Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice

If you love fried rice but want to make something healthier, faster and packed full of veggies, our Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice is all you need. Get your veggies ready as dinner will be served in less than 25 minutes!

One of my favourite Thai dishes is Khao Pad or Thai-style fried rice. The flavours, the colourful veggies, the lime juice on the top and the fresh scallions, it's absolutely delicious. So why choose cauliflower to create a similar dish to Khao Pad? It's easier, healthier and just as good!

To make proper fried rice the best thing is to leave the cooked rice aside for a good few hours but we are just too busy to plan our meal in advanced! Using cauliflower allows you to prepare everything on the spot and create a delicious alternative to the traditional fried rice.

This recipe takes less than 25 minutes to cook. All you need is a food processor to make the cauliflower rice, a good knife to cut all the veggies and a pan or wok to cook your stir fry. To make this recipe gluten-free, use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Our Cauliflower Rice is toddler and kid-friendly. Luca, our toddler, loves this stir fry and finishes the plate every time we cook it. We add some spicy oil once we serve our son's plate.

How to prepare Cauliflower Rice

To make Cauliflower Fried Rice, you will need cauliflower rice. Nowadays you can already find it in some supermarkets, in the frozen products section. The simplest thing, however, is to make it at home using fresh cauliflower.

Cut your cauliflower into florets and add them into a food processor. The trick is to not add too many florets at once, as this will make it more difficult for the processor to blend the florets and by the time they are all blended, it won't look like rice, as the pieces will be too small. If you are making a big batch of this recipe, we recommend you to blend the florets in separate batches.

Once the florets are in, pulse a couple of times. Four to five times should be enough, but you can adjust the times depending on how to cauliflower rice looks. The pieces should be similar to cooked rice in size.

If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the cauliflower using a grater. You will need bigger pieces of cauliflower if using a grater.

Then set the cauliflower rice aside, and prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Our favourite vegetables for Cauliflower Fried Rice

Carrots. They should be added in any type of stir fry. They add colour, sweetness, a little crunchiness and vitamin to your dishes.

Edamame or peas. To add some greens, our favourite options are edamame beans or peas. We normally always have frozen peas and frozen edamame at home. Edamame beans are a great source of protein too!

Sweet corn. We love sweet corn at home and use any chance we have to add it in our dishes.

Shallot or onion. We prefer using shallots when cooking cauliflower fried rice as it's sweeter but you can use onion as well.

Scallions. The white part can be cooked with the shallots as it gives a very nice flavour to your stir-fries, and the green part can be saved to add on the top before serving.

Garlic and ginger. Always! Garlic and ginger are the basic ingredients to start a stir fry.

You can add any other veggies you like. We really like adding bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms or bamboo shoots as well.

Which protein can I use to make Cauliflower Fried Rice?

Vegan option

Our favourite option is to use scrambled tofu. We basically use a fork or our hands to crumble the tofu.

Seitan cut into cubes is as well a great alternative if you don't want to use tofu. This can not be used if you want to make a gluten-free cauliflower fried rice.

Vegetarian option

Traditionally, fried rice is served with meat and egg as protein. If you want to prepare a vegetarian Cauliflower Fried Rice, you can use eggs. Simply add them when the rest of the stir-fried is nearly ready. Push all the ingredients to one side and add the whisked egg on the other side. When the egg starts to cook, mix with the rest of the ingredients until fully cooked and your meal will be ready to serve.

Cauliflower Fried Rice step by step

1. Prepare the Cauliflower rice. Cut your cauliflower into florets and add them into a food processor. Once the florets are in, pulse a couple of times. Four to five times should be enough, but you can adjust the times depending on how to cauliflower rice looks. The pieces should be similar to cooked rice in size.
2. Finely chop the shallot, scallions and carrots, scramble the tofu and crush the garlic and ginger using a garlic presser.
3. Heat some sesame oil into medium heat in a frying pan or wok and add the shallots and the white part of the scallions. Cook for 3-4 minutes and add the garlic and ginger. Keep cooking until the shallots have softened. Add the carrots and scrambled tofu. Cook for further 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the cauliflower rice, edamame beans, sweet corn, white pepper and some extra sesame oil if needed. Cook stirring often to make sure the cauliflower doesn't burn. Leave cooking for about 10-12 minutes or until the cauliflower is cooked.
5. Add the soy sauce, stir until the soy sauce is well combined with the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat off. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top and add the green part of the scallions. If you like spicy food, add some sesame chilli oil or sriracha before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Our Vegan Cauliflower Fried Rice is a main dish that can be enjoyed for lunch or dinner. Even if this recipe is low-carb, it's actually quite filling.

It's perfect for meal prep, as it can be cooked in advanced and enjoyed during the next days warm or cold. If you are planning a day out, this recipe makes a perfect packed lunch. We make it often when spending the day on the beach or mountain as everyone loves it and it doesn't need to be served warm.

Keep any leftovers in the fridge using an air-tight container. It will stay good for 4-5 days.

MORE RECIPES USING CAULIFLOWER

If you love cauliflower as much as we do, have a look at our other recipes:

Asian Style Orange Cauliflower
Spicy Cauliflower Bites
Cauliflower and Walnut Bolognese
Vegan Cauliflower Korma
Katsu Curry with Cauliflower Bites
Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala
Cauliflower Bites for Toddlers and Kids