14 Ways To Elevate Cauliflower Rice

Whether you're trying to cut back on carbs for whatever reason or you're just trying to switch up your normal dinner routine, cauliflower rice can make for an easy and surprisingly delicious addition to your favorite rice-based meals. But if you're not used to eating cauliflower rice on a regular basis, you may find yourself dismayed by its rather neutral flavor and texture that doesn't quite compare to real rice. Luckily, there are steps you can take to make your cauliflower rice taste a lot better — you just have to know what to do.

We've collected some of our favorite cauliflower rice tips and tricks to help guide you in the direction of the tastiest possible side dish or rice replacement you've ever had. From proper cooking techniques to flavorful add-ins, these simple steps can seriously elevate your cauliflower rice into something special. Who knows? You might even start to like it more than actual rice. These are 14 ways to elevate your next batch of cauliflower rice.

Satisfying, rich, and creamy, risotto is one of those dishes that just feels like a warm hug. But if you're trying to get more veggies into your diet — or just cut back on rice — you can use cauliflower rice to make your risotto. Does it taste exactly the same as the rice version of the dish? No. But with such a great combo of flavors, this risotto dish is one that you'll return to time and time again.

Onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrots give this risotto the veggie-forward goodness that basically makes it a warm salad, but it's the coconut milk that delivers that creamy mouthfeel you're used to when you take a bite of risotto. Top with some fresh parsley for a fresh, green burst of flavor, and you have a risotto dish the whole family is guaranteed to love. It's the ideal vegetable-packed dish for those nights when you just want to tuck into something that feels cozy.

Cooking with rice is usually pretty forgiving. Since rice is dry, it can absorb a lot of moisture, which is why you may find yourself adding more and more liquid to the pot. But when you're working with cauliflower rice, you're not going to have the same experience. Cauliflower is a vegetable, not a starch, so it doesn't have the ability to soak up liquid like its more traditional counterpart. That's not an issue if you're just steaming or sauteing your cauliflower rice, but when you're adding liquid to the recipe, it can be easy to end up with a soupy mess if you're not careful.

If you are adding liquid to the pan you're cooking your cauliflower rice in, you'll want to remember to add it slowly. Dumping in too much liquid all at one time could leave your dish with a watery consistency. Additionally, you may want to consider using thicker, creamier sauces in place of light, thin liquids in your cauliflower rice recipe. Yes, it's an extra step to think about, but it'll help you avoid a runny, messy finished dish.

All too often, people serve cauliflower rice as a sad side dish, only to wonder why nobody wants to eat it. Cauliflower rice can be exceedingly boring and bland when it's not cooked the right way, but when it's thoughtfully incorporated into a dish, it can become intently flavorful and offer the perfect texture. That's exactly the role it plays in this recipe for Mexican cauliflower rice casserole. It's a more vegetable-heavy version of a casserole you may already be familiar with, and it comes together in less than an hour. The best part? It won't leave you feeling too heavy and full once you've cleaned your plate.

This recipe calls for both black beans and pinto beans, which make it incredibly filling, along with a whole slew of veggies, like onion, red pepper, corn, green chiles, and tomatoes. But cauliflower rice serves as the base for everything else, supporting the mass of goodness on top of it. If you're looking for a way to incorporate cauliflower rice into your weekly meal rotation, this might just be one of the most delicious ways of doing it.

Have you ever cooked cauliflower rice only to notice that it turned into a soft, mushy mess instead of the al dente texture that you had hoped to achieve? If so, you're not alone — it's a common mistake people make when cooking cauliflower rice. It was probably because you cooked the rice in water. Next time, you'll want to avoid that. Instead, your best bet is to use oil and fry your cauliflower rice in a pan. Not only will this prevent that mushy texture from taking hold, but it will also give the rice a nice, golden color and more complex flavor that makes every bite more interesting.

Trying to avoid frying in oil? No worries. There are a few other ways you can get perfectly cooked cauliflower rice and avoid a mushy mess. You can also steam the rice, which negates the need for oil but still helps the individual pieces of rice retain their form and texture. You can also bake it if you prefer to use the oven. Moral of the story? Don't cook your cauliflower rice in water, and you'll be fine.

