Cauliflower Dirty Rice

This cauliflower dirty rice is a quick, flavorful twist on the classic Creole dish, made with cauliflower rice instead of traditional rice for a lighter, veggie-packed option. It’s ready in under 20 minutes and loaded with bold seasonings that make every bite irresistible (even kids will want seconds!).

Perfect as a side dish or a base for your favorite protein, this recipe is ideal for busy weeknights, meal prep, or casual gatherings.

How to make cauliflower dirty rice

Start by finely chopping the red onion and celery. Take the bags of cauliflower rice out of the freezer to start to defrost a bit while the veggies cook.

Preheat a large skillet (cast iron or stainless steel) over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add avocado oil spray or olive oil spray (or about 1 tbsp. avocado oil or olive oil) to the pan. Add the onions and celery and cook over medium heat 4-5 minutes, allowing the onions to turn translucent and the celery to start to break down.

While the onions and celery are cooking, chop up the roasted red peppers. Take them out of the jar (discard the liquid they are soaking in) and finely chop them. Add the chopped red bell pepper along with the salt and spices to the veggies. Stir well.

Break apart any large chunks of the cauliflower rice in the bag before opening the bags and pouring them over the hot veggies. Add the coconut aminos on top of the cauliflower rice. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Using a spoon or spatula, move all the ingredients to the outside rim of the pan, letting all the excess liquid to pool up in the center. Turn the heat to medium high and allow this excess water to boil off 3-4 minutes.

Once most of the water is gone, stir the veggies in the pan and cook 1 more minute over medium high heat.

Top tips

• Take the time to break up any large clumps of frozen cauliflower rice in the bag before adding it to the pan to help cut down on cooking time.
• When working with frozen cauliflower rice, you will notice that it often sweats off excess liquid, making the cauliflower rice mushy. This is why I advise moving all the veggies to the outside rim of the large skillet and cooking off the excess liquid to help ensure the cauliflower rice doesn’t get soggy.
• I like to use frozen cauliflower because I find it has a milder flavor vs. fresh cauliflower rice (especially store bought). If you do use fresh cauliflower rice, you may need to cover the pan and allow it to steam for 3-4 minutes ensuring it gets cooked through before serving.
• Traditional Creole dishes use the holy trinity – a combination of onion, celery and green pepper. I prefer the flavor from red bell pepper instead, as it’s sweeter and when it’s roasted it adds a smoky flavor to the dish. If you want this to be more traditional, use green pepper and white onion in place the roasted red pepper and red onion.

What is dirty rice

Traditional dirty rice is a dish famous in Cajun or Creole cooking. Typically the rice is “made dirty” by cooking it with ground sausage, meat or chicken livers. The rice is cooked with the holy trinity of veggies – onions, celery and green peppers along with traditional cajun spices.

To allow this to be more of a side dish and to be vegan friendly, I decided to not add any sausage, ground meat or chicken livers. To make it more of a meal, add your favorite protein (ground sausage, turkey, beef, red kidney beans) for a more filling dish.

What to add to creole spiced cauliflower rice

• Protein: Ground sausage, ground turkey, ground beef, shrimp, tofu, smoked oysters, smoked sardines, red kidney beans, black beans, lentils.
• Spice: Red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, jalapeno peppers (fresh or pickled)
• Veggies: Zucchini, summer squash, cilantro, green onions

What to serve with Cajun cauliflower rice

• Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken
• 10 Minute Skillet Taco
• Bang Bang Shrimp
• Mexican Black Bean and Lentil Patties
• Cajun Salmon
• Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken

How to make cauliflower rice

Use the food processor

• Cut the green leaves and thick bottom stalk away from the cauliflower. Chop the cauliflower into small enough pieces that they will easily fit into your food processor (you don’t need to worry about the shape of these pieces).
• Add about ½ of the cauliflower to the food processor and process on high for about 20 seconds, until the cauliflower resembles rice. Note: Some people like to use the larger grater attachment of their food processor for this since it creates a more uniform consistency.
• Process all the cauliflower and you can use it immediately, store it in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze it for up to 2 months in a well-sealed freezer safe bag or container.

Use box grater

• Cut the green leaves and thick bottom stalk away from the cauliflower.
• Grate the cauliflower using the large holes on the box grater. Grate around the stem of the cauliflower.
• Store in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze it for up to 2 months in a well-sealed freezer safe bag or container.

How to store leftovers

• Fridge: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
• Freezer: Stove leftover cauliflower dirty rice in the freezer for up to 2 months in a freezer safe bag or container.
• To reheat after defrosting, it’s best to use a skillet to reheat the dirty cauliflower rice as the cauliflower rice, celery and peppers can get watery when defrosting.

If you love this recipe, you should try

• Mexican Style Cauliflower Rice
• Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
• Chimichurri Cauliflower Rice
• Italian Cauliflower Rice
• Cauliflower Rice Stuffing
• Pesto Cauliflower Rice