Cauliflower rice has become a very popular and healthy alternative to heavier carbs.
Because of its popularity, though, it’s also become rather pricey. Is it possible to make this rice at home?
Most recipes for ricing cauliflower call for a food processor. Today, you will learn how to make cauliflower rice without food processor.
You will find many alternative methods to make this delicious dish, and most of them are very easy to do.
Of course, the right method for you will depend on what tools you have in your kitchen.
Take a look at the top methods for ricing cauliflower and determine how you can make this healthy starch tonight.
Quick Navigation
How To Make Cauliflower Rice Without Food Processor
While using a food processor is arguably the easiest way to make cauliflower rice, it’s far from the only easy option.
There are many ways to make this healthy, low-carb dish.
Below are the top techniques you can do to learn how to rice cauliflower without a food processor.
How To Rice Cauliflower By Hand
Learning how to rice cauliflower by hand is likely the most uncomplicated method that everyone has the tools for.
All that you need are your hands, the cauliflower, and a knife.
By using a knife to mince the cauliflower into tiny pieces, you can effectively rice the cauliflower as well as you could have had with a food processor.
Step 1: Remove Florets
To do this, first, get a large chef’s knife. With this, remove the florets from the stem.
You want to have as little step as possible to make the mincing easier.
Step 2: Mince the Florets
Using the same knife, start to mince the cauliflower into tiny pieces. The pieces should be cut as small as a grain of rice, if possible.
It will take some time to do this, but the process is relatively easy, even if it is time-consuming.
Once all the florets are minced, you’re ready to cook your riced cauliflower.
How To Grate Cauliflower
Another way you can learn how to rice cauliflower without a food processor is to use a grater.
When doing so, though, you have to learn how to grate cauliflower safely.
Step 1: Choose Your Grater
A box grater or a handheld grater is perfect for this, but the box grater is more comfortable to handle safely.
Whichever you already have at home will work fine as long as you use it carefully.
If you have varying sized graters, choose whichever will give you rice-sized pieces. This may take some testing to decide.
Step 2: Prepare the Cauliflower
The next thing that you will want to do is prepare the florets. This means that you should take a knife and cut them off of the stem.
Unlike mincing cauliflower with a knife, you only need to cut the cauliflower down into four or five large chunks.
Having large chunks will make it easier to hold the cauliflower while you grate it.
Step 3: Start Grating
While holding onto the stem of a cauliflower chunk, move it back and forth on the grater to break it into small pieces.
You’ll notice that the cauliflower grates very easily and into small pieces. Again, the pieces should be around the size of a grain of rice.
How To Use a Potato Ricer for Ricing Cauliflower
Do you own a potato ricer? Using this device is yet another method you can follow to learn how to make cauliflower rice without a food processor.
Doing it in this way is a little different than all of the other methods because you typically use this after cooking the cauliflower.
Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1: Roast Cauliflower Florets
After cutting the cauliflower down into small pieces, roast them in the oven with some olive oil.
Make sure the oven is set at 400-degrees and roast until the pieces are soft.
You can add other seasonings to the pan while cooking if you want to. Otherwise, the seasonings can be mixed in after you rice the cauliflower.
Step 2: Allow to Cool Slightly
To avoid burning your hands, give the cauliflower a few minutes to cool down slightly before working on it.
You don’t want the pieces to cool entirely, but they should not burn your hands when you touch it.
Step 3: Rice It
Once the cauliflower is cooled enough to handle, put a few chunks of cooked florets into the ricer.
Closer the ricer and push the cauliflower through by squeezing. Riced cauliflower will then come out of the other side. It really is that easy.
How To Blend It up With a Blender
In many ways, a food processor and a blender are very similar kitchen appliances.
Of course, they have their differences, but they both are useful to the kitchen.
When it comes to ricing cauliflower, however, you can use a blender in the same way that you would have used a food processor.
Step 1: Cut Down Cauliflower
Start by cutting the cauliflower head into one-inch chunks.
You can do this by cutting off the steps and then cutting the larger chunks into a few separate pieces.
The cutting does not need to be precise, as you will be blending the pieces up even smaller anyway.
Step 2: Add the Cauliflower
Depending on the size of your blender, you will want to put between two and four cups of florets into the blender.
Don’t fill the blender more than ¾ of the way for the best results.
Step 3: Blend, Scrape, Repeat
Blend the florets at high speed for around 30 seconds.
After that, scrape the florets down the sides if they get stuck.
For even better results, blend again for 30 seconds or until the pieces are broken up enough.
Step 4: Reblend Big Pieces
Once you finish blending the first batch, pour your riced cauliflower into a bowl.
If you notice any large pieces remaining, take these out of the bowl and put them back into the blender to be blended again with the next batch.
Cooking Cauliflower Rice
Not only are there different ways to prepare your raw cauliflower rice. There are also different techniques to cook the actual rice.
Do you know the various preparation methods that can be used for cooking cauliflower rice?
Once you have your cauliflower grated or cut down to size, it’s time to get cooking.
The following instructions are for about one head of cauliflower cut down to around four cups of riced cauliflower.