When you want to get dinner on the table quickly, there's a lot you don't want to have to fuss around with. Making cauliflower rice is probably one of those things. Luckily, it's easy to grab a bag of the frozen stuff from the grocery store, throw it in a pan, and finish cooking your cauliflower rice within minutes. But sometimes, you may want to put a bit more time and effort into your cooking to truly yield the most delicious results. In those cases, it may be worth it to take on a slightly more time-consuming activity like making your own cauliflower rice from scratch.

It may seem like more work than it's worth, but trust us: It's actually not as difficult as you might assume it to be, especially if you use a food processor. Just break your fresh cauliflower into small pieces that fit into the processor, then turn it on until it reaches the desired consistency. Who knew that cauliflower rice was so easy to make in your own kitchen?

There are other ways to transform cauliflower rice from a boring side dish into a flavorful meal. If you don't want to go through the hassle of making a whole casserole, why not make your own cauliflower rice burrito bowl instead? Cauliflower rice forms the base of the bowl, just like regular rice would in any other recipe, and veggies and other ingredients round it out, making it fresh, filling, and ultimately delicious.

Part of the beauty of burrito bowls is the fact that you can essentially add any toppings you want. But if you want to stick to a coherent recipe, you can make the decision to top your burrito bowl with black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, and fajita-style bell peppers. When all of those flavors come together, you have a meal that will have any burrito lover drooling. Switch it up to use whatever you already have in the fridge for a budget-friendly bowl that you can eat for lunch or dinner.

There are so many dishes out there that depend on rice, and fried rice is just one of them. There's something about digging into a bowl of fried rice — it feels comforting in a way not every dish can live up to. But if you're trying to cut back on your rice intake (or you just don't happen to have any on hand), you might assume that fried rice is off the menu for the night. If you have some cauliflower rice in the freezer, though, you may just be able to turn it into some of the best fried "rice" you've ever had.

The trick to making fried cauliflower rice is using plenty of fat in the recipe. Of course, you can always use oil or whatever other cooking fat you have on hand, but we really like working with bacon. Not only does adding bacon to the dish give you that beautiful, salty, and flavorful oil to work with, but it also delivers crispy bits of meat in every bite. Sure, it may not be the most typical addition to fried rice, but believe us when we say that it works especially well with cauliflower rice. Add in any other ingredients you usually like in your fried rice, like chopped onions, garlic, carrots, or even some egg, and you have a lighter alternative to one of your favorite rice-based dishes.

Whether you're following a vegan diet for environmental, ethical, or health reasons, or you're just craving a dish that feels lighter but isn't just a salad, we have a recipe for you. It's lentil curry over cauliflower rice, and it's a combo you can come back to on any night when you want something that feels healthy but doesn't require much time or skill to throw together. This dish starts, of course, with the cauliflower rice. But luckily, there's not much you have to do to it in this recipe. That's because the lentil curry is the part of the recipe that really packs the most flavor.

You'll cook those lentils with garlic, ginger, and onions, along with a can of chopped tomatoes and a generous sprinkling of curry powder. The addition of coconut keeps things as creamy as possible and negates the need for any animal-based products. When that curry sits atop the cauliflower rice, the dish comes together in perfect harmony. Although this is a great meal to try out when you're trying to get dinner on the table, it also makes for an easy meal prep on weeks you know are going to be busy.

You've just gotten home from work, and you need to start making dinner. But before you start cooking anything, you need to take that bag of pre-made cauliflower rice out of the freezer to allow it to thaw for a while before you get cooking. Or ... do you? As it turns out, thawing your cauliflower rice isn't actually that great of an idea. That's because as cauliflower thaws, it tends to turn soggy. So, instead of achieving that perfect al dente texture you're going for, you instead get a pan of mushy cauliflower you have to pass off as a rice alternative.

Of course, if you do happen to thaw your cauliflower rice ahead of time, you can just remember to squeeze out that excess moisture before cooking it. However, there's an easier way: simply don't thaw your cauliflower rice ahead of time. That's right — you can just throw it into the pan when it's frozen and cook from there. This may sound counterintuitive if you're used to thawing and cooking meat, but you can rest assured that frozen cauliflower rice tastes best when it's cooked directly from frozen. So, don't worry about waiting for that stuff to thaw out, and get started on dinner whenever you're ready to cook.

