Cauliflower Fried Rice With Chicken

I’m so ready for some chicken cauliflower fried rice. It’s one of my favorite weeknight dinners as it’s so easy, tasty and so much healthier than takeout fried rice. Because, well, for one there’s no actual rice in it. This is a healthy recipe for cauliflower fried rice with chicken, which makes it a good source of protein too.

Pretty versatile, you can make this meal vegetarian and omit the chicken or add some shrimp to it. You will love how easily this cauliflower fried rice comes together! More than anything you will love how flavorful and satisfying it is. Even though it’s just cauliflower.

Now, I’m not saying cauliflower actually tastes like rice. I’m not delusional. But it’s actually really good. Packed with vegetables, flavor and protein this is a healthy dairy-free low-carb dinner idea and it’s gluten-free too!

Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice Ingredients

Cauliflower. Use a medium-sized head of cauliflower or if you already have it – cauliflower rice.

Chicken. Boneless skinless chicken that is cut up into bite-sized pieces is what you need here. I always prefer chicken thighs, because I like the taste better, but chicken breast will also work.

Eggs. Unless you want the recipe to be egg-free I highly them, as eggs make the meal more filling and are so tasty in fried rice.

Garlic. Lots of it. Garlic deserves a special place in the list of ingredients, because I find it super important in any variation of fried rice.

Vegetables. I know the base for this weeknight meal is basically a vegetable – cauliflower, but I usually add even more veggies. All, depending on what I have at home. Great choices are cabbage, carrots, kale broccoli, scallions and frozen peas or green beans for some added protein and fiber.

Tamari and oil. I use gluten free soy sauce or tamari sauce and olive oil. However, if available, I love the addition of toasted sesame oil – it is SO delicious!

How To Make Cauliflower Rice From Cauliflower

Making cauliflower rice from cauliflower is actually pretty easy. But it’s also super easy to mess up. Did I contradict myself there? Probably.

Here’s what I mean. All you need to do to make cauliflower rice is:

• break the cauliflower into florets and wash thoroughly
• grate the cauliflower using a grater OR process in a food processor (you can also use the grater attachment)
• that’s it!

How you can mess it up? I see many recipes for cauliflower rice, where the cook puts the cauliflower into a food processor and makes it way too tiny. I’ve done it myself, many times. Because it’s ridiculously easy to overprocess. When you overprocess, the cauliflower will too mushy when cooked and won’t have the same texture as rice.

How To Fix It

It’s super important to not overdo it when using the food processor. Add the cauliflower, pulse once, twice – take out whatever has turned into cauliflower rice. Repeat as many times as needed until all cauliflower is done.

Now, this is a bit too much commitment for me, I’m not gonna lie. So I started using the grater attachment on my food processor to make cauliflower rice. Huge! I love it so much more. True, the cauliflower doesn’t always look like rice, but it has a wonderful texture nevertheless. So that’s my suggestion – use a grater rather than the chopper.

How To Make Cauliflower Fried Rice With Chicken

To make chicken cauliflower fried rice, you need to start with the chicken, not the egg. Now we know who was first. Let’s take it step by step:

• Prepare the cauliflower rice as already described.
• Mince garlic and wash and chop the other vegetables you will use.
• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
• Add the chicken bites to a large nonstick pan with olive oil or coconut oil and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until no longer pink. You will continue to cook the chicken as you make the fried rice.
• Move the chicken to one side and add the eggs on the other side, then scramble them.
• Add in the cauliflower rice and if using – the cabbage.
• Add half of the minced garlic and stir everything together for two minutes, not continuously, just from time to time.
• Put in the carrots, peas and the tamari sauce and stir again until combined. Let the cauflower rice cook for about 3-4 more minutes and stir only occasionally.
• Lastly add in the rest of the garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds and scallions (if using).
• Enjoy!

Options

You can easily turn this cauliflower fried rice into a vegetarian meal by leaving out the chicken. In that case, start with the recipe by scrambling the eggs.

Another option would be to use shrimp instead of chicken. If that’s what you choose to do – prepare the shrimp and take it out once pink. Add it back to the cauliflower rice once it’s all flavorful and done.

Good For Meal Prep?

Yes! I’ve never actually had leftovers for cauliflower fried rice, but I know it holds well for about 3 days. Make sure to adjust the servings to as many as you need.

How To Store Chicken Cauliflower Rice

Serve this meal in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

More Healthy Weeknight Dinners

I hope you enjoy this delicious cauliflower fried rice with chicken. I make a variation at least once a week for years now, it’s definitely a favorite and I hope you love it too!

Don’t forget to check out these easy weeknight dinners that also happen to be pretty healthy:

• 15-Minute Ground Beef and Mushrooms
• Easy Korean Ground Beef Bowls
• Creamy Chicken And Vegetables