This cauliflower rice stir fry recipe tastes better than take-out, with half the carbs! It's loaded with lots of veggies and topped with marinated tofu.
Comin' atcha with another cauliflower rice recipe! But this time – it's Asian-inspired with a sticky, spicy-sweet sauce and bite after bite of crunchy, colorful veggies. I'm a big fan of the marinated tofu but you can definitely omit it to speed up this recipe. Orrrrr alternatively, you could bake a big batch of it and use it for meal prepping throughout the week.
Why another cauliflower rice recipe, you ask? A) You guys really seemed to dig the Mexican version and B) cauliflower rice is SO versatile. This will most likely be the second of many variations. Is that cool with you? Ok, good.
Now that we've talked about the grub for a minute, let's talk about last week.
Thursday morning – We had to be in West Denver by 9:30am (about a 1.5 hour drive), with Scout because... Clark got new eyeballs at LasikPLUS! And we had to stay over in Denver for his follow-up the next morning.
Getting into the car was a mad rush. I carried down our overnight bag with Scout's leash in one hand and my glorious, fresh piece of avocado toast in the other. Clark remembered our phone chargers halfway downstairs and dashed back up to get them. I was ONE INCH away from sitting my plate on top of the car when Scout took off at breakneck speed. Toast – flying through the air. Bag – thrown from my shoulder into the grass. Me – almost breaking an ankle on the curb while exclaiming "WTF dog?" Scout – casually fraternizing with the cutest blue heeler puppy ever (despite his standoffish, cranky owner.) Clark – Walking out from the house just in time to miss the whole scene and asking why my toast is on the ground. My toast – LANDED AVOCADO SIDE UP. So you can bet I still ate that shit when I got into the car.
Thursday afternoon and evening – Clark took the Lasik mandated 4-6 hour nap to rest his new eyes. I sat in the yard of our AirBNB reading Game of Thrones and getting a cute sunburn. Scout started acting funny and seemed "off." She seemed to perk up and feel better by bedtime.
Friday morning – Back at the Lasik place for his follow-up at 9am. Scout seemed stressed from staying somewhere new, traveling, etc.
Friday afternoon – We drove back to the Springs to shower and get ready for my cousins + friends to visit. Scout was super excited to meet everyone and get loved on.
Saturday morning – Scout pukes ON. OUR. BED. On our freakin' bed at 7am. I'm a smidge hungover. But I'm up, alright, I'm up. She pukes 3 more times later in the morning. Then she starts eating and seems to be perfectly fine for a few hours.
Saturday evening – Scout's ansty, irritated, and itching a lot. I notice red hives on her belly. Her ears feel hot. She pukes 2 more times (if you're counting, that's 7 times in one day.) We go to the emergency vet because I am that dog mom and I am panicking. 2 ½ hours later, they recommend Benadryl and a bland diet.
Sunday morning – We boil white rice and chicken breasts for Miss Sensitive Sally and hope she keeps it down. We're running out of Lysol wipes, here, man. It's Sunday evening as I write this and we are almost 24 hours puke-free. Thanks to the Benadryl, she's not itching and she's able to get some rest.
Now that all of that craziness is done (please, Scout, let it be done.), I finally feel like we can get back to normal (whatever "normal" is.) All I know is, we've spent wayyyyy too much time in sterile offices with fluorescent lighting for my liking lately.
I sincerely hope that your week was more chill than ours was. And I also hope that you try out this cauliflower rice stir fry recipe this week and that it makes your week a little easier/better/yummier.
Quick and Easy Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This lightened up stir fry recipe incorporates healthy cauliflower instead of rice! Loaded with lots of veggies and topped with marinated tofu, this meal keeps you full for hours.
Ingredients
- 4 cups riced cauliflower
- 1 cup carrot, julienned
- ½ cup peas
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
Stir Fry Sauce
- ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
- ¼ cup water
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
Marinated Tofu (Optional, but great for extra protein!)
- 8 ounces extra firm tofu
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ Tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
- ½ Tablespoon hoisin
- ½ Tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
Tofu
- Drain tofu of excess water. Press the block between paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible. If you have the time, allow it to rest between paper towels with a pan on top to thoroughly press it.
- Slice it into long strips or cubes if desired.
- In a ziplock bag, combine the ingredients for the marinade and add the tofu. Gently shake it to coat.
- Preheat the oven to 400º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Arrange the tofu on the baking sheet and pour the sauce over top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway.
Cauliflower Rice
- Add cauliflower florets to your food processor and pulse until the cauliflower resembles small rice or couscous. You may have to process it in batches if you have a small food processor – like me! Once you have 4 cups of riced cauliflower, you're ready to start cooking.
- In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for the stir fry sauce.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil to medium. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes, until soft and translucent.
- Add carrots, broccoli, peas, and garlic. Continue to sauté for 5-8 minutes until veggies have softened.
- Add riced cauliflower and sauce. Sauté 5 more minutes.
- Serve with slices of tofu, sesame seeds, avocado, fresh cilantro, green onions, or whatever your heart desires!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Main
Nutrition
- Calories: 104
- Sugar: 10.7 g
- Sodium: 851.1 mg
- Fat: 0.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.5 g
- Fiber: 5.2 g
- Protein: 5.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 g
Sort of obsessed with cauliflower rice :)
★★★★★
I have made this recipe several times. It is great! The title of the recipe is pretty misleading "20 Minute Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry". As the recipe states - 10 mins of prep, 30 min of cooking. Not sure there the 20 minutes is coming from.
Recipe title is fixed! :) The first few times we made this recipe, it took about 20 minutes. We added some improvements to it that makes it take longer, but it's well worth it. Glad you enjoyed!
this is so good!! a little spicy, so if you're not into spicey add less red pepper flakes!! i enjoyed this with beef instead of tofu and used the same marinade. its delicious!!(:
How much cauliflower is needed to buy to get 4 cups of cauliflower rice?
It's hard to say exactly how much cauliflower is needed since all heads of cauliflower are different sizes. Sorry, I don't have that answer!
Hi, thank you for the recipe
How would you recommend making this more filling/more calories? 104 calories per serving will not fill me up, this seems like it's a side dish rather than a meal?
Cauliflower rice is bound to be low calorie – that's one of the main perks about it for many people! You could add more tofu to your serving, or top with avocado or crushed nuts for some extra oomph!
Hi! Great recipe. What is the serving size?
Hi Lila! This recipe makes about 4 servings. I didn't quantify the actual serving size in cups/ounces/etc. Just divided the end result into 4 servings!
Thank you for your teryaki sauce recipe. It gave me great foundation for my own creation. It turned out amazing. We are not tofu eaters so I made the stir-fry with chicken breast. Again, amazing! Thanks Nana from Washington
Yay – I'm so glad you liked the sauce! Sounds like your dinner turned out fantastic!
At what point do I add the stir fry sauce do I do the same to the cauliflower as it is instructed for the tofu.
Hi Pearl! Sorry for the confusion – I've amended the directions to make that step more clear. You'll whisk the ingredients for the stir fry sauce and add it to the skillet when you add the cauliflower. Hope that helps!
This turned out delicious! I added fresh ginger and garlic to the sauce. Will def make this recipe again.
Ooooh... I love the addition of ginger! Thanks for the feedback. <3
Did you use fresh ginger in addition to the powder ginger or in place of the powdered ginger?
Um WOW this looks AMAZING!!
Definitely will be trying this recipe out for meal prep!
Thank you!
It's perfect for meal prep! Enjoy! :)