Although cauliflower rice has a lovely texture to it, it's true that it doesn't pack a ton of flavor. In that way, it doesn't really differ from actual rice. But if you're looking for a way to infuse more flavor into your cauliflower rice-based dish, you may want to consider adding some veggie or chicken bouillon to the mix. Since it's ideal to avoid cooking your cauliflower rice in water, try to stick to powdered bouillon, which can function more like a typical seasoning. Liquid-based bouillons can provide the same kind of flavor but may not work well on the texture front.

This tip is especially useful if you're just going to be eating cauliflower rice as a side dish. In these instances, you actually want the rice itself to be quite flavorful since it's not going to be covered up by other ingredients. Just keep some powdered bouillon on hand and add it to your cauliflower rice whenever you're looking to up the flavor ante. Just make sure to taste as you go — bouillon tends to contain a lot of salt, so it's easy to over-salt the dish if you're not careful.

There's another super simple way to add more flavor to your basic cauliflower rice recipe, but it is going to require some extra time and effort. If you're willing to stand over the stove for a while, you may want to try adding caramelized diced onions to your rice. Caramelizing your onions can take quite some time, but it yields jammy and surprisingly sweet onions that can completely transform the flavor of your cauliflower rice.

Make sure you use diced onions for this recipe, as you're going to want them to be cut into the tiniest possible pieces so that onion-y flavor is well-distributed throughout the dish. Start cooking the onions well ahead of when you need to finish the rice. After those onions have become golden brown and caramelized, you can add your cauliflower rice to the pan. You may not believe how flavorful your cauliflower rice can be once it's been combined with those caramelized onions.

Oftentimes, when people make cauliflower rice, they complain that it doesn't have the pop of flavor they're trying to achieve. It's a common problem, and in many cases, it can be easily fixed by a simple ingredient: lemon. If you're working with a lot of rounder or more neutral flavors, you may not have much acidity in your dish to counteract all that richness. But just a squeeze of lemon juice can add the perfect level of acidity to the dish to really bring all of those flavors together.

You don't have to go wild with the lemon, either — just a small squeeze of liquid can make a big difference. If you don't want to add any liquid to the equation, though, you can also capture that lemony flavor in a different way: through the zest of the fruit. Zest your lemon right over your finished cauliflower rice, and you'll get a similar flavor profile. If you can, though, make sure you opt for fresh lemon. Most of the time, it's going to taste better in your dishes than the bottled stuff.

Sometimes, elevating your cauliflower rice is as easy as adding some extra ingredients and seasonings to the mix. Perhaps one of the easiest — and most delicious — ways to amp up the flavor of your cauliflower rice is to cook it with some sesame oil and soy sauce. Sesame oil plays a really important role here. It adds a faint nuttiness to the dish while providing it with a touch of extra fat. That helps the cauliflower rice cook better if you're preparing it on the stove or in the oven, and it also provides a deep, rich flavor that adds a necessary depth to your rice.

Soy sauce is just as important an addition in this case, though. Of course, it adds a layer of saltiness to the dish, but it also offers a complexity and depth of flavor that can turn a boring bowl of cauliflower rice into a standout side dish. This flavor combo works well with Asian dishes, but it can be used for a wide variety of different uses.

If you don't have a lot of other ingredients on hand or you just want to keep your cauliflower rice as simple as possible while still infusing it with plenty of flavor, then there's one special ingredient that's definitely going to come in handy: butter. If you're choosing to fry or bake your cauliflower rice, basically any type of fat will work to make things richer and more flavorful, but butter can play an especially important role. Even without the addition of other ingredients, butter can add a savory, rich quality to your cauliflower rice that automatically makes it more flavorful.

Our advice? Use salted butter for the best punch of flavor — just make sure that you taste the rice before adding any additional salt. And if you can spring for a higher quality butter, you should go for it since it's playing such an important role in this recipe. This combo may be simple, but sometimes, the simplest dishes are the most delicious.