Cauliflower Risotto with brown mushrooms and cauliflower rice sautéed in flavourful broth in 15 minutes. Hearty and healthy low carb dinner with amazing reviews.
Healthy Risotto
This cauliflower risotto is quick enough for a light weeknight dinner because riced cauliflower cooks 3 minutes vs. rice that takes 40 minutes. Not to mention the low carb-ness of cauliflower rice risotto, the dreaded carbs!
Truth is we need carbs, complex carbs, not simple white bread and pasta carbs, Just not as much as we eat them here in North America. And another issue is that we do not move enough to burn off those carbs. Again, thanks to comfortable life in North America!
So, that’s how we got to reality of making risotto with cauliflower instead of rice in 21st century. And that’s OK because I like it! It is so flavorful and hearty – just read the reviews! There are golden brown mushrooms sauteed with garlic and onion, then sprinkled with cheese and parsley.
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What Is Cauliflower Rice?
Cauliflower rice is simply ground up cauliflower. You can make your own at home or you can buy pre-made cauliflower rice at Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Costco etc. 1 bag of “rice” replaces a medium head of cauliflower.
I usually go the first route because Canadian stores either do not sell cauliflower rice cheap or most don’t carry it. Yup, welcome to Canada! We get all cool things last, I swear.
How to Make Cauliflower Risotto
- In a food processor, add cauliflower florets in 3-4 batches and process until “rice” forms. The key to proper coarse “rice” texture is not to overcrowd the bowl of food processor. Or use a bag of store bought cauliflower rice.
- Cook brown mushrooms until golden on high heat.
- Now it’s time to add flavor with onion and garlic. Just saute them.
- Combine all ingredients with broth, salt and pepper. Stir, cover and cook for 4 minutes.
- Turn off heat, add Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and parsley; stir until cheese is melted. Serve warm.
What to Serve Cauliflower Risotto With?
I would serve cauliflower mushroom risotto with:
- Baked chicken breast
- Super easy Instant Pot chicken breast or
- Killer baked chicken thighs. And that’s exactly what I did. 🙂
Doesn’t it look amazing? Who needs to go out?! True date night at home healthy dinner! The kind of night me and Alex are about 2 years overdue because apparently older kids don’t go to bed as early as they used to, especially in summer. But come fall-winter, in our new house, I promised myself!
Eat Low Carb? More Cauliflower Rice Recipes for You:
- Cauliflower fried rice
- Thai cauliflower rice
- Cilantro lime cauliflower rice
- Chicken cauliflower rice and beans
- May I suggest 24 other cauliflower rice recipes because again, scary carbs?!:)
Cauliflower Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 lbs cauliflower 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into large florets*
- 1.5 lbs brown mushrooms sliced
- 1 tsp avocado oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 large garlic clove minced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth low sodium**
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 3 tbsp parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- In a food processor, add cauliflower florets in 3-4 batches and process until “rice” forms. The key to proper coarse rice texture is not to overcrowd the bowl of food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
- Preheat large non-stick skillet on medium - high heat and add mushrooms. Cook until golden brown or about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
- Return skillet to medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion and garlic, sauté until translucent or about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add cooked mushrooms, cauliflower “rice”, broth, salt and pepper. Stir, cover and cook for 4 minutes.
- Turn off heat, add Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and parsley; stir until cheese is melted. Serve warm with chicken of choice (I like almond crusted chicken).
Store: Keep refrigerated in a glass airtight container for up to 2 days.
Notes
- *Or use a bag of store bought cauliflower rice. If using frozen, don't thaw and add a few minutes to cooking time.
- **Sub half of the stock with white wine if you wish.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
I made this tonight as written but for using a bag of cauliflower rice, a shallot (which offered up a nice contrast of color), white mushrooms as I had no brown and only Parmesan cheese as I had no mozzarella. I used the broth / white wine mix and also added red pepper flakes. I served it to myself in a bowl and at the last minute a topped it with an over-easy egg. (It was better before the egg.) It was still delicious and really satisfying. I will make this again. I will eat my leftovers tomorrow alone, sans egg. I think it would be great with a little diced bacon added into it too. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback and sharing your cooking experience!
Why is it so high in carbs? How is this keto? 12gs of net carbs seem awfully high no?
I don’t do keto or diets so can’t help you with your question.
This is wonderful! Am I missing how many servings so that I can understand the nutritional info?
