A paleo Whole30 cauliflower fried rice recipe that'll change the way you feel about meal prep. It's the perfect side dish for any protein and tastes delicious alongside eggs for breakfast. It's also gluten free, paleo, low carb and Whole30.
Can I make this with cauliflower rice with a whole head of cauliflower?
Do you want to learn how to make this delicious and easy paleo Whole30 cauliflower fried rice… at home? Without the mess?
What if I told you it was SUPER easy and delicious, with a little help of our friendly neighborhood grocer: Trader Joe's?
I am a huge, huge fan of cauliflower rice but not a fan of the mess I am capable of making during preparation. Usually, I just suck it up and embrace the mess since I love cauliflower so much.
Not really though, most of the time I end up cussing under my breath while trying to catch the flying bits of cauliflower in the air.
In all seriousness though, I love working with cauliflower because it is such a versatile ingredient. I've roasted it whole in the oven, turned it into a puree/mash and most importantly, transformed it into some incredible fried "rice".
Can I Make This Cauliflower Fried Rice Vegan?
This recipe for paleo cauliflower fried rice should become a staple in your whole30 meal prep. It's absolutely wonderful served alongside breakfast and tastes great reheated with leftovers.
What's unique about this dish is that it can also be made vegan.
Simply omit the fish sauce and eggs, and you have got yourself a Whole30 AND vegan cauliflower fried rice dish. I'm so proud, what can I say?
One of the best parts about meal prep is figuring out dishes that you can make ahead of time and store for later use in the week. This is one of them. You can throw it in Tupperware or a gallon freezer bag and toss it in the freezer for up to 1 month. Wahoo!
More Whole30 recipes like this:
Easy Whole30 Chicken Salad Boats
Can I Use Either Fresh And Frozen Riced Cauliflower For This Dish?
You can absolutely use either one in the recipe. Simply continue sautéing the rice until it's cooked through.
When I originally wrote this recipe post, riced cauliflower wasn't nearly as popular or widely available as it is today.
It seems like any and all grocery stores and markets now have a version of either fresh or frozen cauliflower rice, which is a huge win for us.
I'm all about convenience. However, if you like to get down with your food processor, simply process cauliflower florets until they resemble a rice texture.
Then, you are good to go! 🙂
How To Make Whole30 Cauliflower Fried Rice:
Heat a large sauté pan on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Heat up ghee add diced onions and carrot. Cook until onion looks translucent. Add garlic cloves and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add in riced cauliflower. Carefully break down the cauliflower with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook the rice until it looks soft and tender. This can take anywhere between 5-7 minutes.
Add in the spices until well combined. Stir in coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar and fish sauce. Cook on medium-high heat until the cauliflower rice reaches your desired doneness (this took me another 7-10 minutes!)
Carefully stir in the scramble eggs. Stir for about 1 minute until everything has been well combined. Remove from the heat. Serve with your favorite meat, fish or with eggs for breakfast.
In the meantime, you need to check out this paleo cauliflower fried rice! I pulled out all the stops to reformulate and rephotograph this classic recipe for you!
Oh, and if you're looking for another fabulous recipe for paleo cauliflower fried rice, check out Real Food with Jessica. She is notorious for having absolutely fabulous Whole30 content!
Be sure to add this fabulous recipe for paleo Whole30 cauliflower fried rice to your Whole30 meal plan(s).It's going to become a staple in your kitchen like it has in ours. You can thank me later… okie? 🙂
Paleo Whole30 Cauliflower Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil, split in two
- 1 large red onion diced
- 4 medium carrots shredded
- 10 cloves garlic minced
- 3 heads of cauliflower, riced or 3 bags of Trader Joe's Riced Cauliflower
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 ¼ teaspoons black pepper
- 1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt
- ⅓ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce omit for vegan
- 8 eggs cooked & scrambled, *omit for vegan*
- fresh parsley chopped- for topping
- green onions sliced- for topping
Instructions
- Heat a large sauté pan on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Heat up ghee add diced onions and carrot. Cook until onion looks translucent. Add garlic cloves and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add in riced cauliflower. Carefully break down the cauliflower with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook the rice until it looks soft and tender. This can take anywhere between 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the spices until well combined. Stir in coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar and fish sauce. Cook on medium-high heat until the cauliflower rice reaches your desired doneness (this took me another 7-10 minutes!)
- Carefully stir in the scramble eggs. Stir for about 1 minute until everything has been well combined. Remove from the heat. Serve with your favorite meat, fish or with eggs for breakfast.