Saute
Step 1: Heat a pan to medium-high heat with one tablespoon of oil or butter.
Step 2: Saute the riced cauliflower for up to 10 minutes.
Steam
Step 1: Set up a pan with a steamer insert.
Step 2: Heat the water underneath to boiling.
Step 3: Add cauliflower rice to the steamer basket.
Step 4: Steam for about four minutes, or until tender.
Stir-Fry
Step 1: Heat a pan to high heat with one tablespoon of oil.
Step 2: Add cauliflower in a single layer.
Step 3: Cook at high heat until lightly browned.
Step 4: Stir.
Step 5: Cover and cook for five minutes, or until tender.
Other Methods
These, of course, are not the only ways to prepare your cauliflower rice.
In fact, it’s possible to use this rice in place of traditional grain rice in nearly any recipe.
Couscous and risotto recipes, for example, can be adapted to be made with cauliflower rice.
Another great recipe to use cauliflower rice in is a casserole, such as broccoli cheddar casserole.
The key is to make sure that you use the appropriate amount of oil and cook the cauliflower until it is tender.
Generally speaking, cauliflower rice gets tender much faster than traditional grain rice.
Still, you will want to test that out with different recipes as needed, if only to be sure.
FAQs
1. How do you keep cauliflower rice from getting mushy?
When preparing and cooking your dinner, how do you keep cauliflower rice from getting mushy?
The reason why cauliflower rice gets mushy is that there is too much oil or water in it.
This happens most often when you are preparing cauliflower rice with a fresh head of cauliflower yourself.
What can you do to prevent this?
You need to make sure that you let the cauliflower dry out some before you saute it or add any wet ingredients to the mix, like oil.
You can do this in a few ways.
For example, you can dry saute the cauliflower over medium heat before adding any oil. This will extract excess water.
Another option is to roast the riced cauliflower in the oven before you begin to cook with it.
This step can feel like a lot of extra work, but it will make a big difference in the final texture and taste of your dish.
2. Is cauliflower rice supposed to be crunchy?
After learning how to make cauliflower rice without food processor, you might wonder: Is cauliflower rice supposed to be crunchy?
Many people aren’t familiar with this side dish, so they aren’t sure what the final texture is supposed to be like.
Ultimately, it is up to your tastes to determine what you want the cauliflower rice to taste like. Just remember that it should be tender but not mushy.
Also, cauliflower rice does not have the same texture as grain rice, despite the name.
The texture is relatively soft and tender, but it is not thoroughly mashed like a mashed potato would be.
If you want cauliflower rice to be more crunchy, you can achieve this by cooking it at very high heat with no added oils or liquids.
Experiment with different cooking methods to find the right method for your taste buds.
3. Can I freeze cauliflower rice?
If you want to prepare a large batch of cauliflower rice in advance and freeze it, you totally can.
You’d be glad to know that it’s easy to meal prep when dealing with cauliflower rice.
The key to doing this successfully is to freeze the cauliflower rice when it is raw rather than after it is cooked.
Since cooking cauliflower rice doesn’t take very long, it’s best to do it this way.
Freeze the cauliflower rice in reusable plastic bags.
Then, let the rice thaw at room temperature for 10 minutes before you cook it.
4. Can I buy frozen cauliflower rice rather than make my own?
If you aren’t ready to try these methods for making your own cauliflower rice until you know if you like it, go ahead and buy a frozen bag of rice.
By preparing a frozen bag of cauliflower rice, you can find out if the taste is something that you like or not.
When using a frozen bag, however, remember that you want to make sure to fully dry out the rice as much as possible before cooking with it.
This means cooking the rice at high heat in a pan or in the oven before starting the recipe. This trick will prevent it from getting soggy.
5. What seasonings should I use with cauliflower rice?
Now that you know how to rice cauliflower without a food processor, it’s time to learn what seasoning goes best with this light, low-carb option.
Remember that cauliflower rice doesn’t have much of a flavor on its own.
The taste of this side dish is very much determined by what seasonings you cook it with, so you must always remember to season well.
Here are a few different flavor combinations that you can use:
- Tropical Treat: coconut oil, salt, and coconut milk
- Ginger Rice: ground ginger, sesame oil, and sesame seeds
- Lemon Garlic: garlic powder and lemon zest
- Parmesan Garlic: garlic powder and parmesan cheese
No matter what type of flavor combination you want to put together, remember that adding a touch of salt is always going to help improve the flavor.
Finally, make sure to match your oil to the flavor profile that you want to create.
The oil flavor might not seem very important, but it will affect the final flavor of your cauliflower rice.
Rice Cauliflower Your Way
As you can see, there are many ways to rice cauliflower.
Finding out how to make cauliflower rice without a food processor isn’t a difficult affair once you realize that you have many tools that will work.
Everything from a basic knife to a blender can be used to rice cauliflower.
Then, once you’ve got it cut down to size, cooking it is fast and easy.
If you haven’t yet tried to rice cauliflower yourself, go ahead and give it a try. You will be pleased with how easy it is to create this healthy, low-carb side for yourself.