Easy Oven Roasted Cauliflower Rice

I think I may have given cauliflower rice a bad wrap around here. I may or may not have totally bashed it when I talked about my Nutty Green Parsnip Rice. Until this: Oven Roasted Cauliflower Rice. Just let that sink in a bit.

It’s not that I don’t love you, cauliflower, you oh-so-versatile vegetable that looks like brains, smells like farts when you’re raw (I think Juli would agree with me), and can taste like absolutely nothing if you don’t put any seasoning on it. Ok, it may sound like I hate it. But when you jack it up? Man, that stuff is GOLD. Like my Buffalo-Bacon Roasted Cauliflower with Paleo Ranch, Cauliflower Rice Biryani, AIP Curry Cauliflower Rice, Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower & Olives, Purple Roasted Cauliflower with Mint Chimichurri? You see what I mean. The possibilities are endless for this brain vegetable.

I just get bored with you in riced form sometimes, and I need to switch things up. Maybe it’s just that I feel like it takes FOREVER and a half to sauté on the stove when you have a giant batch of it. Maybe I’m just lazy. Maybe I just overexaggerate. Maybe all three? Maybe.

Until I found the new BEST way to cook cauliflower rice: in the oven. You read that right.

LIFE. HACK. #mindblown. Explosions are going on in my brain. Yours too?

I know, right. Why had I never thought of this before? Ugh. I’m kicking myself. Now, instead of constantly checking on the giant a** skillet of cauliflower rice I have cooking, adding oils, liquids, seasonings, and the like, while I’m most likely trying to maintain three other pans from burning (hey, I batch cook), I can just stick it in the oven and BOOM, it’s finished in time with my other food. It’s a little riddikulus.

Seriously, you guys, All you have to do is stick that veggie brain (in florets) through the food processor, toss it with some cooking fat, season it, pop it in the oven. one and DONE. I like to throw in some garlic and onion powder because they go with literally everything. EVERYTHING. And depending on what kind of dish you’re serving this with, you can add in some other herbs or seasonings too! Easy peasy.

We might be friends again, cauliflower rice. But only because now I can make my Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps without burning all the other ingredients while I wait for you to cook. And use you as a fantastic base for my Honey Sesame Chicken Meatballs. And pulled pork with guacamole. Kthanks.

Easy Oven Roasted Cauliflower Rice

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

30 mins

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 medium head cauliflower
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
optional: additional herbs & seasonings

Directions

Preheat oven to 425
Cut the core out of the cauliflower, then chop it into florets.
To rice the cauliflower, put it through the food processor with the shredding attachment. You could also use a box grater to do this or run a knife through chopped florets about...100 times.
Toss the cauliflower rice in a large bowl with 1 Tbsp ghee or coconut oil plus the salt, garlic and onion powder. (Now would be the time to add in any other seasonings!) Spread the mixture evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Try to smooth out any big clumps.
Pop the sheet in the oven, and roast for 20-25 minutes, until the rice becomes lightly browned. Check it at about 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn, then keep a close watch until 25 minutes.
Top with all of your favorite veggies and proteins!

Notes

you can easily use this cauliflower rice to make any of my other cauliflower rice dishes (like Cauliflower Rice Biryani or AIP Curry Cauliflower Rice) - just sauté the finished product with the additional seasonings or add-ins for a few minutes in a large sauté pan, and done!