Let’s get right to this cheesy goodness. This vegan cheesy broccoli cauliflower rice is another one of those long-forgotten ideas I mentioned in last Friday’s post, and I’m bummed that it’s taken me this long to test and share it because it’s a game-changing, habit-forming delight.
It’s no secret that I LOVE cauliflower rice and eat it by the bowlful on a regular basis. Why is it so fantastic? Great question.
1| It lures in the flavors of whatever sauces and seasonings it’s cooked alongside.
2| It’s a great way to sneak in another serving or two of veggies.
3| It can be enjoyed in large quantities without inducing a post-meal yawn fest.
4| It cooks up quicker than brown rice (aka my grainy go-to).
For this version, you’ll start by heating a bit of olive oil and garlic in a pan. Then, you’ll rice a large head of cauliflower florets by hand (with a grater) or by pulsing them in a food processor to create a rice-like consistency. Toss the cauliflower “rice” into the pan along with some tiny-cut broccoli florets and sauté until tender and just turning golden.
While the “rice” is sautéing, you’ll make a protein-packed, nut-free hemp seed cheddar cheese sauce. Trust me when I say this sauce is magical. Smooth, slightly tangy, and high in complete protein thanks to the hemp seeds. I’m a bit obsessed with it, so you’ll probably see it being repurposed in other recipes over the next few months. Nachos, casseroles, sandwiches, oh my.
To make it, you’ll add hemp seeds, water, roasted red peppers, nutritional yeast, arrowroot powder, apple cider vinegar (or another acid — lemon juice, white wine vinegar, etc.), and sea salt to a blender. Blend on high until you have a smooth, orange-hued liquid. Pour into a saucepan, heat over medium, and stir constantly for about 5 minutes or until thickened.
Then, slowly pour that cheesy goodness over the broccoli + cauliflower rice…
Give it a good stir…
Enjoy by the bowlful…
Cheesy Broccoli Cauliflower Rice (vegan, gf)
Cauliflower "rice" and broccoli florets are cooked to perfection and coated in a protein-rich, tangy, and velvety hemp seed cheddar sauce.
Ingredients
Broccoli Cauliflower Rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large head cauliflower, riced
- 3 broccoli stalks, destemmed and cut into very small florets
- sea salt
- black pepper, to taste
Hemp Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup hemp hearts
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Broccoli Cauliflower Rice
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the riced cauliflower and broccoli florets, turn the heat up to medium, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the broccoli and cauliflower are tender and golden, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
Hemp Cheese Sauce
- While the broccoli and cauliflower are cooking, make the hemp cheese sauce by adding all ingredients to a blender, and blending on high until smooth. Pour into a medium sauce pan and heat over medium. Stir continuously for 5 minutes or until thickened. As it cooks, you may notice greenish flecks from the blended hemp seeds (totally normal and to be expected with hemp seeds).
- Pour the cheese sauce over the broccoli-cauliflower rice, stir, and season with sea salt and black pepper, to taste.
OMG that looks SO damn good. Seriously, I would kill someone to eat a bowl of this right now. Just kidding…
Do you think the sauce would work with tomatoes instead of red bell peppers, or would it be too watery?
Haha! Thanks, Marie!! I would stick with the roasted red peppers for texture and flavor, as they do add a bit of a cheesy tang. I used jarred roaated red peppers to keep it simple. I hope you enjoy it!!
what is the amount of Vitamin B12?
Hi, Miranda! I’ve never calculated it, so I’m not sure. Will also depend on the nutritional yeast you use and whether or not it’s fortified with B12.
Can’t wait to try it!!! love the combination :)
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Thanks, Anna!
