How to cook and use cauliflower rice
Cauliflower rice can be a great replacement for regular rice if you’re trying to cut down on calories or follow a low-carb diet. Find out more about how to cook and use cauliflower rice as part of a balanced diet.
The benefits of cauliflower rice
Cauliflower rice contains only about 15% of the calories you would get from the same volume of basmati rice and nearly 20 times fewer carbs with only 5g of carb per 100g of cauliflower.
As well as being lower in calories and carbs switching to cauliflower rice can also give you a vitamin boost. Cauliflower contains more antioxidants than rice, with 100g providing ½ your recommended daily vitamin C. It’s also a good source of dietary fibre and contains folate, a vitamin used in healthy cell growth which can make it a great choice for new or expectant mums.
What does cauliflower rice taste like?
In short it tastes like cauliflower, but with the texture of regular rice. We’d recommend complimenting it with strong flavours such as tandoori chicken or chili con carne as it only has a mild flavour of its own.
How to make cauliflower rice
If you choose to make your own cauliflower rice all you need is a cauliflower, a cheese grater, an oven tray and a touch of oil.
First, simply remove the leaves and wash the cauliflower. Then cut it into a few large pieces that you can easily hold in your hand and grate it into a bowl. If you want to speed up the process you can use a food processor instead but the texture is likely to be more uneven. We recommend pulsing the food processor and stirring with a spoon between pulses to try and get everything as even as possible.
Once grated simply add a drizzle of olive oil and lay the cauliflower thinly on an oven tray before baking for 10 to 12 minutes. And voila!
Where to buy cauliflower rice
If making cauliflower rice doesn’t appeal it’s also possible to buy ready-made online or in several supermarkets. However, this will be more expensive than making it yourself and won’t have the same fresh taste.
How long can it be stored?
In general, cauliflower will last longer before grating so if you’re making your own we recommend grating it within a day of when you want to use it. Once grated it will still be safe to eat if stored raw for several days in the fridge, but it will start to develop a slight sulfuric taste.
Once cooked cauliflower rice can be stored for longer without changing flavour, around four days in a sealed container in the fridge, or up to 9 days if sealed in a protective atmosphere.
Can you eat cauliflower rice on a keto diet?
Yes, because it only has 3g of carbohydrate cauliflower rice can be a great replacement if you’re trying to follow a keto or other low-carb diet.
About Powermeals
Our mission is to make healthy and quality eating easy for everyone. We produce home cooked, ready-made meals and deliver direct to your door in a weekly box.
