This creamy cauliflower garlic rice is simple, healthy, and so surprisingly good.
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Just made this and it is the best dish ever. I LOVE risotto but I needed something that is healthier… Thank you thank you thank you.
Adriana
I don’t even know what to say about this.
I mean, I’m sure I could come up with a few things if you made me, but I fully acknowledge that this recipe is kind of obscure.
Like who posts recipes for brown rice and cauliflower sauce? Um, me.
Ever since I did the whole cauliflower-in-alfredo-sauce thing, I’ve been trying to incorporate as much as that creamy vegetable into my life as possible. And I say creamy because almost always, it’s pureed in a blender, salted and garlic-ed, super smooth, and just plain creamy-wonderful.
This is just how I operate.
Hey, though. If you want an awesome food to use for food photography, definitely choose brown rice with neutral-colored sauce. Definitely.
There is redeeming value in this pan of creamy rice, and that’s that it tastes supersuper good. It reminds me of risotto, but with more vegetables, and without the trip to the store for the risotto. The butter, the garlic, the filling and – yep – creamy sauce all up in there? I just liked it. A lot. And Bjork liked it. We ate the whole thing in 24 hours.
Maybe you want to add a few things to jazz it up, as we food lovers often do, or maybe you want to use this as a simple side dish, or maybe you just want to eat a bowl of brown rice with cauliflower sauce for dinner.
Is that so much to ask?
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Creamy Cauliflower Garlic Rice
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This creamy cauliflower garlic rice is simple, healthy, and so surprisingly good! With garlic, butter, brown rice, and cauliflower.
Ingredients
- 6–8 cups chopped cauliflower
- 4 cups vegetable broth + 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice (I used a brown rice blend)
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste!)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6–8 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese for topping (more to taste)
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package directions. Set aside.
- Bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and boil for about 10 minutes, until tender. Transfer cauliflower pieces to a blender or food processor.
- Puree the cauliflower, adding milk or extra vegetable broth to get a smooth, creamy consistency. Season with salt. Pour over the cooked rice and stir to combine.
- In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter and add the garlic, sauteing over low heat until the garlic is very fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add the creamy rice mixture and stir until butter and garlic is incorporated. Add cheese on top or stir it throughout the rice to get it melted. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 12% Total Fat 7.9g
- Daily value: 6% Cholesterol 16.9mg
- Daily value: 40% Sodium 957.5mg
- Daily value: 16% Total Carbohydrate 46.6g
- Sugars 5.1g
- Daily value: 18% Protein 9.2g
- Daily value: 5% Vitamin A 77.6µg
- Daily value: 118% Vitamin C 70.6mg
Keywords: cauliflower garlic rice, garlic rice, cauliflower rice, cauliflower and garlic
Hello going to make this for Valentine’s Day dinner. I have a question what if you don’t have any brown rice? Do you have to use it? Thanks
White rice will work too! Enjoy, Jamie!
Can I use white rice or would the flavor and texture be off?
We think white rice would work just fine! We’d love to hear back if you give it a try!
What do you do with the leftover vegetable broth and water combo? I don’t want to waste it…
You could try saving it for another round of this recipe, but otherwise we’re not sure how you’d reuse it since the broth / water might have a cauliflower flavor to it.
This looks really good! I haven’t had any luck with store-bought cauliflower rice so can’t wait to make your recipe! Could you use roasted cauliflower instead of boiled? And we don’t have mozzarella cheese on hand but we do have cheddar, provolone and Parmesan. Which cheese would you recommend as a sub for the mozz? Thanks!!
We haven’t tried this with roasted cauliflower to know, but we’re guessing it’ll lend a slightly different flavor. We’d suggest Parmesan cheese as a sub. Enjoy!
I made the recipe but due to allergies did not use garlic. i substituted fresh herbs (chives, tarragon, oregano) and added a few chopped carrots. It turned out great and even the grandkids (ages 13 -17) loved it. I also pre-made and then baked in at 350 for 30 minutes.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Dan!
Added cooked veggie bacon, then crumbled it and added to riced cauliflower, lightly steamed asparagus, cut up with the garlic
and veggie broth. My younger son is a vegetarian, so it fit his taste, along with some salt and black pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper.
Sounds delicious, Gigi! Thanks for sharing!
hi
Can you please suggest the quantity for 1 medium head of cauliflower? Or may be cauliflower in terms of weight? I just don’t want to use 5 cups of florets…I mean I have just 1 cauliflower in my fridge right now. And are avoiding grocery shopping…due to covid. Thanks!
It kinda depends on how big your cauliflower is, but generally you get about 1.5 cups per pound of cauliflower. Hope this helps!
There are no words for how good this is. Please try it immediately. I even modified for skim milk, less butter and partly skim cheese to make it even lower in points (weight watchers) but this was insane. Thank you!!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed this, Brittany!
This may sound crazy but, I’ll try this with all cauliflower and no rice as I don’t care for rice at all. Your recipe looks wonderful. Wish me luck. Thank you.
Silly question but about how many cauliflower heads would I need to get 6-8 cups of chopped cauliflower?
This looks amazing. Can you add a protein to it? Like shrimp, ham or chicken? Have you?
Yep! Shrimp or chicken would work great.
This was good but way too many dishes!
Question, after you cook the cauliflower the remaining broth/water in the pot is it to be added to the foodprocessor as well or just the cooked cauliflower?
Can’t overstate how delicious this is. I made this last winter and now that it’s getting colder, I’m literally craving this dish. It’s creamy, indulgent and so easy. I like to add some spinach for health and hot pepper flakes for kick.
Thanks for sharing and making this a regular in my kitchen 🙂
I learned that ingestion of sliced raw Garlic has a unique tendency of naturally lifting declining Testosterone levels in men. So adding raw Garlic in food is definitely a good thing. Since I’m striving now to change my eating habits adding Garlic in almost everything I eat has to become a new habit I hope to adapt to very soon.
The recipe calls for 1 1/2c brown rice. Is that 1 1/2c before cooking it or after it’s already cooked?
Can I use frozen cauliflower rice on this recipe
Do I pour all the water and stock in the blender along with the cauliflower? Thanks
I just made this and it was so good! It is a very adaptable recipe. I added some sage, asparagus, and mushrooms- plus some romano cuz I had it. I will definitely be cooking this again.
This looks yummy! Do you think I can sub out the milk and use almond milk instead?
I saw one comment with someone using frozen cauliflower instead of fresh. Has anyone else tried it? What modifications did you make to accommodate it?
Where I live fresh cauliflower is hard to find and very expensive. But frozen cauliflower florets are a lot easier to find and cheaper. Thanks.
Can you substitute the milk for something else?
wait just saw the above comment!!! Nevermind, I LOVE your recipes!!! I have made the cauliflower fried rice A LOT!