Easy Microwave Cauliflower Rice

Increasingly these days I’m seeing more and more dishes from my childhood, but with trendy new names.  Cauliflower rice is one such “latest new trend” food that we used to have, but just called “shredded cauliflower”!  Ah well, such is change, eh 🙂

You can make an easy microwave cauliflower rice without any special equipment, or waiting.  And here’s how you do that:

1. Take a whole cauliflower, remove all the outer leaves and cut off just the heads of the florets.  It’s just the cauliflower head parts you’re interested in, the “flowers” so to speak*.
2. Using a simple grater, grate the cauliflower by hand – if you’ve got a food processor then you can just use that on the pulse setting.  In either case, what you’re after is to have a pile of shredded cauliflower.
3. Put the shredded cauliflower into a microwave-safe dish, with a vented lid (or use cling film pierced a few times). No water or other liquids are needed.
4. Microwave the cauliflower for 6 minutes on High Power (800 watts). Give the cauliflower a little stir and taste a little to see if it needs 1-2 more minutes.
5. Serve.  You can, optionally, stir through any fresh chopped herbs you like.

* Don’t throw away the stalks and stems of the florets, you can always use these either sliced in a stir fry, or chopped up and dropped into your next casserole, stew, or slow cooker meal.

This is another sidedish that I cook in my microwave mugs as they’ve got a click-n-lock style top with a vent hole in the top: Microwave Mugs and Noodle Bowls

Ways to Serve Cauliflower Rice:

You can use this in a variety of ways – plain/microwaved, microwaved with herbs mixed through before serving, you can toast/roast it with or without flavours.  Use as a rice substitute with a curry or chilli, or even a pizza base.

Can you Freeze Cauliflower Rice?

You can freeze it raw or cooked.  As it only takes 6-7 minutes to microwave this it makes sense to freeze it raw and cook on demand.  Simply spread the grated/raw cauliflower out on a tray and freeze flat for an hour or so before decanting into your usual freezer bags or containers.  If you can freeze it in individual portions you’ll find it easier to grab a bag to use on demand.

You can cook cauliflower rice from frozen, or defrost it.  Just check it’s cooked all the way through and the texture’s pleasing to your preferences when you do cook it and serve it.

Food Cheats’ Cauliflower Rice:

If you’re just cooking for one, the thought of buying and shredding a whole cauliflower might just seem “not worth it”.  For a cheat you can use frozen cauliflower florets -it’s what I usually do to be honest.  Grate them while still frozen – and you can even return the stem bits back to your freezer bag.

For a cauliflower rice for one using frozen cauliflower florets I’d be looking to cook it for just 3 minutes due to the small quantities involved.  Don’t forget, you can always check after 3 minutes and do it for another minute if you want it cooked a bit more.  It’s those famous words: “You can’t go wrong”. 🙂

Menu Cost: 

Cauliflowers vary greatly in size and price.  While living in Cornwall I know just the farm to drive past that has a box of monster cauliflowers selling for £0.50, whereas the supermarkets seem to charge from £1 upwards for a medium sized cauliflower!  It’s therefore difficult to put a menu cost on this. You could say it’s £0.10 to £0.25 for a good sized portion.

If, however, you’re using frozen cauliflower it might even work out cheaper, depending on portion size.