I love fried rice. I cannot settle for complimentary white rice when eating out at an Asian restaurant. Never. I love it that much, I make it home every week.
Imagine my surprise when I stumble upon Pete Evans recipe (everyone knows Pete, right?!…Australian chef, who has switched to Paleo diet some years ago). I am not a big Paleo fan BUT if I can change a little bit here and there and try to eat better, I am all in. He has replaced the regular rice with cauliflower rice and I couldn’t wait to give it a try and see how it tasted. How great would be to have a winner healthy, easy cauliflower fried rice recipe!
Now, on my first attempt, I followed step by step his original recipe (you can find it here) and it didn’t quite work for me. He adds the prawns (shrimp) very early in the cooking process and by the time the whole dish is ready, they are quite boiled, not juicy and crispy. The same with bacon…this was really one of those no, no moments. Plus, there are a lot of ingredients and in the end, way too many combined flavors. You know that saying “less is more”? Well, it surely applies to this recipe. My opinion.
You might be wondering why I have a cauliflower fried rice recipe post when I was so disappointed in the first place? Because looking behind all those negatives, there was a lot of potential in this recipe. Couple of tweaks, fewer ingredients and voila! a different result and the flavors work so much better together!
My list of ingredients was reduced to: cauliflower, bacon, raw prawns (shrimp), onion, olive oil, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce and spring onions, but you can can also add carrots, peas, broccoli, etc. It was supposed to be one pot dish but it is not working., because the mushrooms and cauliflower will release some moisture while cooking it. So, I cooked the bacon and prawns (shrimp) until crisp and set them aside until the whole dish was ready and then added on top of cauliflower fried rice. This way, you have all the flavors and still get to enjoy some crispy bacon and juicy, not boiled prawns (shrimp).
I am not going to say that this Cauliflower Fried Rice tastes just like fried rice, it is even better!!! Don’t believe me? Just give it a chance 🙂
Easy cauliflower fried rice recipe

Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower head
- 4-6 slices of bacon
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 lb 200g raw prawns (shrimp), shelled and deveined
- 1/2 lb, 200g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
Instructions
- Separate the cauliflower head into small florets and place them in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like rice. Do this in 2-3 rounds and don't fill more than half of the bowl at once with florets.
- In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, fry bacon slices until crisp and set them aside, on paper towel.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan, mixing with what has left from the bacon, add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and any other vegetables you wish to add, cook for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower rice to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce and chopped spring onions to the pan and turn off the heat. Mix well.
- In a separate pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter, add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add raw prawns (shrimp) and cook them for 2 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.
- Serve fried cauliflower rice with crispy prawns on top and some chopped bacon. Add some more soy sauce and a splash of Spiracha, if you like your fried rice a bit spicy.
- Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe was adapted after Pete Evans' Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Thalia @ butter and brioche
Friday 1st of May 2015
I love this healthy alternative to fried rice. I've never used cauliflower like this before so I definitely need to try out the technique!
Amy Tong
Friday 1st of May 2015
Oh my! THis is gorgeous. My kids love shrimps and I can't wait o try this.
Adore Foods
Sunday 3rd of May 2015
Thank you Amy! They will love it!
Lokness
Thursday 30th of April 2015
How interesting this is! I am super curious! I will need to try this one day.
Marissa (@pinchandswirl)
Thursday 30th of April 2015
This turned out wonderfully! I love how simple the ingredient list is, yet the dish looks packed with flavor!
Adore Foods
Thursday 30th of April 2015
I know, I am really happy with how it turned out! My daughter was asking tonight if she can have it again..every day :)