Brown Butter Cauliflower Rice
When it comes to cauliflower rice dishes, I’m going to show you that simple doesn’t have to mean boring. This easy Brown Butter Cauliflower Rice only has three ingredients, but taking a few minutes to brown the butter adds a subtly nutty flavor that might just have you happily eating more vegetables. And of course, cauli rice is naturally gluten free and low carb.
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free, Low carb
- Skill Level: Easy
If I can get my kids happily eating more veggies just by putting this on the table, I’m not going to argue. Brown Butter Cauliflower Rice has become a genuine staple in our house, and the best part is I don’t even have to be sneaky about it, unlike when I’m hiding cauliflower in things like my cauliflower tots.
Cauliflower rice can be a stand in for regular rice in everything from a simple side dish to cauliflower fried rice. But I truly enjoy it becasue it tastes good, not just because it’s low carb and keto-friendly. You can find it pre-riced now too, both fresh in the produce section and frozen in the freezer aisle, so making this recipe is as easy as grabbing a bag.
Why You’ll Love This Brown Butter Cauliflower Rice
- Just 3 ingredients. Butter, cauliflower rice, and a few minutes are all it takes.
- A genuine kid-pleaser. No hiding or sneaking required, they’ll eat this one happily.
- Flexible for your needs. Use fresh or frozen riced cauliflower, and swap in ghee to make it paleo-friendly.
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a quick rundown of what to gather to make this easy cauliflower rice side dish with some ingredient notes. Keep reading for more tips. Then scroll to the recipe card for the full amounts and step-by-step instructions.
- Cauliflower. This recipe calls for one head of cauliflower that’s has been riced. One medium head of cauliflower is roughly 2 pounds and will yield 3 to 4 cups of riced cauliflower. If you are buying packaged fresh cauliflower rice, you’ll rant about 3 to 4 cups. It does not have to be exact.
- Butter. I usually use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt, but you can use salted if that is all you have. Ghee or clarified butter is an option if you want to make this paleo or Whole 30 friendly. But I do NOT recommend margarine or a vegetable oil spread as it will not brown the same way and give that toasty flavor.
- Salt. I recommend a teaspoon of Kosher salt, but you can adjust to taste. If you use a fine table salt or sea salt, or if you’ve used salted butter, you may want to start with less.
Can I use frozen cauliflower rice?
If you want to use frozen, you’ll need about two 12 oz. packages. It may take a little longer to cook in order to thaw it and evaporate the excess moisture.
How to Make Riced Cauliflower
- FOOD PROCESSOR – Cut your head of cauliflower into florets. You can include the stems, but I usually leave out the core. Place the florets in a food processor, then pulse till I achieve a rice-like consistency. You’ll need to do this in batches to avoid overloading your food processor.
- BLENDER – Another way is to put the florets into a high-powered blender, like a Blendtec or Vitamix, then cover with cool water. Pulse till it’s riced and drain well.
- BOX GRATER – This technique uses some elbow grease but you can shred or rice your cauliflower using the large holes of a box grater.
Tips for Success
- Take care when browning butter. Melt it in a skillet over medium-low heat and let it start to foam and sizzle. Keep a close eye on it as it can go from nicely browned to burned in a matter of seconds.
- Don’t go too far. For this cauliflower rice side dish recipe, you don’t need to brown the butter it all the way since it will brown more as it cooks with the cauliflower. So this lowers your riso of burning
- Keep stirring. I like to smooth into a single layer and stir every 5 minutes or so so that it can brown evenly.
Make it a Meal
This riced cauliflower side dish become the base for some of my favorite dinner recipes when I pile them in a bowl:
- Slow Cooker Peruvian Pulled Pork
- Keto Chicken Enchilada Skillet
- Beef Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Slow Cooker Orange Sesame Chicken
More Cauliflower Side Dish Recipes
Brown Butter Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower or 3-4 cups packaged fresh cauliflower rice or two 12 oz. packages frozen cauliflower rice
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter or ghee
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- If using 1 large head cauliflower, cut it into florets. In batches, place cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until it achieves a rice-like consistency. Or put it in a high-powered blender, cover with cool water, pulse until riced, then drain thoroughly.
- In a large pan over medium-low heat, melt 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter and allow it to sizzle until it gets lightly browned in color.
- Add the rice cauliflower and 1 teaspoon kosher salt, then stir to coat completely, and smooth to a single layer.
- Stir every 4-6 minutes. After about ten minutes the rice will start to brown on the bottom, so you may have to stir more frequently.
- Cook for a total of 20-30 minutes, until tender, browned and slightly dried out.
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Delicious!
The serving size is only one gram? I’ve never made my own cauliflower rice before, and I’m new to the low carb life, but 10 grams of carbs in a one gram serving seems like an awful lot of carbs in a tiny amount of food. I mean there are 100 grams in just 1/2 cup so if I were to eat 1/2 cup of rice that would be an astronomical amount of carbs in one serving. I feel like I must be missing something here.
I’m sorry, that’s a default entry that got filled in. I adjusted it to be one serving, which is one fourth of the recipe. The size of the serving and exact carb count would be based on the size of your cauliflower. The nutritional information is guidance, and if you need to be withing strict limits, I always advise calculating based on your exact ingredients to account for variability.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it surely look delicious.
I was wondering, do you maybe have quick, easy and delicious recipes that I can use for preparing brinjals in a delicious way?
Thank you.
Louisa
Well, you taught me something because I didn’t know what a brinjal was. I have heard aubergine, but this was a new word for me to learn. We aren’t big eggplant eaters, but this is yummy – https://cupcakesandkalechips.com/eggplant-parmesan-lasagna-faux-bolognese-saucerecipe/
A delicious new way to prepare cauliflower rice. I used olive oil instead of butter but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Kids loved it too!
Thank you! I bet the cauliflower rice was just as delicious with olive oil!
Oh, how I love this easy side dish. Bookmarking, too, for my glutenfree friends!
Thank you, Sandy!
Since heads of cauliflower vary, do you know how many cups of riced cauliflower your 1 head produced?
Typically it’s about 5-6 cups, but for this recipe the variation doesn’t really matter much.
My entire home is covered in hardwood floor too. I’ll have to check your review out! Your recipes looks great! Hope to see you again at #HomeMattersParty
Thanks so much! And argh, kitchens with hardwood!!
This just seems too easy, but I’m trying it now. I have the cauliflower all riced up! I’m so tired of regular rice and like your husband, mine also sighs when he hears I’m making vegetables (don’t get me started on his sighs when I make zucchini pasta versus regular pasta!) I bet it’s going to be great! Thank you!
Hahaha, yes, zoodles don’t always go over well here either. Hope you liked the “rice”!