Thanks for pointing that out Rita. I just updated the recipe card. A serving is 1 1/4 cups.
What if I have frozen cauliflower rice already? Should I change anything on the cooking process?
Hi Maria! If using frozen, don’t thaw and add a few minutes to the cooking time.
Thank you for including instructions for using frozen cauliflower rice! It was delicious!
You are welcome!
This dish made me so happy! It was delicious!
I didn’t have parsley so I used several handsful of baby spinach, coarsely chiffonaded. White wine is a MUST. Used the whole onion and 3 cloves garlic. Used only button mushrooms, but in the future will splash out for bellas, oysters, and Shiitakes.
I tried the mozz but didn’t like it. Next time I’ll stir in 3-4 tbs Neufchatel at the end to try to get a creamier product & mouthfeel. AlsoI will try using 1/2 tsp of chicken Better Than Bouilion (without water) for more robust flavor.
Thank you for sharing your terrific recipe! It’s now a permanent part of my meal rotation.
I am so happy to hear this Sue! Thanks for sharing!
Excellent…..I just made it added some Italian chicken sausage …..Perfect! I cut it into thirds since it was only me….and had leftovers.
Awesome Dayna!
Just made this tonight and it was delicious..but mine was very watery 🙁 Not sure where I went wrong. I used fresh bagged cauliflower rice.
Sounds like cauliflower cooked a bit too long. It consist of like 90% water so once you cook past certain point it starts “leaking”. It needs only quick warm through almost.
Very tasty. Lots of compliments from family. I used the chef knife method for the cauliflower. No problem, easy, no complaints about slight differences in cauliflower rice sizes. I look forward to exploring more of your site.
So happy that you liked the cauliflower risotto. Please don’t be shy to leave a review when you try some of my other recipes!
Thank you for putting out recipes that are healthy, low in carbs and low in fat. This is a great recipe and you are doing a great service to us all. Thanks
Awe, you are so welcome Jane!
Delicious rice and easy to make. However I add a little bit of truffle white oil at the end and it was even delicious !
Brenda! Truffle oil sounds delicious!
This was tasty and creamy, we leave out the mushrooms. YUM
Happy to hear, Deborah!
OMG This was delicious! I’m going Keto and thinking this will definately be in the rotation. In the nutritional information though, it says there is 3.4 grams of Sugar in it. Wondering where this sugar is coming from? Thanks!
Natural sugar from veggies. Glad you enjoyed teh recipe, Cindy.
Wonderful. But, do you cook the sliced brown mushrooms DRY? Or in oil?
I made this a couple of years ago and loved it but I can’t remember how the mushrooms should be cooked. Somehow it doesn’t seen right to cook them in a dry pan. PLEASE ADVISE!! Thanks!
I cook them dry in hot ceramic non-stick skillet. Mushrooms are 95% water so they release moisture right away in a non-stick skillet. You can add a bit of oil or spray, no problem.
Aha! That is very helpful! I thought it might be a mistake, but I’m glad to know it’s intentional. That means this year’s batch will be even better than the first! Thanks!
I love this unusual twist on risotto! What a great idea!
Thank you! We love this one very much too!
Where’s the video?
Haven’t made one yet.
Delicious! I make this all the time now! I loved a store bought version of this but it’s not at the store I usually go to. So I thought I’d make it myself and it’s great.
Awesome!!! Happy to hear, Chelsea.
This dish is so delicious, even while eating it we were trying to decide the next time to have it!
That is so amazing to hear! Glad you enjoyed my recipe!
It was yummy and easy to make. I added some broccoli and carrots from our garden,but it would be fine without that. We ate it on it’s own and found it filling.
Wow- this was super simple, delicious and hearty! Thank you!
Welcome!!!
I made this the other week it was delish. Even my picky husband liked it.
Happy to hear, Judy!
My kid’s and I absolutely loved this dish. No leftovers at all! We used birds eye steamable cauliflower rice, and it turned out perfect. We’ll definitely be eating this often.
Perfect. Happy to hear, Paige!!!
Made it tonight! The family devoured it! So Easy!!
