Easy Cauliflower Fried Rice | Keto and Low Carb Recipe (2024)

I’ve always been a picky eater. This means Chinese food was a mystery to me until college. Once I found Panda Express, I attribute much of my 20-something weight gain to fried rice.

Once it was time to take the weight off, I had to ditch the real thing. A keto lifestyle doesn’t work with frequent stops for Chinese take-out. The good news is I make my own cauliflower rice at home and hardly notice a difference.

Even better news – I’m sharing this amazing recipe with you so you can learn my favorite way to replace white rice on a ketogenic diet.

Before we chat about how to make this great recipe, I wanted to let you know this blog contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you click through. I also link to the same info that helped me lose 100 pounds with a low carb diet. Click through so this info can help you too!

Coconut Fried Cauliflower Rice Ingredients

At first glance, this recipe seems more complicated than it is. This is a simple recipe my entire family will devour, and it takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish.

I like to keep things simple on a keto diet. With so many grocery stores that cater to a low carb lifestyle, that’s easy to do. With that said, you can go one of two ways with keto cauliflower rice recipes. You can grab a large head of cauliflower and a box grater to make fresh cauliflower rice, or you can pick up a bag of frozen cauliflower rice.

If you choose homemade cauliflower rice with a fresh cauliflower head from the produce section, then the meal prep for this keto side dish recipe will take a little longer. When you choose the easy way, you spend less time in the kitchen. Since vegetables are typically frozen at the peak of freshness, you’ll get similar health benefits either way – so you do you boo.

Speaking of simple, sometimes the only additional veggies I add to this cauli rice recipe are onions. I prefer to add chopped white onions and diced green onions. If I only have one or the other on hand, I go with that. If you love vegetable fried rice, you can chop up any vegetables you love and add them to this fried cauliflower rice keto recipe. A few great options include celery, broccoli, bell pepper, and spinach.

To add flavor to plain cauliflower rice, I add minced garlic, coconut aminos, black pepper, and salt. Since this is a fried rice recipe, you’ll also use an egg. I fry the rice in coconut oil, so that also lends to the unique flavor of this perfect keto side dish.

How to Make This Cauliflower Rice Recipe (Keto Friendly)

Start by melting coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. If you don’t love coconut oil, that doesn’t mean it’s OK to swap it out for a highly processed vegetable oil instead. Many health experts agree keeping oils like canola oil in your diet has worse health effects than a diet that’s high in sugar.

(Except in the case of highly processed vegetable oils, we do 🧐)

The best way to get used to using coconut oil in keto cooking is to keep cooking with it. It’s one of the healthiest oils you can use and it has a high smoke point, which makes it a great option. I suppose you can get away with using avocado oil if you really have to – but nothing beats coconut oil when it comes to frying keto-friendly recipes. Also, I’d skip using olive oil since this keto-friendly oil is best served at room temperature.

In case this part isn’t obvious, while this is a frozen cauliflower fried rice recipe, its best to allow the rice to thaw prior to cooking with it. Otherwise your delicious side dish may turn into a watery mess.

Let’s Get Cooking

Once the coconut oil is hot, stir in the minced garlic and white onions.

Stir while they’re cooking so the garlic doesn’t burn. Allow the flavors to blend together until the onions are translucent. This usually takes 2-3 minutes. Then stir in the thawed riced cauliflower.

Cook the cauliflower rice, onions, and garlic together until the rice is tender. This should take around 5 minutes. Continually stir the low carb cauliflower rice while cooking. You can take a quick break to crack an egg and beat it with a fork. You’ll need that once the rice is ready.

Once the rice is tender, stir in the egg. Do your best to cover as much of the rice as possible. Allow the egg to cook for approximately a minute while stirring. Then turn down the stove to medium heat. Cover the rice with coconut aminos (a keto friendly replacement for soy sauce) and add black pepper to taste. Stir to combine well.

Next, you can garnish with parsley for a little extra color and flavor.

Finally, add in the green onions and salt. Give it one final stir and then serve along your favorite keto-friendly main course.

Cauliflower Rice Variations

Since cauliflower makes such a great low carb substitute for so many of your high carb favorites, I’ve come up with quite a few variations to this recipe. While each version slightly varies, the base ingredients remain the same.

If Mexican food is your favorite, you can turn this rice cauliflower recipe into Mexican cauliflower rice with only a few spices like cumin and chili powder. I also finish the recipe off with a few tablespoons of fresh salsa. Mexican rice is one of my favorite ways to celebrate Taco Tuesday.

Have some lime juice on hand? Another great way to prepare a delicious Mexi-Cauli rice recipe is this cilantro lime rice recipe. Not only do I sometimes make this along side my favorite Mexican food, but I also love it with lighter dishes like this Mediterranean chicken breast recipe.

This easy cheesy cauliflower rice recipe is another keto side dish my whole family loves. Skip the coconut aminos and flavor this dish with cream cheese, heavy cream, and butter instead to make a creamy version that tastes amazing.

If you love chicken fried cauliflower rice, use all of the same fresh ingredients from this coconut cauliflower fried rice version and stir in small pieces of chicken. Crumbled ground beef also works well with this combo. There’s just so many good ideas for easy keto recipes when it comes to cauliflower rice.

The Keto Recipes with Cauliflower Rice Wrap Up

If you need the perfect low carb side dish that you can cook in a variety of ways – cauliflower rice is the way to go! It’s so versatile and with a little help, you can add so much flavor to this seemingly plain food.

Nearly all of my favorite recipes on keto mix in cauliflower in one form or another. That’s a great thing since it’s high in so many nutrients you need on a real food diet. Most recipes include minimal prep time, and the net carbs are low enough to fit into nearly any keto dieter’s plan.

Don’t forget to save this simple keto side dish to Pinterest. If you love this recipe, be sure to share it with your low carb friends on social media. They’ll want to know your secret as the weight comes off – so maybe even share it with non-keto friends too!

Keep scrolling for the recipe card and nutritional info.

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Keto Recipes with Cauliflower Rice

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