Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Why We Love This Recipe

• Way easier than regular rice: Rice can be tricky - it's easy to undercook or overcook, and typically takes a while to prepare. This cilantro lime cauliflower rice is much more fool-proof.
• Light and fresh: With cilantro, lime juice, and zest, this recipe has plenty of fresh flavor. It's also low carb, making it a lighter option.
• Keto-friendly: This cilantro lime cauliflower rice has about 5g of carbohydrates per serving, making it a great keto-friendly side dish or base for toppings.
• Chipotle copycat: We love Chipotle's cilantro lime rice, and this recipe is a pretty close approximation of those flavors, but with cauliflower.
• Great way to use cauliflower: Cauliflower can be a bit bland and boring, and sometimes it's hard to find the right occasion to utilize it. We love grating it, which makes it much easier to cook and completely transforms the ingredient.
• Meal prep friendly: You can prep a big batch of this cauliflower rice and use it all week!
• Naturally gluten free, vegan and nut free, so it's perfect for just about any dietary needs.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this cauliflower "rice":

Ingredient Notes

• Cauliflower: You can use fresh or frozen cauliflower. Just note that frozen cauliflower can carry a little bit more moisture than fresh cauliflower, so you may need to cut down a bit on the additional water we include in the recipe. Also note that frozen cauliflower will be a good deal more difficult to rice, so we'd advocate using fresh wherever possible. You can also purchase pre-riced cauliflower at most grocery stores to cut down on prep time!
• Zest: We used lime zest and lime juice, and we promise zesting the lime is worth the effort. It adds a ton of fresh flavor!

How to Rice Cauliflower

When it comes to turning your cauliflower into "rice", you have a few options:

• Buy it pre-riced and frozen. A lot of supermarkets will sell riced cauliflower in 16 oz bags, which makes this recipe even easier. If you're using frozen riced cauliflower, you'll likely need to use less water than we state in the recipe. You can also add it straight to the pan. There's no need to thaw it out.
• Use a food processor: This is probably the easiest method. Just core your cauliflower and cut or break it into pieces, and then use the grating attachment on your food processor. If you don't have a grating attachment, you can pulse repeatedly until you achieve a rice-like texture.
• Use a box grater: If you don't have / don't want to use a food processor, you can use a box or a hand grater. Use the side that you would use to shred cheese a.k.a. the side you already know.

Step-by-step Instructions

(1) Core cauliflower and break into pieces. Use the grating feature on your food processor to rice the cauliflower. If you don't have a food processor, use a box or hand grater. (Alternatively, use store-bought pre-riced cauliflower!)

(2) Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and add oil. Add the green onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes, then stir in the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of water, lime juice, salt, pepper, and lime zest. 

Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add in cilantro and cook for additional 3-4 minutes, until cauliflower is tender. Serve warm or chilled.

Expert Tips and FAQs

• Don't overcook it: The "rice" should still have a little bit of a bite when it's ready. In other words, it definitely shouldn't be mushy. The cauliflower only needs 10-15 minutes to soften, so don't leave it on for much longer.
• Serving suggestions:
  • Serve with Cuban black beans
  • Use as a base for burrito bowls
  • Add to a breakfast burrito
  • Serve alongside scrambled tofu and Mexican-spiced potatoes for breakfast
  • Serve with Chipotle-copycat sofritas tofu (my favorite!)
  • Add to a taco salad
  • Use in lettuce wraps
  • Serve with fajitas
  • Enjoy as a side dish with your favorite grilled protein
  • ...the options are endless!
• Serve hot or cold: Unlike regular rice, this cauliflower rice doesn't dry out and stick together when refrigerated, so it's perfect for a grab and go lunch. It's also delicious hot straight out of the pan!
• Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Freezer storage: Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months! Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before eating.
• Add extra flavor with ingredients like minced jalapeño, minced garlic, vegetable stock, spices like cumin, coriander and chili powder, etc. This cilantro lime cauliflower rice is the perfect base for changing up however you'd like!

More Easy Cauliflower Recipes

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