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This Keto Spanish Cauliflower Rice Recipe was a necessity in my kitchen. I love Mexican food. And, one of the hardest parts of going keto was having to skip burritos, tacos, and that delicious Spanish rice. The kind with the perfect blend of spices that accompanies almost every meal at Mexican restaurants or gets stuffed into burritos. I missed it a lot. But with making a few substitutions and careful recipe choices, I came up with this Keto Spanish Cauliflower Rice that fills that makes the perfect addition to any taco night.
Why make Keto Spanish Cauliflower Rice?
Mexican inspired meals are a family favorite. We love making burrito bowls. But there is one major problem with most burrito bowl recipes: the rice.
Brown, white, and wild rice aren’t keto-friendly.
Just one cup of rice has between 45 and 53 grams of carbs. That’s a lot of carbs! For some people on keto, one cup of rice has or more than double the total carb allowance for the day!
With Cauliflower Rice, You Reduce Carbs
But if you replace rice with cauliflower rice, you are significantly reducing the carb count of the Spanish rice. And if you are in a hurry, Spanish cauliflower rice cooks up faster than traditional rice. So this cauliflower Spanish rice is a perfect, low carb midweek meal.
How to make Spanish rice with cauliflower
If you have made Spanish rice in the past, you know it can take quite a bit of time. Mainly you are waiting on the rice to cook.
The process of making keto Spanish cauliflower rice is very similar to making traditional Spanish rice. But it is faster because you don’t need to wait for the rice to cook through. And similar to other Spanish rice recipes, you only need one pan.
You start the recipe by dicing up the onion, green pepper, jalapeno (you can omit if you are sensitive to heat), and cherry tomatoes. You can heat up a large 10-12” skillet and olive oil over medium-high heat.
Make sure you use a pan that is at least 10 inches wide. This gives you room to mix in the cauliflower rice.
When the veggies are diced, the hard work is over!
Add the onion, peppers, and tomatoes to the pan. Cook the veggies for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the veggies are tender. When they are tender, add in the cauliflower rice, spices, and tomato paste. Mix it all together and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
The cauliflower will turn slightly orange in color. Finally, stir in the broth. Cook it for 3 to 4 minutes or until the cauliflower rice is tender enough for your taste.
Serve the keto Spanish cauliflower rice hot from the skillet.
Spanish Cauliflower Rice Ingredients
There are a lot of fresh ingredients in Spanish cauliflower rice as well as several spices.
The fresh ingredients include:
- Garlic
- Green Pepper
- Jalapeno
- Onion
- Cherry or Diced Tomatoes
You can also use fresh cauliflower rice. You can make it yourself. Or you could get it from some grocery store’s fresh produce section.
To get the flavor right, keto Spanish cauliflower rice also uses:
- Taco Seasoning
- Sea Salt & Black pepper
- Tomato Paste
- Broth
You should be able to find all of the ingredients at your local grocery store. Even cauliflower rice is available now at most grocery stores.
Where do you get riced cauliflower?
Cauliflower rice is much easier to find today than it was several years ago. In part, this is due to people wanting a low carb alternative to rice.
At a lot of stores, you can find cauliflower rice in the refrigerated section of the produce section. If it is not there, you could look for it in the freezer section with the rest of the veggies.
If your store does not carry cauliflower rice or you would rather make it yourself, you can try How to Make Cauliflower Rice recipe.
Can you use frozen riced cauliflower?
Yes, you can! The only thing to keep in mind is that if you are pulling it directly out of the freezer, you will need to add additional cook time. An extra 3 to 4 minutes should thaw the rice in the skillet.
You could also defrost the frozen cauliflower rice ahead of time. You can do this by pulling it from the freezer and putting it in the fridge overnight. Or you could defrost the cauliflower rice on defrost in the microwave.
A final thing to keep in mind is that frozen cauliflower rice can add extra moisture to the recipe. You can thaw the rice and pat some of the moisture out with a clean paper towel. This is not required, but it can help reduce extra moisture.
What to Serve with Spanish Cauliflower Rice
Spanish cauliflower rice is filling and it goes great with a lot of recipes to help fill them out a bit more. Some suggestions you could try include:
- Whole30 Shrimp
- Air Fryer Salmon
- Indoor Grilled Chicken Kabobs
- Keto Chicken Breast recipe
- Pressure Cooker Roast
Other Cauliflower Rice Recipes
If you love rice recipes and want to keep keto, check out some of my other favorite recipes that use cauliflower instead of white rice:
Ingredients
- 1 lb cauliflower rice This is about 3 cups
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1/2 green pepper diced
- 1 jalapeño diced (optional)
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
- 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes diced (any tomato will work, but this is what I had on hand)
- 1 tbsp Taco Seasoning Mix
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth chicken will also work, I just prefer vegetable broth in my rice
- 3 tbsp olive oil for cooking
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet (10-12 in. so that there's room to mix the rice) to medium-high. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil.
- Add onions, peppers, garlic, and tomatoes. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until all vegetables are tender
- Add cauliflower, spices, and tomato paste. Stir then cook for 3-4 minutes until the cauliflower is slightly orange.
- Add broth and continue to cook for 3-4 more minutes or until the rice is tender enough for you. Taste and decide if you need up to 1 tsp of additional sea salt. Remember you can always add salt, but you can't take it out of a dish!
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