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This Keto Spanish Cauliflower Rice recipe was a necessity in my kitchen. We love Mexican food. So, it would have been hard to pass up the thing that accompanies almost every meal. Fortunately, this Mexican Cauliflower Rice is delicious and only takes a few minutes and ingredients. Use it as part of meal prep with a range of dishes from the site, including fajita vegetables, chicken breast, and seared shrimp to make a complete meal.
Why Make Keto Spanish Rice
There are so many reasons to love this Spanish Cauliflower Rice recipe. Here are my top few:
Low Carb and Keto Diet Option
Mexican inspired meals are a family favorite in my house. We love making burrito bowls. But, there is one major problem with most burrito bowl recipes: the rice (regardless of if it’s white or brown rice).
Just one cup of real rice has between 45 and 53 grams of carbs. And, for most people on keto, that’s more than double the day’s allowance.
By replacing regular rice with fresh cauliflower rice, you keep your taste buds happy and stay low-carb with this great alternative. That said, this perfect side will become one of, if not, your favorite easy cauliflower rice recipe.
Easy Recipe
This Easy Spanish Cauliflower recipe is so delicious, and its simple ingredients makes this low carb side dish a pleasure to make.
Ingredients Needed
Making Easy Spanish Cauliflower Rice can include lots of ingredients. In fact, when I first shared this recipe, it included things like chopped green bell pepper, red peppers, jalapeno peppers, yellow onion or green onions, fresh garlic, diced tomatoes, and lime juice.
However, having made this several times, I’ve realized a few shortcuts that make this dish under 6 main ingredients.
For example, you can substitute all of the fresh ingredients above for Pico De Gallo or Catina Style Salsa from your favorite grocery stores.
Besides that, the basic recipe includes:
- Taco Seasoning: I’m using a homemade spice mix, but you can use your favorite option from the store.
- Sea Salt & Black pepper
- Cauliflower Rice: I’m using pre-riced cauliflower, but if you prefer, you could use a head of cauliflower to shave your own cauliflower rice with a cheese grater or box grater.
- Tomato Paste: this has a more concentrated tomato flavor compared to tomato sauce.
- Cumin
You can get the full list of ingredient amounts and instructions from the full recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Make Spanish Cauliflower Rice
If you have made Spanish rice in the past, you know it can take quite a bit of time. Mainly, you’re waiting on the rice to cook.
The process of making Spanish rice with cauliflower rice is very similar. But, it is faster because cauliflower rice cooks quickly.
This recipe has three easy steps:
- Heat your cauliflower rice and olive oil in a nonstick skillet or pan
- If your rice is frozen, you simply heat it until the rice is defrosted
- Add the spices and salsa to the pan and cook until the rice is tender and the liquids clear.
Top Cooking Tips & FAQs
Riced Cauliflower: Fresh or Frozen
Cauliflower rice is much easier to find today than it was several years ago. At a lot of stores, you can find it in the refrigerated section or the frozen food section.
In this recipe, I’ve tried fresh and frozen cauliflower rice. To me, using frozen works best since I don’t have to worry about it expiring if my plans change for the week.
If you’re using frozen rice: there is no need to defrost the rice ahead of time since it will thaw quickly in the hot pan.
Storage & Leftovers
If you have any leftover Spanish-style cauliflower rice, the best way to store it is in an airtight container for 3-4 days (up to 5 days max).
What to Serve with Mexican 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 rice instead of white rice:
- Cauliflower Rice Risotto
- Keto Jambalaya
- Cheesy Cauliflower Grits
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Cauliflower Rice Pilaf
If you try this recipe, please stop back and leave it a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Stay connected & share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Keto Spanish Cauliflower Rice Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 12 oz Cauliflower Rice, fresh or frozen riced cauliflower works. I use frozen
- 1 cup Salsa, I prefer Cantina Style or Pico De Gallo, which can be picked up in the deli or refrigerated section at most grocers.
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1/2 tbsp Homemade Taco Seasoning, click for recipe
- 1/2 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet (10-12 in. so that there's room to mix the rice) to medium-high. Add the olive oil and cauliflower rice.
- Cook the rice for about 3-4 minutes. This step allows fresh cauliflower rice to get more tender and frozen cauliflower rice to thaw.
- Add the spices, tomato paste, and salsa. Continue to cook until all the liquid from the salsa is cleared and the cauliflower rice is tender. For me, this step takes another 8-10 minutes.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
