This flavorful vegan, grain-free chili-garlic cauliflower fried rice requires just 7 ingredients and 30 minutes of time. Riced cauliflower and sliced scallions are pan-fried in coconut oil until golden and lightly caramelized. Then, a tangy, salty, and spicy glaze of tamari or soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and chili-garlic sauce is added to the pan to finish the dish.
I've been on a bit of a chili-garlic kick lately. I blame these tasty noodles for initiating the craze, and I'm going to blame this no-words-delicious cauliflower "rice" for my spiral into chili oblivion.
There seems to be no way out of my obsession, and I'm coming to terms with this fact. Call me crazy, but I like a little spice in my life. And when spice meets warm, garlicky cauliflower rice? It's over. And by "over" I mean there is no stopping my spoon-to-bowl movements until there is but a grainless-granule left.
Just take a quick look at this bowl of hot goodness. Can you fault me?
This "rice" isn't rice at all. Rather, it's a big ol' hunk of cauliflower that's been grated into a rice.
As you cook the "rice," you want it to caramelize in your pan to enhance the flavors and truly resemble fried rice. To make this happen, it's important to extract the excess water from the cauliflower prior to cooking. So, a quick and slightly fancy trick is to add the riced cauliflower to a piece of cheese cloth or a nut-milk bag and squeeze as much of the water out as possible. It takes a bit of muscle, patience, and time (i.e., 5-10 minutes) to really work the water out of raw cauliflower, but it's an important step and totally worth the extra work. Plus, all that squeezing = a form of kitchen therapy. So get your squeeze on and watch those nagging emotions water droplets fall out of your life cauliflower.
After you've squeezed the excess water from the cauliflower, you'll add it to a pan in which you've already been cooking up some sliced scallions in a dab of coconut oil.
You'll cook the cauliflower for a few minutes and then add a mixture of tamari or soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and chili-garlic sauce to the pan.
Then it's time to turn. up. that. heat. Like literally turn up the heat on the stove so that you get a subtle caramelization going on in your pan. After just five or so more minutes of cooking, you'll be left with an unstoppable, light, and make-again-worthy batch of cauliflower fried rice.
📖 Recipe
Chili-Garlic Cauliflower Fried "Rice"
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower
- ½ tablespoon virgin coconut oil
- â…” cup sliced scallions
- 4 tablespoons low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 2 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons chili-garlic sauce or to taste
Instructions
- Cut and trim the cauliflower into florets.
- Rice the cauliflower by either processing it in a food processor with a grater attachment, pulsing it in a food processor with a s-blade, or grating it by hand with a cheese grater.
- Transfer the riced cauliflower to a large piece of cheese cloth or a nut-milk bag. Twist the cloth and squeeze as much water as possible from the cauliflower. If you work at this for 5-10 minutes, you'll be able to squeeze ¼-1/2 cup of water out of the cauliflower.
- Add the coconut oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat.
- Add in the scallions and cook them for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the riced cauliflower and cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the scallions and cauliflower are cooking, add the tamari or soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and chili-garlic paste to a small bowl. Whisk together for 15-30 seconds.
- Add the sauce to the pan, turn up the heat to medium-high, and cook for 5-7 minutes (stirring frequently) or until the "rice" develops a nice golden color throughout.
- Divide the rice up between bowls and garnish with fresh scallions, if desired.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
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Shannon Leparski says
Good thing I have a whole head of cauliflower in my fridge! I am with you on the chili-garlic thing. This looks AMAZE.
Ashley says
Thanks, Shannon! So glad that you are prepared and ready to go with the cauliflower, and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Matt Robinson says
Absolutely awesome, wishing I had a big bowl of this for lunch!
Ashley says
Thanks, Matt! It's a great dish for lunch; warm and satisfying yet light enough that it doesn't cause post-lunch sleepiness!
Mary Timko says
Sounds delicious! I'm going to give this a try.
Ashley says
Thanks, Mary!
Veena Theagarajan says
this looks amazing .. Love to hv this for my lunch
Ashley says
Thanks, Veena!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
I've made cauliflower grains before, but I've never squeezed the water out. I bet that extra step makes them so much better! Looking forward to trying your recipe!
Ashley says
Thanks, Liz! Squeezing the excess water out is a little extra work but seems to make a big difference in the texture of the "rice". I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Karissa @ Vegan À La Mode says
What a creative recipe!! It sounds much lighter than an actual fried rice which is so appealing! Love it :)
Teri says
Hello! Is the chili-garlic sauce something I find in a bottle? Or a combo of dry spices?
Ashley says
Hi, Teri! The chili-garlic sauce comes in a plastic or glass jar and can be found the thai/asian section of most grocery stores. Huy Fong Foods (the makers of the famous sriracha) makes an amazing one that comes in a little plastic jar. I hope this helps!
Ashley says
Hi, Teri! The chili-garlic sauce comes in a plastic or glass jar and can be found the thai/asian section of most grocery stores. Huy Fong Foods (the makers of the famous sriracha) makes an amazing one that comes in a little plastic jar. I hope this helps!
Daphne says
Is the cauliflower cooked or not when you try to squeeze out the water?
Ashley says
Hi Daphne! It's uncooked at that point, which is why it takes a bit of work to squeeze out the excess water. Hope this helps!
Amanda says
This is crazy good!!!!
Melissa says
I'm late to the game for this recipe, but really want to tell you how absolutely delicious it is. Just made it tonight and hubby's not home yet. Called and told him how fantastic the flavor is, and that I was a little sad that I was saving a few bites for him. He's picking up two more heads of cauli on the way home. Delish! Thanks!
Bobbi Power says
I have a bag of fresh, already riced cauliflower from Costco...how much of that equates to "1 medium head"?
Ashley says
Hi, Bobbi! I'm not sure as I've never measured it out in cups, but I'd guess about 6 cups or so. Enjoy!
Dave Schwartz says
Hi
Not sure you're still keeping up on comments but quick question before I try this. I understand it's important to have excess w you ter removed when making cauliflower dishes (like pizza crust) but does squeezing water out of riced cauliflower keep the rice separated? It seems like it would just all clump together.
Melissa Miller says
I've made this as the directions state. I've also used frozen cauliflower rice. It works fine. I usually cook the cauliflower rice until just about finished, 6 minutes or so. About 30 seconds before I take the rice off the stovetop, I then add the seasonings. Comes out great..
Ashley says
Hi, Dave! Since you'll be ricing it more coarsely than you would for pizza crust, it shouldn't clump together after squeezing out excess water. Hope this helps and enjoy!