Eileen says
Looks great. I'm looking forward to incorporating into the whole 30 menu for my husband and I.
Yes, please do! And let me know what you think!!!
Marci says
Does this travel well?? Tips for bringing to potluck?
It sure does!!! I'd absolutely bring it to a potluck!
Lindsay says
This may be a stupid question- but do you scramble the eggs and cook in a separate pan and then add the cooked eggs to the "rice" mixture? Or do you mix the raw eggs up and add the raw eggs to the "rice" mixture and cook until scrambled consistency?
You can do either, to be honest. I did the latter 🙂
Andrew Laverghetta says
Just wanted to comment on what I did last night when I made this. I had it all in a bigger pot and pushed over the stuff that was already in the pan. I had made a packaged stir fry before and it suggested scrambling them in the pan after pushing the rest aside. I started with that, but realized I didn't have much room for 8 eggs in that small space. I ended up cracking them all in that spot anyways, cooked them a fair bit, but since the rest of the "rice" was already hot, I just went ahead and mixed it all up and stirred it around to make sure it was all cooked. Plus, it probably gains a bit of flavor cooking it in the same pot...and you don't have to dirty more dishes.
Lizzie says
Ahhhhhmazing!!!! Chinese food is a HUGE staple in our house - hubs is a French chef so I think sometimes he wants an opposite flavor profile. I'm doing whole30 and he's doing it outside work. We made another recipe earlier this week that didn't call for cooking it as long and it was awful. The cauliflower almost took on a horseradish taste not being cooked long enough. Tonight I made this topped with Whole30 Mongolian beef and omigod... first night I've felt excited about dinner that I cooked in FOREVER!!
Hi Lizzie, wow this comment turned into a mile-wide smile over here. Thank you so much for taking the time to type that up. I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and YES- if cauliflower isn't cooked long enough, it will take on a funky taste! Can you do me a favor and rate the recipe (using the 1-5 star rating system towards the bottom of the recipe post)? That helps me out a ton! ????
Eleonora says
Looks scrumptious!
Alena Artemenko says
Oh my goodness! This is so delicious!!!!!!! Thank you!
You're so welcome. Did you already try it? 🙂
Tina says
This looks so colorful and healthy, a great way to serve up some veggies to my family:)
EXACTLY. Gotta get those veggies in 🙂
sparky says
fyi soy sauce would not be whole 30 compliant
Hi there. Yeah, of course not. Where do you see soy sauce in the recipe?
Cindy says
I think she's referring to the post above that asked about substituting soy for the coconut aminos.
You can substitute soy... coconut aminos are a bit sweeter, but it should be delicious!
Colleen Sartain-Smith says
Go easy on the coconut aminos though. I put way too much on my cauliflower rice the first time I tried this substitution and they came out sweet. I put about 1/3 of what I would use with soy. On a side note, the aminos are amazing splashed into butternut squash.
jessica says
Have you ever tried this with the riced cauliflower that isn't frozen? my TJs sells a fresh version and I'm wondering if I'd need to tweak the recipe at all. Thanks!
No, it should be the same regardless 🙂
New to cauliflower rice says
While I know you can "rice" cauliflower, I'm just too lazy. Mashed cauliflower is a big favorite of mine, but it can be a lot work. I tried making the TJ's cauliflower rice but didn't know how (just went off the instructions on the bag and guessed as I went along). I'm looking forward to trying out your version very soon!! Thanks for this! 🙂
You're so welcome. Please let me know how it turns out... I agree, I make a huge mess whenever I rice cauliflower 🙂 haha
Juli says
Where do you find dried shallots? Also, can I use soy sauce instead of coconut aminos or would that mess with the texture/taste?
Hey Juli! Dried shallots I got from Penzey's spices, but you don't need them. You can throw in some onion powder instead 🙂 You can use soy sauce instead of coconut aminos... coconut aminos are less acidic and more sweet but it won't mess with the texture at all and very little with the taste. I say go for it and let me know the result!
Colleen Sartain-Smith says
I have found them in the regular grocery stores (Kroger, HEB in Houston, etc) as well. Penzey's is so dangerous for me. I want ALL the spices. lol
JenZ says
I'm going to try this tonight but only have cauliflower florets, so I thought I'd mention that you can rice cauliflower easily in the blender. Just put in the cauliflower and a little water, run the blender on whatever moderate speed you have available, then drain the water when it's done!
Oh, 100% absolutely.. thank you for bringing this up . I need to add that tidbit to my post. Please let me know how your "rice" turns out 🙂