I am drooling over here! This is one amazing recipe! I am all about cauli-rice and I love the broccoli in there with the cheese! Such a perfect vegan take on a classic flavor like cheesey broccoli soup! XOXO
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Wow this looks SOO good! Can’t wait to try it out:D
Thanks, Shonalika! I hope you enjoy it :)
LOVE the sound of this! What a great weeknight dinner. I’m very into cauli rice right now ( made your recipe with the cinnamon roasted s.potatoes & avo mash the other day) and broccoli is my favourite veggie :D
I’m so glad you made the sweet potato + cauliflower rice recipe, Emma! If you liked that, you like cauli rice, and broccoli is your favorite veggie, I think this recipe will win you over. :)
I’m making this for dinner tonight and noticed that the instructions mention a shallot but there is no shallot listed in the ingredients. Just wanted to let you know! I hope one is all is called for because that’s what I have on hand.
Thank you for catching that, Christina! I ended up not using the shallots but forgot to remove it feom the methods section. I’ll update it now!
um wow. i think that is all i’ve got. speechless. xo
Haha, I love this, Lynsey! :)
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you!!
That cheese sauce looks delish, Ashley! My blender died recently, but I’ll definitely give this a go once I get a new one. One question, though: Where do you buy your hemp hearts? I live in a very rural area, and sometimes it’s hard to find those “exotic” ingredients. Thanks!
Hi, Nichole! I’m sorry for the delay; I’ve been a little slow to respond to comments lately. I buy my hemp hearts at Whole Foods. My favorite brand is Manitoba Harvest but they also carry them in bulk. Also, Trader Joe’s recently started carrying them and Bob’s Red Mill also carries hemp hearts in their line. When all else fails, I recommend grabbing a bag on Amazon! They have all sorts of tricky-to-find ingredients. I hope this helps and that you have a chance to make this dish!
No problem, Ashley! I understand how hectic things get. :)
Thanks for the tips on finding hemp hearts. I had no idea Bob’s Red Mill carries them. (Love that brand!) I’ll keep an eye out for them at Whole Foods, as well. Our closest one is two hours away, so I always stock up on bulk goodies when we go. Gotta love the Whole Foods bulk section!
We tried the spicy cauliflower rice with sweet poatotes too- and fell in love with it! Can’t wait to try this cheesy recipe. Why the arrowroot powder?
So glad you enjoyed the spicy cauliflower rice and sweet potatoes! The arrowroot is used to thicken the cheese sauce (similar to cornstarch but less processed and a little more effective).
This was simply amazing! Kudos. I omitted the red peppers but otherwise followed the recipe as listed. Thanks!
I wonder if the hemp can be substituted? I’m afraid t try t because of nut and seed allergies. Thanks!
Hi Marlo! I’m so sorry for the delay. Unfortunately, raw cashews are the only substitute for the hemp seeds that I’ve tested. You could try adding a bit of nut- and seed-free plant-based milk, but I’m not 100% certain it will turn out the same. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help at the moment. The next time I make this recipe, I’ll play around with substitutes!
Hello there! Thank you for this recipe! I had a question about the apple cider vinegar, is there anything I could use to substitute this? I live in South Korea and this is pretty much the only thing i cannot buy here.
Hi, Briana! Yes, most white or light vinegars work as a substitute for the ACV (e.g., white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, even rice vinegar should work). I hope this helps. Enjoy! xo
Also, fresh lemon juice works too!
Hi Ashley, I whipped this up for lunch today and it was super amazing! I followed the recipe as written except that I used a pinch of garlic powder (sauteed for only 30 seconds) instead of the fresh garlic (I just didn’t have any). I love the textures and flavors. I just used it as my main course and it was 2 servings that way. Thank you for the recipe.
I made this recipe for dinner yesterday and needless to say..:LOVED IT! Nonetheless, the only thing I would say was that my blender would not rice the cauliflower. I ended up ricing the cauliflower using a small food processor. This suggestion would have saved me a way bigger mess. I was curious, is there anything you do particularly to rice cauliflower easily? Maybe my blender just sucks, I dk lol Overall though, I loved the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Wanda! I always rice my cauliflower using a food processor or hand grater (will add a note). Never have tried to rice it in the blender, but I imagine it wouldn’t work out very well. In general, no matter how powerful the motor, blenders just aren’t built to do anything but blend and purée! Ricing, grating, chopping, etc. is definitely a food processor’s job! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback and notes!