Going to try this tonight to go with salmon. The only changes I’ll make are to sauté the onions for a bit, then add the garlic, and then after a few minutes add the mushrooms. That way, I won’t have to remove the mushrooms from the pan. I will also be adding a little white wine. Thanks for what looks to be a delicious recipe. 🙂
Just keep in mind that that amount of mushrooms releases a lot of water. The reason I fry them separately is because I want all water to evaporate and mushrooms to brown which takes a while, longer than 3-4 minutes needed for onion and garlic. At that point onion and garlic might burn if you do that. Or you can use not browned mushrooms but your risotto will be more liquidy, especially with wine too. Just keep that in mind. Enjoy!:)
This was so good! Adding wine would be good I think – next time
I liked the base of this recipe but needed to modify it to make it dairy free. I subbed coconut milk for the broth. Also added 1/4 cup of white wine after adding the riced cauliflower and boiled it off. Added nutritional yeast to give it the cheesy flavor. Great recipe
This is delightful without the cheese for those of us who are lactose intolerant and so quick with ready to use riced cauliflower. Love!
I didn’t have high hopes for cauliflower risotto but this came out super good!
OMGosh Olena, this was amazing! I consider myself a seasoned cook at 65. I was googling rice cauliflower recipes and yours popped up. I love Risotto, but only made it once with fish, and it was delish! I try to stay away from most carbs as my family is ridden with type 2 diabetis. I decided to try your recipe tonight for dinner, and it wowed me. Of course we always tweak a recipe to our own taste buds, and I did do half white wine with half broth for the liquid. I also did cook it on low longer until our meat was cooked. This will be my new go to recipe for cauliflower from now on. Thank you!
You are welcome, Sandi!
Great fun! I added some dried wild mushrooms(chanterelles, porcini, etc) to the broth to intensify the flavor and was great. Veggie broth is good, but not as savory as the chicken. Great job!
This is a great recipe, i loved it. I added some chorizo and it was absolutely fab.
Thank you for this beautiful recipe! I’m making it tonight, using a variety of shiitake and oyster mushrooms, and I’m excited. Thank you also for the inspiring clean eating blog. I’ve been increasingly committing to this lifestyle myself, and your philosophy on clean yet balanced eating and listening to your body and not judging it is exactly the place I’m at right now 🙂
Glad to hear Liz you are enjoying the blog. Good for you, life is too short to be unhealthy or torture yourself with a diet.
Yay for low carb risotto! Going to try this with frozen cauliflower rice and toasted almonds. Thanks for the recipe!
Hello, If using frozen cauliflower rice, would you just heat it up in skllet first to dethaw or what steps did you take with the frozen rice?
Just add a few minutes to cooking time.
Made this last night and loved it! I skipped the mozzarella and did half the parm, and it was still amazing! My mother, child and husband all loved it too (and my husband is typically veggie adverse). Keep up the yummy posts, and ignore all of the strange people who spend time nit-picking about such trivial things in your recipe instructions!
Glad you enjoyed it, Susan. I can’t believe how much attention this recipe is getting. Considering, I’m not vegan or vegetarian, I could care less. So true. I will officially ignore any comments about the cheese from now on LOL. Again, glad the youngest and the oldest liked this cauliflower risotto. Those are the hardest to please, sometimes older ones are even pickier than kids haha.
Made this tonight with some changes, because I can’t leave a recipe alone, lol. Substituted shallots for onions, and added precooked quinoa at the end. Also cut recipe in half since there are just two of us. Left overs are going in veggie stock for lunch tomorrow. Great recipe, was delicious. Thanks.
Um, yes. I noticed I am modifying even my own recipes which makes me laugh every time. So, I get it. Glad you liked.
Thank you for this – I really enjoyed it, a very risotto-y rice cheat.
Yep. You are welcome, Erin.
Very good!! Needed to cook longer to get right consistency. Will definitely make again
That could change with the type of pan and stove. I have had That cooks faster so maybe that’s why. Glad you liked.:)
This was a huge hit in my office holiday party. People could not believe that it was a healthy dish. It was so rich in flavor and the mushrooms gave it an extra zing on flavor. Great job! Thanks for sharing
Wow, Natalie. I would never think to take it to the office party. I’m so happy you did and it worked out for you! Honestly, I’m so hesitant to share many my recipes with big crowd gatherings because many people just don’t get it and their tastebuds are so clogged up by sodium and sugar. You are brave! My husband tells me what people eat in his office and I get goosebumps and they all laugh at him but deep inside are jealous, I’m sure LOL.