozen rice first to make “the dough”.
You can, for sure. You can either use store-bought “rice” or here is a quick tutorial on how to make cauliflower rice at home.
More likely it’s overcooked. Just cook cauliflower rice for a maximum of 3 minutes!
If you don’t add chicken like me, then baked chicken breast would be perfect to go with rice. Try grilled salmon or an Asian-inspired crispy honey garlic salmon.
How to Store and Reheat
You can refrigerate leftover cauliflower fried rice for up to 2-3 days. It won’t get soggy as all ingredients are pretty firm. Can also make it ahead for same reason. Perfect for easy lunch!
Freeze this recipe for 2-3 months.
Reheat in a microwave or quickly in a pan. Saute in preheated skillet on high heat for maximum 2 minutes, so it doesn’t get soggy. Kind of stir fry super fast again.
More Recipes with Cauliflower
- Cilantro lime cauliflower rice
- Cheesy cauliflower rice
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes
- Air fryer cauliflower
- Shepherd’s pie with cauliflower
- Cheesy cauliflower steaks
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Also I recommend you browse this popular collection of cauliflower rice recipes.
Cauliflower Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 4 eggs large
- 16 oz bag of cauliflower rice fresh or frozen
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 onion sprigs finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium-high heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, peas and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Push vegetables to the side and add eggs. Cook until scrambled, stirring constantly.
- Add cauliflower rice, stir and cook until warmed through.
- Push cauliflower rice to the side and add honey and soy sauce, stir well. Sprinkle with green onion and serve.
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- You can make your own cauliflower rice but I prefer store-bought because it saves time and its coarse texture resembles more real rice than homemade.
- Make cauliflower chicken fried rice. Use ground chicken or finely chopped boneless chicken breast and saute first in a pan before adding other ingredients. Pork works the same way.
- Make shrimp cauliflower fried rice by cooking diced raw shrimp first. Remove it onto a plate, follow the recipe and then add cooked shrimp back. If you use cooked shrimp, dice and add it at the end of cooking the recipe.
- Make spicy cauliflower fried rice by adding a pinch of red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of sriracha.
I am too bad at cooking. I followed the steps Holistically and it came out to be wow! Thank you so much
You are very welcome!
AH-MAZING! We have really been missing fried rice since going low-carb and honestly I wish we would have tried this before we made the change! It is better than regular fried rice! We switched out soy sauce for Aminos. Thank you for such a great recipe!
So great to hear this Jordan!
I made this but used coconut aminos instead of the soy sauce and honey — perfectly sweet substitution that works on Whole 30 plan. Thanks for a great, quickie of a recipe!
That’s great. Thanks for sharing Mo!
Best cauliflower rice ever! Thanks so much. We loved it! My husband thought it was closest thing to actual fried rice he has ever had.
Yay! That’s great Elise!
I am moving toward a healthier cleaner eating lifestyle so I was excited to find and try this recipe. The only thing I added was broccoli and I use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce due to high blood pressure. It tasted great and was quick and easy!! A new addition to my recipe book.
So great to hear! Hope you found my website helpful in your cleaner eating lifestyle 🙂
Delicious, I used fresh cauliflower. Will definitely make again.
Wow another wonderful and quick recipe.
I’d never seen cauliflower rice here in Barcelona so I made my own from a fresh cauliflower. However, a quick Internet search shows me I can buy it frozen 100m from my place but it’s more than double the price!
I’m interested to see if my youngest son realizes it not real rice.
So easy to make your own. I am curious, did your son realize it wasn’t “rice”?
OMG – I had no idea what to cook and this hit the spot. Thank ya!
Yay!
Love this recipe. It was easy to make, definitely will make it again! Thank you.
This recipe is very easy and delicious! I have made it twice already! ?